Printing techniques up until the Victorian age were mainly based around the use of individual font families arranged in a case & pressed straight to the page. Lithography introduced the proces…

Co prawda Dzień Kobiet już za nami, ale nie mogliśmy powstrzymać się od symbolicznego goździka i par rajstop i postanowiliśmy przyjrzeć się wątkom kobiecym w Trójmieście.

Welcome to Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of visual curiosities set aside for your perusal and enlightenment.

Lithography: to write w/ stoneLithographic LandscapesArt Focus: Mark-making & Texture Questions: How do I utilize drawing characteristics to create texture in landscape? A video about Lithography (planography): https://www.youtube.com/watchv=JHw5_1Hopsc&feature=youtu.be As we have learned, relief prints are created from a raised surface; Planography however, is the printing of a flat surface. Lithography is the art of printing from a flat stone (limestone) or plate by a method based on the simpl

I had a full day in the Wellesley College print shop last week to pick up from where I left off on these monotype experiments. I’m still very much in the experimental stages of these prints. …

After the MAPC conference and Michael Barnes's demonstration on asphaltum reduction lithography I was itching to try it out. As soon as I had all the materials and a base rolled out on the stone I began work on an image. It took a little longer than I expected, mostly because it acted like a mezzotint, in that I thought I had a clean, white area only to go back to it the next day and have to "brighten" it back up. Not to mention all those damn little curls. The (upside down!) stone on the press. Since the asphaltum was fairly reflective it was difficult to photograph, hence the wonky perspective. I was a little nervous to print it, simply because I really didn't think the image was going to look as good as it did on the stone- I wish I could have just framed the stone and called it good! Long story short, I had quite a bit of difficulty printing. The image filled in a bit, and my attempts to "fix" things just made it much, much worse. Oops. I finally converted it back to a traditional base and managed to pull an edition, but it was a struggle to say the least. And the print! It was a great learning experience, however, and I've already got a second image underway to accompany this one. :)

Litografi trykt i farger

About Aryz artwork made in 2022. Lithography. Title, El festejo-1 Edition of 20. Numbered and hand signed in pencil. Number of edition and signature from the artist might differ from the photo shown.

Collagraph in the Classroom at a Glance Media & Techniques % %

Lithography: Lithography has many processes within itself, paper plate lithography, stone lithography, plate litho, and polyester plate lithography, just to name a few. I thought I would run through a couple and review the structure that of all of them stand on. All lithographic technology is based on the simple principle that oil and water do not mix. Paper plate lithography (also know as xerox lithography, if you hear xerogrpahy they are trying to sound more than they are) is the easiest technical explanation of this premise. When put through a laser printer (a printer with toner rather than ink) the colored powdered plastic we call toner covers the paper in whatever image we choose. The plastic toner is melted onto the paper sealing one side of the paper in whatever your image choice is. The paper is then wet with gum arabic and water. (Gum arabic and the paper are both hydrophilic (they love water)). The print inks used in this process are oil based. So with the paper soaking in some of the water and the toner repelling water due to it being plastic. The ink is rolled over the whole sheet of paper and will only stick to the toner. In this way you can print up your paper plate in any color of your choice. (seen below is one in process) The paper plate is then run through the press with dry or damp paper to come out with the print. example of lithographic limestone All lithographic processes are similar at base, some are done on stone, some on steel plates, they can be based in drawing or in photography. It is one of the most challenging technical processes in printmaking but also one of the most rewarding. Paper being pulled off stone after printing. The following are examples of Stone Lithography from one of the masters Oldrich Kulhanek I got to see this in person as a student at The University of Florida and it was one of the reasons I pursued stone lithography as a focus for almost 5 years. His work is also the first image you see in this post.

One of the most prodigious and versatile of the remarkable group of artists and designers who founded and shaped the Secession movement and the Wiener...

I have been interested in learning lithography techniques for a long time. I discovered a print studio and workshop near my home, and I decided to give it a try. Of course I would be drawing botanical illustration. All I knew about lithography was that it was based on drawing with an oil crayon on … Continued

For background and links, please visit: bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-beauty-of-heavens.html

- DÉCOUVERTES - Le Conseil Général de la Moselle a programmé au château de Malbrouck une démonstration de lithographie de Stéphane Guilbaud. Rendez-vous le dimanche 11 novembre 2012 dans le cadre des "Dimanches d'Automne". Stéphane Guilbaud exerce...

