Michelle’s
of Delaware Prints
Aquatint Mezzotint
Chiaroscuro
woodcut Monotype
Chromolithograph Photogravure
Drypoint Photomechanical
Relief Print
Engraving Photomechanical
Reproduction
Etching Pochoir
Giclee Proofs
Gillotage Relief
Print
Heliogravure Screen
Print
Inkjet
print Serigraph
Intaglio Silver
Print
Iris
Print Soft
Ground
Letterpress Sulfur
Ground
Lift-ground
Aquatint Wood
Engraving
Linoleum
Cut Woodcut
Lithograph Zincograph
Metal
Cut
Aquatint
An etching
technique that creates areas of tone
through the use of powdered resin that
is sprinkled on the etching plate prior
to being bitten by the etching acid.
The result is a finely textured tonal
area whose darkness is determined by
how long the plate is bitten by the
acid.
Chiaroscuro
woodcut
A form
of woodcut involving several blocks
in which one or more of the blocks
is used to print large areas of tone.
Typically, a chiaroscuro woodcut will
involve a line block to indicate the
outlines of the composition and tone
blocks with areas carved out to create
highlights by allowing the white of
the paper to show through. The final
effect is similar to an ink wash drawing
with highlights and line drawing.
Chromolithograph
a
color lithograph usually involving
a large number of lithographic stones
to allow a complex color separation.
The term is often used to describe
late nineteenth-century color lithographs
that emulate or reproduce paintings.
Drypoint
Similar
to etching, but the lines are simply
scratched into the plate manually,
without the use of acid. The hallmark
of a drypoint is a soft and often
rather thick or bushy line somewhat
like that of an ink pen on moist
paper.
Engraving
A
form of intaglio printing in which
lines are incised into a metal plate
with a carving tool called a burin.
The characteristics of burin engraving
differ from that of etching in that
engraving, requiring considerable
force, is done from the strength
of the arm and eliminates the quavering
autographic qualities of etching,
which is done more from the finger
tips like fine drawing. The hallmarks
of engraving are often elegantly
swelling and tapering lines
Etching
A
means of incising lines in a metal
plate with acid for printing in the
intaglio technique. The plate is
first covered with an acid resistant
ground through which the artist scratches
a design with a stylus or needle,
revealing the bare metal below. This
plate is then immersed in an acid
bath that cuts the incised lines
into the plate. Etched lines often
betray the subtle motions of the
artistís fingertips.
Giclee
An
Iris print, the name derives from
the French for "spurt."
return
to top Gillotage
A
relief process made by transferring
a lithographic image to a metal plate
that is then etched to produce a
relief plate. The term is also used
inaccurately to indicate varieties
of photomechanical relief printing.
Heliogravure
A
forerunner of photogravure in which
the photographic image is projected
directly onto the plate rather transferred
to it on an emulsion. The term "photogravure" is
often used indiscriminately for both
techniques.
Inkjet
print
A
general designation for the large
class of printers used to print computer
images. Inkjet printers make us of
extremely small nozzles to deliver
exact amounts pigment to precise
locations on the paper.
Intaglio
Any
of the techniques in which an image
or tonal area is printed from lines
or textures scratched or etched into
a metal plate (engraving, etching,
drypoint, aquatint, lift ground,
soft ground). The plate is covered
with ink, then wiped clean leaving
ink in the incised lines or textures
of the image. This plate is then
printed in a press on moistened paper.
The paper is forced down into the
area of the plate holding ink, and
the image is transferred to the paper.
return
to top Iris
print
An
type of inkjet print printed from
an Iris printer.
Letterpress
Typographic
printing from movable type.
Lift-ground
aquatint
A
form of intaglio printing in which
the artists draws with a specially
formulated ink on a metal plate.
The plate is then covered with an
acid resistant ground and immersed
in water. The characteristics of
the drawing medium (which may be
applied with a pen or brush) allow
it to dissolve and work through the
acid resistant ground. When bitten
in acid, the final result resembles
pen or brush work.
Linoleum
Cut
A
relief print carved into linoleum
rather than wood.
Lithograph
A
printing technique in which the image
is drawn on a very flat slab of limestone
(or a specially treated metal plate).
This stone is treated chemically
so that ink, when rolled on to the
stone, adheres only where the drawing
was done. This inked image can then
be transferred to a piece of paper
with the help of a high pressure
press.
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to top Metal
Cut
A
form of relief printing from an intaglio
plate. In the fifteenth century metal
cuts often employed drill holes that
printed as white dots. Engraved lines
will print white rather than black
in metal cut since the surface, rather
than the marks in the plate, is inked.
