Printmaking Processes
Blind - Printing using an uninked plate to produce the subtle embossed texture of a white-on-white image, highlighted by the shadow of the relief image on the uninked paper. This technique is used in many Japanese prints.
Chiarographs – (keer-ograph) is a fusion of traditional printmaking and the latest digital technology. The characteristic of the Chiarograph medium is unique : while each one has a pattern or part of an image that is repeated, the individual hand painting preparation results in a one of a kind print. Thus, no two prints are identical. The beauty of this media is also in its spontaneity and its combination of printmaking and painting.
Collograph - Printing technique in which proofs are pulled from a block on which the artwork or design is built up like a collage, creating relief.
Drypoint - Printing technique of intaglio engraving in which a hard, steel needle incises lines on a metal plate, creating a burr that yields a characteristically soft and velvety line in the final print.
Etching - Printing technique in which a metal plate is first covered with an acid-resistant material, then worked with an etching needle to create an intaglio image. The exposed metal is eaten away in an acid bath, creating depressed lines that are later inked for printing.
Giclée or Iris– (zhee-clay ) French for *sprayed ink* A state-of-the-art printmaking that gives a vibrant color rendition of an original painting. Giclees are produced one at a time. A giclee is created by a digital printers tiny ink jets that spray millions of droplets of ink, acrylic or oil paints onto fine art paper or canvas. This printing process can take up to an hour or more to complete, depending on the size of the print. Whether on fine art paper or canvas, each glicee piece is coated with a protective finish. Giclée printing offers one of the highest degree of accuracy and richness of color available in any reproduction techniques. The giclee developed and intended for the fine art market.
Lithograph - Printing technique using a planographic process in which prints are pulled on a special press from a flat stone or metal surface that has been chemically sensitized so that ink sticks only to the design areas and is repelled by the non-image areas. Lithography was invented in 1798 in Germany by Alois Senefelder.
Offset Lithography - A special photo-mechanical technique in which the image to be printed is transferred to the negative plates and printed onto paper. Offset lithography is very well adapted to color printing
Mezzotint - A reverse engraving process used on a copper or steel plate to produce illustrations in relief with effects of light and shadow. The surface of a master plate is roughened with a tool called a rocker so that if inked, it will print solid black. The areas to be white or gray in the print are rubbed down so as not to take ink. It was widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries to reproduce portraits and other paintings, but became obsolete with the introduction of photo-engraving
Mixed media or Mixed-media - A technique involving the use of two or more artistic media, such as ink and pastel or painting and collage, that are combined in a single composition. The term intermedia is used synonymously
Monotype - One-of-a-kind print made by painting on a sheet of metal or glass and transferring the still-wet painting onto a sheet of paper by hand or with an etching press. If enough paint remains on the master plate, additional prints can be made, however, the reprint will have substantial variations from the original image. Monotype printing is not a multiple-replica process since each print is unique.
Planographic - The process to print impressions from a smooth surface rather than creating incised or relief areas on the plate. The term was devised to describe lithography.
Serigraphy (Silk-screen) – A hand printing technique (based on stenciling) that ink or paint is brushed through a fine silk screen or other fine fabric, portions of which have been masked for impermeability, directly onto paper or canvas. A different portion of the screen must be masked for each color. Each color must dry before the next is applied.
Hand Embellished - Many paper or canvas editions include brushstrokes done by hand by the artist. The embellishing enhance both the look (added texture) and value of the work
Low Inventory - A limited edition that is almost sold out at the publishing company. There is usually less than 5% of the edition remaining.
Publisher Sold Out - No inventory of that edition remains at the publisher. We may have the art for sale still so call for our availability.
EMBELLISHED GICLÉE -A giclée is "embellished" when the artist adds to the finished print using an art medium such as pastel, pen, acrylic, etc. As each print is individually done, no two will be alike. The artist may just add a few strokes, or actually change the look of the original piece. Embellished prints are typically more expensive because, in effect, the artist is actually creating an original piece of art from each print.
