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Print
Defined most simply, an original print is an image created by an artist on a matrix– usually plates, stones, screens or woodblocks–that is then inked and printed in a limited edition. Each print is numbered and signed in pencil by the artist to indicate his or her approval of the final image. All proofs, including the artist’s proofs, printer’s proofs and hors de commerce, are usually indicated as such.
Aquatint: An indirect intaglio method used to create tone and texture on a metal plate. An aquatint is made by dusting powdered resin onto a prepared metal plate. The plate is then heated and as it cools the resin contracts, leaving tiny areas of exposed copper. When the plate is bitten by the acid, areas of varying dark and light tone are created depending on the length of time the plate is left in the acid and the strength of the solution.
Chine Collé: A paper collage technique used by the printmaker to obtain added color or texture in the print. Torn or cut paper set down on the inked matrix become laminated to the final printing paper when run through the press. The inked image prints on both the chine collé paper and the printing paper.
Collage: A work in which paper or objects have been glued onto the composition’s surface to create the final image.
Collagraph: From the French coller, to glue and the Greek graphos, to write. A printmaking technique in which the printing plate or matrix is made from a collage of materials–fabrics, shells, etc.–adhered to a masonite or cardboard. The collagraph may be inked or printed both as an intaglio and relief.
Etching: An indirect intaglio technique in which the artist uses a sharp instrument to draw onto a plate which has been coated with as acid-resistant ground. The plate is then immersed into an acid bath which bites or etches the exposed lines or marks of the drawing. The waxy ground is removed to reveal the finished etched plate. The darkness of the printed line depends upon the depth of the etched line which is determined by the length of time the plate is exposed to the acid.
Hand–colored: A method of applying color (watercolor, pastel, etc.) to a print apart from the printing process. Although hand-coloring is most often used in combination with black and white etching, it may be used successfully with all printmaking techniques.
Lithograph: A planographic or surface printing technique in which the artist draws his image with a greasy substance–tusche, crayon, or pencil–onto a stone or grained metal plate. The artist then chemically fixes the drawing using a special chemical etch solution of gum arabic and nitric acid which secures the image and desensitizes the non-greasy areas. The entire surface of the stone is dampened and a greasy printing ink is rolled across the top. The greasy ink is attracted to the similarly greasy image areas but does not adhere to the rest of the wet stone.
Monotype: A unique print pulled from a surface that is often hand-colored with ink or paint.
Relief Print: A generic term used to describe all prints made from a matrix in which the image stands out in relief from the background. In the most common example of relief, the woodcut, the raised image area is inked and printed. Relief etching, in which the background areas have been etched away with acid, is less popular, but has been used with success in the past by such notable artists as William Blake.
Screenprint (or Serigraph): A stencil printing technique in which stencils are created on screens of fine silk mesh and synthetic materials. Open areas allow ink to pass through while the background areas are blocked out using glue or stencil materials.