Glossary

A method of creating tonal variation and texture on the plate. The plate is placed in a sealed box (aquatint box) a thin layer of resin particles are deposited on the plate, which is then heated until the resin fuses to the surface. The plate is then placed in the acid, which eats away the metal not covered by the resin, creating channels and small pits. When inked up, and wiped, these depressions retain the ink and print an even tone. The design of the etching is created by “stopping out” with an acid resist varnish or bitumen, and highlights can be created by burnishing the aquatint texture away – the smoother the surface the whiter it prints. It was first used to create an effect similar to a watercolour wash.

When the limited edition has been completed, the plate is either defaced (by drawing diagonals across it, drilling holes in it or stamping it “cancelled”) cut up, perhaps to release and edition a smaller part of it, and that portion being “cancelled” in turn. It is customary to print a “cancellation proof” to reassure collectors that the plate has in fact been “cancelled” thus adding to the scarcity value of the print.

The laminating of an Oriental paper onto a backing sheet and passed through the printing press at the same time to achieve a different texture or colour.

A small mark or seal made from a metal or wooden embossed stamp, usually into the lower right margin made by the printer, artist, collector or publisher.

Is an offset image made from a print onto another sheet of paper by running the print, before the ink is dried, through the press against another sheet of damp paper – the result is a reverse image.

The drawing/scribing of a line onto a metal plate leaving a burr along the incised line, producing a rich feathery line when printed. No acid is used. As the burr runs through the press it wears down, hence the practice of collectors wanting the lowest numbers in an edition where drypoint is used.

A practice that emerges during the 19th century of limiting the supply of a print. A print would be published in an edition of, say, fifty with the guarantee that the plate would be changed (i.e. another state), cut up, or cancelled afterwards. Thus protecting the scarcity value of the print.

Lines cut directly into a plate using a V-shaped tool called a burin. A technique also used to decorate metals by gold and silversmiths.

Lines bitten into a metal plate using acid. The metal plate is given a coating of waxy acid resist. Lines are scribed through this acid resist coating exposing the raw metal (usually copper plate), which is then submerged in a bath of acid (usually Ferric Chloride). The longer the plate is in the acid, the deeper the bite and darker the line when printed. Various parts of the design can be bitten to varying depths by removing the plate from the acid, “stopping out” (covering finished areas of the plate with acid resist) and re-biting in the acid bath. “Open bite” is the result of painting with acid using a feather. “Foul bite” occurs when the acid begins to permeate through the acid resist creating spots or the directional textures of the acid resist – this is often done on purpose as a controlled effect by the artist to emphasise the eroding nature of the process.

A class of metal plate printing processes where ink is pulled/printed out of grooves made in a plate. It includes the techniques of etching, aquatint, mezzotint, drypoint and engraving. Printing is achieved by placing a dampened sheet of paper over the plate and running it, under pressure, through a printing press, thus releasing the image onto paper. An identifying characteristic of the Intaglio process is the indentation of the plate in the paper.

Another term for sugar-life aquatint.

An abbreviation for linoleum cut; the same process as woodcut except lino is used instead of wood.

Based on the chemical fact that oil and water repel each other. Marks are made onto a suitable printing surface (usually limestone or grained metal plates) using greasy crayon. The surface is dampened with water which is repelled by the greasy drawing medium. A roller with greasy printing ink is rolled over the surface, the ink only adhering to the greasy marks and repelled by the water. This is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by running both printing surface and paper through a scraper press. Colour lithography uses a number of plates or stones, one for each colour.

Also known as Monotype. A design is painted onto an unmarked plate. Paper is laid on top and pressure applied. It usually produces one strong and one weak impression.

An intaglio process that works from dark to light by burnishing or scraping a plate that has been specially prepared or “grounded”, that is, systematically worked over with a spiked tool called a Mezzotint Rocker until it is evenly roughened. If printed in this grounded state it would print a rich dense black. The more the plate is burnished the further it moves away from black, through a range of mid-tones, to white. No acid is used.

An image produced from a stone, plate, block or such-like that has been directly worked on by an artist. It is the visual expression of an idea where the artist chooses a printmaking process as the best expression of that idea as opposed to other fine art processes such as painting, sculpture, pastel etc. Such a choice does not differ from the choice to work in oil or another medium. The only difference being the possibility of producing a number of identical images, with each impression being an original work of art by the artist.

