Printmaking History Relief (Woodcut, Wood Engraving, Linocut) Intaglio (Engraving, Etching, Drypoint, Mezzotint, Aquatint) Lithography Silkscreen/Screenprinting Monotypes
Print = a work of art made up of ink on paper and existing in multiples. It is created not by drawing directly on paper, but through an indirect transfer process. Printmaking = The indirect transfer processes through which an artist makes a print. Mass distribution of ideas Popularization of iconographic traditions Shared visual culture
Began in China with the Diamond Sutra (Ink on paper, 868 CE)
Pi Sheng Invented moveable type printing press in China, 1045 CE Johannes Gutenberg Invented the first moveable type printing press in the west, 1435-1455 Published the Fourty-Two Line Bible (better known today as the Gutenberg Bible) in 1455
Fun Fact: the creation of wine press lead to the printing press
The Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Woodcuts and Wood Engravings for imagery (such as this) in book and newspapers
An historical recreation of early printmaking Gutenberg s invention of mechanical movable type printing started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period
Mass production and distribution industrialism and post-industrialism. Printmaking allows artists to investigate the means of reproducing imagery, and gives them ownership of the means of production. Art is expensive prints are accessible to a much broader audience. Here we see the democratization of art!
Matrix = The printing surface whatever is used, with ink, to hold the image that makes up the print. The surface upon which a design has been created. Ex: a metal plate, a wood block, or plexiglass Burin = A carving tool used in a number of printmaking processes
Original Print = One created by an artist, and printed by or under supervision from the artist Juxaposed to this would be prints of famous artworks that are NOT made by the original artist. Edition = Multiple impressions made from the same matrix. Editions can be any number of prints from 2 to 2 million! Editions will be numbered numbers of editions are in the bottom right or left corner of a print.
5 Printmaking Processes Relief (Woodcut, Wood Engraving, Linocut) Intaglio (Engraving, Etching, Drypoint, Mezzotint, Aquatint) Lithography Silkscreen/Screenprinting Monotypes
Relief = Raised printing surface Intaglio = Carved printing surface Lithography, Silkscreen/Screenprinting, and Monotypes = Flat printing surface (Planographic)
For this class, we will focus on Relief Printing and Screenprinting Relief printing is the oldest printmaking process Screenprinting is the newest printmaking printing Please note: You will NOT be tested on intaglio, monotype, or lithography
Relief Printing Relief = The area to be printed is raised from the surface of the matrix. (Stamps are a good example of a relief printing process). Matrix = Wood or Linoleum Use a Burin to cut negative space out of the wood block area to be printed remains raised. Woodcut, Wood Engraving, Linocut Raised parts are inked and the wood block is rolled through a press - the ink sticks to paper to make a positive image.
Woodcut First printing process Uses smooth side of a wood block Great contrast between light and dark https://www.yout ube.com/watch?v =mgcyovlfrny
Wood Engraving Similar to woodcuts, but uses the grainy end of a section of wood instead of the smooth side of a board. No splintering when you cut: more detail, carve in any direction. J. W. Powell, Noon-Day Rest in Marble Canyon, Wood engraving, 6 ½ x 4 3/8 in, 1875.
Linocut Matrix = linoleum Softer than wood: easier to cut but wears out faster when printing. Cyril E. Power, The Tube Train, Color Linocut, 12 5/16 x 12 11/16 in, 1934
Silkscreen Printing Silkcreen (Serigraph) = Fabric is stretched over a wooden or metal frame, and a stencil is used to block out the negative space* of an image. (*this is the space that will be blank no ink) Matrix = Silk A squeegee is used to push ink through the screen onto fabric or paper to make a positive image. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sdzcs7cm 5I (2:15)
Peter Halley, Exploding Cell, Screenprints, each 36 ½ x 47 1/8 in, 1994
Pop art Andy Warhol
Shepard Fairey (obey) screenprint