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Printmaking
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Artists using this technique include Honoré Daumier, George Bellows, Pierre Bonnard, Edvard Munch, Emil Nolde, Pablo Picasso, Odilon Redon, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Salvador Dalí, M. C. Escher, Willem de Kooning, Joan Miró, Stow Wengenroth  La Goulue, Lithograph poster by Toulouse-Lautrec. A porous surface, normally limestone, is used; the image is drawn on the limestone with a greasy medium. Acid is applied, transferring the grease to the limestone, leaving the image 'burned' into the surface. Gum arabic, a water soluble substance, is then applied, sealing the surface of the stone not covered with the drawing medium. The stone is wetted, with water staying only on the surface not covered in grease-based residue of the drawing; the stone is then 'rolled up', meaning oil ink is applied with a roller covering the entire surface; since water repels the oil in the ink, the ink adheres only to the greasy parts, perfectly inking the image. A sheet of dry paper is placed on the surface, and the image is transferred to the paper by the pressure of the printing press. Lithography is known for its ability to capture fine gradations in shading and very small detail. A variant is photo-lithography, in which the image is captured by photographic processes on metal plates; printing is carried out in the same way. Screen-printingArtists using this technique include Screen-printing (also known as "screenprinting", "silk-screening", or "serigraphy") creates bold color using a stencil technique. Stencil printing is arguably the oldest form of graphic arts. Screen-printing lends itself well to printing on canvas. Rauschenberg, Warhol, and many others have used screen-printing this way.Josef Albers, Chuck Close, Ralston Crawford, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Julian Opie, Robert Rauschenberg, Bridget Riley, Edward Ruscha, and Andy Warhol. The first time man placed his hand against a cave wall and blew ash and dried blood against it was the first time a stencil was used. Around 500 BC in Japan, artists were gluing human hair between pieces of paper to create floral stencils which were used with brushes to tamp color. The hair was later replaced with a silk mesh (hence the name “silk screen”). Stencils were even used to print the bold red crosses on the shields and cuirasses of the crusading knights, but it wasn’t until the turn of the century that silk screen printing became industrialized and was used in the printing of fabrics and textiles throughout the western world. After that, it was only a matter of time before artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol began experimenting with the technique for artistic purposes. In screen printing, the artist draws or paints an image on a piece of paper or plastic (film can also be used). The image is cut out creating a stencil (keep in mind that the pieces which are cut away are the areas that will let ink through). A screen is made of a piece of fabric (originally silk) stretched over a wood or aluminum frame. The stencil is fixed to the screen. Modern technology uses direct and indirect photo emulsions which are UV sensitive. This means that the artist’s renderings on transparent film can be exactly reproduced on the nylon screen coated with light sensitive (UV) emulsion. The light sensitive emulsion fills in the entire screen, the transparent film upon which the artist has drawn is laid upon the screen and both are placed in the exposure unit. Where the light passes through the transparent film, the emulsion is exposed and hardens. Where the artist's markings on the film stop the light, the emulsion is NOT exposed and releases upon washing, creating a stencil on the screen that exactly reproduces the artist’s markings to the finest detail. The screen is then placed on top of almost any substrate, paper, glass, fabric, golf balls, etc. Ink is then placed across the top length of the screen. A squeegee (rubber blade) is used to spread the ink across the screen, over the stencil, and through the open mesh onto the paper/fabric below. The screen is lifted once the image has been transferred onto the paper/fabric, which is replaced with the next, unprinted, substrate. Colors are added layer by layer and each color requires a separate stencil on a separate screen. The screen can be re-used after cleaning. Digital printsDigital prints refers to editions of images printed using a digital printer instead of a traditional printing press. These images can be printed to a variety of substrates including paper and cloth or plastic canvas. Accurate color reproduction and the type of ink used (see below) are key to distinguishing high quality from low quality digital prints. Metallics (silvers, golds) are particularly difficult to reproduce accurately because they reflect light back to digital scanners. High quality digital prints typically are reproduced with very high-resolution data files with very high-precision printers. The substrate used has an effect on the final colors and cannot be ignored when selecting a color palette. Pigment-based vs. Dye-based inksUnlike pigment, dyes dissolve when mixed into a liquid. Dyes are organic (not mineral). Although most are synthetic, derived from petroleum, they can be made from vegetable or animal sources. Dyes are well suited for textiles where the liquid dye penetrates and chemically bonds to the fiber. Because of the deep penetration, more