Beyond the Brushstroke: Understanding Printmaking Techniques

Since its introduction as an artistic medium, printmaking revolutionized artistic practice as it allowed replication of artworks relatively quickly. Beyond the medium’s practicalities, though, printmaking also opened up new avenues for artistic investigation and demonstration of creative acumen.

In this article, we head to the presses to explore the core printmaking techniques. Scaffolded as a historical overview, we’ll navigate through the essential innovations in the field and illustrate each with the work of some of the characteristic makers.

Origins of Printmaking: Relief Printing

While many might associate Johannes Gutenberg’s development of the printing press in the 15th century with the dawn of printmaking, explorations of the field significantly predate the German craftsman’s invention. This is thanks to the development of relief printing, the oldest known printmaking method in which the carved surface is subtracted from the final image such that when the plate is inked and pressed the areas of the block still raised – in relief – will convey the image to paper.

Woodblock Prints

Relief printmaking initially blossomed in the 8th century under the Tang Dynasty. It was during this dynasty that woodblock prints began to be used to replicate both images and texts, a combination that resulted in what is assumed to be world’s oldest printed book, Diamond Sutra (868 CE), an illustrated dialogue between the Buddha and an esteemed monk.

Woodblock printing is so named as it comprises scoring an image into a block of wood in the same direction as the wood grain.  While early Chinese artists often worked with pear wood for their blocks, modern makers often rely on cherry or fir for similar reasons: these are typically harder woods, which means that, while it will be more difficult to gouge the surface, the artist will nevertheless have more control over each cut. In addition, the harder the wood, the longer the woodcut can be reused (as softer woods begin to degrade more quickly thanks to a printing press’s pressure). From a historical perspective, the technique of woodcut proved accessible – wood as well as gouging tools would not have been difficult for a seasoned artist to procure or make – and versatile, as it allowed artists to experiment with the richness of their linework and the contrasts between positive and negative space. 

Later, European circles would catch on to the woodblock print trend in the 15th century and carry the technique to new heights. In addition to woodcuts becoming the source for an extensive number of book illustrations, Albrecht Dürer explored numerous subjects as varied from religious narratives to depictions of a rhinoceros who was touring Europe in the early 16th century. Dürer’s prints showcased such meticulous detail that other printmakers of the era, like Marcantonio Raimondi, sought to champion the German’s style. Dürer also experimented with wood engraving, which carved into the end grain of a wooden board rather than with the grain itself. This mode allowed for even more detailed renderings, as the end grain was less susceptible to accidental chips and cracks.

Japanese artists would showcase this dynamism once again with the advent of ukiyo-e prints in the later 18th-century Edo period. These rich and fantastical scenes that often paired aspects of daily life with imaginative vignettes of otherworldly spaces revealed the ability of the woodblock print to defy the mono-dimensional surface of the block to convey rich illusionistic depth. Then, in the 19th century, Japanese artists like Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige further advanced the woodblock print with their scintillating contrasts between intense lines and subtle washes of color as they explored local landmarks and the splendors of nature.

Linocuts

It was in the 20th century that a new mode of relief printing, linocut printing, was introduced. Similar in technique to woodblock prints, artists working with linocuts would begin with a board covered with linoleum to which a gouging tool could be applied. What set linocuts apart, however, was that they were easier to cut than wood while also being more durable. Famous tessellation artist M.C. Escher was known to employ the linocut technique, as did Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso.

Advanced Printmaking Practices: Intaglio Printing

Emerging in the 15th century initially as a means for decorating metalwork, intaglio printing became increasingly popular as the counterprocess to relief printing. In intaglio prints, a tool gouges grooves into a metal plate. These grooves – not the surface – will hold the ink when the plate is rolled and the surface is subsequently wiped before being pressed to paper.

Engraving

The earliest artists who explored the realm of intaglio printing embarked on engraving, the advantage of which was the potential for  incredibly precise design. Working with a tool called a burin, engravers could create infinitesimally small gouges in the surface to enhance the array of line depth. Similar was the practice of drypoint, which differed from engraving primarily by its tool: while traditional engravers used burins, those working in drypoint scratched into their plates with a needle-point tool. 

Etching

Etching emerged simultaneously as engraving expanded the richness of linework thanks to the use of acid. Artists begin by treating their metal plates with a protective ground impermeable to hydrochloric acid. Once dry, the artist can then use a fine needle-tip tool to scratch lines into the ground, which will serve as the points, when the plate is submerged in the acid bath, at which the acid will “etch” away the metal. The variety comes in with the length of exposure to the acid: the longer a line is submerged, the deeper the etched groove and thus the bolder the line that will result when printing. Rembrandt van Rijn used the etching technique to great effect across his many prints. 

Aquatint

By the 18th century, aquatint further revolutionized the printmaking method by creating broad tonal variations without having to precisely incise each line or hatchmark. Though the technique relies on the same strategy of engraving’s acid bath, it involves the application of resin powder rather than incised lines to the plate. These powdered portions then will interact with the acid to create tones within the composition. Such tonal variation can be seen in the prints of Francisco de Goya where he often applied multiple printmaking techniques in one composition.

Modern Printmaking: Lithography and Serigraphy

Beyond the well-ensconced traditions of relief and intaglio printmaking, two additional techniques that rose to prominence in more modern times also helped to advance the field. 

Lithography

The first of these is lithography, developed by playwright Alois Senefelder who purportedly turned to inventing the medium when printing his play otherwise would have bankrupted him. Relying upon the notion that water and oil cannot mix, lithography begins with a stone or metal plate upon which an artist draws their desired image with a greasy crayon or a special greasy ink known as tusche.

Following this drawing, the entire plate is enveloped in a chemical mixture that encourages those greasy sections to hold ink. Subsequently, the plate is dampened and then inked, at which point the ink will adhere to the greasy portions for printing. Lithography has the advantage of more easily conjuring myriad details and textures and, to Senefelder’s probable delight, proved much more cost-effective as the base stone or metal plate can be reused with a light grinding of the surface.

Screen Printing/Serigraphy

While screen printing is one of the most modern printmaking techniques to gain wide acclaim, it too has historic origins. It would seem that Japanese artists as early as the 10th century began toying with the application of stencils or patterns to fabric via fine inked meshes or screens. Real excitement over the method, however, did not emerge until the dawn of the 20th century when its potential for industrial-scale repetition was realized. By the 1930s, its parallel potential for artistic production was realized. In addition to the creation of the National Serigraphic Society in 1938 by members of the Works Progress Administration, the medium grew to international acclaim as Pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein incorporated the technique into their art.

Perfecting the Techniques of Printmaking

As this brief overview of techniques can attest, the practice of printmaking is far more complex than simply pressing ink to paper. Considering the field’s evolution contributes to better appreciating the works by these renowned printmakers as it focuses on the artistic process itself. At the same time, it illustrates just how innovative these printmaking artists have been both in creating new modes of print production and expanding the range of imagery possible in one of the most dynamic and vital fields of art today.