A. Creating and Presenting · Creating Art: The Creative Process, Design and Studio Techniques

Printmaking: Relief, Monoprint and Stencil

A3.1 C1.2 C2.1About 75 minutes

Learning goals

I can explain the four families of printmaking: relief, intaglio, planographic and stencil.
I can design a plate that accounts for mirror reversal, and print it with even ink and good registration.
I can make a relief print, a monoprint and a stencil print with home materials.
I can pull an edition, sign and number it using printmaking conventions, and use tools safely.

Words to know

printmaking
Making art by transferring ink from a prepared surface (a plate or block) to paper or fabric, usually so the image can be repeated.

plate (matrix)
The surface that is carved, drawn on or prepared and then inked to make a print.

relief print
A print made by inking the raised surface of a plate; the carved-away parts stay blank.

brayer
A hand roller used to spread ink evenly on a plate.

registration
Lining up the paper and plate (or several colour layers) in exactly the same position each time.

monoprint (monotype)
A printmaking method that makes only one unique print, for example by painting or drawing in ink on a smooth surface and pressing paper onto it.

edition
A set of identical prints from the same plate, numbered by the artist.

artist's proof (A/P)
A print made outside the numbered edition, often a test print kept by the artist.

stencil
A sheet with cut-out openings that lets ink through only where the openings are.

One plate, many prints

Printmaking is one of the oldest ways of making multiple images. Woodblock printing was used in East Asia centuries before European printing presses. In Japan, artists such as Katsushika Hokusai made famous colour woodblock prints like The Great Wave off Kanagawa (around 1831).

In Canada, printmaking has a special place. Since the late 1950s, Inuit artists in Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut, have made prints that are collected around the world, and the Kinngait Studios still release an annual print collection. One of the best-known Kinngait prints is Kenojuak Ashevak's The Enchanted Owl (1960), a stonecut (a relief print carved in stone).

Printmaking matters for two reasons: it makes multiples (art that more people can own), and it creates effects you can't get any other way: bold shapes, crisp edges and textures.

Cross-sections of the four families of printmaking (the solid bands are ink). Relief: the raised surface is inked; cut-away areas stay paper-coloured. Intaglio: ink is pushed into grooves and wiped off the top, then a press forces the paper into the grooves. Planographic: the surface is flat. Stencil: ink passes through openings in a stencil or screen onto the paper below.

The four families

Relief: carve away what you don't want to print; ink the raised surface that is left. Examples: linocut, woodcut, rubber stamps, foam prints, potato prints, collagraphs (a plate built up from glued textured materials).
Intaglio (Italian for "carving into"): lines are scratched or etched into a metal or plastic plate, ink is rubbed into them and wiped off the surface, and a press pushes damp paper into the lines. Examples: etching, engraving, drypoint.
Planographic: the image is on a flat surface. In lithography, the image is drawn with a greasy material; water is attracted to the blank areas and the oily ink sticks only to the drawing. A monoprint or monotype is drawn or painted on a smooth surface and printed once.
Stencil: ink is pushed through openings. Examples: stencilling with a sponge, screen printing (serigraphy) used for posters and T-shirts. The American artist Andy Warhol made famous screen prints in the 1960s.

Key ideas

Reversal: a print is the mirror image of the plate.
Positive and negative: in relief, the carved areas print as white (negative) and the uncarved areas print as ink (positive). Plan your design in black and white.
Registration: placing paper in the same spot each time, especially for multi-colour prints.
Even inking: roll ink thin and even with a brayer; it should look like velvet and often makes a soft hissing sound as you roll, not thick and gloopy.

A print is a mirror image of its plate. To print the letter R the right way round, it must be carved backwards on the plate. Any words and left-right placements must be reversed when you design the plate.

Worked example

Let's plan a two-colour foam relief print

Make a print of a loon on a lake at sunset, using a foam plate, with yellow-orange and dark blue ink.

Design in values: sketch the loon and lake in just two values: dark (to print) and white (paper). Keep shapes bold, because thin details may not print.
Reverse: the loon faces left in the sketch. Decide that is fine (no text), but remember it will face right on the print. If you want it to face left, flip the sketch: trace it, turn the tracing over and transfer it.
Transfer and incise: place the drawing on clean craft foam and trace over the lines with a dull pencil, pressing deep enough to make grooves but not to poke through.
First colour: roll yellow-orange ink over the whole plate and print on several sheets, using a registration jig (an L-shaped corner of tape on the table) so the paper always lands in the same place. Burnish the back with the back of a spoon.
Reduction: clean the plate, then press more grooves (or cut away areas) wherever you want yellow-orange to stay showing, such as the sun's glow on the water.
Second colour: roll dark blue and print over the dry yellow-orange prints, lined up with the same tape corner. Yellow-orange shows where the plate was cut away after the first printing.
Edition: choose the best matching prints, sign and number them in pencil (for example 1/6, 2/6...). Mark test prints A/P.

