Grafiikanpaja Himmelblau

Printmaking - terminology

Art graphics is art printed from a plate. After the plate is made, it goes through a multi-step printing process. The resulting impression is a mirror image of the picture on the plate.

Printmaking techniques are divided into relief, intaglio and planograph techniques. The original plate can be of wood, linoleum, limestone, copper, zinc or plastic film. The plate to be proofed is coated with printing ink and the image is transferred to paper by running it through a printing press. The finished artworks are called proofs or prints, and the process is known as printmaking.

Relief printing includes woodcut, wood engraving (xylography), frottage and linocut.

Woodcut is the most popular relief printing method. The artist carves an image on the side grain (along the grain) of a block of wood with various chisels, knives and burins. A commonly used material for plates is plywood. The pattern of the wood grain gives the image a lively textural effect. When the plate is finished, it is inked with a roller (brayer). Oil paint is commonly used. The ink stays in areas that have not been carved away. Woodcuts can be printed either by applying pressure by hand or by running the plate through a printing press.

Japanese woodcut uses water-soluble colours and the colour is applied on th! e plate with bristled brushes. The image is transferred onto paper by applying pressure with a baren.

In wood engraving, the image is worked on the end grain of the wood with various engraving tools called gravers. Because the wood is hard, this method enables the creation of highly detailed and precise images. This method has been widely implemented in book illustrations and in periodicals.

A frottage is created when, for example, a paper is placed on top of a coin and a pencil is rubbed across its surface to obtain the impression.

The oldest artworks printed on silk date back to the ancient Chinese Han dynasty over 2Ê000 years ago. After the invention of paper (105 AD), wood! cut displaced frottage.

In linocut, the plate is made from plastic-like, pliable linoleum, and the printed impressions are more uniform than in woodcut.

In intaglio techniques (line etching, aquatint, drypoint, mezzotint, soft ground etching, heliogravure etc.), the image is made up of various incisions on a plate. Because the plates are usually metal, the terms intaglio and metal graphics are often used synonymously. Intaglio techniques are divided into two main categories: etching techniques and mechanical techniques.

In etching, an image is worked on a plate that has been coated with an acid-resistant ground! . The image is bitten into the plate with acid, usually ferric chloride. The longer the plate is exposed to acid, the deeper it will cut the incisions, resulting in a darker printed impression.

In mechanical techniques (drypoint, copper engraving), an image is created on the plate by breaking its surface with a burin or a sharp point. The surface can also be roughened with appropriate tools.

When the plate is finished, it is coated with printing ink, which holds even to the smallest of incisions. Excess ink is then wiped off, first with a tarlatan cloth and finally with tissue paper or the edge of the palm. Finally only the incisions will contain ink.

To print the image, a mechanical or electric intaglio press is needed. The plate is placed image upwards on the bedplate of the press. A sheet of dampened intaglio printing paper is placed on top, and they are run through the print! ing press. When the dampened paper is forced into the incisions, the ink is pulled out and the image is transferred on paper. The plate leaves an impression called a platemark on the paper.

Printing a picture with several colours requires several plates. The plates need to be aligned with each other in exact registration. Each plate is then printed individually on top of the previous one on the same sheet of paper.

The term planograph is usually used of lithography, where the plate is of porous limestone. An image is drawn on the plate with a greasy crayon or tusche. The stone is then t! reated1 with a nitric acid -rich gum arabic solution. The greasiness of the drawing medium saves the image from corrosion. After this treatment, the wetted stone is rolled up with oily printing ink, which adheres only to the greasy parts (the image). A sheet of dampened paper is then placed on top of the stone and the tight embrace of the printing press transfers the image on paper. In offset lithography, the material of the plate is usually aluminium or zinc. Planography includes also serigraphy (silk screening).

A wet print is dried either by fixing it on a flat surface by its edges or by stacking it with absorbent paper for example in a plant press. After the print is entirely dry and flattened, the artist adds his or her customary markings: title, signature and year.

In Finland, signing and titling prints became more common in the 1930s. Until the 1970s, an unwritten rule stated that according to demand, a maximum of 99 prints could be taken. A buyer could never know how many prints the artist would eventually take.

In 1973, professional printmakers decided that the total size of an edition should be stated in every print belonging to it. The size of the editions varies, and is defined for example by the durability of the plates. Independent of the actual edition, it is possible to take a certain number of artistÕs proofs and proofs that are ! not put up for sale.