INTRO TO

PRINTMAKING
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, by Hokusai in 1833
W H AT I S
PRINTMAKING?

A form of art that involves

transferring ink to paper.

the process is capable of

making multiple copies of
the same artwork

Each individual copy is

called a print or an
impression. The set of
prints is called an edition.
man has been making prints for quite some time
 Earliest form of printmaking was in 4000 bc.
The Sumerians created seals that they would
transfer onto objects so that they could claim
their property.
PRINTMAKING
WOULD NOT BE
P O S S I B L E W I T H O U T

PAPER!

Paper was invented in China around 100 AD. In

105 AD, under the Han Dynasty emperor Ho-Ti,
a government official in China named Ts'ai Lun
was the first to start a paper-making industry.

It slowly spread west via the great silk road.

Papermaking and manufacturing in Europe was
started by Muslims living on the Iberian
Peninsula, (today's Portugal and Spain) and
Sicily in the 10th century, and slowly spread to
Italy and Southern France reaching Germany
by 1400. Earlier, other paper-like materials were
in use including papyrus, parchment, palm
leaves and vellum, but all of these were derived
from raw materials which were expensive or in
limited supply, or required extensive hand-
processing to produce a satisfactory finish.
FURTHER
DEVELOPMENTS

Chinese scholars created

rubbings from carved texts
in 200 AD . This early form
could of relief printing
could be done on paper
and silk.

In 1420 engraving was

invented.

In 1440 Gutenberg
invented the printing press.
CURRENT
PRINTMAKING

Screen printing is still used

for t-shirts and posters

Andy Warhol was one of the

most influential screen
printer.

The development of the

halftone process (CMYK) led
to pixel based images.

The xerox machine became a

form of printmaking
W H Y P R I N T M A K I N G I S I M P O R TA N T

Without printmaking we wouldnt have:

money

books

t-shirts

newspapers

Much of our society relied on printmaking to share information and to

communicate with others.
TYPES OF
PRINTMAKING
RELIEF
PRINTING
Types: Woodcut, Linoleum
cut, letterpress

Any process where the

printing surface is cut away
so that image area alone
remains raised.
 I N TA G L I O
Types: etching, engraving,
photo-etching

any process where ink is

held beneath the surface
of a metal plate in etched
marks. copper, zinc and
steel are commonly used.
LITHOGRAPHY

Using the idea that oil and

water dont mix, polished
limestone or aluminum
plates are drawn on with
greasy crayons. Sone is
then chemically treated to
hold drawings. The plate is
wet and the areas not
drawn into will repel
printing ink.
SERIGRAPHY
types: screen printing, stencil.

fine mesh material is

stretched around a frame. An
image is created by drawing
directly on the screen by
coating the screen with light-
sensitive chemicals that will
capture the image. These
areas will not print. Leaving
ink to pass around them and
create and image.
W H AT W E A R E
DOING

We will be creating
linoleum cut prints. These
are relief prints so every
thing that you carve out
will be white on the paper
when printed.
TOOLS
KEY WORDS

Brayer: Used to roll out ink

and sometimes to create
the print by pressing on
the back of the paper.

Barren: A barren is used to

adhere the image to the
paper evenly.
STEPS:

create a design or find an image

bring the image into photoshop and posterize the image

print out the image the same size of the lino block

transfer the mirror image of the design onto the lino block. Typically this is done with
tracing paper and carbon paper.

darken the lines with a sharpie

carve the design on the lino block. the uncarved areas of the block are the parers the
get printed.

the lino block is inked with a brayer

the image is printed onto paper either manually or with a printing press.
P R I N T I N G W I T H M U LT I P L E C O L O R S

once the first print is finishes, clean and dry the lino block

whatever area of the design you want to remain the first

color must be carved from the lino block

apply the next color to the block and transfer it to the

print.

repeat this process until the colors have been applies

it is important to move from the lightest value to the

drakes value when printing multiple colors.