There are many printmaking types - below are the main ones. If you are a beginner, you might find etching or relief printing a good place to start; then screen-printing which can also be quite basic if need be. The only process that can be a little tricky to understand is stone lithography which is more for the technically minded, though photo-lithography is very easy to do. The rewards are very high in these art forms: the sense of achievement and the delivery of the beautiful marks you have created is hard to beat. Not to mention the little magic of being able to repeat your image over and over in as many colour ways as you can think of.
A centuries-old technique, relief printmaking can be used very effectively for both traditional and contemporary work. The print is taken from the surface of a plate or block after removing those areas which are not supposed to make a mark. The material is cut away by hand, which some find particularly satisfying much like wood carving, and the remaining raised surface is rolled with ink which is transferred onto the paper under pressure, reversing the original design. Many materials can be used as in the simple potato print but the most common are the lino-cut and wood block. Lino is often easier to cut than wood but does not last as long. Some printmakers prefer the harder wood and specifically incorporate the texture of the wood grain in their work while for others MDF is becoming very popular being grain-free and easy to work.
This process is suitable for simple, effective monochrome designs in black and white or a single colour on a contrasting paper colour. Areas of different colours can also be painted onto the block and printed simultaneously as in Chinese and Japanese art while more complex images can be produced by printing successive layers of colour. This is achieved by either by the multi-block method, using different blocks cut for each colour or by the reduction method where a single block is cut away further after each colour has been printed, with exciting results.
Oil-based inks can be used to great effect when building up colours in the reduction method but water-based inks are more suited where a translucent effect is required and are often applied by brush onto the block.
Prints can be taken from the inked surface with a printing press or by hand rubbing on the back of thin paper with a baren (a specially made tool) or the back of a spoon, so it is not always necessary to have elaborate or expensive equipment for this method of printmaking.
Care must be taken when cutting the block with a sharp tool but even the beginner can quickly achieve a very satisfying result.
Attending a course at a printmaking studio is recommended for the beginner - see Practicalities below.
A form of both relief and intaglio printing, a collagraph is made from a collage of materials glued together on a base such as cardboard, wood or metal, which when inked can produce both line and surface effects.
A variety of methods can be used such as building up layers, cutting away areas, and using assorted materials or found objects for textural effects, either on a single plate or creating an image with several plates. While the surface ink is wiped before printing onto damp paper (as with intaglio printing) the built-up or cut-away and textural surfaces hold the ink differently, as well as catching along the edges.
Alternatively, if the shapes on the plate have more flat surfaces these may be inked and printed as a relief print. Collagraph plates can be used to create embossed, 3D effect prints without ink (blind print) and furthermore, with experience it can be exciting to combine printing techniques, e.g. using two plates together such as a collagraph plate with an etched plate to enhance detail - the possibilities are endless.
A more low-tech form of printing, collagraph is yet capable of great finesse. It is not necessary to have any drawing skills and many people enjoy both creating the plate and seeing the end result.
As a press and assorted materials are required, attending a course at a printmaking studio is recommended for the beginner - see Practicalities below.
Etching, one of the most traditional techniques, is a form of intaglio printmaking. Intaglio (printing below the surface) images are printed from lines in a metal plate which hold the ink when the surface is wiped clean. Under high pressure in a mangle-type press, dampened paper is pushed into the lines and pulls out the ink.
Working on a metal plate covered with an acid-resistant varnish or waxy ground the design is drawn with a point to expose the metal. The plate is dipped in an acid which bites into the exposed areas; the longer the plate is left in the acid the deeper the lines become. When the ground is removed, after inking up and wiping clean the surface, the etched lines hold the ink from which the print is taken, producing a mirror image of the original design. A 'hard ground' is used for fine line work and a 'soft ground' is used for achieving softer pencil-drawn effects or interesting textures from objects or materials pressed into the surface, leaving an impression which can be etched and printed. An exciting range of effects can be achieved with just these techniques in one day even for the beginner and it is not necessary to be a great artist to produce a very satisfying print.
Additional techniques can be explored such as:
Several different kinds of metal can be used for the plates but most commonly it is zinc, which is easier to work than steel and cheaper than copper. The inks are usually oil based. There are also several types of water-based ink which I personally do not recommend but I do suggest using detergent-washable inks, which have the same characteristics as oil-based inks but clean up easily.
As a less toxic alternative to etching with acid (which needs a fume cabinet), exciting tones and effects can be achieved by etching on zinc or aluminium with a salt etch or ferric chloride.
As printing presses and acid baths etc are required, attending a course at a printmaking studio is recommended for the beginner - see Practicalities below.
With the development of light-sensitive photopolymer coatings on plastic or metal plates it is now possible to create photorealistic etchings with extremely fine detail. Originally designed for industrial use, this technique can be used for intaglio and relief printmaking to create exciting original art work.
A number of different types of photosensitive plates are available which all work on the principle that the polymer coating is soluble in water or mild caustic unless exposed to ultraviolet light where it is hardened.
