LESSON 1
The Art of Printmaking
By the second century A.D., the Chinese
had developed movable type. This made
possible the printing of text. Text printing
revolutionized long-distance communication
so that many people soon forgot about picture
printing. In art, however, picture printing—
or printmaking—remains alive and well.
STEPS
IN
PRINTMAKING
As explained in Chapter 4, all prints are
made using three basic steps. The first of
these is making the printing plate. This is a
surface onto or into which the image to be printed
is cut or carved. In preparing a plate, the artist
makes a mirror image of the final print. Next
the artist applies ink to the surface of the
plate. Often this is done with a brayer, a roller
with a handle. For a multicolor print, a separate plate is made for each color. The plates
must be carefully aligned so that the colors
appear in the correct areas. This careful matching up of plates in prints with more than one color
is called registration.
The last step is the printing. This may be
done either by hand or on a press. The surface on which the print is made is usually
paper, though other media may be used.
Figure 8–2 This drawing shows a woodcut being made.
PRINTMAKING TECHNIQUES
Despite their variety, all prints are made
using one of four basic techniques. These are
relief printing, intaglio, lithography, and
screen printing.
Relief Printing
If you have ever made a stamp print, you
have made a relief print. In relief printing,
the image to be printed is raised from a background. (See Figure 8–2.)
One popular medium used in relief printing is also the oldest—wood. Figure 8–1,
152
Chapter 8
Printmaking
Figure 8–3 Using the intaglio technique, the image is
cut or etched onto a surface with sharp tools.
Figure 8–4 Notice how delicate the
lines of the figures and objects appear in
this drypoint print.
Mary Cassatt. In the Omnibus (The Tramway).
1891. Drypoint, soft-ground, and aquatint.
36.4 26.7 cm (145⁄16 101⁄2). The National
Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Chester
Dale Collection.
which opened this chapter, is an example of
a woodblock print, or woodcut. This is one of
many nature prints the artist made.
Intaglio
A second technique for making prints is,
in a way, the reverse of relief printing.
Intaglio (in-tal-yoh) is a printmaking technique
in which the image to be printed is cut or etched
into a surface. Sharp tools with tips of different
thicknesses are used for this process (see
Figure 8–3). In intaglio, the resulting grooves,
or undercuts, are inked. Paper is then forced
into the grooves. If you touch the surface of
an intaglio print, you can feel the buildup of
the ink.
As with relief printmaking, there are
numerous intaglio techniques. One favored
by many printmakers is engraving. In
engraving, lines are scratched deep into a
metal plate with an engraving tool. Another
popular intaglio technique is etching. The
artist begins by covering the metal printing
plate with a thin protective coating. The
drawing is scratched through the coating
with an etching needle. The plate is then
given an acid bath. The lines of the drawing
are etched into the metal by the acid. The rest
of the plate is protected from the acid by the
coating. The print shown in Figure 8–4
includes three printmaking techniques: drypoint, aquatint, and soft-ground. In drypoint,
the image is simply scratched into the plate
with a sharp needle. Notice the amount of
detail the artist managed to achieve.
Lithography
Have you ever noticed that grease and
water don’t mix? This fact is at the root of lithography (lith-ahg-ruh-fee). Derived from a
Lesson 1 The Art of Printmaking
153
German word meaning “stone,” lithography
is a printmaking technique in which the image to
be printed is drawn on limestone, zinc, or aluminum with a special greasy crayon. When the
stone is dampened and then inked, the
greased area alone holds the ink. Paper is
pressed against the plate to make the print. A
print made by lithography is called a lithograph
(lith-uh-graf).
The first step in making a lithograph is
dampening the printing plate. The plate
is then inked, as shown in Figure 8–5. The
greased area containing the image alone
holds the ink. Paper is pressed against the
plate to make the print. Examine the lithograph in Figure 8–6. The work is by French
artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (ahn-ree
duh too-looz low-trek), the first artist to create posters for commercial use. Compare and
contrast the use of art elements and princi-
Figure 8–5 The illustration above shows a
lithography stone as ink is being applied with a brayer.
ples in this work and the one shown in Figure
8–8. In particular, what type of balance did
each artist use? Describe the use of color in each
artwork.
Screen Printing
You have probably used lettering stencils
at one time or another. The same basic idea is
at work in screen printing. This is a printmaking technique in which a stencil with a design
cut into it is placed over a fabric screen. (See
Figure 8–7.) Ink is forced through the part of
the screen not covered by the stencil, onto
paper or cloth to make a print. A screen print
that has been handmade by an artist is called a
serigraph (sehr-uh-graf). To make a color
serigraph, the artist makes one screen—or
plate—for each color. Some serigraphs may
have as many as 20 colors. How many colors
did the artist use to make the serigraph in
Figure 8–8?
Figure 8–6 A German actor and writer invented
lithography in 1798. It reached its zenith as an art form in the
late 1800s.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Au Moulin Rouge. 1892. Color
lithograph. 45.7 31.8 cm (18 12 1⁄2 ). Cincinnati Art
Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio. Gift of Herbert Greer French.
154
Chapter 8
Printmaking
Henri Matisse (1869–1954)
Artist Henri Matisse (ahn-ree mah-tees)
unveiled his artistic talents by chance. As a
young adult, Matisse suffered an illness that
required him to be bedridden. To pass the
time, Matisse—a law student—began to
paint. Within a decade, he had established
himself as a leading French artist. By 1905,
Matisse had developed a unique art style
that used colors in a bold new way. Throughout his career he continued to forge new
paths in art, which included printmaking.
The serigraph in Figure 8–8 was completed
toward the end of the artist’s life.
Figure 8–7 Notice the detail of a screen print. How
does it differ from the other printing plate details shown in
Figures 8–2, 8–3, and 8–5?
Figure 8–8 This image is
from a book that Matisse made
about the circus.
Henri Matisse. Jazz (Cirque). 1947.
Stencil prints in color on paper.
66.7 44.5 cm (261⁄4 171⁄2). New
Orleans Museum of Art, New
Orleans, Louisiana. Gift of Mr. and
Mrs. Fritz Bultman. 66.13. z. © 2003
Succession H. Matisse, Paris/Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Check Your
Understanding
1. Name the four main printmaking techniques.
2. Define the term registration.
3. Explain the difference between a lithograph
and a serigraph.
Lesson 1 The Art of Printmaking
155