Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper.

Printmaking
normally covers only the process of creating prints that have an element of originality, rather than
just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the
process is capable of producing multiples of the same piece, which is called a print. Each print
produced is not considered a "copy" but rather is considered an "original". This is because
typically each print varies to an extent due to variables intrinsic to the printmaking process, and
also because the imagery of a print is typically not simply a reproduction of another work but
rather is often a unique image designed from the start to be expressed in a particular printmaking
technique.
A print may be known as an impression. Printmaking (other than monotyping) is not chosen
only for its ability to produce multiple impressions, but rather for the unique qualities that each of
the printmaking processes lends itself to.
Prints are created by transferring ink from a matrix or through a prepared screen to a sheet of
paper or other material. Common types of matrices include: metal plates, usually copper or zinc,
or polymer plates for engraving or etching; stone, aluminum, or polymer for lithography; blocks of
wood for woodcuts and wood engravings; and linoleum for linocuts. Screens made of silk or
synthetic fabrics are used for the screenprintingprocess. Other types of matrix substrates and
related processes are discussed below.
Multiple impressions printed from the same matrix form an edition. Since the late 19th century,
artists have generally signed individual impressions from an edition and often number the
impressions to form a limited edition; the matrix is then destroyed so that no more prints can be
produced. Prints may also be printed in book form, such as illustrated books or artist's books.

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/printmaking.htm

Printmaking
Techniques, History, Printmakers

The fine art of printmaking is concerned with the production of images by varying
methods of replication onto paper, parchment, fabric or other supports. The resulting
fine prints (impressions), while not 'original' in the sense of a fine art painting or
drawing, are considered nevertheless to be works of art in their own right, even though
they exist in multiples. It remains to be seen whether the latest fine printing techniques
alter this assessment.

Printmaking, which encompasses woodcuts, engraving, etching, mezzotint, aquatint,

drypoint, lithography, screen-printing, digital prints and foil imaging is often a core
component of fine-arts training courses, and today's printmakers are grounded in most
of these print methods.

The Basic Printmaking Process

Prints are made from a single original plate or surface, called a 'matrix'. There are
several different types of matrix, including: plates of metal, typically copper or zinc
which are used for engravings or etchings; stone, which is used to make lithographs;
wood blocks, employed for woodcuts; linoleum, used for linocuts; fabric plates, used in
screen-printing, and others. Conventional fine prints are usually produced in limited
edition sets, each print being numbered and signed by the artist.
 Techniques

There are three principal methods of printmaking, although there are several variations
within each method.

(1) Relief printing. Here the background is cut down, leaving a raised image which
takes the ink. Materials used in relief printing are usually wood and linoleum. To make a
relief print, the raised area of the wood or lino is inked (leaving the background
untouched) and paper is pressed onto it to receive the inked impression. Relief printing
is used for woodcut, woodblock, engraving, linocut and metalcut. For a key application,
see: Book Illustration.

(2) Intaglio printing (from the Italian 'intagliare' to engrave). In this process, a metal
plate is used, and the selected image is either engraved into the metal with a tool known
as a 'burin', or the plate is coated with a waxy acid-resistant substance called 'ground'
upon which the design is drawn with a metal needle. The plate is then soaked in acid
which eats into the areas exposed by the drawing to produce an image. Intaglio is used
for engraving, etching, mezzotint, aquatint, chine-coll and drypoint. Intaglio uses the
opposite process to woodcuts, in that the raised portions remain blank while the grooves
or crevices are inked.

(3) Planographic (surface-printing). In this process, the entire matrix surface is

involved, but some areas are treated to retain the ink. The best known example
is lithography, during which the design is drawn onto the matrix (stone) with a greasy
crayon. Ink is then applied to the whole surface, but adheres only to the grease marks of
the drawing. Other surface printing methods include stencil printmaking - where the
image or design is cut out and then printed by spraying ink or paint through the stencil.
The planegraphic technique is also used for monotyping, digital prints, screen-
printing and pochoir. The most famous exponent of this form of printmaking - in his
case, screenprints - was Andy Warhol. For more, see Andy Warhol's Pop Art of the sixties
and seventies.