A two-colour reduction print: one plate, printed in yellow-orange, then cut further and printed in dark blue, with registration keeping the layers aligned and the edition signed in pencil.

A common convention for signing an edition, always in pencil in the margin under the image: edition number at the lower left (3/20 means the 3rd print of 20), the title in the middle, and the artist's signature and year at the lower right. A test print is marked A/P (artist's proof) or "proof".

Print a test first

Your first one or two prints usually come out patchy because the plate is still absorbing ink. Count them as proofs, adjust, and then print your edition.

Just for fun

What did the brayer say to the ink on the first day of printmaking class?

"Let's roll."

Hands-on activity

Home print studio: foam relief, monoprint and stencil

You need: a clean craft-foam sheet or a clean, washed polystyrene tray with the edges cut off, a dull pencil or a ballpoint pen with no ink, water-based block printing ink or thick tempera or acrylic paint, a small paint roller or brayer (or a wide brush), a smooth tray, plastic lid or old baking sheet for rolling ink, paper (printer paper, construction paper), a metal spoon, masking tape, card stock for stencils, scissors, a sponge, newspaper.

Foam relief (30 min): draw a design with strong shapes. Remember it will be reversed. Press the lines into the foam. Roll ink thinly onto your rolling surface, then onto the plate. Lay paper on top and rub firmly with the back of a spoon. Pull the print (lift from one corner). Make at least 4 prints, changing ink colour or paper colour.
Monoprint (15 min): roll a thin layer of ink on a smooth plastic lid or baking sheet. Lay paper gently on top and draw on the back of the paper with a pencil; the ink transfers only where you press. Or wipe away ink with a cotton swab to make a design, then print it. You get one unique print.
Stencil (15 min): cut a simple shape (a maple leaf, a snowflake) from card stock. Tape it to paper and dab paint through it with a sponge. Lift, move and repeat to make a pattern.
Edition: choose your three best relief prints, sign them in pencil, and number them 1/3, 2/3, 3/3. Mark any extras A/P.

Safety: if you use real linocut tools, an adult must supervise: always cut away from your body, keep your other hand behind the blade, and use a bench hook. Never heat polystyrene foam. Wash polystyrene trays that held food in hot, soapy water before use. Use water-based, non-toxic inks, and wash hands after printing.

Your turn

Name the four families of printmaking and one example of each.

In a relief print, which areas print as ink and which stay paper-coloured?

You want the word SNOW to read correctly on your print. How must it appear on the plate?

What does 5/12 written under a print mean?

What is a monoprint, and why can it only be printed once?

Why use a registration guide?

Name two safety rules for using linocut tools.

More practice: warm-up

What is a brayer?

What does A/P mean on a print?

Which family does screen printing belong to?

Is a rubber stamp a relief print or an intaglio print?

Where is an edition signed: in pen on the image, or in pencil in the margin?

More practice: on your own

Maya carved very thin lines into a lino block, but her print shows only a few faint white lines. Why, and what should she do?

Explain why the carved areas of a relief print come out white.

How is intaglio the opposite of relief?

A print of a hockey player shows him shooting left-handed, but he shoots right. What happened and how could the artist have avoided it?

Why are prints usually cheaper to buy than original paintings, even though each print is an original art work?

Challenge

Explain how a reduction print works and why the edition size must be decided at the very start.

Plan a three-print sequence (a small series) about the seasons in your community, using relief printing. Describe the design, colours and how the series will stay unified.

Discuss why Kinngait printmaking is important both as art and to the community.

Check your understanding

Quiz

In a relief print, what prints as ink?

Which method makes only one unique print?

Screen printing is part of which family?

Why must text be carved backwards on a printing plate?

Under a print you see "7/25". This means...

Which is the safest way to use a linocut tool?

For parents and teachers

Printmaking is very doable at home with craft foam, a spoon and water-based ink or thick paint, and the results are satisfying. Common difficulties: forgetting the mirror reversal (especially with text), rolling too much ink (blobby prints), and lines too shallow to show. Let your teen make several prints and choose the best for the edition; the rest are proofs. Supervise closely if real lino cutters are used: they are very sharp, and students must cut away from their bodies with their other hand behind the blade. Never heat polystyrene, and wash food trays before use.