Lithography is the art of printing from stone. The process was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796, and the fundemental principles that he established have remained unchanged. By writing or drawing with a greasy ink on a specially prepared slab of limestone, the grease is absorbed by the stone and the image thus formed has an affinity for printing ink, while the remaining parts of the stone repel the ink as long as the surface is kept moist with water. Lithographic presses are cylinder machines for printing from the lithographic stone or plate. In early models c1860 the stone was fixed to a bed which moved to and fro beneath a cylinder. The next major advancement was the introduction of the 'direct rotary' press with two cylinders, which, when printing, revolve continually in contact with each other. On one cylinder is the plate and the second carries the sheet. Around 1908 the 'offset press' was introduced which enables fine lines and half-tone dots to be printed on either smooth or rough-surfaced paper. The off-set machine consisted of three continually revolving cylinders. The first carrying the printing plates with its damping and inking mechanism which makes contact with the rubber blanket moulded on the middle cylinder; the blanket offsets the design to paper, carries by the third cylinder. Edinburgh City of Print is a joint project between Edinburgh City of Print is a joint project between the City of Edinburgh Museums and the Scottish Archive of Print and Publishing History Records (SAPPHIRE). The project aims to catalogue and make accessible the wealth of printing collections held by the City of Edinburgh Museums. For more information about the project please visit www.edinburghcityofprint.org Image courtesy of SAPPHIRE

Here's part of my "Inner / Outer Journey" lithography project. A real, live litho stone hand-worked with lithography crayons and inks. We are fortunate to get to work with lithographic stones here at the university, as there are few left out there in the world. The original quarry used for mining them has been closed for a while now. Anyway, this is a counter etch of the first image (you can see a proof pulled from the first version here on Flickr), BEFORE etching. The photo here shows the stone surface in mid re-draw, after counter etching more than 50% of the original image. I basically knocked out the background to create the new version of the image, with the incense burner lit.

Lithography is the art of printing from stone. The process was invented by Alois Senefelder in 1796, and the fundemental principles that he established have remained unchanged. By writing or drawing with a greasy ink on a specially prepared slab of limestone, the grease is absorbed by the stone and the image thus formed has an affinity for printing ink, while the remaining parts of the stone repel the ink as long as the surface is kept moist with water. Lithographic presses are cylinder machines for printing from the lithographic stone or plate. In early models c1860 the stone was fixed to a bed which moved to and fro beneath a cylinder. The next major advancement was the introduction of the 'direct rotary' press with two cylinders, which, when printing, revolve continually in contact with each other. On one cylinder is the plate and the second carries the sheet. Around 1908 the 'offset press' was introduced which enables fine lines and half-tone dots to be printed on either smooth or rough-surfaced paper. The off-set machine consisted of three continually revolving cylinders. The first carrying the printing plates with its damping and inking mechanism which makes contact with the rubber blanket moulded on the middle cylinder; the blanket offsets the design to paper, carries by the third cylinder.

Woodcut. Merlyn Chesterman. Landing Place, 2011.