Stencils

Another print method is stencil-printing, from which silkscreen printing(serigraphy) is derived. In

this process, a design is drawn directly onto the screen, and undrawn areas sealed with glue or
varnish. Oil-based ink is then squeezed through the mesh of the silk screen onto paper. Alternative
methods of transferring an image to silkscreen are the use of photo stencils. Andy Warhol (1928-87)
popularized these techniques in his multiple portraits of 1960s celebrities.

Contemporary printmakers often use a combination of conventional and digital techniques as well as
the use of digital printers and photographic equipment. The lastest type of digital fine art printmaking
is Giclee Prints.

For details of other graphic arts, such as fine art photography, read about the Greatest
Photographers (c.1880-present).

History

Following its invention by Chinese art many centuries previously, fine art printmaking became
established during the German Renaissance (1430-1580), during the early period of the Northern
Renaissance. Its leading exponents were the Old Masters Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), Martin
Schongauer (1448-91), Rembrandt (1606-69) and Goya (1746-1828). Technical and artistic
developments which paved the way for new types of fine print, included the following.

The invention of the screw printing press in 1450, by the German Johann Gutenberg, along with
an oil-based ink, metal prism matrices, punch-stamped typeface molds and a functional metal alloy to
mold the type. Astonishingly, only minor improvements were made to Gutenberg's press design until
about 1800.

1799, the invention of lithography (using a matrix of fine-grained limestone) by the Austrian
printer Alois Senefelder.

1803, the invention of machine made paper (made from linen and cotton rags) by the
Frenchman Nicholas Louis Robert.

1800s, the replacement of Gutenberg's wooden screw press with an iron framed lever press,
by Lord Stanhope, and the appearance of Frederich Koenig's steam printing machine.

1840, the invention of the revolving perfecting press by American Richard March Hoe, (followed
in 1846 by the first rotary press) and the manufacture of paper from wood pulp.

1859, the invention of photo-lithography by the French lithographer, Firmin Gillot, followed in
1872 by his son's invention of zincography, combining photography with etching.

Belle Epoque Poster Lithographs

1860s, the appearance of large numbers of Japanese prints in Europe attracted many famous
painters of the Impressionism and Post-Impressionism movements into lithography, including Edgar
Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Flix Vallotton and the American artist Mary Cassatt. Then,
after Jules Cheret (1836-1932) invented his "three stone chromolithographic process", poster
art suddenly became high fashion, especially in 1866, making low-cost colour posters a
reality. Japonism and the arrival of colourful Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, plus the emergence
of the Czech lithographer Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) gave a huge boost to Belle Epoque Art
Nouveau chromolithography, as the functionalist designer Leonetto Cappiello (1875-1942) did for
poster art in the years 1903-23. See: History of Poster Art.
Twentieth Century Printmakers

Pablo Picasso was the supreme exponent of contemporary graphic art. He produced over 1,000
prints, including etchings, engravings, drypoints, woodcuts, lithographs and linoleum cuts. Georges
Braque produced numerous Cubist etchings, while Henri Matisse created a large number
of lithographsas well as several outstanding line etchings and cutout prints. The French
Expressionist Georges Rouault was noted for his Miserere et Guerre set of etchings. Marc Chagall
produced a significant body of graphic art including illustrations of the Bible. The witty colour
etchings of Joan Miro, as well as the collage prints of Max Ernst were also highly influential. In
Britain, Henry Moore, and Graham Sutherland, as well as David Hockney, produced a wide range
of printworks, while in the United States many members of the Pop-Art movementbecame active in
printmaking. Examples of the latter, together with their specialities, are: Andy Warhol
(screenprints), George Wesley Bellows(lithography), Edward Hopper, John Sloan and Reginald
Marsh (etchings), Milton Avery (drypoint), Stuart Davis (colour lithography) and Ben Shahn, a
particularly prolific printmaker who excelled in almost all print media.

Irish Printmakers

The 18th century artist James Malton (c.1760-1803) was the first great printmaker in Ireland, noted
for his aquatint engravings of Dublin views. Other exponents of printmaking and graphic art in
Ireland include: Patrick Hickey(1927-98) (etching/lithographical art), the Popartist Robert
Ballagh (b.1943), and the etcher Hector McDonnell (b.1947), to name but three.