Unlike paintings or drawings, prints exist in multiple examples. They are created by drawing a composition not on paper but on another surface, and transferring the composition to paper. This is done by placing a sheet of paper on the drawn surface and running it through a press, or, depending on the technique, by pressing the paper onto the surface by hand. Numerous "impressions" can be made by printing new pieces of paper in the same way. The total number impressions an artist decides to make for any one image is called an edition. Each impression in an edition is signed and numbered by the artist. Each of the various methods of printmaking yields a distinct appearance, and the artist will choose a technique in order to achieve a specific desired affect. Since some printing techniques are quiet complicated, many artists use professional printers to create the final work. There are five principal printmaking techniques: relief printing, intaglio printing, lithography, screenprinting and monotypes.
Relief Printing
In this technique, the artist sketches a composition on a wood block or other surface and then cuts away pieces from the surface, leaving only the composition raised. Ink is then applied to the surface with a roller and transferred onto paper with a press or by hand burnishing or rubbing. Relief prints are characterized by bold dark-light contrasts. The primary relief techniques are woodcut, wood engraving and linocut.
Woodcut is the earliest and most enduring print technique. While first seen in ninth-century China, Western artists have made woodcut prints for centuries.
Wood engraving is made from the end-grain surface of blocks. This surface has no grain and affords great precision and detail.
Linocut is printed from linoleum, usually backed with wood for reinforcement. The printed surface has less texture than in a woodcut because of the supple nature of linoleum. The material takes all types of lines, but is most suited to large designs with contrasting tints.
Intaglio Printing
Intaglio comes from the Italian word intagliare, meaning "to incise." In intaglio printing, an image is incised with a pointed tool or "bitten" with acid into a metal plate, usually copper or zinc. The plate is covered with ink, and then cleaned so that only the incised grooves contain ink. The plate and dampened paper are run through a press to create the print. Usually, the plate is smaller than the paper, so that the impression of the plate, or the platemark, remains on the paper. When a limited edition of impressions has been printed, the plate is usually defaced with gouges or holes to ensure that it can not be used again. The intaglio family includes engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, etching and aquatint.
Engraving uses a plate that has been marked or incised with a tool called a burin. As the burin moves across the plate, copper shavings, called burr are forced to either side of the lines being created, and are usually cleaned from the plate before printing. An engraved line has a sharp and clean appearance.
Drypoint prints are created by scratching a drawing on the plate with a needle. The incised lines of a drypoint are shallower than those of an etching, and in this technique the burr is not scraped away before printing. The result is characterized by heavier, softer-looking lines than those in an engraving.
Etching begins with a metal plate (usually copper) that has been coated with a waxy substance called a "ground." The artist creates the composition by drawing through the ground to expose the metal. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath, which bites or chemically dissolves the exposed lines. For printing, the ground is removed, ink is introduced into the incised lines, and the plate is wiped clean.
The plate is covered with dampened paper and run through a press under great pressure in order to force the paper into the lines, resulting in the raised characteristics of etching.
Aquatint is an etching process in which the artist is concerned with tone rather than line. For this technique, a plate is covered with particles of acid-resistant material such as resin and heated to make the particles stick. The treated plate is then placed in an acid bath, which bites into the copper that is exposed between the grains of resin, yielding a composition marked by texture and tone.
Lithography
To make a lithograph the artist uses a greasy medium such as a crayon or tusche to create a composition on a stone or plate. The surface is then dampened with water, which is repelled by the greasy areas, sticking only to the sections of the plate that have not been marked by the artist. Next, the printer's ink is applied to the plate with a roller. This, in turn, sticks only to the greasy sections, as the water protects the rest of the plate. The stone is then covered with paper and run through a printing press to create the print.
Screenprinting
Screenprinting does not require a printing press. To make a screenprint, an image that has been cut out of a material such as paper or fabric is attached to a piece of tautly stretched mesh. Paint is then forced through the mesh, or screen, onto a sheet of paper below by means of a squeegee. The uncovered areas of the screen will, of course, allow the paint to pass through, while the areas covered by the compositional shapes will not. For works with more than one color, a separate screen is required for each color.
Monotype/Monoprint
As their names imply, monoprints or monotypes are prints that have an edition of a single impression. The artist creates a composition on a smooth surface, which is then covered with dampened paper and run through a printing press or rubbed with the back of a spoon or with another tool.
F.L. Braswell Fine Art, 73 East Elm Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611, Phone 312-636-4399, flbparis@msn.com
