An Introduction to Printmaking

Key printmaking processes

Printmaking categories and technical terms, which at first can seem quite baffling, are easy to understand when you look at the explanations side-by-side! Below, you’ll find a series of simple descriptions to explain each of the main printmaking processes.

Lithography consists of a drawing or painting with greasy crayons and inks on limestone that have been ground down to a flat, smooth block. After several subsequent manipulations, the stone is moistened with water, wetting the sections not covered by the crayon and leaving the areas of the drawing dry as grease repels water. Oil-based ink is then applied with a roller and is repelled by the wet parts of the stone. The print made by pressing paper against the inked drawing is an autographic replica, in reverse, of the original drawing on stone.

These two terms are often incorrectly assumed to be the same, but there are important differences. A Monoprint has a single underlying image (such as an etched plate or screen) that is made unique through a process of hand colouring or surface alteration to the printed image. A series of monoprints may be similar, but they are never identical.

Monotypes are unique images and do not have a repeatable matrix (etched plate or screen). Instead, a thin even film of ink is rolled onto a plate, which the artist then manipulates by drawing into it or by rubbing sections off. The print image is taken directly from the plate.

This is the oldest printing technique. It refers to cutting away the surface of a block of material so that the image area to be printed stands out in relief. Woodcuts or woodblock prints are made by cutting into the surface of a smooth piece of hardwood with a knife, and V and U gouges are used to create more delicate lines. When printed, the area that has been cut away remains white and the raised surface prints. A separate block is required for each colour in a multi-colour print. Printmakers rarely use more than three or four colours for aesthetic reasons. The linocut, a twentieth century adaptation, uses linoleum in place of wood and, while it is easier to work with, it will not take very delicate or subtle cutting.

This is a 20th century multicolour printmaking technique developed in America. The stencil process involves placing designs on silk or nylon mesh screens that are attached to a wooden or metal frame, with the screen fabric at the bottom. Various film-forming materials, as well as hand-cut film stencils and photo-sensitive emulsions, are used as resists. Colour is poured into the frame, which is placed in contact with the surface to be printed on. The colour is scraped over the stencil with a squeegee and deposited on the paper through the meshes of the uncoated areas of fabric.

Sugar lift

Sugar Lift allows the artist to make a brush drawing directly on to the etching plate. After painting with a mix of sugar and ink, the whole plate is then covered with an acid resist. When dry, it is immersed in hot water, dissolving the sugar and exposing the brush drawing, which can now be etched. This is often used with aquatint to produce tone.

A metal plate is coated with an acid-resisting wax or ‘ground’ that the artist draws into with a variety of tools, removing the ground from the areas that are to be printed black. The plate is immersed in an acid bath, which ‘bites out’ or etches the exposed area. The etched plate is inked and the surface is wiped clean, leaving ink only in the etched depressions. Finally, the plate is run through a press with dampened paper. The pressure forces the paper into the etched area of the plate, transferring the ink onto paper. Rembrandt van Rijn first popularised this technique.

Aquatint is an etching technique which allows large areas of varying tones to be printed by means of a textured plate. The area to be etched is dusted with a powdered resin and then heated to melt it onto the surface. The plate is then placed in an acid bath to etch away the tiny areas not protected by the granulated resin.

This is perhaps the most labour intensive intaglio process and involves a plate being ‘rocked’ with a curved, notched blade until the surface is entirely and evenly pitted, creating a rough surface that prints black. Scraping the burr off or polishing the plate smooth creates half-tones and light. Colour mezzotints require a separate plate for each colour, which are printed consecutively.

Derived from the word ‘collage,’ Collagraphs are created by building up an image on a plate surface (cardboard, metal, or plastic) with glue and other materials. This creates recessed areas where the ink is retained.