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Printing Techniques
Lithography
This printing technique uses a planographic process in which prints are pulled on a special press from a flat stone or metal surface. The surface has been chemically sensitised so that ink sticks only to the design areas, and is repelled by the non image areas. Lithography was invented in Solnhofen, Germany by Alois Senefelder in 1978. The early history of lithography is dominated by great French artists such as Daumier and Delacroix, and later by Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Braque and Miro.
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 colour printing. In the process of producing limited editions the first reprographic techniques are used to split the original painting into the four printing colours. High quality mechanical printing then enables the translation of this image onto paper. The plates are destroyed in order that the authenticity and integrity of the limited edition print is maintained.
Giclee
Giclee (zhee-clay) is a French term. in this case meaning 'spray of ink'. An Iris ink jet print on watercolour paper in known as a Giclee. It is not an original graphic, but a fine quality reproduction print. In many cases, that quality is high enough to reproduce an original in a way that many find superior to that of a serigraph or lithograph.
With oil, the process captures the true texture of a piece. The Giclee process really saturates the colours, and accurately represents the textures found in an oil painting. This allows viewers to feel the quality of the original in the Giclee print.
Giclee prints render deep, saturated colours and have a beautiful painterly quality that retains minute detail, subtle tints and blends. A variety of substrates can be used. This includes archival watercolour papers, such as Arches, Somerset, glossy paper and cotton duck canvas. The prints may be hand embellished by the artist using paint, ink and gold foil stamping for a mixed media effect. Iris Giclee prints have an impressive exhibition record - being shown in museums and galleries throughout the world.
The production of a Giclee print is not an automatic process. The human touch is critical in several phases of the Giclee process. First, Giclee prints begin as original art. Second, the work is scanned into the computer, where it is colour corrected. That colour correction requires an experienced eye and touch in making the proper adjustments in tone, contrast. sharpness and other factors. This helps to ensure that we produce a print that faithfully reproduces the original. Third, in matching the computer image with the final print, a practised eye must make adjustments for the best results. And lastly, the printer itself needs steady attention to produce consistent, quality results. In short, the human hand is part of every step of the giclee process. Indeed, the difference between a quality [printer and one that is not, lies almost entirely in the human involvement and craftsmanship.
The true difference between giclees and other types of print lies in the printing device. For the offset lithographs, that printing device is offset press. For seirgraphs, the ink is applied by hand over the computer generated screens. For a giclee print, the printing takes place on an Iris continuous tone ink printer.
Silkscreen
The art of silkscreen printing is an age-old process. It is in fact a technical development of stencilling. which is believed to have been used by early cave artists. Archaeological discoveries of cave art suggest that some of the repetitive elements that decorate caves were achieved with a form of stencil.
The spread of civilisation and therefore technology increased the use of stencil printing. The technological leap from simple stencil to screen printing may have happened in Japan where the strands of hair were used to hold integral elements of the design together - for example, a circle within a circle cannot be achieved without two different elements being held in place by some form of mesh. Woven silk threads were soon used in place of hair, hence the term silkscreen, and from then on the stencil shapes could be placed anywhere with ease.
The development if silkscreen printing, as a method of producing art multiples, has been driven largely by the United States, where artists and craftsmen got together to use the medium to produce posters and limited editions.
The number of colours needed to produce a picture as a silkscreen of course depends on the original. The average number of colours in any one limited edition is 30.
The production of a print starts with the original which is photographed as a transparency (5 x 4 inches or 10 x 8 inches). The photograph is then scanned and saved onto computer. Several days are then spent manipulating the scan ready to produce the type of separations needed for fine art screenprinting. The separations used are not process originated, but based on the pigments used in the original. The process colours of Cyan, Magenta and Yellow are almost never used in the production of prints. The result is film as flat colours (not half tones).
Each separation is then used to make a stencil which is placed onto a screen. These days polyester is used over aluminium. The screen is then placed on to the printing press and the ink mixed. Hand presses are used for short edition runs and the application of special textures, varnishes and gold leafing. Each piece of paper is fed into the press by hand. The ink is then pushed through the screen onto the paper with a squeegee. The print is then removed and placed on a rack to dry. This process has to be done again for each colour on the print. This often causes the need to share the opinions of others in the studio to be sure the best result is achieved. Ideally the artist's image will come alive as individual colours built to mirror the original paint application - even brush strokes are recreated to ensure the texture, flow and form of a painting is captured.
The Number
Limited edition prints have never been so collectable. The faithful translation of original paintings into limited editions enables the artist's work to be enjoyed by more collectors. The hand written number which appears on each print is vital - it guarantees not only the size but also the authenticity of the edition. The plates, films and materials involved in the reproduction are all destroyed following printing, which further ensures their authenticity.
The Signature
Each edition bears the unique signature of the artist. Their signature authenticates each reproduction of the artist's original painting and also ensure the edition is to their complete satisfaction.
