Printmaking Materials & Terms (ART)

Intaglio Techniques

- Engraving - Dry-point - Mezzo-tint - Etching - Aquatint - Spit-bite Aquatint

Woodcut (printmaking)

- One of the oldest and simplest forms, can be used to cut the image into a block of wood. Paper is placed over the inked block and pressed to transfer the image. - First popularized in China in the 9th century and spread to Europe in the 14th century where they became a popular medium for the mass distribution of religious and instructive imagery.

Other Techniques

- Photogravure - Lithography - Collagraph - Digital Prints - Mono-print/Mono-type - Handmade Paper

Relief Techniques

- Relief Techniques - Woodcut - Lino-cu

Stencil Techniques

- Screen-print - Po-choir

Pochoir (Printmaking)

A direct method for hand coloring through a stencil. The stencil itself is usually knife-cut from thin-coated paper, paperboard, plastic, or metal. A stencil and stencil-brush may be used to make multicolor prints or to add color passages to a print.

Collagraph (Printmaking)

A print matrix can be made from almost any assembly of materials, collaged into an image and printed either as a relief print or intaglio. Surfaces may also be textured with acrylic mediums. This technique is referred to as a Collagraph.

Stencil (Printmaking)

A process of printing through an opening in a material or a cutout design.

Serigraph, Silkscreen (Printmaking) Screen-prints

A stencil is adhered to a material (now synthetic nylon is used instead of silk) stretched tightly over a frame. The image areas are open fabric through which ink or paint is forced with a squeegee. Screenprints can be made onto almost any material.

Engraving (Printmaking)

Is a metal plate is incised with a tool called a bur-in. Great skill is required to manipulate the bur-in as it is pushed at different angles and degrees of pressure to produce a characteristic thin to thick line. Engraving techniques were used by the Greeks, Romans and Etruscan for decorating objects but were not used for printmaking until the mid 15th century in Germany.

Intaglio (Printmaking)

Is an image being cut into the surface of a plate. Traditionally the matrix is copper, zinc or other metal.

Relief (printmaking)

Relief printing is a generic term used to describe the process of printing from a raised surface where the non-image areas have been cut away. Wood and linoleum are traditional matrices used for relief printing.

Digital Prints

The computer file is sent to a digital printer. Digital files may also be used to scribe an image onto a matrix using a plotter and to cut stencils for traditional print processes.

Photogravure (Printmaking)

The metal plate is heated and dusted with a fine rosin for an aquatint ground. In a darkroom, the image is exposed from a photo positive transparency onto a sensitized gravure carbon tissue or film. This image, in turn, is transferred to the metal plate. The plate is bathed in warm water

Lithography Or Planographic (Printmaking)

The name lithography comes from the Greek words lithos meaning 'stone' and graphein 'to write.' Lithography is a chemical process invented in the late 18th century. The image is drawn on a smooth stone or plate using greasy pencils, crayons, tusche, lacquer, or synthetic materials, or sometimes by means of a photochemical or transfer process. After the image is drawn and processed with a mild etching solution, the stone or plate is dampened and ink is applied with a roller. The greasy drawn image repels the water and holds the oily ink while the rest of the stone's surface does the opposite. Printing is accomplished in a press similar to that used in intaglio processes.

Etching (Printmaking)

This process uses acid to bite an image into a metal plate that is coated with an acid-resistant ground. A sharp needle is used to scratch the image through the ground, exposing the metal. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath where the drawn marks are etched.

Dry-point (Printmaking)

a process in which marks are made on a plate using a sharp, pointed instrument. Unlike engraving. dry-point is characterized by the curl of displaced metal, called the burr, which forms as the line is cut. When inked, the burr creates a distinctive velvety appearance. This technique is usually done on soft copper plates.

Mezzo-tint (Printmaking)

beautiful but time-consuming technique, which was most popular in the 18th and 19th centuries for portraiture. In creating a mezzo-tint, first the entire metal plate is roughened by marking fine lines into the plate in all directions with a rocker. Tones are created by burnishing or scraping into the plate, working from black back to middle values and highlights thus allowing the print to have continuous tonal range.

Printmaking Techniques Source

https://www.paceprints.com/techniques

Lino-cut (printmaking)

layer of linoleum, usually mounted on a block of wood. This soft material is easily carved using knives and gouges.

Spitbite Aquatint (Printmaking)

method of painting strong acid directly onto the aquatint ground of an etching plate. Depending on the amount of time the acid is left on the plate, light to dark tones can be achieved. To control the acid application, saliva, or gum arabic can be used.

Monotype (Printmaking)

mono-print or mono-type is that no two prints are identical. monotype image is painted directly onto a smooth unaltered plate and then transferred to paper in a press. These prints are sometimes hand-colored after they are printed.