1. Printmaking
Line, shape and space…

2. Printmaking
An art form in which ink is transferred from a surface (wood, stone, linoleum, or metal) to a material like paper or fabric.
Printmaking is one of the world’s oldest artforms
Relief printing is when the surface material is carved away to create a raised image…which prints in reverse.
Noted artists: Hiroshige, Hokusai, Durer, Currier & Ives, Escher and Catlett

3. Printmaking facts…
Classically used for visual art…not for the reproduction of text.
The surface or plate is the original artwork and the prints or impressions are copies in a technical sense, but are treated as original works of art.
Printmakers may customize each print/impression, as in the case of hand-colored engravings, which really are unique works of art as they cannot be produced through duplication.
Prints are usually hand signed and numbered as part of an edition.

4. Hokusai
Master printmaker in ukiyo-e style (“pictures of the floating world”).
Early work included landscapes, actors and printed things such as greetings and announcements.
Famous series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” marked summit in the history of the Japanese landscape print.
The Great Wave

5. Ando Hiroshige
Japanese ukiyo-e artist (“pictures of the floating world”)
Master of color woodblock prints
Considered genius for landscape compositions and first recognized in the West by the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.
Eagle over Susaki

6. Albrecht Durer
German – Northern Renaissance artist reknown for his graphic work in woodcuts and engravings.
Admired and copied across Europe due to his detail and precision
Subjects included religious and mythological scenes, maps and exotic animals.
Great admirer of da Vinci…later in life illustrated and wrote treatises instructing artists in perspective and proportion.

7. Currier and Ives NYC Printing Firm 1834-1907
Successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives.
Produced prints by fine artists as black and white lithographs that were then hand colored.
Lithographic prints could be reproduced quickly and purchased inexpensively…advertised as “engravings for the people”.
Central Park in Winter

8. M.C. Escher 1898-1972 Dutch graphic artist.
Known for his mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs and mezzotints.
His works feature impossible constructions that explore infinity, architecture and tessellations.

9. Elizabeth Catlett
American born Mexican sculptor and printmaker.
Best known for her expressionistic sculptures and prints made during the 1960’s and 70’s.

10. Examples of lino prints…

11. Examples of lino prints…

12. Examples of lino prints…

13. Examples of lino prints…

14. Printmaking vocabulary
Artist’s proof = the first print pulled from a plate.
Brayer = the roller used to transfer ink to the plate.
Charge = the act of loading ink onto the brayer.
Edition = several prints in a series.

15. Printmaking vocabulary
Incised = the act of cutting into a surface.
Plate = the surface material the design is created on.
Relief = the raised areas in a design.
Symbolic = to represent or stand for something.