Printmaking Terms
Relief:
Relief was developed in Japan around 103 A.D. It includes woodcuts, engravings, linoleum cuts as well as plexiglass and various plastics.
Woodcuts are made by cutting into the broad face of a plank of wood, usually with a knife or gouge (the linocut is made the same way, except that linoleum is substituted for wood). In working the block, the artist cuts away areas not meant to print. These cut away areas appear in the finished print as the white parts of the design while the ink adheres to the raised parts. Matrix artists who used this technique include: Richard Mock, Sean Star Wars, James Todd, Tyler Krasowski, Tom Huck, Mary Farrell and Sean Starwars.
Intaglio:
Was developed in Europe during the 15th century.
Intaglio printing involves the use of a metal plate. In printing, the ink settles in the sunken areas and the smooth surface of the plate is wiped clean. The plate, in contact with damp paper, is passed through a roller press under pressure. The paper is forced into the sunken areas to receive the ink. The plate can be incised by one of several methods:
Engraving: The design is cut into the plate by driving furrows with a tool called a burin. The careful control required by the cutting method results in a rather stiff, controlled style of image, with shading accomplished through the use of parallel lines, or "hatching." The plate is printed in the manner described above. Hogarth (18th c.) is an artist who often created engravings.
Etching: A metal plate is coated with a material called a ground. The artist then draws his design on the ground with a sharp needle, that cuts through the ground to the metal below. When the plate is put in an acid bath, these exposed areas will be etched (or eaten away). This produces the sunken line which will receive the ink. The artist etches on the plate those parts which will appear in the finished print as black or colored areas. Since the ground is soft, the artist is able to work more freely than is possible with engraving, displaying a freer, more relaxed quality of line. The length of time the plate is left in the acid bath will affect the darkness and character of the lines. Rembrandt (17th c.) did many engravings.
Drypoint: In this technique, the sunken lines are produced directly by diamond-hard tools pulled across the plate. The depth of line is controlled by the artist's muscle and experience. The method of cutting produces a ridge along the incisions, called burr. This gives the dry-point line the characteristically soft, velvety appearance absent in the clean edged lines of an engraving or etching.
Aquatint: A copper plate is protected by a powdered ground that is melted onto the surface of the plate. It is acid resistant, but covers incompletely, resulting in a grainy surface texture. The longer the plate is left in the acid bath, the darker and heavier the texture will become. It is usually combined with a standard etching ground that permits lines and clear white areas as well. The final effect is an image on a fine pebbled background (imparted by the porous ground). Aquatint is usually employed in combination with line etching when subtle value gradations are desired.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: Tony Fitzpatrick, Peter Von Tiesenhausen, Beverly Glueckert, Antonia Contro and Miriam Schapiro.
Lithography:
Was invented in 1798 by a german playwright name Aloys Senefelder.
Lithography is a planographic technique in which the artist draws directly on a flat stone or specially prepared metal plate (usually with a greasy crayon). The stone is dampened with water, then inked. The ink clings to the greasy crayon marks, but not to the dampened areas. When a piece of paper is pressed against the stone, the ink on the greasy parts is transferred to it. Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso are among the artists shown who used this technique.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: Larry Anderson, Jerry Krepps and Sara Siestreem.
Serigraphy:
Stencil prints: Silk Screen
Silk screen is a type of stencil. This technique first came into use in the early 20th century. The artist prepares a tightly stretched screen, usually of silk, and blocks out areas not to be printed by filling up the mesh of the screen with a varnish-like substance (or any number of other materials which would block up the pores of the fabric). Paper is placed under the screen and ink forced through the still-open mesh onto the paper. This technique is also widely used on textiles, including the ever-popular T-shirt. Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol are examples of artists that used silkscreen. Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: John Hitchcock, Molly Murphy-Adams, Duane Slick and Christa Carleton.
Monotypes vs Monoprints
The monotype process was invented by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609–64), an Italian painter and etcher.
Historically, the terms Monotype and Monoprint were often used interchangeably. More recently, however, these are now used to refer to very similar types of printmaking which are somewhat different. Both involve the transfer of ink from a plate to the paper, canvas, or other surface that will ultimately hold the work of art.
