What is printmaking?

When you apply ink

or other media to a
surface in order to
transfer the image
onto another surface,
you are printmaking.
All you need is ink,
something to print
from and something
to print onto, like
paper.

Mass Printing Actually began in

China
The earliest dated
printed book
known is the
"Diamond Sutra",
printed in China in
868 AD. However,
it is suspected that
book printing may
have occurred long
before this date.

The Miracle of Moveable Type

In 1041 AD,
movable clay type
was first invented
in China.
Johannes
Gutenberg
invented the
printing press with
replaceable
wooden or metal
letters in 1436
(completed by
1440).

Last Supper by Albrecht Durer

Musicisna
By
Jost Ammon

Great Wave by Hokusai

After Moveable type

Artists started creating
prints simply to create
artwork.
They recorded daily life
of both nobility and
peasants.
They created political
satire to tease and make
fun of the nobility.
They illustrated favorite
stories and myths.

Meadowsweet
by
Frank
Morley
Fletcher

The Storm By B.J.O. Nordfeldt

Thanks to the ability create

mass production printing
Books and other printed
materials became more
accessible,
The general public was
given the opportunity to
be educated more easily,
and
Handmade printing
became a kind or Art
form.

Two categories of Printing

Subtractive printing
You cut, etch, engrave or
carve away part of the
printing area.
The are left is what transfers
the image during printing.

Additive printing
You build up the printing area
by adding material to the
printing plate.
The ink sticks to the highest
and most textured areas to
transfer the image during
printing.

Different subtractive carving

techniques create different effects on
value and texture
Hatching- all one
general direction

Crosshatching-

overlapping hatching
lines in different
directions
Stippling- short dots
or small dashes

Thickness and
thinness of the lines-

changing the thickness

of a line will make it
stand out more

CrossHatching

Stucco Workers
By Linda Lee Boyd

Hatching

Survivor
By Elizabeth Catlett

Stippling

You can print using several layers of

color also.

Look at the following

student examples:
What images do you see?
What techniques do you see?
How did the artist use colors?
Why is positive and negative
space important?