Commonly referred to as Serigraphy. It is a medium, which involves transferring an image onto a mesh screen and blocking out surrounding areas. The screen is a gauzy fabric stretched taut on a wooden or metal frame and ink is drawn across the screen with a squeegee. The ink will go through the open areas on the screen, onto the paper underneath. The artist can build up an image rather like using oil paints on canvas, one screen being required for each colour.

A process of cutting away from a flat surface (usually a block of wood or lino) areas that are meant not to print. One of the oldest forms of printmaking, and is the reverse of Intaglio printing (etching and drypoint). Ink is rolled on the raised surface and transferred to paper under pressure, either by hand rubbing or by using a printing press.

An impression outside the edition, usually pulled during the process of working a plate. Types of proofs include:

Bon a Tirer:
(B.A.T) French for “good to pull” and so signed by the artist as the proof that meets his/her aesthetic and technical standards. It is used as a guide against for the master printer to print the edition from.

Artist's Proof:
(A.P) these rarely exceed 10% of the edition, although this figure can be higher, in which case they may be deemed a “Proof Edition” and usually numbered in Roman numerals. These prints are intended for the artist's personal use and are normally identical to the edition prints. The artist's proof is sometimes known by its French name, Epreuve d'artiste.

Trial Proofs:
(T.P.) in black and white or colour proofs (C.P.) have minor variations in the image, pulled as the artist refines the work just before arriving at the B.A.T.

Instate Proofs:
(I.S.) there may be any number of state proofs. These involve substantial changes made before the final edition is pulled, and often show major stages in the development of the image. The difference between states is sometimes so great that separate editions are sometimes made from instate proofs during the developmental stages of making a plate. When the artist feels reasonably satisfied with the print at a completed stage, yet wants to take it further, he pulls an instate edition in recognition that continual work on the plate may destroy it.

Special Proofs:
(S.P.) Similar to Artist Proofs but may have a subtle difference or printed specially for the artist or printer.

Progressive Proofs:
are a series of impressions made for a multicolour print, showing each colour separately and in combination with each of the other colours.

Presentation Prints:
are usually equal in quality to the prints of the edition and are dedicated to an individual. They are normally hors commerce (H.C.) (“not for sale”), although they occasionally find their way onto the market.

Printer's Proofs:
(P.P.) are given to the printer who collaborated with the artist and/or printed the edition. They may be dedicated personally or simply marked Printer's Proof.

Cancellation Proof:
An impression taken from a stone, block or plate after it has been effaced at the end of the run is called a Cancellation Proof. This indicates that no further prints can be made.

A wheeled tool used to manually produce dots and cross-hatching on the plate.

A process patented in 1857 whereby a thin layer of iron is deposited by electrolysis on copper plates to prevent them wearing. This revolutionised the printing industry by preventing deterioration of the image caused by successive runs through the press. PJPA chromium faces most of it's plates for the same reason, it also makes them easier to hand wipe.

The artist brushes the design onto a plate with a water-based solution of sugar, gum Arabic and gamboge. This is covered with acid resist, let dry, and placed in a bath of warm water. As the sugar swells it lifts through the acid resist exposing the design on the raw copper plate. This is aquatinted in the normal way and printed as a positive tone.

Painted in one session without alteration.

Alteration made by the artist to an area already painted.
A left-visible correction, sometimes referred to as the shadow of the line.

A thin layer of semi-opaque paint dragged over a colour to modify it, yet leaving parts
of the underlayer visable.

Thickly applied paint that stands out in relief.

A thin layer of paint applied to a basic ground to modify it's colour prior to painting. Sometime known as a coloured ground.

The binding agent of pigments in a painting.

This is one of the oldest of painting techniques, and is loosely used to describe a mix of pigment bound with gum Arabic and “tempered” with egg. The process was first described by Cennini in the 15th century as a painting medium that was usually used on wood panels. In the modern age it is sometimes used as underpainting.

Paintings, drawing and Sculpture:



Title of Artwork:

Medium.

Size.

Signed.



Editioned Work:



Title of Artwork

Medium.

Edition size.

Image size.

Inscription details below image.



L.L. Lower Left.

L.R. Lower Right.

L.C. Lower Centre.

U.L. Upper Left.

U.R. Upper Right.



All measurements are height by width in centimetres.

Sculpture is measured by height only, in centimetres.

Verso: Reverse, usually refers to the reverse of the artwork.