LESSONLESSON 11 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 sepa- rate plate is made for each color. The plates Figure 8–2 This drawing shows a woodcut being made. must be carefully aligned so that the colors appear in the correct areas. This careful match- ing 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 sur- face on which the print is made is usually paper, though other media may be used. 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 back- Figure 8–3 Using the intaglio technique, the image is ground. (See Figure 8–2.) cut or etched onto a surface with sharp tools. One popular medium used in relief print- ing is also the oldest—wood. Figure 8–1, 152 Chapter 8 Printmaking 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. 5 1 36.4 ϫ 26.7 cm (14 ⁄16 ϫ 10 ⁄2). The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Chester Dale Collection. which opened this chapter, is an example of metal plate with an engraving tool. Another a woodblock print, or woodcut. This is one of popular intaglio technique is etching. The many nature prints the artist made. artist begins by covering the metal printing plate with a thin protective coating. The Intaglio drawing is scratched through the coating A second technique for making prints is, with an etching needle. The plate is then in a way, the reverse of relief printing. given an acid bath. The lines of the drawing Intaglio (in-tal-yoh) is a printmaking technique are etched into the metal by the acid. The rest in which the image to be printed is cut or etched of the plate is protected from the acid by the into a surface. Sharp tools with tips of different coating. The print shown in Figure 8–4 thicknesses are used for this process (see includes three printmaking techniques: dry- Figure 8–3). In intaglio, the resulting grooves, point, aquatint, and soft-ground. In drypoint, or undercuts, are inked. Paper is then forced the image is simply scratched into the plate into the grooves. If you touch the surface of with a sharp needle. Notice the amount of an intaglio print, you can feel the buildup of detail the artist managed to achieve. the ink. As with relief printmaking, there are Lithography numerous intaglio techniques. One favored Have you ever noticed that grease and by many printmakers is engraving. In water don’t mix? This fact is at the root of lith- engraving, lines are scratched deep into a ography (lith-ahg-ruh-fee). Derived from a Lesson 1 The Art of Printmaking 153 German word meaning “stone,” lithography ples in this work and the one shown in Figure is a printmaking technique in which the image to 8–8. In particular, what type of balance did be printed is drawn on limestone, zinc, or alu- each artist use? Describe the use of color in each minum with a special greasy crayon. When the artwork. stone is dampened and then inked, the greased area alone holds the ink. Paper is Screen Printing pressed against the plate to make the print. A You have probably used lettering stencils print made by lithography is called a lithograph at one time or another. The same basic idea is (lith-uh-graf). at work in screen printing. This is a print- The first step in making a lithograph is making technique in which a stencil with a design dampening the printing plate. The plate cut into it is placed over a fabric screen. (See is then inked, as shown in Figure 8–5. The Figure 8–7.) Ink is forced through the part of greased area containing the image alone the screen not covered by the stencil, onto holds the ink. Paper is pressed against the paper or cloth to make a print. A screen print plate to make the print. Examine the litho- that has been handmade by an artist is called a graph in Figure 8–6. The work is by French serigraph (sehr-uh-graf). To make a color artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (ahn-ree serigraph, the artist makes one screen—or duh too-looz low-trek), the first artist to cre- plate—for each color. Some serigraphs may ate posters for commercial use. Compare and have as many as 20 colors. How many colors contrast the use of art elements and princi- did the artist use to make the serigraph in Figure 8–8? Figure 8–5 The illustration above shows a lithography stone as ink is being applied with a brayer. 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 1 lithograph. 45.7 ϫ 31.8 cm (18 ϫ 12 ⁄2Љ). 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.Through- out 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. 1 1 66.7 ϫ 44.5 cm (26 ⁄4 ϫ 17 ⁄2Љ). 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.