À la poupée
A method, originally French, of working different coloured inks into the pits and crevices
of an intaglio plate with twists of muslin (dollies) achieving a full-colour print in a single
impression.
Aquatint
A means of adding tonal areas to a metal etching plate, by sprinkling and melting resin dust
or asphaltum on the plate and allowing a mordant (acid) to attack the unprotected metal
between the tiny melted globules to create a network of crevices which will hold the ink.
Carborundum print
Silicon carbide is used in grit form, with a glue to provide a tooth for ink on a printing surface.
This technique produces tonal areas on a plate similar to an aquatint in etching.
Charcoal dust print
A technique of hand printing dust, (charcoal, graphite,metal particles, salt) through an
exposed silkscreen onto a paper substrate.
Chine collé
A technique using thin tissue paper, usually coloured, introduced as an element in intaglio
and relief printing. Traditionally thin sheets of Chinese paper such as gampi were used.
Collagraph
A print made from a low-relief surface (such as a collage) with, for example, glued-down
sand, grit, found objects, fragments and materials of different textures.
Digital print
An image which is created and stored electronically. A digital image can be created by
scanning drawings, photographs or slides and by using a mouse or graphic tablet to create an
image with a graphic program. Digital capture cameras record an image in digital form which
can be downloaded into a computer and used to create digital images.
Direct Transfer
A more direct process where pressure is regulated by hand using a range of drawing or
marking tools to pick up the inked areas from a plate. This allows for flexibility in developing
the image which creates a unique print.
Etching
A traditional printmaking technique where the metal plate is coated with a resist, then drawn
into, exposing areas which are then etched with acid. A freer quality of line is created than
that of an engraving and the plate can be printed as intaglio or relief.
Etching cast in plaster
A technique of printing an etching plate into a plaster mould rather than a paper receiver.
Hand colouring
The addition of painted colours usually done with brush and watercolour to a printed image
after the ink is dry.
Ink jet print
A print produced from an ink jet printer, an output device which sprays tiny dots of ink onto
paper.
Intaglio
A printing technique where the ink is contained in groves below the surface of the plate and
transferred to dampened paper by pressure. Engraving, etching, drypoint and mezzotint are
different forms of intaglio printing.
Laser engraving on wood
A technique using a rasterized digital vector file to engrave an image into a timber block. This
process allows for precise curves and minute marks. These are not deep but just below the
surface so intaglio and relief printing can be done with the same plate.
Laser print
A print made from a laser printer, an output device containing black toner which is attracted
electrostatically to form an image on a drum and then transferred to paper and fixed by heat.
Lithograph
A planographic printing process where greasy ink is repelled from a treated dampened plate
or stone, then transferred from this surface directly onto paper. Offset lithography or ‘offset
litho’ prints onto a rubber roller, reversing the image before printing onto paper.
Mokulito
This is a relatively recent hybrid technique similar to lithography, using a wood surface
instead of a stone. This allows various painterly effects combined with sharp woodcut marks
to be printed.
Monoprint (MP)
An impression taken from a block, plate or any other matrix which differs uniquely from any
other print from that same matrix.
Monotype
A single impression, not exactly repeatable, printed from a flat surface, often painted
with diluted printing inks or working into areas of rolled ink on a plate, sometimes taking
successive, increasingly faint impressions.
Monotype multiple drop
A monotype print marked, re-inked and printed multiple times from the same plate on the
same sheet of paper.
Photopolymer (Solar plate) etching
A method of printing using photopolymer plates that may be printed in intaglio or relief
Photopolymer print
A print made from photopolymer plates which are light sensitive and washed out in water.
These plates, designed for commercial printing to print on packaging, are also used by artists.
Relief print
Relief printing is a printing process where the ink lies on the raised surface of the plate, block
or other matrix and is transferred to paper or other printing stock by pressure, using a press,
baren or wooden spoon. Examples of relief printing are linocut, woodcut, wood engraving
and mokuhanga.
Unique State print (UP)
A general term for a printed image which is unique and cannot be recreated through the print
process from which it was made.
UV print
UV printing is a distinctive form of digital printing that involves the use of ultraviolet (UV)
light to cure or dry UV ink almost as soon as it is applied to a prepared substrate.
Woodblock
As a general term it applies to a matrix (wood) into which an image is carved along the grain,
for relief printing. This term also refers specifically to traditional Chinese and Japanese
woodblock printing. With this form of relief printing a woodblock is cut with gouges and
knives along the grain to produce an image, and printed using water-based inks and a baren.
Mokuhanga is a more recent term defining contemporary Japanese woodblock printing.
Woodcut
A form of relief printmaking where the image is produced by cutting and gouging away from
the surface along the grain of a piece of wood. The areas that are not cut, the relief, are then
inked with oil- based or water-based ink so that an impression can be transferred to paper
using a baren, printing press or wooden spoon.
Sources
Baldessin Press, https://baldessinpress.com.au for Mokulito
Contributions by members of Sydney Printmakers:- Andrew Totman, Carolyn Craig, Roz Kean, Lea KannarLichtenberger, Wendy Stokes and Gary Shinfield
Dyson, Anthony, Printmakers Secrets, A & C Black Publishers 2009
Longley, Dianne, Printmaking with Photopolymer Plates, Illumination Press, 1998
Woodcut, Woodblock and Wood Engraving, Defining the Medium favoured by Albrecht Durer and Katsushika
Hokusai, news.masterworksfineart.com