How does an audience that is fully immersed in the digital age look at images? Interestingly, the direction we read (e.g. Westerners read from the left side of a line of text to the right side) has a big impact upon the way we look at images and, in turn, how artists arrange the lighting on their portrayed subject. For instance, artists wishing to cater for a left-to-right reading direction of a Western audience portray their subjects with a top-left lighting angle as the Western eye is attuned to perceive a subject’s form when it is lit from this direction. In Jean-Jacques de Boissieu’s (1736 –1810) Saint Jerome shown below, for example, Western eyes see the body of the saint as far more three-dimensional when he is lit from the left than if his body were lit from the right as shown further below when the print is “flipped” horizontally. For academic artists the arrangement of light is more exacting: a top-front-left angle convention as can be seen in John Samuel Agar’s (1773–1858) stipple engraving of antique heads (also shown below). Jean-Jacques de Boisseau (1736–1810) St Jerome, 1797 Etching, drypoint, engraving and roulette, chine colle. 49 x 35 (plate); 42.7 x 31 cm (image); 63 x 45.7 cm (sheet) Perez: 104 Condition: Rich impression with toning (oxidation) in the margins. There are also handling marks and many tears in the margins, some of which are restored. Jean-Jacques de Boissieu, (detail) St Jerome, 1797 (left) Boisseau, St. Jerome, 1797 (right) horizontally flipped image of St. Jerome (click the image to enlarge) John Samuel Agar (1773–1858) Plate VII, 1809 Stipple engraving in sepia on laid paper 27.8 x 22.5 cm (plate); 55.7 x 38 cm (sheet) Published by T Payne and J White (presumably as part of the folio, Specimens of Ancient Sculpture… published by T Bensley) Condition: crisp impression with thee light surface marks (dirt?) towards the middle-left side within the plate mark. There is a repaired 7 cm margin tear that is 1.5 cm away from the plate mark. The paper is clean and in good condition. John Samuel Agar, (detail) Plate V1I, 1809 John Samuel Agar (1773–1858) Plate XLII, 1809 Stipple engraving in sepia on laid paper 27.6 x 22.5 cm (plate); 55 x 38 cm (sheet) Published by T Payne and J White (presumably as part of the folio, Specimens of Ancient Sculpture… published by T Bensley) Condition: crisp impression minor wrinkling. The paper is clean with minor handling marks and 1 cm edge cracks on the lower and right edges. I am selling this print (Plate XLII) and the other Agar stipple engraving further above (Plate VII) for a total cost of [deleted] including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. (Note: these are large prints and will be shipped in a tube.) Please contact me using the email link at the top of the page if you have any queries or click the “Buy Now” button below. These prints have been sold John Samuel Agar, (detail) Plate XLII, 1809 This lighting arrangement has become so much a part of the Occidental way of looking at images that even digital buttons in computer programs (i.e. “pop-up” display keys shown on the monitor rather than physical buttons we can touch) have a top-front-left lighting arrangement enabling the viewer to see if a displayed button is raised or lowered. By contrast, artists wishing to cater for a right-to-left reading direction of an Arabic or Jewish audience will light their portrayed subject in the reverse direction so that light is cast on a subject from the top-front-right. The importance of this seemingly simple principle became apparent to me after contemplating advertisements in an Israeli newspaper and intuitively knowing that the compositions were aesthetically awkward (i.e. “wrong”) for my Western eyes. My awakening to the importance of the angle of lighting in these newspaper advertisements impacted also on my understanding of images in general that I knew deep down were unsettling. One of these is another of de Boisseau’s rich and moody prints, The Fathers of the Desert (shown below). I had originally acquired this print as I had (and still have) a fascination with hermits and this particular image is truly haunting. For me, a lot of its attraction rests with the standing figure’s facial expression of transcendent rapture (see the same facial expression in Zurbaran’s painting, St Francis, upon which this figure is modelled). There is also the hint of the unknown conjured by the landscape setting outside the dark void of the open cave. But to my eyes the really riveting attraction is the dramatic lighting (termed chiaroscuro) that is cast on the figure like a spotlight from the right. I suspect that if the lighting had been from the left, the figures and landscape features may have appeared more three-dimensional as is the case with St Jerome, but the peculiarly otherworldly mood of the image would not have been the same. Jean-Jacques de Boisseau (1736–1810) The Fathers of the Desert, 1797 Etching, chine colle. 