Ch. 10 Printmaking
A print is an image or design printed from an engraved plate, wooden block, or similar surface. Sayre p. 212 Thus, many copies of the image can be reproduced which allows ideas to be disseminated in a way that that is not possible with original drawings and paintings.
Different Types of Printmaking - woodblock (earliest type) - engraving - etching - lithography - screen print
Woodblock Text
Earliest example of printmaking found in China in 9th century CE The figure at the center is Buddha. This image is from an important Buddhist text. This is a woodblock print. Frontispiece, Diamond Sutra from Cave 17. Printed in the ninth year of the Xiantong Era of the Tang Dynasty, 868 CE.
The invention of paper and printmaking spread to Europe from China via the trading network known as the Silk Road. Paper made from trees was invented in China in the 3rd century CE.
Gutenberg Press In 1455-56, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press. This invention was one of the most significant in human history. It led to increasing rates of literacy and education. It has also been said that without the Gutenberg Bible, the Protestant Revolution would not have happened.
Johannes Gutenberg, page from Gutenberg Bible, 1455-56
Relief-printing technique. This technique is used to make woodblock prints.
Kitagawa Utamaro. The Fickle Type, from the series Ten Physiognomies of Women. c. 1793. 14 x 9 7/8 in.
Engraving
This is a wood engraving which became a popular printmaking technique in the 19th century. Similar to woodblock but finer tool allows for more detail. Thomas Moran. Noon-Day Rest in Marble Canyon, from Exploration of the Colorado River of the West by J. W. Powell. 1875. 6 1/2 x 4 3/8 in.
The difference between intaglio and relief printmaking: - Relief (woodcut, wood engraving, linocut): the ink goes on the raised portion - Intaglio (etching, engraving, drypoint): the ink goes in grooves. In most intaglio methods the original image or drawing is carved into metal instead of wood.
Intaglio printmaking technique, general view.
Intaglio printmaking techniques, side views.
After J. M. W. Turner. Snow Storm: Steamboat off a Harbor s Mouth (1842). 1891. engraving on steel.
Iconography: cat - deceit parrot - language and wisdom Four Humors: black elk - melancholy (black bile) cat - anger, cruelty (yellow bile) rabbit - sensuality (blood) ox - sloth, laziness (phlegm) Albrecht Dürer. Adam and Eve, Fourth State. 1504. 9 7/8 x 7 5/8 in.
Etching
Rembrandt van Rijn. The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds. 1634. 10 1/4 x 8 1/2 in., etching
Etching The metal plate where the original drawing or image is made is coated in wax. The artists makes the drawing by engraving into the wax. The plate is dipped into acid. The acid eats away the unexposed part of the metal plate (where the drawing is.) The was on the rest of plate protects it from the acid. Etching allows for more detail than the previously discussed methods.
Lithography
Lithography - Lith = stone - Graph = writing or drawing - Lithography = drawing on stone This type of printmaking became popular in the late 18th - early 19th century among illustrators for newspapers. The original drawing or image is made with a greasy crayon on a stone. The technique allows for detail and more freedom than engraving.
Honoré Daumier. Rue Transnonain, April 15, 1834. 1834. 11 1/2 x 17 5/8 in.
Screenprinting This is the type of printmaking used on t-shirts. Uses stencils to create shapes and images and letters.
Peter Halley. Exploding Cell. 1994. (each): 36 1/2 x 47 1/8 in.
Andy Warhol. Marilyn Monroe. 1967. 37 1/2 x 37 1/2 in.
Andy Warhol. San Francisco Silverspot, from the Endangered Species series. 1983. 38 x 38 in.
Need to know for Quiz: - When and where did printmaking originate? - How is printmaking different from painting and drawing? Why is this important? - What was the Gutenberg Press? When was it invented? Why is it significant? - What is the difference between relief and intaglio printing? - Explain the process of Etching.