Sericel - Sometimes called serigraph cels. A cel on which the image is silk-screened applying each individual color to the cel, one at a time. Every distinct shade is a separate screen, and a separate pass in the procedure. As a result of this fine art operation, each color is flawlessly reproduced. Sericels are also created in limited quantities, typically 2500 to 5000 pieces. Because of their larger edition size, sericels are the most affordable type of animation art, ideal for the beginning collector. Sericels are sometimes signed by the artist and/or have lithographic backgrounds.
Limited Edition Cel - As with production cels, limiteds can have either hand-inked or xerographic outlines, and are also hand-painted. The major difference, as its name implies, is that the limited editions are created in smaller limited quantities; generally 250 to 500 cels. Because of these small edition sizes, limiteds can also be very collectible. Some limiteds are exact reproductions of the frames of the film they represent. Others are based on contemporary interpretations of classic characters or scenes by their animators. Chuck Jones limited editions are always hand-numbered on the cel.
Common Art Print Terms
Limited Edition - Set of identical prints numbered in succession and signed by the artist. The total number of prints if fixed or "limited" by the artist who supervises the printing. All additional prints have been destroyed.
Montage (Collage) - An artwork comprising of portions of various existing images such as from photographs or prints and arranged so that they join, overlap or blend to create a new image
Multiple Originals - A set of identical fine prints in which the artist personally conceived the image, created the master plates and executed or supervised the entire printing process. Example: etching.
Multiple Reproductions - A set of identical fine prints reproducing the image of an original artwork created by a non-printing process. Example: serigraph of an oil on canvas.
Open Edition - A series of prints or objects in an art edition that has an unlimited number of copies .
Original Print - One-of-a-kind print in which the artist personally conceived the image, created the master plates and executed the entire printing process.
Provenance - Record of ownership for a work of art, ideally from the time it left the artist's studio to it's present location, thus creating an unbroken ownership history.
Remarque - Small sketch in the margin of an art print or additional enhancements by the artist on some or all of the final prints within an edition.
Restrike - Additional prints made from a master plate, block, lithograph stone, etc. after the original edition has been exhausted.
Color-variant Suite - A set of identical prints in different color schemes.
Print Proof Types
Proofs are prints authorized by the artist in addition to the limited signed and numbered edition. The total size of an art edition consists of the signed and numbered prints plus all outstanding proofs. If a set of proofs consists of more than one print, numbers are inscribed to indicate the number of the prints within the total number of the particular type of proof, (e.g., AP 10/50 means the tenth print in a set of fifty identical prints authorized as artist proofs). Proofs are generally signed by the artist as validation of the prints.
Artist's Proof Print intended for the artist's personal use. It is common practice to reserve approximately ten percent of an edition as artist's proofs, although this figure can be higher. The artist's proof is sometimes referred to by it's French épreuve d'artist (abbreviation E.A.). Artist's proofs can be distinguished by the abbreviation AP or E.A.
Cancellation Proof - Final print made once an edition series has been finished to show that the plate has been marred/mutilated by the artist, and will never be used again to make more prints of the edition.
Hors d'Commerce Proof - Print identical to the edition print intended to be used as samples to show to dealers and galleries. Hors d'Commerce (abbreviated to H.C.) proofs may or may not be signed by the artist.
Printer's Proof - Print retained by the printer as a reference. Artists often sign these prints as a gesture of appreciation.
Trial Proof - Pre-cursor to a limited edition series, these initial prints are pulled so that the artist may examine, refine and perfect the prints to the desired final state. Trial proofs are generally not signed.
Abbreviations Used in Art
AP - Artist's Proof (see definition)
CP - Cancellation Proof (see definition)
Del - (Latin, delineavit) He (she) drew it. Generally inscribed next to the artist's signature.
