Printmaking Terms Tips
Read these 8 Printmaking Terms Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Framed Art tips and hundreds of other topics.
Giclees
Considered an original graphic, they are produced as multiples. The term originates from the French "to spray" and employs inkjet color application and digital color separation. Millions of ink particles can be applied simultaneously to the paper. Flawless color reproduction and extraordinary consistency are the trademarks of this new technology and is rapidly becoming the preferred method of fine-art print production.
Original
The term (used here as an adjective) to define an artwork as a unique, one-of-a-kind image or to describe one of several media wherein the graphic is considered "original" as it is the end result of the artist's work in that medium, not a photo-mechanic reproduction of a previously executed work
Etchings
Considered an original graphic, they are produced as multiples. The artist draws on the surface of a copper or zinc plate, which is coated with an acid-resistant varnish, or "ground" using a sharp tool (burin), scribing into the ground and removing the varnish where the lines will appear. The plate is dipped in acid, which exposes or "bites" the soft, exposed metal, creating grooves or sunken channels, which will hold the ink. Ink is rolled onto the plate and fills the grooves. The surface is wiped clean and the inked plate is pressed into moist paper, which releases the ink creating the image in monotone. Sometimes the artist will return to the monotone print and add watercolors to each individual example, making it unique from all others. In most cases, the plate is then defaced or destroyed preventing the creation of any additional prints. For additional printmaking terms go to ARTinaClick.com
Serigraph
Considered an original graphic, they are produced as multiples. The process employs silk mesh, which is blocked by a photoemulsive varnish. Various color separations are projected onto the photosensitive surface that create stencils through which ink is rolled, brushed or "squeegee'd" onto high-quality paper in multiple layers. Each color requires a separate "screen" and may number into the hundreds; resulting in vibrant and richly textured silkscreen prints.
Offset Lithograph
A four-color, photo-mechanic reproduction of a previously executed artwork. Offset Lithography may, at times, enhance the quality of the previously executed artwork. Today the field of signed and numbered offset lithographs has become widely accepted in the collector's market.
Original/Hand Pulled Lithograph
Considered an original graphic, they are produced as multiples. The artist draws on the surface of a limestone block (traditionally) or metal alloy plate (contemporarily), with a grease pencil or "touché", where he would like his image to appear. The surface is dampened with water and oily ink is rolled over the drawn areas. The ink clings to the greasy marks, but not to the dampened areas. Paper is applied to the stone and the ink is transferred from the greasy, inked areas. Each color in the print requires a separate stone or plate and sometimes as many as fifty stones or plates are used. For additional printmaking terms go to ARTinaClick.com
Canvas Transfer
A canvas transfer is an intensely detailed process. First, the print is coated, via spray or brush with a special acrylic that seizes the ink. After drying the resulting ink film is embedded into high quality artist's canvas. Rigid standards and meticulous attention to detail maximize ink retention, paper removal, and bonding
Oil Painting Reproduction
Uniquely handmade by professional yet passionate artists whose goal it is to make the reproduction as identical to the original as humanly possible. The artists not only use the traditional artists' techniques, but they specialize in using the original master's technique. Reproductions are painted by human painters, not by computers or any other mechanical means. Therefore, there might by slight differences, and no painting is 100% identical to another. However, our paintings are of museum's quality and as similar as humanly possible to the original artwork. At ARTinaClick.com we carry a large selction of Hand Painted Oil Reproductions. Buy Framed Art Now!
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