Printmaking
Two Dimensional Media
PRINTMAKING
Printmaking uses a transfer process to make multiples from an original image or template. The multiple images are printed in an edition, with each print signed and numbered by the artist. All printmaking mediums, with the one exception of serigraph (or silkscreen), result in images reversed from the original. Print results depend on how the surface (or matrix) which holds the ink is prepared. There are three basic techniques of printmaking: Relief, Intaglio, and Planar. You can get an idea of how they differ from the cross-section images below.
A diagram explaining where the ink goes in the various printmaking techniques. The black areas indicate the inked surface:
Cross section of printmaking mediums. Christopher Gildow. Used with permission.
Relief Printmaking
A relief print, such as a woodcut Links to an external site. or linoleum cut, is created when the areas of the matrix (in this case a block of wood or linoleum) that are NOT part of the image, are carved away leaving the image. The printed surface is in relief from the cut away sections of the matrix, the ink is applied to the raised surface.
Once the area around the image is cut away, the surface of the pmatrix is rolled up with ink. Paper is laid over the matrix and both are run through a press, transferring the ink from the surface of the matrix to the paper. If you don't have a press, you can also print by hand by rubbing the back of the paper to transfer the ink.
The nature of the relief process can have lots of detail, however it often results in graphic images with strong contrasts. Carl Eugene Keel’s “Bar” shows the effects of a woodcut printed in black ink, all of the white has been carved away to create the image.
Carl Eugene Keel, Bar, 2006. Woodcut print on paper.
Licensed by Creative Commons
Contemporary artist Brian Reedy, shows a variety of values in his relief print by carving thin lines next to each other. When the matrix is printed (or block) is printed, optically those areas look grey. Compare the value of the clouds to the black of the shark.
Brian Reedy, Jaws, linoleum block print on rice paper, 18"x18"
Block printing Links to an external site. developed in China hundreds of years ago and was common throughout East Asia. The Japanese woodblock prints below show dynamic effects of implied motion, texture, space, values, and contrast that is created using only a few colors. Ukiyo-e Links to an external site. prints became popular outside of Japan during the 19th century and strongly influenced European artists during the Industrial Revolution.
Andō, Hiroshige, 1797-1858, Fukagawa susaki jūmantsubo, woodblock relief print
Relief printmakers can use a separate block or matrix for each color printed or, in reduction prints a single block is used, cutting away areas of color as the print develops. This method can result in a print with many colors.
Christopher Gildow, Boathouse, 2007, from the Stillaguamish Series. Reduction woodcut print
Used with permission
Intaglio prints such as etchings and drypoints, are made by incising channels into the matrix, the matrix in this case is a copper or metal plate. The artist uses a sharp instrument called a burin to create incised lines, then ink fills the incised lines below the surface to print the image. When printing, ink is applied over the whole plate and wiped away leaving ink in the channels, paper is laid over the plate and put through a press under high pressure, forcing the ink to be transferred to the paper.
Etching begins by first applying a protective wax-based coating to a thin metal plate. The artist then scratches an image with a burin through the protective coating into the surface of the metal. Once the image is complete, the plate is then submersed in a strong acid bath, the exposed lines that have been stratched in are etched into channels by the acid.
The plate is removed from the acid and the protective coating is removed from the plate. Now the bare plate is inked, wiped, and printed. The image is created from the ink that remains in the etched channels. The amount of time a plate is kept in the acid bath determines the quality of tones in the resulting print: the longer it is etched, the deeper the channels are, and the darker the tones will be.
‘Correccion’ by the Spanish master Francisco Goya shows the clear line quality etching can produce. The acid bath removes any burrs created by the initial scratching into the plate, leaving deep lines that effect the value based on the amount of lines used and the distance between them. Goya presents a fantastic image of people, animals and strange winged creatures. His work often involved biting social commentary. ‘Correccion’ is a contrast between the pious and the absurd.
Francisco Goya, Correccion, 1799. Plate 46 from Los Caprichos, Etching on paper.
Private collection, used by permission.
In drypoint, the artist creates an image by scratching the burin directly into a metal plate (usually copper) before inking and printing. The inking process is similar to etching, however a drypoint uses both the channels and burrs to create the line. Today artists also use plexi-glass, a hard clear plastic, as plates.
Characteristically these prints have strong line quality and exhibit a slightly blurred edge to the line as the result of burrs created in the process of incising the plate, similar to clumps of soil laid to the edge of a furrowed trench. A fine example of drypoint is seen in Rembrandt’s Clump of Trees with a Vista Links to an external site.. The velvety darks are created by the effect of the burred-edged lines.
There are many additional techniques associated with intaglio, including aquatint, Links to an external site. scraping, and burnishing the plate to achieve the desired result.
Planar prints like monoprints are created on the surface of the matrix without any cutting or incising. In this technique the surface of the matrix (usually a thin metal plate or Plexiglass) has the image created on the surface by applying printing ink directly to the surface. Areas of the ink can be wiped away, reapplied, or smeared to form the image. Paper is laid over the matrix, then run through a press to transfer the image to the paper.
Planar prints, monoprints (also monotypes), are the simplest and most painterly of the printing mediums. By definition monotypes and monoprints cannot be reproduced in editions. Kathryn Trigg Links to an external site.’s monotypes show how close this print medium is related to painting.
Lithography is another example of planar printmaking, developed in Germany in the late 18th century. The name comes from, “Litho” meaning “stone” and “graph” meaning “to draw”. The traditional matrix for lithography is the smooth surface of a limestone block.
Lithographic stone is on the left with the negative image. Printed positive image is on the right.
Image by Chris73. Licensed under Creative Commons.
The lithographic process is based on the fact that grease repels water. In traditional lithography, an image is created on the surface of the stone using grease pencils or wax crayons or a grease-based liquid medium called tusche Links to an external site.. The finished image is covered in a thin layer of gum arabic that includes a weak solution of nitric acid as an etching agent. The resulting chemical reaction divides the surface into two areas: the positive areas containing the image and that will repel water, and the negative areas surrounding the image that will be water receptive and hold water. In printing a lithograph, the gum arabic film is removed and the stone surface is kept moist with water so when it’s rolled up with an oil based ink the ink adheres to the positive (image) areas but not to the negative (wet) areas.
While a stone matrix is still used extensively, thin zinc plates have also been introduced to the medium. They eliminate the bulk and weight of the limestone block but provide similar surface texture and characteristics.
The process and technique of lithography creates images that are very close to drawings and are able to be reproduced in identical editions that number in the hundreds. In “A Brush for the Lead” by Currier And Ives Links to an external site. (below), a full range of shading and more linear details combine to illustrate a winter’s race down the town’s main road.
Currier and Ives, A Brush for the Lead; New York Flyers on the Snow, 1867. Lithograph
Library of Congress. Image is in the public domain.
Serigraphy, also known as Screen-printing, is a third type of planar printing medium. Screen-printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support a stencil Links to an external site. that blocks the ink. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink that can be pressed through the mesh, creating a sharp-edged image onto a substrate such as paper or fabric. A roller or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing the ink through the woven mesh in the open areas. The image below shows how a stencil’s image is created. The places where you can see through the mesh is the positive or image, the parts that are blocked are the negative or non-image areas.
Silkscreen box and stencil, Image by Meul. Licensed through Creative Commons.
In serigraphy, each color needs a separate stencil. You can watch how this process develops in the accompanying. Screen printing is an efficient way to print posters, announcements and other kinds of popular culture images. Andy Warhol Links to an external site.’s famous silk screens of use images and iconography from popular culture.
video
Links to an external site.