Mezzotint
An
intaglio process invented around
1650 that allows the printing of
rich tonal areas of black and grey.
The mezzotint process begins by texturing
a metal plate in such a way that
it will hold a great deal of ink
and print a solid black field. This
is done with a tool called a "rocker." A
rocker is essentially a large curved
blade with very fine teeth along
its edge. This blade is rocked back
and forth, putting courses of fine
dots into the metal plate. After
this has been done repeatedly the
plate will be covered with fine stipples
that can hold ink. The next step
is to scrape away the stippled texture
where lighter passages are needed.
The more vigorously the plate is
scraped the less ink it will hold
and the whiter it will print. Mezzotint
differs conceptually from other intaglio
methods because the artist works
from black to white rather than white
to black.
Monotype
A
form of printmaking in which the
artist draws or paints on some material,
such as glass, and then prints the
image onto paper, usually with a
press. The remaining pigment can
then be reworked, but the subsequent
print will not be an exact version
of the previous print. Monotypes
may be unique prints or variations
on a theme.
Photogravure
A
means of printing a photographic
image by the intaglio process. The
photographic negative (which may
be of an artistís drawing) is projected
onto a sensitized gelatin emulsion
or carbon tissue that is transferred
to a copper plate. After washing
the plate areas that correspond to
the image on the negative are dissolved
and the plate can be bitten by acid
as in routine etching. In hand photogravure,
which is most commonly used in printmaking,
the copper plate is first prepared
for aquatint etching. The end result
can closely resemble a traditional
linear etching or soft ground etching.
return
to top Photomechanical
relief print
There
were many means available by the
1880s that allowed a black line drawing
to be transferred to a relief printing
block by photographic means. These
are generically known as line blocks
and the images printed from them
typically share many of the qualities
of woodcut. The means of transferring
the image are often complex, and
can involve such techniques as etching
photosensitized plates or electrotyping
light sensitive gelatin plates.
Photomechanical
reproduction
This
term is used to describe a variety
of processes involving the transfer
of a photographic image to a printing
matrix, such as an etching plate,
relief block, or a lithographic stone.
The term is used here whenever it
is not certain exactly what photomechanical
process is involved.
Pochoir
A
stencil print that does not involve
a screen. Usually pigment is brushed
across the openings of the template.
Often the brush marks are discernable.
Proofs
Impressions
of a print. In the case of an incomplete
print they are referred to as “working
proofs.”
Relief
print
Any
print in which the image is printed
from the raised portions of a carved,
etched, or cast block. A simple example
would be a rubber stamp. The most
common relief prints are woodcuts.
The term "relief print" is
used when it is not clear which kind
of relief printing has been used
(photomechanical or hand carved,
for example).
return
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Print
A
form of stencil printing in which
the stencil is adhered to a fine
screen for support. Ink can be squeegeed
through the screen onto paper. Screen
printing can have a hard edged quality
caused by the crisp edges of the
stencil. Also referred to as "silk
screen" and “serigraphy.”
Serigraph
Another
term for Screen Print.
Silver
print
A
photographic print utilizing paper
impregnated with silver nitrate (distinct
from a platinum print, for example).
Soft
ground
An
etching technique in which the plate
is covered with malleable ground
through which a variety textures
can be pressed, allowing them to
be etched into the plate. For example,
a piece of paper laid on top of a
soft grounded plate can be drawn
upon with a pencil, and the resulting
etched image will resemble a pencil
line drawn on paper. To be distinguished
from “hard ground” used
for simple line etching.
Sulphur
ground
A
technique in which a caustic sulphur
compound is painted directly on an
etching plate, or in which sulphur
dust is otherwise applied to a plate.
The resulting marks will hold ink
and can be printed like an etching.
The technique typically creates blotchy
expanses of grey tones. This might
be compared to printing rust marks
on a steel or iron plate.
return
to top Wood
engraving
A
relief print carved in the end grain
of a block of wood whose thickness
is the same as the height as a piece
of movable type ("type high").
This was traditionally a commercial
technique practiced by specialists
and used in magazines and book illustrations.
Woodcut
A
relief print usually carved in the
plank grain of a piece of wood. After
the relief image has been carved
in the plank with knives or gouges
it is inked with a dauber or roller.
It can then be printed by hand (in
which case a sheet of paper is laid
down on the inked plank and rubbed
from the back with a smooth surface
such as the palm of the hand or a
wooden spoon) or with the help of
a mechanical press.
Zincograph
A
lithograph done on a zinc plate instead
of on a stone. The term is also used
to designate a photo-etched relief
print.
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