Gicleé

A giclee (zhee-CLAY) is an individually produced, high-resolution, high-fidelity reproduction done on a special large format printer. Giclees are produced from digital scans of existing artwork. Also, since many artists now produce only digital art, there is no "original" that can be hung on a wall. Giclees solve that problem, while creating a whole new vibrant medium for art. Giclees can be printed on any number of media, from canvas to watercolor paper to transparent acetates. Giclees are superior to traditional lithography in several ways. The colors are brighter, last longer, and are so high-resolution that they are virtually continuous tone, rather than tiny dots. The range, or "gamut" of color for giclees is far beyond that of lithography.Lithography uses tiny dots of four colors--cyan, magenta, yellow and black--to fool the eye into seeing various hues and shades. Giclees use inkjet technology, but far more sophisticated than your desktop printer, with lightfast inks and finer, more numerous, rep laceable printheads, a wider color gamut, and the ability to use various media to print on.

Intaglio

Intaglio describes all printing processes by which an image is transferred onto paper from ink that is held in the incised or eaten into (literally etched) areas of a metal plate. Engraving, etching, mezzotint and aquatint are examples of the intaglio process.

Iris Print

Iris Print is the trademarked name for a fine art digital print produced by an Iris Graphics® inkjet printer.

Linocut

A linocut (or linoleum cut) is a print made in the relief process, using a method similar to the woodcut process. A wooden block is covered with a coating of linoleum. The artist carves into the block using sharp woodcutting tools. Then the block is coated with ink and printed, either by hand or in a printing press.

Limited Edition

A limited edition artwork is produced in a limited number and so, unlike one-of-a-kind artworks, it not totally unique. Each one of a limited edition is identical to all the others in the edition and each one is considered an original artwork. In printmaking, on completion of a limited edition, the original source (the matrix or the block) is often destroyed, so that the edition number is guaranteed. Most limited edition artworks are signed and numbered by the artist.

Lithograph

Lithography was invented by Aloysius Senefelder (1771 – 1834), in Bavaria. The word comes from the Greek; lythos – stone, grapho – to write. The concept of lithography is based on the mutual incompatibility of oil and water; the capacity of limestone to absorb and retain water and the disposition of oily substances to adhere to limestone. The highly polished nature of the surface is receptive to the oil that is spread over it. Senefelder discovered that by chemically treating the surface of limestone, and drawing onto it with a grease crayon, only the areas touched by the grease crayon would take the printing ink. Therefore, by drawing onto the treated stone in this way, inking it, covering it with a damp paper and running it through a printing press, the image is transferred exactly onto the paper.

Mezzotint

The mezzotint process is an intaglio printing process in negative, that is from black to white. The metal surface of the printing plate is burred with a slightly curved steel tool called a rocker. Then it is burnished to varying degrees in the areas where the ink should not penetrate. The mezzotint printmaking process produces areas of tone, rather than lines (very much like an aquatint).

Monotype

This is a technique in which the artist essentially paints directly onto a metal plate with inks, often colored. The process has to be quick and decisive, as the freehand painting and passing of the painted block, through the printing press must all take place before the ink has a chance to dry. The artist generally paints in reverse; starting with light colors and working towards dark ones. The damp paper may make the ink blur or smudge, added to this there is never enough ink to pass the block through the printing press more than once, so the entire process can be nerve-racking. Therefore each monotype is unique.

Printmaking

Printmaking is a process in which ink is transferred onto paper from another source, generally a plate (metal) or a block (wood). The plate or block can be specially treated so that it will receive the ink in the same way even if the ink is applied on separate occasions. In this case the plate or block is called a matrix, and more than one print can be made, creating a series of identical images.

Printing Press

The printing press was originally invented in 1450, by Johann Gutenberg for the printing of texts. This apparatus literally squashes the printing block and the paper together, thus transferring the image from the one to the other. Usually the artist lays the paper on top of the inked block or matrix, and introduces it into the printing press. The artist turns a wheel to adjust the pressure squeezing the block tightly against the paper, transferring the ink from block to paper.

Relief Print

In the relief printing process the print is made from a relief carving on a metal or wooden plate. Woodcut and linocut prints are examples of relief printmaking.

Screenprint

Screen-printing was first developed in the UK in the 1920s. However, it did not become widely used until the 1960s, when Pop Art had its debut with Andy Warhol. The process is a complex one in which the artist prepares a silk or nylon screen, and blocks out the areas where the paper is to be left blank. Thus the ink reaches the paper only through the areas that are to make up the image. The most common way to prepare the screen is with a photographic emulsion; the artist treats the screen with a light-sensitive film, this lets them reproduce the image almost photographically on the screen. The ink is carefully pushed through the screen onto the paper.

Stencil

The stencil technique uses a thin sheet of impenetrable, durable material with a design cut into it, that is placed over a receiving surface (paper, canvas, etc.). Thus the paint or dye applied over the surface of the stencil only reaches the receiving surface where the design has been cut away. Silkscreen, for example, is made using a stencil.

Woodcut

Woodcuts are made using a wooden block into which an image has been cut or carved in relief, often following the natural grain of the wood.

Ceramics

Ceramic art uses the principles of pottery: clay modeled, painted with glazes and fired at ultra-high temperatures in a kiln oven. Clay can be molded in relief or impression, painted, glazed or enameled.