History of Printmaking and Papermaking
Printing emerged in Europe at the end of the 14th century with the development of the printing press and a wider availability of paper. The two techniques commonly used in the 15th century were woodcut and engraving.
Printmaking at STPI
The 4,000 m2 institute is home to a state of the art printmaking workshop and paper mill. STPI works in all major printmaking techniques ranging from lithography, intaglio, reliefs, and silkscreen prints. The paper mill creates paper using the European tradition, and is the largest mill in Asia for western type handmade paper.
Each printing press was customized by Ken Tyler specifically to print onto oversized, large format papers.
Printmaking Techniques
Papermaking
The papermaking process developed in Europe during the 12th century.
Basic Steps
1. The main ingredient for paper is raw fiber. The most common fibers used are cotton, linen, abaca, kozo, or gampi. The fiber is soaked in water to get rid of any dirt or impurities. It is then transferred to a beater to mix the raw fiber and water into a thick pulp.
2. The pulp is mixed into a large vat of water, and the amount of pulp added depends on the desired thickness of the paper. A mould and deckle, a wooden mould covered with a metal mesh and a removable frame, is dipped in one continuous motion into the vat and smoothly lifted out, leaving a layer of wet pulp on the mould. The size of paper is determined by the size of the mould and deckle.
3. The wet sheet of pulp is transferred onto a damp piece of felt, a process called couched. More sheets of paper pulp laid onto felt are made and a pile called a post is formed. The felt acts as separators for the fresh paper.
4. The post is placed on a hydraulic press bed and pressed to squeeze out all the excess water. The compressed sheets are separated sheet by sheet from the felt and laid onto screen trays before going into the drying room
5. To make colored paper, color pigments are added to the vat of water (step 2). Colors can be added directly through the spraying of dyes or manually by applying colored pulp onto the wet surface of newly made sheets
Lithography
Lithography was invented in 1798, and the process is based on the chemical repulsion of oil and water. Either a limestone or an aluminum plate can be used.
Basic steps
1. A stone or an aluminum plate is selected. The stone is prepared by grinding the surface down until it is perfectly level and clean
2. The image is drawn directly onto the stone by a liquid tusche, liquid, or litho crayon, solid.
3. When the drawing is ready to be fixed, process of etching the image permanently onto the surface, the stone or plate is sprinkled with talc and rosin before a mixture of gum arabic and nitric acid is wiped over the entire stone surface. The acid burns the image onto the surface while the gum arabic seals the surface that wasn’t covered with the drawing medium.
4. The stone is sponged with water where the water stays onto the surface not covered in grease.
5. A leather roller is used to apply an oil-based ink onto the dampened surface which allows ink to be deposited equally onto the image. During this stage, the surface is sponged with water and the roller is re-inked.
6. Once the surface is evenly inked, a dry sheet of paper is placed on the inked surface. It is then put through a press where even pressure is exerted by a scraper bar as the paper and stone or aluminum plate pass through.
7. The image is printed in reverse on paper and a different stone can be drawn for each color that the artist desires his print to be.
Screenprinting
Screen printing crates an image by controlling the flow of ink through open and blocked areas on a mesh screen. It follows a stencil technique where bold areas of uniform color or delicate details are easily created.
Basic Steps
1. A synthetic, fine mesh fabric is stretched over a screen made out of wood or aluminum.
2. The image to be printed is composed out of several stencils. A stencil creates blocked out areas and open areas where ink may pass through. A stencil can be made from cut out paper or tape, cut adhesive film, photographic exposure, or drawn with masking liquid.
3. Once the sheet of paper and screen are aligned, ink is placed along the top of the screen and evenly pulled down the mesh with a squeegee, a rubber blade set in a handle. Ink is pushed through the open areas of the screen onto the paper below.
4. Step 3 is repeated until all colors and stencils have been printed. When completed, the last screen is removed revealing the transfer of the final image to the paper.
Relief Printing
An image is created by carving away the non-inking areas and inking the raised surface. Woodcuts and linoleum cuts are part of relief prints.
Basic steps in Woodcut prints
1. An image is drawn directly onto a block of wood or transferred onto the surface from a sheet of paper. The excess wood is carved away, leaving the drawn raised lines as the inking surface.
2. Using either water-based or oil-based inks, the pigment is evenly applied to the raised part of the woodblock. Separate wood blocks are used for each color
3. A damp piece of paper is placed on top of the inked woodblock and gently rubbed evenly across the entire surface with a baren, a flat circular rubbing tool.
4. When the paper is removed from the woodblock, the image is printed on the paper in reverse.
Intaglio Printing
The image is created by carving grooves and recessed areas into the surface of either a metal, wood, or plastic plate and the recessed areas are inked. Intaglio techniques include engraving, etching, drypoint, collagraph, mezzotint, and aquatint.
Basic steps in Etching
1. Copper plates are commonly used for etching; the surface is cleaned and polished before an acid resistant coating is applied.
2. An etching needle or other sharp object is used to scratch away areas of the plate to create the desired image which exposes the copper plate underneath.
3. The plate is placed in a tray of acid which bites into the exposed areas, creating a permanent image. The acid resistant ground protects the non-image areas on the plate from the acid
4. When the image is etched deep enough, the plate is removed from the acid bath and a solvent is used to clean the leftover ground from the plate.
5. Ink is applied to the surface of the plate then wiped clean leaving only the etched areas filled with ink, and the deeper the etch, the more ink it holds.
6. The inked plate is covered with a moist sheet of paper and is run through a press forcing the paper into the grooves to pick up the ink. This also leaves the image slightly raised onto the paper
7. As the paper is lifted from the plate, the printed image shows a mirror image.
To learn more about printmaking and papermaking techniques, do sign up for our workshops and tutorials. |
