Engravings can be done directly on an untouched piece of wood, or the artist can stain the surface of the wood first, in a darker colour, so that the areas cut away appear lighter. In order to cut around the desired motif, the artist uses a sharp knife or a V-shaped gouge (called a burin). Engravings are made using the end grain of the wood hard woods lend themselves best to this technique. Areas that the artist wishes to appear in colour on the finished impression are left ‘raised’ on the original surface of the wood, while the surrounding areas are cut away. The most common forms of relief printing are wood engraving, woodcut, and linocut.Ī wood engraving is an image made in relief, using differences in height and depth on the surface of the wooden plate to create an image. Relief printing uses the raised areas on the original plate or matrix to leave a coloured imprint on the paper/impression, while all areas that are not part of the desired motif are cut away from the plate. Dataprint, the most recent printmaking technique, is still being developed today. The silkscreen, or screen-printing, technique began as an industrial technology, and was first adopted by American artists in the 1930s as a graphic art technique. Numbering is used to limit the total number of impressions in a particular series, thereby creating a limited edition and increasing the value of each individual print. The practice of numbering prints is also relatively new. But from the middle of the last century it became possible to make reproductions of prints using photomechanical techniques and from that time on many artists have preferred to sign their prints as proof of their authenticity. Instead they signed the actual plate or matrix to mark it as their own. In the earlier centuries of printmaking, it was unusual for artists to sign their own prints. ![]() The earliest artists worked anonymously, but starting in the late 15th century the names of numerous artists are known. Over time, the variations of printmaking were used more and more frequently for the creation and reproduction of graphic images. Senefelder was a composer and playwright, and he was searching for a method that could reproduce text and musical notes more easily than the existing techniques. Starting in the 15th century, intaglio also began to be employed as a way of setting images on paper.Īlois Senefelder (1771-1834) first developed the lithography technique in 1798. Intaglio was developed as early as the Middle Ages as a way of preserving the intricate patterns created by weapon- and goldsmiths. Wood engraving was first used in Europe in the early 15th century. The Chinese were the first to use wood engraving as a way of imprinting images on textiles and after the use of paper was developed, the reproduction of images and symbols grew significantly in importance. The oldest of all the printmaking techniques is that of wood engraving, which has its roots in ancient Egypt and Babylonia, and was used throughout the Roman Empire and in China. Except for the screen-printing technique, the finished impression is always a mirror image of the motif set down on the original plate or matrix. In Planographic printing the most prominent technique is lithography, although other variations, such as monotyping and digital techniques, also fall within this group. Within intaglio printing, a few of the more common techniques are engraving, etching, mezzotint, aquatint and drypoint. The most common varieties of relief printing are wood engraving, woodcut (also called xylography), and linocut. Each of these categories again contains varying techniques. Printmaking is divided into four main categories: those of relief printing, intaglio, planographic printing and screen-printing. Whichever technique the artist chooses to use will set a stamp of individuality on their finished piece. The art of printmaking includes a variety of techniques in which the motif itself can be set down on the matrix in differing ways. In order to create multiple prints within an edition, the artist needs to work carefully with the printing press or other media to ensure that the process of colouring and printing can be repeated in exactly the same way for each new impression. ![]() The matrix is fashioned from a piece of wood, stone, metal or other material. Each impression is an imprint made on paper from an original image placed on what is called a plate or matrix. Each of these prints, also called an impression, is considered an original artwork in itself even if it is one of a series of identical prints, also called an edition or limited edition. It is an art form in which multiple copies can be made of the same image or motif. Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing. TECHNIQUES OF PRINTMAKING What is Printmaking?
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