Introduction to Printmaking

Activities by Mary Erickson Ph.D., with

Arizona art teacher Marissa Vidrio
 Artists make prints by drawing or carving a surface,
putting ink on the surface and pressing paper into that surface.
The surface can be used again to make another print.

Ester Hernández Laura Álvarez

Libertad (Liberty), 1987 The Double Agent Sirvienta: Blow Up the Hard
Etching (#36 of 50) Drive,1999, serigraph (#45 of 56)
Printmaking is a way to make one or multiple original
artworks. This is a printmaking press.
 An etching is a kind of print made by:

1) cutting into a
metal plate with
tools or acid

2) rolling ink onto

the plate

3) finally, running
the plate and a
piece of paper
through a press.
The photo on the left shows a close-up of a metal plate.
The photo on the right is a print made by rolling white ink on
the plate, cleaning the ink off the top surface, placing a piece
of black paper over the plate and running it through a press.
The press pulls the ink from the plate onto the paper and
makes a reversed image.
“Custom Service” is an
etching by Tony Ortega.
He cut lines into a metal
plate, used ink and a press
to print black lines on top of
a U.S. Customs form.

After the black lines were

printed, he hand colored
the print with watercolors.

Tony Ortega
Custom Service
etching, watercolor
 A woodcut print is made by:

1) carving into the

surface of a block
of wood
2) rolling ink on
the surface
3) laying a piece
of paper over the
block
4) applying
pressure to make
the print.
An artist makes a lithograph by drawing with an oily crayon
on a piece of limestone (or other appropriate surface). The
stone surface is covered with a liquid so only the crayon
marks are exposed.

Then oil-based ink is

rolled on the surface
sticking only to the
drawing.

A piece of paper is
laid over the stone,
which is run through
a press to make
the print.
 A silkscreen print, or serigraph, is made by blocking out
sections of a piece of mesh fabric (such as silk or other
synthetic fabrics) stretched in a frame. The printmaker uses a
squeegee to force thick ink through the unblocked areas of
fabric onto a piece of paper placed under the screen.
(A serigraph print is not reversed.)
Artist Laura Álvarez made
this print using a serigraph
printing technique.

How many colors can you

identify?

Each color was made with

a separate screen.

Laura Álvarez
The Double Agent Sirvienta: Blow Up the Hard Drive
serigraph, 1999
Why do you suppose some
artists choose printmaking,
rather than drawing or
painting, when they want to
communicate their feelings
or ideas to lots of people?
 Special Thanks

Jean Makin and the Jules Heller Print Study Room

at the Arizona State University Art Museum
for the use of printmaking props to help make
this presentation.