Fine Art Printmaking The different processes of printmaking LITHOGRAPHY - The process of lithography, developed in the 18th century, comes from the Greek words "Litho" meaning stone and "Graphein" meaning to draw. Although traditionally Lithographs were created on limestone, Frank Howell, a leading Santa Fe artist, has discovered many new space-age materials that are more consistent than the original ones that were designed in the 18th century. - Many of todays artists use the mylar-toaluminum plating process, which is a relatively new way to render original creations, with the collaboration of a master printer. The technique involves the use of dear mylar as the artist's working surface. Mylar is a semi-translucent plastic material of varying thickness, with the drawing surface being grained from very fine to heavy, at the artist's discretion. A "key"' drawing is made on one sheet of mylar with stabilo pencils, and color plates, one for each color to be used in the lithograph, are drawn from this key by the artist. Each drawing may be used as a positive or negative image for the plating. Once it is exposed and developed onto light-sensitive plates, the mylar may be stored, carried, or shipped easily. - In the actual printing, the master printer prepares the inks (colors and viscosity) and the plates as well as the surface of the paper. The press is a precision made, Swiss manufactored, motor driven machine that is hand controlled. All aspects of the printing are overseen by the master printer. Once completed, the mylar drawings are defaced and the plates destroyed. - The result is a fine art, museum quality print. Each is an original work of art in a numbered edition.. ETCHINGS - A metal plate is coated by material which resists acid, called a ground. The artist then draws his design on the ground with a sharp needle which removes the ground where the needle touches the plate. When the plate is put in an acid bath, these exposed parts will receive the ink. The plate, in contact with damp paper, is passed through a roller press arid the paper is forced into the sunken area to receive the ink. The artist etches on the plate those parts which will appear in the finished print as black or colored areas. White areas are left untouched. Depth of tone is controlled by the depth of the etch. The etching Intaglio process became widely used in the latter half of the 15th century. SERIGRAPHS - The terms serigraph, silk screen, and silk print are synonyms for prints made by a stencil method. The basic components of the screen print are the stencil, the screen, and the squeegee. The artist prepares a tightly stretched screen, usually of silk or mylar, and blocks out areas not to be printed by filling up the mesh of the screen with a varnish-like substance. Paper is placed under the screen and with the squeegee, ink is forced through the still-open mesh onto the paper. Each color is applied separately. The process was developed in the 19th century. GICLEE - Giclee (gee-clay), from the French "a spraying of ink," is a recently developed form of digital printmaking, Fine art giclees most often begin with an original painting that is photographed by a digital camera and input into a computer. All the manipulation of the image, color corrections and other necessary procedures are done in the computer with specially designed software. The reproduction is then printed on a four-color Iris Ink Jet Printer. The process can achieve millions of colors, most of which appear brighter than the colors of offset reproductions. The reproduction of delicate pastel colors is particularly outstanding with this advanced technology; a giclee of a transparent watercolor original can rival the original. - Early problems with digital fine art printmaking-- specifically, the instability of the inks used have been resolved. The ability of the giclee process to reproduce prints with a high level of consistency over a long period of time makes it a desirable method for original art reproduction. - Giclee prints should be treated like any other work of art on paper. Prints should be protected from moisture and exposure to direct sunlight. GOUACHE - Gouache is an opaque watercolor, but unlike watercolor which is little more than a colored, stain on paper, gouache has a definite thickness which creates an actual paint layer. This thickness is achieved by using a larger percentage of ground pigmentation than is used in watercolor. The addition of chalk or blanc fixe improves the color and textural effects and creates the opacity that is the primary distinction between watercolors and gouache . - Gousache paints have total hiding power, and do not become progressively transparent with age as oil paintings have a tendency to do. - Unlike transparent watercolors and translucent tempera paints, gouache does not depend on a highly reflective white ground for its brilliant and luminosity. It is most often used when colors are in a high chromatic key or in strong contrasts of color values. MONOTYPES - Monotypes are pulled impressions that are drawn or painted on a metal or plexiglass plate. The images are created through applications of ink that are rolled, brushed, daubed or otherwise manipulated. Then the material- usually paper - that is to accept the impression is "pulled" with the use of a press. - Monotypes are inherently unique because only one or two impressions may be pulled before the ink is used up. Although there may be a second impression, it is quite different from the first in that most of the ink was lifted from the plate in its first pass through the press. The second impression, called a ghost or cognate, is much lighter or thinner and is more of a suggestion of the first. Each pulled impression may be considered a finished work or it may be further enhanced by the application of additional drawing or color. - The technical knowledge to create monotypes existed as early as the 15th Century. The greatest innovator of the medium the 19th century was Edgar Degas. His perception and sense of experimentation gave other artists insight into the color, light and spontaneity unique to the monotype. COLLAGRAPHS - A CoIlagraph is a print made from a collage plate. The plate is created by attaching other materials such as cardboard, aluminum, string, sand, etc. with the use of glue, acrylic or paste. Dampened paper on top of the inked plate is run through the press. The resulting impression is that of embossing as well as printing. The process of Collagraphy combines texturing with the laying down of ink. The Difference Between a Monotype and a Monoprint A monoprint is one of a series, therefore not entirely unique .A monoprint begins with an etched plate, serigraph, or lithograph. This underlying image remains the same and is common to each print in a given series. Other means of adding pigment or design are then employed to make each print in the series slightly different. The series of monoprints has a limited number of prints and each is numbered. A monotype, is one of a kind, a unique piece of artwork. It is the simplest form of printmaking, requiring only pigments, a surface on which to apply them, paper, and some form of press. The qualities which make the monotype unique as a medium are its freedom, flexibility, and spontaneity of application. Original Prints Original prints, or multiple originals are works of art which have been hand-pulled from a plate, block, or stone upon which an image was placed through various techniques by the artist, with the printing assistance of a Master Printer. They are not copies of work that an artist created in another medium, such as oil or watercolor. Original prints are created by the artist with the intention of being an 'EDITION' of original prints rather than one unique piece. Multiple origlna1s are handsigned and numbered by the artist in pencil.