What is printmaking? Plate, ink, paper, pressure
Printmaking is making an image by transferring ink from a prepared surface to paper (or cloth). The prepared surface is called the matrix or plate: a block of wood or lino, a metal plate, a stone or a screen.
Key terms
- Brayer: rubber roller to spread ink.
- Baren or spoon: rubbed by hand on the back of the paper.
- Press: a relief press pushes down; an etching press rolls the plate and paper between heavy rollers.
- Proof: a test print. Edition: a set of matching final prints.
- Mirror image: the print is reversed left to right, so text must be cut backwards.
Relief printing: woodcut and linocut
In relief printing you carve away what should stay white. The surface that is left takes the ink.
- Draw the design (reversed) on the block.
- Cut away the background with gouges (V-gouge for lines, U-gouge for clearing). Always cut away from your hand.
- Roll ink thinly with a brayer.
- Lay paper on top and rub with a baren or use a press.
Woodcut uses a plank of wood and shows grain; linocut uses soft linoleum and gives smooth, bold shapes. A card print builds raised shapes by gluing card onto card. Water-based inks clean up with water; oil-based inks need vegetable oil or a solvent (use with good air flow).
Intaglio: engraving, etching and drypoint
In intaglio the ink sits below the surface, in lines cut into a metal plate (copper, zinc) or plastic.
- Direct techniques: the artist cuts the plate by hand. Engraving uses a sharp burin; drypoint scratches with a needle and leaves a soft, furry line (burr).
- Indirect techniques: acid does the cutting. In etching the plate is covered with an acid-resistant ground, the artist draws through it, and the plate is dipped in acid (mordant), which bites the open lines. Aquatint bites areas of tone.
Printing: ink the whole plate, push ink into the lines, wipe the surface clean, place damp paper on top and roll it through an etching press with high pressure.
Planographic and stencil: lithography and screen printing
Lithography is planographic: the surface is flat. It works because grease and water do not mix. The artist draws on limestone or a zinc/aluminium plate with greasy crayon or tusche (greasy ink). The surface is treated, then kept wet. Oily ink sticks to the greasy drawing and is pushed away by the wet areas.
Screen printing (serigraphy) is a stencil method. A fine mesh is stretched on a frame. Parts of it are blocked (with cut paper, glue or a light-sensitive emulsion). A squeegee pulls ink across, and ink passes only through the open mesh.
Electronic methods: photocopiers, inkjet and digital printing, and copy art that uses the photocopier as a creative tool.
Monotype, editions, colour and registration
A monotype is a one-off print: paint or roll ink onto a smooth flat sheet (glass, acrylic), draw or wipe into it, then print once. Each one is unique.
An edition is a set of identical prints from one plate. Each is signed and numbered, e.g. 7/25 = the 7th of 25. A/P means artist's proof.
Colour and registration
Each colour usually needs its own block, or the reduction method cuts one block more after each colour. To place every colour in the same spot, use registration: marks, a jig or pins that put paper and block in the same position each time. Print light colours first, dark last.
Finishing
Dry prints flat, trim clean margins, sign in pencil below the image (title, number, name, year) and mount on card. The same ideas are used in textile block printing.
Try it at home
Cut a potato in half. Carve away a simple shape so a letter stands raised (remember to carve it backwards!). Dab poster paint on it and press it onto paper. Print 5 times and number them 1/5 to 5/5. Do they all match?
Key formulas and definitions
- Relief: ink on the RAISED surface (woodcut, linocut, card print)
- Intaglio: ink in the GROOVES (engraving, drypoint, etching, aquatint)
- Planographic: FLAT surface, grease attracts ink, water repels it (lithography)
- Stencil: ink THROUGH openings (screen printing / serigraphy)
- Print = mirror image of the plate
- Edition number 7/25 = print 7 of 25; A/P = artist's proof
Worked examples
1. You want to print the word CAT with a linocut. How must you draw it on the block?
Reversed (mirror writing), because the print flips the image left to right. Then cut away everything except the letters.
2. Why must the plate be wiped in intaglio but not in relief printing?
In intaglio the image is the ink in the grooves; ink left on the surface would print as a grey film. In relief the surface itself is the image, so it must keep its ink.
3. You print a two-colour linocut and the red is shifted 3 mm from the black. What went wrong and how do you fix it?
Poor registration. Use a registration jig or marks so paper and block go in exactly the same place for each colour.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting that the print is a mirror image, so letters come out backwards.
- Rolling ink too thick: fine lines fill up and the print looks blotchy.
- Calling a monotype an edition; a monotype makes only one unique print.
- Cutting towards your hand with a gouge; always cut away from your body and keep the other hand behind the tool.