Collection Publications: Printmaking

Printmaking: Terms and Techniques

INTAGLIO PRINTING

In intaglio printing, an inked impression is made from a design that has been etched, scratched, or engraved into a metal plate. The surface of the plate is covered with printer's ink that is pressed into the recessed lines, and then wiped clean, leaving ink only in the intaglio, or groove. The plate is then laid on the press bed, covered with a sheet of dampened paper, and passed through the press. The dampened paper is pressed down into the groove to pick up the ink, resulting in a reversed impression of the plate. Etching A metal plate is coated with a thin layer of a waxy ground, through which the image is drawn with a pointed metal stylus to expose the bare metal below. The plate is then immersed in an acid solution bath that bites into the exposed metal. After a period of time, the plate is removed, washed, and inspected by the artist, who can then cover parts of the plate with an acid-resisting varnish, redraw, and return the plate to the acid bath.The deeper the lines have been etched, the darker they will print. Aquatint An etching technique that creates areas of tone through the use of powdered acid-resistant resin that is sprinkled on the etching plate prior to being bitten by the etching acid. The result is a finely textured tonal area whose darkness is determined by how long the plate is immersed in the acid. Spit bite A variant of the aquatint method in which nitric acid is applied directly to the etching plate with a diluted brush, giving an effect similar to watercolor washes. Drypoint The design is worked directly into the metal plate with a pointed stylus that scratches the image into the surface, carving out a thin line, and raising a slight burr along its edge. The plate is rubbed with ink that collects both in the lines and in the burr, producing a soft velvety quality to the drawn lines. Sugar lift Also called a lift-ground technique, this is a method in which the artist draws on the plate with a solution of usually half ink and half sugar. Once the solution dries, the entire plate is coated with varnish; the plate is then rinsed in warm water, causing the sugar to dissolve and pull the varnish away from the drawn lines. The drawn area, now exposed, is then etched with acid (often after an aquatint treatment of the areas to produce tone). __RELIEF PRINTING__ In relief printing, an inked impression is made from a design that stands in relief above the rest of the block (or plate), which has been cut away. Ink is applied to the raised surface of the block, and is transferred to paper by applying vertical pressure. Woodcut The surface of a flat block of wood carved in relief with a knife so that the lines and shapes of the image that will print are left intact, and the empty open areas of the design are cut away.The entire surface is then inked with a roller, and a sheet of paper is placed on top and run through the press. __PLANOGRAPHIC (OR SURFACE) PRINTING__ The process of printing from a surface on which the printing areas are not raised but are ink-receptive. Lithography Invented in the late 1790s,lithography ("drawing in stone") is based on the antipathy between grease and water. The process consists of drawing with greasy ink or crayon on a polished limestone block that is then moistened so that ink, when rolled on to the dampened stone, adheres only where the drawing was done. With transfer lithography, the image is drawn directly on a sheet of specially treated paper, and then transferred onto the stone for printing. For color lithography, the artist uses a separate stone or plate for each color required. Offset lithography The image is transferred from the inked lithographic plate to a rubber-covered cylinder. From the cylinder, the image is deposited onto the paper. In the course of these two transfers, the image is reversed twice so that its final orientation corresponds to that of the lithographic plate. Photolithography A form of lithography in which light-sensitive plates or stones are exposed to a photographic image. __STENCIL__ Any printmaking technique that allows a design to be repeated by rubbing, brushing, or spraying pigment through holes cut in a sheet of moisture-proof material. Screenprinting Also referred to as "silk screen" and "serigraphy," this is a form of stencil printing in which the stencil is adhered to a fine screen for support. Liquid ink is poured along the top edge of the screen, which is placed over a sheet of paper, and the ink is pulled down the entire length with a rubber squeegee. The ink is forced through the open areas of the mesh onto the paper below. Pochoir A stencil print that does not involve a screen. Pigment is brushed by hand across openings in the stencil,and the brushmarks are sometimes visible. -- FURTHER READING Gascoigne, Bamber. How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Processes from Woodcut to Ink-jet. New York, 1986. Griffiths, Antony. Prints and Printmaking: An Introduction to the History and Techniques. Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1996. Hults,Linda C. The Print in the Western World: An Introductory History. Madison, 1996. Ivins, William M.,Jr. How Prints Look: Photographs with Commentary. Rev.and exp. ed. Boston,i987. Lambert,Susan. Prints: Art and Techniques. London, 2001. Tallman, Susan. The Contemporary Print: From Pre-Pop to Postmodern. London, 1996.