layers of material must lose their color before the fading is apparent. Dyes, however, are not suitable for the relatively thin layers of ink laid out on the surface of a print.Pigment is a finely ground, particulate substance which, when mixed or ground into a liquid to make ink or paint, does not dissolve, but remains dispersed or suspended in the liquid. Pigments are categorized as either inorganic (mineral) or organic (synthetic). A pigment, such as red iron oxide (rust) is simply an oxidized form of iron. One could leave iron, lead, or gold in the sun for a million years and they would never change color or change into another substance. In contrast, man-made synthetic and vegetable water-soluble dyes can fade rapidly, often within one to six months. "Giclée" printsThe term Giclée, a made up marketing word from the French "to spurt", is sometimes used in the fine art print community to describe the ink-jet printing processes listed above. It was originally associated with Iris printing process. Today fine art prints produced on inkjet machines using the CcMmYK color model are generally called "Giclée".Foil imagingIn art, foil imaging''' is a printmaking technique made using the Iowa Foil Printer, developed by Virginia A. Myers from the commercial foil stamping process. This uses gold leaf and acrylic foil in the printmaking process.ColorPrintmakers apply color to their prints in many different ways. Often color in printmaking that involves etching, screenprinting, woodcut, or linocut is applied by either using separate plates, blocks or screens or by using a reductionist approach. In multiple plate color techniques, a number of plates, screens or blocks are produced, each providing a different color. Each separate plate, screen, or block will be inked up in a different color and applied in a particular sequence to produce the entire picture. On average about 3 to 4 plates are produced, but there are occasions where a printmaker may use up to seven plates. Every application of another plate of color will interact with the color already applied to the paper, and this must be kept in mind when producing the separation of colors. The lightest colors are often applied first, and then darker colors successively until the darkest.The reductionist approach to producing color is to start with a lino or wood block that is either blank or with a simple etching. Upon each printing of color the printmaker will then further cut into the lino or woodblock removing more material and then apply another color and reprint. Each successive removal of lino or wood from the block will expose the already printed color to the viewer of the print. Picasso is often cited as the inventor of reduction printmaking, although there is evidence of this method in use 25 years before Picasso's linocuts. With some printing techniques like chine-collé or monotyping the printmaker may sometimes just paint into the colors they want like a painter would and then print. The subtractive color concept is also used in offset or digital print and is present in bitmap or vectorial software in CMYK or other color spaces. RegistrationIn printmaking processes requiring more than one application of ink or other medium, the problem exists as to how to line up properly areas of an image to receive ink in each application. The most obvious example of this would be a multi-color image in which each color is applied in a separate step. The lining up of the results of each step in a multistep printmaking process is called "registration." Proper registration results in the various components of an image being in their proper place. But, for artistic reasons, improper registration is not necessarily the ruination of an image.This can vary considerably from process to process. It generally involves placing the substrate, generally paper, in correct alignment with the printmaking element that will be supplying it with coloration. Protective printmaking equipmentProtective clothing is very important for printmakers who engage in etching and lithography (closed toed shoes and long pants). In the past, many printmakers did not live far past 35 to 40 years of age because of their exposure to various acids, solvents, particles, and vapors inherent in the printmaking process.Whereas in the past printmakers put their plates in and out of acid baths with their bare hands, today printmakers use rubber gloves. They also wear industrial respirators for protection from caustic vapors. Most acid baths are built with ventilation hoods above them. Often, an emergency cold shower or eye wash station is nearby in case of acid spillages, as well as soda ash- which neutralizes most acids. Some printmakers wear goggles when dealing with acid. Protective respirators and masks should have particle filters, particularly for aquatinting. As a part of the aquatinting process, a printmaker is often exposed to rosin powder. Rosin is a serious health hazard, especially to printmakers who, in the past, simply used to hold their breath using an aquatinting booth. Barrier cream is often used upon a printmaker's hands both when putting them inside the protective gloves and if using their hands to wipe plates (wipe ink into the grooves of the plate and remove excess). Sterile plasters and bandages should always be available to treat cuts and scrapes. For example, zinc plates can be extremely sharp when their edges are not beveled. See also
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Used under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