49 x 35 cm (sheet) Perez: 103 Condition: cut within the plate marks but with a border around the chine colle of the image. There are handling marks and tears in the support sheet otherwise good condition. I am selling this print for $180 AUD including postage and handling to anywhere in the world. (Note: this is a large print and will be shipped in a tube.) Please contact me using the email link at the top of the page if you have any queries or click the “Buy Now” button below. This print is no longer available Jean-Jacques de Boisseau, (detail) The Fathers of the Desert, 1797 Of perhaps surprising importance to the following discussion is how artists arranged the lighting for early Oriental eyes where text is read vertically. The convention for Eastern artists was not to impose a sideways lighting on their subject at all but rather to portray spatial depth in terms of disposing each featured subject in its own spatial zone from foreground to distance. Often these zones are differentiated from each other with white space (or to use the term I have applied to Western art, noetic space; see post Jacque: Sheep and Shadows) and the suggestion of mist separating each zone but, or course, each subject demands its own requirements for spatial placement. How this Oriental approach of vertical reading has relevance to the digital age is again by being linked to reading habits. In the past, the direction of reading also applied to how books and other collections of text were negotiated in terms of turning the pages. First, the reader would view the top page (in the West this is signified by the bound edge of the book being on the left whereas in the East it is on the right) and then would turn the page over following the culture’s reading direction to see the next page or, alternatively, move the eye to the adjacent page. In short, there is a convention of where the next page is to be found. In the digital world things are beginning to change. For screen-based text the “top” of the page is to be found with the document scrolled upward and the pages that follow are to be found by scrolling the document downward. At first such an arrangement is sensible and unproblematic. But there is a subtle shift in the way the digital audience is now beginning to view images and it is different to the ways of the past. This subtle shift in reading only occurred to me after hearing about the conundrum encountered by advertisers concerned with making money from the social networking site, Facebook. The concern is that the viewers tend to not look at information placed on the sides of the screen as they have become conditioned to see this area as being for advertisements (as is the case with many blog sites). To express this differently, unlike readers holding a book or newspaper where the viewing field is the whole page, for viewers looking at Internet pages (as opposed to digitalised pages on eReaders like Kindle) the viewing field has arguably become more localised to the centre of the screen. In essence, the culture of digital reading is morphing our gaze to a vertical stream of reading from zenith to nadir. The interesting question that this poses is whether this focus impacts on the way digital artists compose their images and there is evidence that this may be the case. I posed this question to a former Honours student, Gareth Wild, for insights into his artistic practice and the following response highlights a change in attitude to the conventions of composition for at least one of the rising digital stars. Regarding Gareth’s first digital image, Zoombified Pirate (shown below), Gareth advises me that the image is top lit but he does not believe that the lighting is “an integral component to the overall impact of the image.” Although Gareth’s view of his image may be interpreted as negating the importance of the vertical lighting arrangement his following comment is very revealing: “The composition is vertically linear—not unlike the design of a webpage, and the ominous background smog creates a subtle vignette effect—again reinforcing the centralised composition reflected in our reading of a webpage. In Gareth’s digitally created image, Large Crustacean (shown further below) his insight is that this print is “less vertically linear than the former image, but again is top/back lit.” Going further, he points out that the “important information is central and a subtle vignette effect is also apparent.” Gareth Wild, Zoombified Pirate, 2011, digital image Gareth Wild, Large Crustacean, 2011, digital image From a personal standpoint there seem to be three ways that digital artists have morphed conventional principles of image making. The first is that the notion of a light source illuminating the portrayed subject from the top-front-left is changing to a system of immersive lighting where the effects of light are not so much “on” the surface of the subject but is within the portrayed subject. An example of this phenomenon is a painting by one of my first-year students, Sue Foster, who began her painting of a still life (shown below) as a watercolour and then “worked” on it digitally to refine the principles addressed in the class. Beyond the scattering of light, note also how Sue’s compositional arrangement echoes Gareth’s reflections on his approach discussed above. Sue Foster, Watercolour—Fruit, 2012 digitally manipulated watercolour The second way is to do with colour. In analogue paintings (i.e. paintings made using traditional materials) artists have the resources to make subtle adjustments to colour by applying a layering of glazes to produce an amalgam of tone, chroma, opacity, sheen and surface facture that—arguably—cannot be duplicated with screen colours (RGB) or with the colours of the print industry (Pentone spot colours and CMYK). This in itself is not a problem as a very close approximation of colour can be achieved but this screen colour approximation may lead to a fresh way of seeing imagery. By this I mean that there is a conceptual leap from Arthur C Danto’s notion of an audience’s engagement with the imagery of Giotto, Leonardo and Raphael “like a disembodied eye” (1990, p. 186) to the potential of viewer’s interactive and immersive presence in digital imagery. The third way is best described as the male vision of the hunter and gatherer where focus is literally targeted on the central area of the image. This pattern of where a viewer’s gaze rests returns us to the conundrum faced by the Facebook advertisers: digital viewers are not looking at the periphery of their field of view. _____________________ Danto, Arthur C 1990, Encounters and Reflections. Toronto, Harper & Collins