Transcript Four Types of Printmaking - Visual Arts Penetanguishene

Four Types of
Printmaking
There are four main types
of printmaking. The
process and materials of
these techniques
influence the appearance
of the final print.
The Four Types of
Printmaking are:
1. Relief Printing
2. Intaglio (engraving)
3. Planography (lithography)
4. Stencil (Serigraphy)
1. RELIEF PRINTING
Mount Fuji, from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, color
woodcut by Katsushika Hokusai
This is printing from a
raised surface. A simple
example of relief
printing is a rubber
stamp pressed into a
stamp pad and pressed
onto a piece of paper.
Relief Printing Plates
The basic concept of relief
printing, where A: The block, or
matrix, and B: The paper. Note
that the thickness of the ink is
greatly exaggerated for
illustrative purposes.
are made from flat sheets of
material such as wood,
linoleum, cardboard,
Styrofoam, etc.
After drawing a picture on the
surface, the artist uses tools to
cut away the areas that will not
print or builds up the surface
that will print.
Relief Printing Tools
A roller - called a brayer - is used to
spread ink on the plate. A sheet of
paper is placed on top of the plate
and the image is transferred by
rubbing with the hand or by being
run through a a printing press.
The completed print is a mirror
image of the original plate.
2. INTAGLIO
This describes prints that are made by cutting
the picture into the surface of the printing
plate.
Using a sharp V-shaped tool - called a burin the printmaker gouges the lines of an image
into the surface of a smooth polished sheet
of metal (copper or zinc) or in some cases a
piece of Plexiglas.
These types of incisions are created by
etching, engraving, dry point, aquatint or
mezzotint.
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Etching is the process of using
strong acid or mordant to cut into
the unprotected parts of a metal
surface to create a design in
intaglio in the metal
Engraving is the practice of incising a
design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by
cutting grooves into it.
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Dry point -in which an image is incised
into a plate (or "matrix") with a hardpointed "needle" of sharp metal or
diamond point. Like etching, dry point is
easier for an artist trained in drawing to
master than engraving, as the technique
of using the needle is closer to using a
pencil than the engraver's burin.
Intaglio Printing
Depressions are cut into a printing plate. The plate
shown here is not to scale: the grooves can be
fractions of a millimeter wide
To make a print, ink is pushed into the
lines of the design. The surface is
then wiped clean so that the only
areas with ink are the lines.
A sheet of paper which has been
soaked in water is then placed on
the plate which is run through a
printing press.
The plate is covered in ink
The ink is wiped off the surface of the plate, but remains in the
grooves
Paper is placed on the plate and compressed, such as by
a heavy roller
The paper is removed, and the ink has been transferred from the plate
to the paper
3. PLANOGRAPHY
As we have just learned,
relief prints are created from
a raised surface, and
intaglio prints are created
from a cut surface.
Planography however, is the
printing of a flat surface.
Planography - Lithography
Lithography is the art
of printing from a flat
stone or metal plate
by a method based
on the simple fact
that grease attracts
grease as it repels
water.
Planography Lithography Printing
In Lithography an image is
drawn on the surface with a
greasy material - grease
crayon - and then water and
printing ink are applied. The
greasy parts absorb the ink
and the wet parts do not.
4. STENCIL
A stencil is a sheet of paper,
fabric, plastic, metal or other
material with designs cut, or
punched from it.
Ink is forced through the
openings onto the surface to
be printed.
STENCIL:
Serigraphy
(Seri means silk)
Serigraphy, sometimes
called silk screening, is a
type of stencil printing.
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A. Printing Ink
B. Squeegee -45 degree angle
C. Stencil image
D. Stretched Silk or printing mesh
E. Wooden Frame
F. transferred image
STENCIL: Serigraphy
A stencil is fastened to a sheet of
silk which is tightly stretched
across a wooden frame. The
frame is placed against the
material to be printed. A
squeegee is used to push the
ink through the open areas
onto the material or paper
below.
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A related technique (which has found applicability in some surrealist
compositions) is aerographic, in which spray-painting is done around a
three-dimensional object. This technique is comparable to the
paintings in caves dating over +10,000BC, where hands were used to
create hand print outlines amongst other artwork, such as paintings of
animals. The artist would spray pigment around his hand with his
mouth. A hollow bone or reed may have also been employed to direct
the stream of pigment.
Also called: Airbrush