Print is one of those words that can mean a lot of different things in different contexts. I’m going to discuss a few general definitions that are useful to know.
There are many types of prints. Basically, a print is an image made using some form of matrix. A basic example would be a rubber stamp– the stamp (matrix) transfers the image in ink onto the paper.
(On top, the carved relief block. Below it is a print from the block. Note how the image is reversed during printing.)
Because the image is applied using a matrix, it is often possible to make multiples by using the matrix again and again.
(Here’s the final version of that print, by the way…)
That ability to make identical multiples is (to my mind) the really cool part about printmaking.
It’s quite literally changed the world… and now we live in a world surrounded by printed material.
So if so many things are prints, what’s the big deal about my prints? (I get asked this a lot, usually with a subtext of “and why does it cost so much? And why aren’t you a real artist like a painter?”)
I’m a printmaker. That means I’m a subcategory of artist who uses print techniques to make art, in the same way that a ceramicist makes art using clay and a painter… uses paint to make their art. “Printmaker” doesn’t tell you anything about the art I make, it just describes the method I use to make it.
There are three very useful terms I need to mention here: original print, reproduction print, and hand-pulled print. An original print is a work of art where the final form of the image is the print. This is in contrast to a reproduction print, which is a copy of another piece of art. (A poster of a painting is a reproduction print. A Thomas Kinkade signature print-whatever-thingy is still a reproduction print, since the painting is the original piece.)
The prints I make are original prints, since the print is the final form of the art. Basically, my art does not exist until it exists as a print. They’re also hand-pulled prints, which means they were made using traditional hand methods of printing (intaglio, relief, screenprinting, lithography, monotypes, etc) that require a person to manually create the print (as opposed to using electronic devices/inkjet printers). Traditional manual printing takes knowledge and a specialized skill set, which is why I’m proud to be able to describe myself as a printmaker.
(It takes years of training to be this messy.)
If I make twenty (or two hundred) of the same fine art print, each of them is an original work of art. So twenty different people can have that work of art. And because of that, original hand-pulled prints can be sold cheaper than some other types of art, making printmaking a very accessible art form. So accessible, in fact, that you can send someone a card that’s an original, handmade work of art, instead of something mass-produced. (Let’s see you do that, marble sculptors!)
You can find more detailed descriptions of many of the different printmaking methods (with more pictures/diagrams) here:http://www.norwichprintfair.co.uk/techniques.asp
and a roadrunner.
