ART: Chapter 8

Flashcards covering key vocabulary, processes, and techniques in printmaking, based on Chapter 8 of Prebles' Artforms.

Prints

One of a series of nearly identical pieces, usually printed on paper, valued for lower prices and wider distribution compared to unique artworks.

Matrix

The surface from which a print is made, which can be metal, wood, or stone.

Edition

A group of images pulled from the same matrix, often numbered to indicate the sequence of prints.

Artist's Proof (AP)

A print pulled at a satisfactory stage during the printmaking process, often marked 'A P'.

Relief print

A printmaking process where the image to be printed is raised from the background, similar to fingerprints or rubber stamps.

Woodcut

A type of relief print where the image is carved into a woodblock; it lends itself to bold black-and-white contrast and has limited editions due to the deterioration of relief edges.

Wood Engraving

A relief printmaking technique traditionally used for book illustration, employing very dense wood set on end with metal tools, allowing for durable, large editions and high detail.

Linocut

Also known as linoleum cut, a relief print where areas not intended to take ink are gouged from a synthetic linoleum surface, which functions as a soft matrix without grain.

Intaglio

A printmaking process where areas below the surface hold the ink, derived from the Italian word 'intagliare' meaning 'to cut into'.

Plate marks

Characteristic indentations on paper created by the press roller during the intaglio printing process.

Engraving

An intaglio process where an artist uses a burin (engraving tool) on a metal plate, requiring strength and control, often seen in currency.

Burin

The engraving tool used to cut into a metal plate in the engraving process.

Drypoint

An intaglio process similar to line engraving, where a tool with a steel or diamond tip displaces metal on a soft plate, leaving a rough edge (burr) that creates blurred lines.

Burr

A rough edge of displaced metal created during the drypoint process, which results in a soft, blurred line in the print.

Etching

An intaglio process involving preparing a metal plate with wax or varnish, drawing through the surface to expose metal, and then immersing the plate in nitric acid to create grooves.

Aquatint

An etching technique that involves sprinkling acid-resistant powder over areas that need gray tones, allowing for varying values in the print.

Electroetching

A contemporary etching technique that aims to create grooves in a plate without the use of dangerous acids, often seeking to avoid endangering the artist's health.

Lithography

A surface or planographic printing process where an artist draws an image on Bavarian limestone or a plate without carving, using litho crayons/pencils or tusche liquid.

Tusche

A liquid used in lithography to draw images on the printing stone or plate.

Stencil

A sheet with a design cut out of it; used by painting over it to transfer the design to the picture plane, typically without shading.

Screenprinting

Also known as silkscreen or serigraphy, a process where a stencil is adhered to a screen, and a squeegee pushes ink through the fabric in open areas of the stencil, ideal for uniform color.

Silkscreen/Serigraphy

Alternative names for screenprinting, referring to the traditional use of silk as the screen material.

Squeegee

A rubber-edged blade used in screenprinting to push ink through the screen onto the printing surface.

Photo screen

A development in screenprinting that uses light-sensitive gelatin to create the stencil on the screen fabric.

Sandblasted glass

A contemporary printmaking technique similar to silkscreening, used to embed images onto the surface of glass.

3-D printing

A process where an artist creates a design using modeling software to produce a three-dimensional object, considered a limited edition by the artist but not a traditional print impression.