Plate Blocks/ Multiples

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Except in the case of Monotyping, the process is capable of producing multiple copies of the same piece, which is called a print. Each copy is known as an impression. more...

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Painting or drawing, on the other hand, create a unique original piece of artwork. Prints are created from a single original surface, known technically as a matrix. Common types of matrix include: plates of metal, usually copper or zinc, for engraving, etching or lithography and blocks of wood for woodcut. But there are many other kinds, discussed below. Each print is considered an original work of art, not a copy. Works printed from a single plate create an edition, in modern times usually each signed and numbered to form a limited edition. A single print could be the product of one or multiple techniques.

Printmakers work in a variety of mediums, including water based ink, water color paint, oil based ink, oil pastels, and any water soluble solid pigment such as Caran D'Ache crayons. The work is created on a flat surface called a plate. Depending on the process used to lift the print, artists either carve or draw into their surfaces. Printmaking techniques that utilize digital methods are becoming increasingly popular and in many markets are the preferred method. Surfaces used in printmaking include planks of wood, metal plates, panes of plexiglass, pieces of shellacked book board, or lithographic stones. A separate technique, called screenprinting, makes use of a porous fabric mesh stretched in a frame, called a screen. Small prints can even be made using the surface of a potato.

Printmakers apply color to their prints in many different ways. Often color in printmaking that involves etching, screenprinting, woodcut or linocut is applied by either using separate plates, blocks or screens or by using a reductionist approach. In the multiple plate approach to color there may be a number of plates, screens or blocks produced, each providing a different aspect of the print picture as a whole. Each separate plate, screen or block will be inked up in a different color and applied in a particular sequence to produce the entire picture. On average about 3 to 4 plates are produced but there are occasions where a printmaker may use up to seven plates. Every application of another plate of color will interact with the color already applied to the paper and this must be kept in mind when producing the separation of colors. The lightest colors are often applied first and then that darker colors successively until the last one.

The reductionist approach to producing color is to start with a lino or wood block that is either blank or with a simple etching. Upon each printing of color the printmaker will then further cut into the lino or woodblock removing more material and then apply another color and reprint. Each successive removal of lino or wood from the block will expose the already printed color to the viewer of the print.

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