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PRINTMAKING PROCESSES
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
A la poupée: A technique for inking the same intaglio plate with a multitude of different colours.
Additive monoprint: A technique of monoprint that involves adding inks to the plate with a brush or roller to create an image from which to print.
Aquatint: An etching technique that creates areas of tone by applying a fine acrylic spray to the plate before it is bitten in acid. This gives finely textured areas whereby tonal value is dependent on how long the plate has been exposed to the acid.
Bed size: Refers to the maximum size of the base of an etching press. Can be used to estimate the maximum dimensions of a plate and paper that can be run through the press.
Bite: The corrosive effect of the etching solution on a metal plate.
Blind Embossing: A distinct three dimensional impression created without ink printed into dampened paper.
Block: A printing base, usually of wood or lino used for relief printing.
Burr: Refers to the raised line effect created when scratching into metal. Like a ploughed field material gathers at the edge of a line. This accounts for the furry quality characteristic of a drypoint line.
Carborundum: A very hard, fine abrasive powder, used on collagraph plates or to grind down lithography stones.
Chine collé: Derived from the french word "coller" meaning to stick and "chine" meaning paper. This is the process of using coloured tissue paper or other lightweight papers to create a color background to the print.
Collagraph: the term collagraph is thought to originate in collage. It is the technique of sticking a variety of textural materials to a cardboard or wooden base. This can then inked and printed in intaglio or relief.
Cyanoype: More commonly known as a blueprint cyanotype was a process discovered by the Victorians at the advent of photography. Unique for its striking Prussian blue colour, prints are made by exposing an object or a negative in contact with prepared paper to the sun or an ultra violet light source. The paper is then simply washed under running water and allowed to dry.
Digital print - An image that has been partly or wholly created digitally via a computer and printed by inkjet or laser jet. The printmaking industry has had to stay up to date with many innovations in printing in the past. The digital revolution is no different and there are many artists and printmakers who now use digital technology experimentally, in conjunction with traditional processes or on archival papers as a numbered prints.
Direct offset monoprint: - A simple technique of laying paper over a layer of rolled out ink and drawing onto the back of it to create a n inky mark on the front. A process much favoured by Paul Klee who would later tint the prints with watercolour.
Drypoint: A type of etching that does not rely on the use of acids to create a line on a metal plate. Instead, lines are scratched into the surface of the plate using a sharp point. This causes a burr on the plate which when printed, creates a "furry" effect around the line, characteristic of this process.
Engraving: one of the many types of intaglio printing. A clean line or dot is gouged with a steel burin to create minute and detailed work on either wood or metal.
Edition: A set of identical prints, all of which indicating how many prints have been made bearing the signature of the artist. Usually proof copies will also be made, marked as P/C (proof copy) or A/C (artist's copy).
Etch or Etchant: The solution, usually acid, used to etch lines or tones into a metal plate.
Etching: The process of etching is a tradition technique that uses corrosive effect of acids to make lines in a metal plate. The plate is covered with an acid resistant ground through which the artist draws a design, revealing the bare metal beneath. When the plate is immersed in an acid bath these lines will be etched into the plate. Much safer substances can now be used to etch metal.
Ground: Used in etching, a ground will protect the metal plate from the corrosive effects of the etchant, allowing the plate to be bitten in some areas and not others.
Hardground: A type of etching ground that dries hard yet is easily scratched through. It is used to create linear work on an etching plate.
Intaglio: This word derives from the Italian for cut into or incise. It refers to any print (etching, collograph, drypoint, engraving) that has been printed in intaglio. That is by working inks into the recesses or incised areas of the plate and wiping ink away from the top surface. The image is printed under high pressure by forcing dampened paper into the plate's surface and thus bringing the paper into contact with the ink. An intaglio print can therefore always be recognised by its embossed image surface.
Lino Cut: A relief print carved into linoleum using similar tools as for a woodcut. The smooth even texture of lino allows for a smoother finish than a woodcut which often shows its grain. Lino can be warmed to make it softer to cut into.
Mixed media: A print or painting that uses several media, materials or processes.
Monoprint: Monotype is any form of printmaking that results in a unique, one-off print. In a nutshell it is simply the manipulation of inks on a non-porous surface and as such it is the closest that printmaking can get to painting. It offers the printmaker a very direct way to transfer an image from a plate and presents by its very nature a limitless potential to experiment with rich colour and mark making. Monotypes can be printed with or without a press and good results can be achieved using water-based inks.
Monotype: A one off print taken that cannot be reproduced or reprinted to make an identical copy.
Non-toxic Printmaking: This is a catch all phrase for the movement in printmaking to make processes safer and more environmentally sensitive. Many things can be done to minimise the use of solvents and to use alternative acrylic based materials in place of tradition oil based substances.
Paper stencil: Used in screen printing a paper stencil is cut by hand from light weight paper and adhered to the screen by the act of printing. A paper stencil is temporary and can only be used for one printing session.
Photo-etch and photo non-etch: Photo etching is a process by which a photographic or drawn image can be mechanically transferred to a metal plate by way of an acid resistant ultra violet light sensitive emulsion. This creates a delicate mask around which the etching process can take place. Recently printmakers have begun to use a light sensitive film which, when laminated to a plate, allows a surface to be made directly into, without the need for etching the metal plate.
Photo sensitive emulsion: Light sensitive liquid used in screen print to produce accurate stencils.
Photostencil: A photostencil is a type of stencil used in screenprinting. A photo sensitive emulsion is applied to a screen and then a positive image is exposed to it under ultra violet light. The screen can then be lightly washed in water to produce a delicate photographic stencil on the screen.
Plate: Refers to a sheet of metal used for etching or any thin substrate used in printmaking. For example collagraph card or drypoint plastic.
Reductive monoprint: A monoprint technique in which a thin layer of ink is applied to the plate and then removed with a rag or drawn into with the back of a brush to create an image.
Reduction Print: A reduction print is a multi coloured print made by printing from the same lino block or screen. Areas of the image are gradually cut away or removed as it is over printed in different colours.
Relief: Any type of print (linocut. woodcut, collagraph) that is printed by applying ink with a roller over the very top, raised surface of the printing block. A relief print need not be printed in a press but can be burnished with a spoon to create enough pressure to yield a good print.
Screen Print: Also known as "silk screen" or "seriography", this method of printing utilises stencils mounted onto a tightly stretched mesh. When ink is pulled across the mesh with a squeegee it is forced through it onto paper or textiles beneath. Stencils can be made from paper, screen filler or photographic emulsion (see Photostencil above) applied or fixed to the screen. Screen inks can be acrylic based and water washable so are not toxic or fumey.
Soft Ground: An etching technique that involves a soft wax into which objects or drawings can be pressed. This results in an impression in the ground that is then etched. Accurate impressions of leaves, feathers and textiles can be made as well as a drawn line resembling a pencil line.
Stop-out, Stopping-out: The step by step technique of halting the etching process in stages by painting a resist on to the plate, thus allowing some areas to bite deeper than others.
Sugarlift: An etching technique that allows the accurate reproduction of brush strokes on an etching plate. Usually applied in conjunction with an aquatint to give tonal value to the brushed effect.
Ultra violet exposure unit: This is a large glass topped box with an ultraviolet light lamp inside and a lid to protect the user from dangerous eye contact. Cyanotypes, photo silk screens and photo etchings are all processed using this exposure unit.
Woodcut: A relief print usually carved in the plank grain of a piece of wood. It is inked with a roller and printed, either with the press or by hand burnishing.
Wood engraving: See Engraving above
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