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Overview
Printmaking is a process for making multiples. This does not
mean reproductions or copies, rather it means creation of artworks
that incorporate the possibilities inherent in making more
than one of something. Just as the recording of music allows
mixing of tracks and the editing of elements, so printmaking
deals with visual arts.
There are many variations within print media. Most are extensions
of drawing, but some are sculptural in nature and others are
closer to collage or stencil.
Etching and Engraving:
When etching or engraving artists can make lines with wide
variations through simple techniques. Both are intaglio techniques
meaning that a plate is developed with textures, recessed lines,
or embossment that is inked and then wiped clean. Each, edge
or change of surface captures ink when the plate is wiped and
smooth areas produce white areas. Moist paper is forced into
the plate and extracts the image areas from textures or recessed
areas. The ink on a printed engraving or etching stands up,
embossed, by the printing process.
Look closely at a dollar bill and you will see that the ink
has thickness. Bills are engraved on steel so there is very
little depth but it is all recorded on paper. Students work
on copper which is much softer than steel and allows deeper
engraving and great richness in the resulting prints.
Woodcut or Relief Printmaking:
Relief printing is the opposite of intaglio. Rather than print
the lower parts of the surface, the image is determined by
carving away the white (non-printing areas.) The top surface
of the printing element is rolled with ink and the lower portions
are left clean. Usually the resulting print has crisp edges
and clean whites.
Like other print media there are variations in relief printing.
Japanese techniques require that the ink be spread on the block
with brushes rather than rollers. The handling of paper and
moisture content of every working surface are critical to success
in this traditional process.
Lithography:
In contrast to both intaglio and relief printmaking, lithography
is a chemical printing process. The image is determined by
the inability of water and oil to mix.
Originally invented with a limestone printing base, the process
has evolved to include printing from aluminum, mylar, and even
silicone. New products enable prints to be made directly from
laser printed mylar surfaces.
Stone lithography is the easiest to understand. Limestone can
absorb both grease (oil) and water. But looking at a driveway
after a rainstorm will show you that oil repels water. Fortunately,
the reverse is also true. Thus, an artist can draw on limestone
with grease based crayons and, after moistening the surface,
grease based ink can be rolled onto the drawing. This ink can
then be transferred under pressure to paper.
Silkscreen:
Many years ago the Japanese invented a stencil process in which
ink was forced through holes cut in paper. Stencils require
a strategy for retaining the “center of a doughnut.” That
is, shapes within shapes need to be held in place while the
artwork is inked. The first solution to this was human hair
glued across the various loose shapes. Elegant stencils incorporating
paper and hair were eventually replaced by woven silk mesh
and paper or other stencil materials that allow the artist
to create complex shapes.
Silkscreen has evolved into a process used both commercially
and artistically. It allows printing on a variety of surfaces
and is an economical way of putting rich layers of color onto
paper. New water-based inks and stencil processes make the
medium one of the safest ways to make multiples.