Monotypes: In the case of monotypes, the plate is a featureless plate. It contains no features that will impart any definition to successive prints. In the absence of any permanent features on the surface of the plate, all articulation of imagery is dependent on one unique inking, resulting in one unique print.
Matrix artists who used the above technique include: Melanie Yazzie, Joe Feddersen, Duane Slick and Lillian Pitt.
Monoprints, on the other hand, now refers to the results of plates that have permanent features on them. Monoprints can be thought of as variations on a theme, with the theme resulting from some permanent features being found on the plate—lines, textures—that persist from print to print. Variations are confined to those resulting from how the plate is inked prior to each print. The variations are endless, but certain permanent features on the plate will tend to persist from one print to the next.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: John Armstrong, Jason Clark, Duane Slick, John Hitchcock.
Digital:
Includes “Iris” prints and “Glicee” prints, both of which are high-resolution inkjet prints.
More and more artists are using digital platforms both solely for their own unique qualities as well as a tool in conjunction with other traditional printmaking forms.
What do those numbers mean on the print?
Since there are often several impressions made of a particular image, it is important to keep track of how many prints are made, both for the protection of the artist as well as the patron. For this reason, printmakers place special designations or numbers on their prints for easy identification.
Below are listed some of the more common designations you will find on prints.
TP
Trial Proof; Trial proofs are pulled to decide the choice of color, inks and paper. The best one becomes the BAT.
AP
Artist Proof; Typically represents 10% of the edition. These works are out of the edition and are kept by the artist or for the artists use.
PP
Printers Proof; These proofs are given to the printer who collaborated with the master printer and the artist. They may be dedicated personally or simply marked P.P. or “Printers Proof”.
BAT
Bon a Tier; (French for “Good to Pull”). “Good to pull” proof is the first impression that meets the aesthetic and technical standards of the artist. It is the guide against which each print in the edition is compared and becomes the property of the master printer at the end of the run.
1/20
Edition number: The second number represents the number of identical impressions made of the image, in this case 20. The prints would be numbered 1/20, 2/20 up to 20/20. The first number does not indicate the order it was pulled and the quality among all the prints is the same.
*Typically prints pulled by hand will be numbered in editions of 200 or less. Many contemporary printmakers pull relatively small editions ranging from 10-50. By comparison prints printed on an offset litho machine or digital prints can number in the thousands or tens of thousands, and are essentially glorified posters.
Limited Edition: what does it mean?
Traditionally, most fine arts prints were pulled in limited runs. When working from a woodblock or etching plate a certain amount of breakdown occurs, which typically limits how many good prints an artist pulls. In the case of woodcuts or etchings often the plates were “striked” by carving or scratching an X across the plate to destroy the image, eliminating the chance of re-printing the plate at a future date. Furthermore, the less number of prints in an edition the more valuable each print is. Scarcity= value.
Lithography; Art, Misrepresentation and Buyer Beware.
Perhaps the greatest confusion regards the medium of lithography. Developed in 1789, lithographs were originally hand drawn on and printed off of specially prepared lithographic lime stones. Later aluminum plate lithography was developed which allowed the artist to still draw directly on the plate. In both cases the work was typically drawn by the artist and hand printed by either the artist or a print assistant. Artists today still use these processes.
With the invention of offset lithography in the 1950’s, a process which is now used to print books, posters, milk cartons and just about everything else you see that’s printed. The artist has largely been taken out of the equation. This process allows you to take a photo of an original drawing or painting, reduce it down to the four process printing colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black-CMYK), and then print off thousands or hundred’s of thousands of prints easily and cheaply, (This is how they make posters you buy at museums of famous paintings or postcards.) Unfortunately, some galleries try to represent these as original lithographs, when in actuality, although technically lithographs, they are essentially poster quality reproductions of another original artwork. People often pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars for these poster quality lithographs. In general, if you’re in a gallery looking at a painting and also an exact lithographic print of the same painting next to it- then it’s essentially a poster or if the edition number is over 1000; Buyer beware.
*It should be noted too, that some artists utilize offset lithography and photolithography within a limited edition context and that not all offset lithographs are merely posters.
