Print:
Generally, a picture whose forms and colors have been transferred from a
prepared plate to a piece of paper by applied pressure.
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An "original
print" is produced when an artist, or an assistant under the artist's direct
supervision if a large series (edition) is being printed, inks the plate and
adjusts the pressure personally for each individual print; traditionally, each
of these is signed and numbered by the artist.
The number 3/15, for example, identifies print
#3 in a limited edition of 15 in all. The
letters AP identify any of the Artist's Proofs that are preserved during the
preparation of an edition.
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A "reproduction
print" is produced when photomechanical processes are utilized to make
copies of an original oil painting or watercolor; if living, the original
artist may supervise some or all of the reproduction steps, and may sign and
number each copy to signify approval of the edition's quality and size.
Intaglio: The
generic term for the process of cutting, scratching, or etching lines into the
surface of a plate. When such a plate
is inked and then wiped, ink remains in the recessed lines, to be transferred
to a sheet of paper when the plate and the paper are run through an etching or
other press under pressure. Engraving,
drypoint, etching, aquatint, and soft-ground are
all intaglio processes.
Etching: The process of using acids to "eat" a design into a metal
plate in preparation for intaglio printing.
Usually, the process is repeated several times in the preparation of a
single plate, for artistic control over depths, widths, and tones of separate
lines and areas.
Aquatint: An etching technique useful for generating tones and textures. A "ground" of resin or spray paint
is used to control the effect of the acid bath on the metal of the etching
plate.
Soft-Ground: Another etching technique in which textures and forms are pressed into
and pulled from a pliable ground to control the effect of the acid bath on the
etching plate.
Monotype: A unique original print (an "edition of one") made by the
artist applying paint directly on a glass, metal, or plastic plate. The image is then transferred to paper by
hand rubbing or running the plate through a press. After the print has dried, further development is possible using
colored pencils or pastels.
Collage
Monotype: Loose cutouts of collage materials such as
textured paper, lace, or cloth are utilized in the production of such a
monotype.
Monoprint: A monoprint utilizes a repeatable matrix such as an intaglio design,
which could be used to produce a series (edition), but individual hand
refinements keep each print unique.
Joan S. Wolf
2006