Planographic
Lithography
The lithographic process was invented by German publisher, Alois Senefelder,
in 1796. An artist draws on the surface of the stone, usually limestone,
with greasy crayons, pens or pencils; no special engraving or cutting
skills are required. When the drawing is complete, it is chemically
fixed on the stone with a weak solution of acid and gum Arabic. The
entire surface of the stone is washed with water, and oil-based printer's
ink is then rolled onto the stone. Since grease and water repel each
other, the ink adheres to only the greasy image and does not stick
to the clean portions of the stone. After the inking, print paper
is laid across the stone, and together they are run through a special
printing press with light pressure. When the paper is removed from
the stone, a mirror image will have been transferred from the stone
to the paper, and the original grease marks will be left on the stone,
so that the process of dampening its surface, inking and printing
may be repeated without having to make the greasy marks again. The
final print shows neither a raised nor embossed quality, but rather
an image lying entirely on the surface of the paper. The design may
be divided among several stones to produce, through multiple printings,
a lithograph in more than one color. A transfer lithograph (French,
autographie) employs the same technique, but the design is drawn on
specially prepared transfer paper with a lithographic crayon and is
later mechanically transferred to the stone. A zincograph is the same
as a lithograph, but employs a zinc plate rather than a stone.
Single Color Lithography: The image is made from
on lithographic stone and one printing ink color.
Hand Colored Lithography: A single
color lithograph upon which nonprinted color has been applied. In
the 1820's, monochromatic lithographs were colored by hand using crayons,
chalks, and water paints, but by mid-century, the color was applied
with stencils according to rigid formulas.
Tinted Lithography: Unlike the single color and hand
colored lithographs which require only one stone, a tinted lithograph
involves two or three stones, though seldom more. The image is still
printed from just one stone, but one or two tints that flood across
the picture surface are printed from second and third stones. The
tints create atmospheric effects but do not compose the image.
Chromolithography: French printer,
Godefroy Engelmann and his son, coined the term chromolithographie
in a patent filed in 1837. A chromolithograph is a printed color lithograph
in which the image is composed of at least three colors, each applied
to the print from a separate stone. Unlike tinted lithographs, with
their second and third colors casting hues across the print, the colors
of a chromo make up the picture itself. Chromolithography is very
technically complex because it requires perfect registration and a
sophisticated understanding of color. Though chromolithographs are
"copies", the skill required to produce them was considerable.
Color specialists called chromistes carried out a detailed process.
These professionals drew the separate color plates (stones), determined
the order of printing, and checked the finished pieces for their reproductive
quality. They were hailed in the popular press as craftsmen-geniuses.
An account published in America in 1869 reads:
"The hand that reproduces on stone the painting to be copied
must be that of a true artist. No dauber or botcher can do this work,
which demands of him who does it not merely manual skill and fine
artistic vision, but a thorough understanding and an earnest sympathy
with the purpose of the painter, whose work is before him, strong
powers of analysis and rare knowledge of colors."
Monotype
A design is drawn in ink or paint on any smooth surface. While the
ink or paint is still wet, a piece of paper is laid on top of it and
pressure is applied, with a press or by hand. The process is meant
to produce a single impression, but there is sometimes enough damp
ink left on the plate surface to make a second, weaker impression.
Cliché-Verre (Glass Print)
A glass plate is covered with ink or paint and a design is drawn through
it with a stylus or brush, producing a negative matrix. A piece of
photo-sensitive paper is placed beneath it and it is exposed to light.
A positive, proto-photographic image appears on the paper. It should
be noted that this is a print without printing: there is no ink on
the paper.
Works Cited
Goodfriend, C & J. Print-Making Techniques: An Abbreviated
and Simplified Guide. NY, NY.
Ivins, William M., How Prints Look. Beacon Press:
Beacon Hill, Boston, MA. 1943. 59-61.
Marzio, Peter C. The Democratic Art: An Exhibition
on the History of Chromolithography in America 1840-1900. Amon
Carter Museum of Western Art: Fort Worth, TX. 1979.
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