Reviewing Methods and Materials - Printmaking…

Reviewing Methods and Materials...

Two-dimensional works of art and design:

Printmaking.

Students can begin to consider the advantages of using printmaking techniques in order to represent observations, ideas and emotions.

Support used:

What types of support has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used for the prints? Has the artist or designer used paper, fabric, some form of card or another alternative, such as wood, a ceramic surface, dried plant material or leather? Describe the type of paper or fabric used. Is the support surface matte or glossy in appearance? Is the support surface smooth or textured?

Has the surface of the support for each editions of prints been changed by the use of collage elements?

Printmaking techniques:

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner produced a single monoprint or an edition of prints? If the print on display is part of an edition, try to find a record of the print number and the number of the prints in the edition on the print support surface.

If the artist, designer or crafts practitioner has used a monoprint technique, describe the type of monoprint produced. Has the monoprint been created through the application of paper, card or fabric over printing ink spread onto a glass, plastic, or cardboard sheet? Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used found objects such as fibres, fabrics, lace, net, natural plant matter or man-made found objects on the ink-covered printing sheet?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used a block printing technique? What type of material been used to form the printing block? Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used unmodified found objects as printing blocks? Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used created a block by shaping wood, card, foam, linoleum, root vegetables, plaster or wax? Has the block been produced by the use of carving techniques? Has the block been carved once, or several times in order to reduce the block surface and show different and distinct lines, shapes, textures and colour areas? Has the block been created through the use of plastic, rubber or plaster plus a casting technique? Has the block been created through the collograph technique, where different three-dimensional elements, textured pastes and glues are attached to the block? Has the block been used to create a single visual image or has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used one or more blocks in order to create a pattern? If a pattern has been created, has more than one block been used, and have the blocks been moved, repeatedly applied and overlapped over the support surface? Describe any special features related to the creation of a repeat block print.

Has the artist used a metal printing plate in order to produce the print? How has the artist marked out a visual representation onto the metal plate? Has the exhibition catalogue or the exhibition labels indicated if the artist has directly marked the metal plated, or has the artist used materials such as acids that eat away at the metal plate?

Has the artist used a lithography stone or a combination of resist techniques in order to create a visual representation ready for printing?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used a stencil in order to create a printed image or pattern? Can you find out how the stencil was produced? Has the stencil been cut from paper, card or plastic, or has the stencil been created through the use of a light or chemically sensitive masking film? If a pattern has been created, has more than one stencil been used, and has a stencil been moved and overlapped over the support surface? Have the stencil prints been created through the application of printing ink through the use of a brush or roller, or has the stencil been attached to a silk screen, and the print produced by passing printing ink through the screen?

Has the print been computer-generated through the use of digital technology and specific software programs plus an ink-jet or laser printer? Have the exhibit labels, exhibition notes or the catalogue entries provided information about the use of specific software packages, scanned images or the inclusion of digital photography techniques?

Describe the use of line and shape on the printed image.

Describe the use of tone and colour on the printed image.

Has the printing technique been used to represent textures in the image or pattern?

Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner incorporated both photographic imagery and hand rendered linear or tonal elements into the printed image or pattern on display?

Are there any notable features associated with the print registration? Has the artist, designer or crafts practitioner used print overlays or overlaps in association with print registration in order to create an important visual effect?

Subject matter:

Has the artist or designer used printmaking techniques in order to produce realistic representations? Describe the representations.

Has the artist or designer used printmaking techniques in order to produce an abstracted representation? Describe the representations.

If the artist, designer or craft practitioner has printed pattern formats, describe the placement and scale of the pattern lines or shapes, as well as any distinctive optical effects.