E.A. - (French, épreuve d'artist) An artist's proof (see definition)
HC - (French, Hors d'Commerce) Prints from an edition intended to be used as samples to show to dealers and galleries
M.E. Museum Edition
PP - Printers Proof (see definition)
TP - Trial Proof
Art Styles and Movements
Abstract - A 20th century style of painting in which non-representational lines, colors, shapes, and forms replace accurate visual depiction of objects, landscape, and figures. The subject is often stylized, blurred, repeated or broken down into basic forms so that it becomes unrecognizable. Intangible subjects such as thoughts, emotions, and time are often expressed in abstract art form.
Art Nouveau - A painting, printmaking, decorative design, and architectural style developed in England in the 1880s. Art Nouveau, primarily an ornamental style, was not only a protest against the sterile Realism, but against the whole drift toward industrialization and mechanization and the unnatural artifacts they produced. The style is characterized by the usage of sinuous, graceful, cursive lines, interlaced patterns, flowers, plants, insects and other motifs inspired by nature.
Cubism - An art style developed in 1908 by Picasso and Braque whereby the artist breaks down the natural forms of the subjects into geometric shapes and creates a new kind of pictorial space. In contrast to traditional painting styles where the perspective of subjects is fixed and complete, cubist work can portray the subject from multiple perspectives.
Dadaism - An art style founded by Hans Arp in Zurich after World War I which challenged the established canons of art, thoughts, morality, etc. Disgusted with the war and society in general, Dadaists expressed their feelings by creating "non-art." The term Dada, a nonsense or baby-talk term, symbolizes the loss of meaning in the European culture. Dada art is difficult to interpret since there is no common foundation. Since Dadaists did not claim that the objects they created were art, all objects (including found objects that were retrieved from waste bins and such, could be incorporated to create non-art.
Expressionism - An art movement of the early 20th century in which traditional adherence to realism and proportion was replaced by the artist's emotional connection to the subject. These paintings are often abstract, the subject matter distorted in color and form to emphasize and express the intense emotion of the artist.
Impressionism - An art movement founded in France in the last third of the 19th century. Impressionist artists sought to break up light into its component- colors and render its ephemeral play on various objects. The artist's vision was intensely centered on light and the ways it transforms the visible world. This style of painting is characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors used to recreate visual impressions of the subject and to capture the light, climate and atmosphere of the subject: at a specific moment in time. The chosen colors represent light- which is broken down into its spectrum components and re-combined by the eyes into another color when viewed at a distance (an optical mixture). The term was first used in 1874 by a journalist ridiculing a landscape by Monet called Impressionist-Sunrise.
Pop Art - A style of art which seeks its inspiration from commercial art and items of mass culture (such as comic strips, popular foods and brand name packaging). Pop art was first developed in New York City in the late 1950's and soon became the dominant avant-garde art form in the United States.
Realism - A style of painting which depicts subject matter (form, color, space) as it appears in actuality or ordinary visual experience without distortion or stylization.
Romanticism - An art style which emphasizes the personal, emotional and dramatic through the use of exotic, literary, or historical subject matter.
Surrealism - An art style developed in Europe in the 1920s, characterized by using the subconscious as a source of creativity to liberate pictorial subjects and ideas. Surrealist paintings often depict unexpected or irrational objects in an atmosphere of fantasy, creating a dream-like scenario.
Symbolism - An art style developed in the late 19th century characterized by the incorporation of symbols and ideas, usually spiritual or mystical in nature, which represent the inner life of people. Traditional modeled, pictorial depictions are replaced or contrasted by flat mosaic-like surfaces decoratively embellished with figures and design elements.
TrompeL'oeil (Trick of the Eye) - A style of painting in which architectural details are rendered in extremely fine detail in order to create the illusion of tactile (tangible) and spatial qualities. This form of printing was first used by the Romans thousands of years ago in frescoes and murals. TrompeL'oeil can be thought of as a form of architectural realism.