Relief was developed in Japan around 103 A.D. It includes woodcuts, engravings, linoleum cuts as well as plexiglass and various plastics.
Woodcuts are made by cutting into the broad face of a plank of wood, usually with a knife or gouge (the linocut is made the same way, except that linoleum is substituted for wood). In working the block, the artist cuts away areas not meant to print. These cut away areas appear in the finished print as the white parts of the design while the ink adheres to the raised parts. Matrix artists who used this technique include: Richard Mock, Sean Star Wars, James Todd, Tyler Krasowski, Tom Huck, Mary Farrell and Sean Starwars.
Intaglio:
Was developed in Europe during the 15th century.
Intaglio printing involves the use of a metal plate. In printing, the ink settles in the sunken areas and the smooth surface of the plate is wiped clean. The plate, in contact with damp paper, is passed through a roller press under pressure. The paper is forced into the sunken areas to receive the ink. The plate can be incised by one of several methods:
Engraving: The design is cut into the plate by driving furrows with a tool called a burin. The careful control required by the cutting method results in a rather stiff, controlled style of image, with shading accomplished through the use of parallel lines, or "hatching." The plate is printed in the manner described above. Hogarth (18th c.) is an artist who often created engravings.
Etching: A metal plate is coated with a material called a ground. The artist then draws his design on the ground with a sharp needle, that cuts through the ground to the metal below. When the plate is put in an acid bath, these exposed areas will be etched (or eaten away). This produces the sunken line which will receive the ink. The artist etches on the plate those parts which will appear in the finished print as black or colored areas. Since the ground is soft, the artist is able to work more freely than is possible with engraving, displaying a freer, more relaxed quality of line. The length of time the plate is left in the acid bath will affect the darkness and character of the lines. Rembrandt (17th c.) did many engravings.
Drypoint: In this technique, the sunken lines are produced directly by diamond-hard tools pulled across the plate. The depth of line is controlled by the artist's muscle and experience. The method of cutting produces a ridge along the incisions, called burr. This gives the dry-point line the characteristically soft, velvety appearance absent in the clean edged lines of an engraving or etching.
Aquatint: A copper plate is protected by a powdered ground that is melted onto the surface of the plate. It is acid resistant, but covers incompletely, resulting in a grainy surface texture. The longer the plate is left in the acid bath, the darker and heavier the texture will become. It is usually combined with a standard etching ground that permits lines and clear white areas as well. The final effect is an image on a fine pebbled background (imparted by the porous ground). Aquatint is usually employed in combination with line etching when subtle value gradations are desired.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: Tony Fitzpatrick, Peter Von Tiesenhausen, Beverly Glueckert, Antonia Contro and Miriam Schapiro.
Lithography:
Was invented in 1798 by a german playwright name Aloys Senefelder.
Lithography is a planographic technique in which the artist draws directly on a flat stone or specially prepared metal plate (usually with a greasy crayon). The stone is dampened with water, then inked. The ink clings to the greasy crayon marks, but not to the dampened areas. When a piece of paper is pressed against the stone, the ink on the greasy parts is transferred to it. Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso are among the artists shown who used this technique.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: Larry Anderson, Jerry Krepps and Sara Siestreem.
Serigraphy:
Stencil prints: Silk Screen
Silk screen is a type of stencil. This technique first came into use in the early 20th century. The artist prepares a tightly stretched screen, usually of silk, and blocks out areas not to be printed by filling up the mesh of the screen with a varnish-like substance (or any number of other materials which would block up the pores of the fabric). Paper is placed under the screen and ink forced through the still-open mesh onto the paper. This technique is also widely used on textiles, including the ever-popular T-shirt. Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol are examples of artists that used silkscreen. Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: John Hitchcock, Molly Murphy-Adams, Duane Slick and Christa Carleton.
Monotypes vs Monoprints
The monotype process was invented by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609–64), an Italian painter and etcher.
Historically, the terms Monotype and Monoprint were often used interchangeably. More recently, however, these are now used to refer to very similar types of printmaking which are somewhat different. Both involve the transfer of ink from a plate to the paper, canvas, or other surface that will ultimately hold the work of art.
