The art of Printmaking

Printmaking is an artistic process of printing believed to have originated during the 1st Century AD in China. The process of printmaking essentially involves transferring the image from a matrix into another surface. In most cases, the artist produces an image on matrix which is primarily a template and can be made of wood, metal or glass. The design is created on the matrix by working its flat surface with either tools or chemicals which is later on inked in order to transfer it onto the desired surface. 

The resulting print is often the mirror image of the original design on the matrix. One of the significant benefits of print making is that multiple impressions of the same design can be printed from a single matrix. 

Here are some of the widely used printmaking techniques:

Woodcut: Known as the oldest form of printmaking, woodcut is a form of relief printing. Knives and other sharp tools are used to carve a design into the wooden surface and coating it with the ink. The inked surface is then placed on paper and pressure is exerted using a roller or printing press, which creates the print. The elevated areas that remain after cutting the wooden block are inked printed while the recessed areas that are cut away do not retain ink, and will remain blank in the final print.

Linocut: Linocut or linoleum cut printing was introduced during 20th Century. It is form of fine art printing in which the design is done on linoleum sheet instead of a wooden block. The lino is then inked; a piece of paper placed over it, and then run through a printing press or pressure applied by hand to transfer the ink to the paper. Its smooth surface and easy to cut surface makes it more accessible to many printmakers.

Monotype: Monotype is a style of printing that is generally used to yield only one good impression from each prepared plate. It is made by applying paint or printing ink to a flat sheet of metal, glass or plastic surface which is then wiped away to create an image. The image is then transferred onto paper, on which it appears in reverse. The pigment remaining on the plate is usually insufficient to make another print unless the original design is reinforced. Since each is unique and hand executed, monotypes cannot be considered a technique of multiple replication.            

Engraving: It is an intaglio print making process, which is very similar to relief printmaking. The word ‘intaglio’ is derived from Italian word ‘intagliare’, which translates to ‘cut in’. In this process, a hardened steel tool called burin is used to cut the design which is then inked all over, and then the ink is wiped off the surface, leaving ink only in engraved lines. The plate is then put through a high pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper. The paper picks up the ink from the engraved lines, making a print.

Etching: The art of etching is one of the oldest techniques of intaglio style of printmaking which believed to have originated in the 15^th Century. It is process of making prints from a metal plate, generally copper into which the design has been incised using a needle with a thin wax layer called ‘ground’. The back of the metal plate is coated with varnish and it is then dipped in an acid bath. The acid will only affect the areas which are not covered in wax or varnish and the remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate. An etching is opposite of a woodcut in that the raised portions of the etching remain blank while the cervices hold ink. 

Lithograph: The term Lithograph has been derived from Greek words ‘Lithos’ meaning stones and ‘graphien’ meaning ‘to write’. It is a planographic style of printmaking which is created using a large slab of limestone or a metal plate, on which images are developed using multiple steps involving powder, resin, gum Arabic and other spirits. While other printing methods require etching and other forms of imprints, lithography is unique because it more closely resembles painting.

Oleograph: Oleographs are also called Chromolithograph or chromo colour lithograph, the process is best known to imitate the feel and appearance of an oil painting. The term is most often used in reference to commercial prints. The oleographs are created by using separate stones, sometimes as many as 30 stones were used for a single print.

Serigraph:  A Serigraph is an imitation of an original artwork produced using the silk screening process. Serigraphs are considered to be a unique method as prints are not made directly from the surfaces. Instead, images are printed through a screen mesh with the help of a stencil. Inks or colours are then squeezed through the mesh stencils onto the fabric or paper used as a surface on which the print appears. The process is repeated with a different colour and stencil if the image requires multiple colours. The process is widely used by many distinguished artists.