Techniques in printmaking

  Going into a more technical understanding of the art form here are the four basic printing processes:   

Relief

 

  

 

In relief printing, ink is applied on the surface of the matrix which is transferred on the final ground.  For instance, in woodcut and rubbercut  the design is drawn on a piece of wood  or rubber.   The background or non printing area is cut away with a carving tool. The matrix is then applied with ink using a roller and pressed on the paper,  fabric or other surfaces.   Designs produced in this process are usually very bold, and  raw.  . All you need is your ink, your roller and  usually a spatula  for rubbing and transferring  the image from the matrix to the  paper .  

  

Intaglio

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In the  intaglio process ,   scratches and incisions  are made into  into a plate or matrix. The plate is usually made of copper, zinc or an acrylic sheet, which holds the ink or pigment. The artist pushes ink  with a squeegee onto the entire plate and wipes off excess ink on the surface leaving the ink only in the incised lines. A damp sheet of paper is placed on top of the plate and the plate is run  through the etching press, which pushes the paper into the groves, lifting the ink out of the groves.  Drypoint, etching, engraving, mezzotint and aquatint are some techniques under intaglio process. In contrast to the  relief method, the images produced in etching are more  fluid and spontaneous.

 

 Planographic Technique

 

The Planographic technique pertains to lithography. It is based on the principle that oil and water repel each other, and limestones are  naturally attracted to oil. In hand-made lithographs, the artist draws or paints directly onto the limestone with a greasy lithographic pencil or touche. It is then treated with acid accordingly and the ink adheres only on the drawn areas when rolled on.  Soft lines and  varied tones are achieved from lithographs.

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Serigraphy.

   Serigraphy  is also known as the silkscreen process - a method also used in shirt printing. In contemporary silk screen, artists use screens made of a fine nylon or polyester mesh. Selected areas of the screen are blocked out by screen fillers or paper stencils, and the ink is prevented from penetrating through the mesh to the paper or textile underneath.  Serigraphy is most favored by artists who use a qualities of  color in their works.