Monotypes: In the case of monotypes, the plate is a featureless plate. It contains no features that will impart any definition to successive prints. In the absence of any permanent features on the surface of the plate, all articulation of imagery is dependent on one unique inking, resulting in one unique print.
Matrix artists who used the above technique include: Melanie Yazzie, Joe Feddersen, Duane Slick and Lillian Pitt.
Monoprints, on the other hand, now refers to the results of plates that have permanent features on them. Monoprints can be thought of as variations on a theme, with the theme resulting from some permanent features being found on the plate—lines, textures—that persist from print to print. Variations are confined to those resulting from how the plate is inked prior to each print. The variations are endless, but certain permanent features on the plate will tend to persist from one print to the next.
Matrix artists who used the above techniques include: John Armstrong, Jason Clark, Duane Slick, John Hitchcock.
Digital:
Includes “Iris” prints and “Glicee” prints, both of which are high-resolution inkjet prints.
More and more artists are using digital platforms both solely for their own unique qualities as well as a tool in conjunction with other traditional printmaking forms.
What do those numbers mean on the print?
Since there are often several impressions made of a particular image, it is important to keep track of how many prints are made, both for the protection of the artist as well as the patron. For this reason, printmakers place special designations or numbers on their prints for easy identification.
Below are listed some of the more common designations you will find on prints.
TP
Trial Proof; Trial proofs are pulled to decide the choice of color, inks and paper. The best one becomes the BAT.
AP
Artist Proof; Typically represents 10% of the edition. These works are out of the edition and are kept by the artist or for the artists use.
PP
Printers Proof; These proofs are given to the printer who collaborated with the master printer and the artist. They may be dedicated personally or simply marked P.P. or “Printers Proof”.
BAT
Bon a Tier; (French for “Good to Pull”). “Good to pull” proof is the first impression that meets the aesthetic and technical standards of the artist. It is the guide against which each print in the edition is compared and becomes the property of the master printer at the end of the run.
1/20
Edition number: The second number represents the number of identical impressions made of the image, in this case 20. The prints would be numbered 1/20, 2/20 up to 20/20. The first number does not indicate the order it was pulled and the quality among all the prints is the same.
*Typically prints pulled by hand will be numbered in editions of 200 or less. Many contemporary printmakers pull relatively small editions ranging from 10-50. By comparison prints printed on an offset litho machine or digital prints can number in the thousands or tens of thousands, and are essentially glorified posters.
Limited Edition: what does it mean?
Traditionally, most fine arts prints were pulled in limited runs. When working from a woodblock or etching plate a certain amount of breakdown occurs, which typically limits how many good prints an artist pulls. In the case of woodcuts or etchings often the plates were “striked” by carving or scratching an X across the plate to destroy the image, eliminating the chance of re-printing the plate at a future date. Furthermore, the less number of prints in an edition the more valuable each print is. Scarcity= value.
Lithography; Art, Misrepresentation and Buyer Beware.
Perhaps the greatest confusion regards the medium of lithography. Developed in 1789, lithographs were originally hand drawn on and printed off of specially prepared lithographic lime stones. Later aluminum plate lithography was developed which allowed the artist to still draw directly on the plate. In both cases the work was typically drawn by the artist and hand printed by either the artist or a print assistant. Artists today still use these processes.
With the invention of offset lithography in the 1950’s, a process which is now used to print books, posters, milk cartons and just about everything else you see that’s printed. The artist has largely been taken out of the equation. This process allows you to take a photo of an original drawing or painting, reduce it down to the four process printing colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black-CMYK), and then print off thousands or hundred’s of thousands of prints easily and cheaply, (This is how they make posters you buy at museums of famous paintings or postcards.) Unfortunately, some galleries try to represent these as original lithographs, when in actuality, although technically lithographs, they are essentially poster quality reproductions of another original artwork. People often pay hundreds, even thousands of dollars for these poster quality lithographs. In general, if you’re in a gallery looking at a painting and also an exact lithographic print of the same painting next to it- then it’s essentially a poster or if the edition number is over 1000; Buyer beware.
*It should be noted too, that some artists utilize offset lithography and photolithography within a limited edition context and that not all offset lithographs are merely posters.