An opaque positive transparency of the image is required. Anything that you create on a photo film can be used: painting in black on True-grain, a transparent plastic surface, a black and white Laser-Jet photocopy on an acetate sheet (one can then play with the image scratching into the acetate or increasing the tonal range) or a scanned computer image. When placed over the light-sensitive surface on the plate and exposed to a strong UV light all but the area shielded under the image is hardened by the light. The plate is then washed according to the manufacturer's instructions to remove the soft unfixed areas of the design.
For relief printmaking, the design is transferred from a negative image onto a photosensitive plate so that the design is left fixed on the surface of the plate for inking while the background is washed off, biting away the surface in the process on a plastic plate or preparing it for etching in acid on a metal plate.
A similar process involving a light-sensitive polymer can be used in lithography to fix the design on a lithographic plate.
Another photo process is Cyanotype printing which produces a painterly blue and white image from positive photographic images and autograph drawings. A versatile method for artwork both on papers and natural fabrics, Cyanotype sits somewhere between traditional photography and printmaking
Darkroom facilities and a light exposure unit are required as well as the usual press and materials - see Practicalities below.
In Lithography, (meaning 'writing with stone'), prints are pulled from a flat surface (also called planographic printing) treated to accept or reject ink, based on the principle that oil and water repel each other. The surface of either a limestone block or metal (zinc or aluminium) plate is treated with gum Arabic which is receptive to water, and the image drawn or painted with a grease-based medium. After wetting the plate, a greasy oil-based ink is rolled onto the surface which does not stick where there is water attracted by the effects of the gum but adheres to the greasy design from which it can be transferred to paper when passed through a press.
Painterly effects can be achieved, with subtle nuances of tone, fluidity and variability of line, and layers of colour. This form of printmaking is particularly suitable for people who enjoy drawing and water colour techniques, as it prints exactly the marks you make although it is not necessary to be an experienced artist and anyone can enjoy the process. It is important to follow the method to the letter in order to chemically fix the image on the plate as there is nothing cut, bitten or stencilled; the image is there by chemistry magic. However, the result justifies the effort.
A traditional limestone block might be too heavy to use for some people but equally good results can be achieved with the lighter metal plates.
Offset lithography is a modern development where the design is transferred from a stone/plate or a photo-litho plate onto a 'blanket' (smooth rubber mat) which holds the ink and then deposits it onto the paper. This produces a positive image of the original design, unlike the direct presses used traditionally, which reverse the image.
As a press and assorted materials are required, attending a course at a printmaking studio is recommended for the beginner - see Practicalities below.
Attending a course at a printmaking studio is recommended for the beginner. It is an activity where working alongside others can be particularly stimulating and, with practice, you can progress on to join an open-access print studio which will have everything you need before you invest in the equipment yourself.
Printmaking tends to be a messy process so it is advisable to wear old clothes and protective gloves.
Many printmakers work standing but much of the process can be done sitting down. With help, if necessary, pulling the press, or possibly the use of an electric press, printmaking can be accessible to the less able-bodied. Printing requires patience and method but the serendipitous nature of producing prints can be rewarding due to an element of the unexpected every time you pull a print.
St Barnabas Press, Open Access printmaking studio, Cambridge
The good thing about screen printing is that it doesn't require a press and can easily be done at home with a minimum of expensive equipment. For most people, however, the best way to find out about materials, equipment and techniques is to attend a class or workshop. You'll have fun and may want to continue in a more advanced class after you've learnt the basics. You'll also learn more by watching other people experiment with the processes.
Screen printing is basically a stencil method where ink is dragged across a mesh allowing it to print onto the paper underneath in selected areas. Any type of drawn or painted idea can be converted into a screen print and results can vary enormously from flat areas of colour to textured and sketchy linear prints. I use acrylic-based inks which can be individually mixed like paint. They can be mixed with varying degrees of transparency so that when overprinting extra colours are created. Unlike etching where the print is the reverse of the image on the plate, this is a positive method of printing with no need to reverse the image at any stage. It is therefore ideal for printing text.
To begin with the easiest and quickest method is with paper stencils. Simple torn edges look good but stencils can also be cut from greaseproof paper or waxed craft paper. For screen filler stencils you will need some water-based screen filler from a printmaking supplier. The filler will act like a paper stencil when printing but enables you to have a more painterly image. Drawing fluid is specifically designed for stencil making and is used with screen filler to produce a drawn positive image.
Once you've mastered these techniques try using photo stencils - where the screen is coated with photo-sensitive emulsion and a drawn or photographic image exposed onto it. On my mixed media course I encourage people to take quite contrasted photos (although Photoshop will help increase the contrast). Tones can be more clearly seen if the image is split into tiny dots or lines. Once exposed the areas of emulsion blocked from the light are washed out leaving a clear photographic tonal image.
It's important that the paper you print on is quite absorbent - fabric is excellent. I often print directly onto canvas but have printed onto foil, wood, glass, slate - almost anything! Although traditionally ink is dragged through the screen mesh with a squeegee, I often use sponges and create grades of colours blending into one another. If you want to block an area from printing just put a piece of paper underneath to prevent the ink from going through. One of the best things about this type of printing is that you can do a long run of identical prints (good for Christmas cards) or equally you can do one-off prints and experiment with the medium. Often my best prints happen by accident!
Tessa Sulston teaches at the Callington School of Art in Cornwall.
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