TECHNiQUES

Here you will find details of some of the techniques in our Editioning toolkit. We work with a range of different studios and craftspeople who are both specialists in their field and passionate about their trade.

SCREENPRiNTiNG

Screenprinting creates a stencil by coating a mesh screen in photographic emulsion, exposing and rinsing it of unexposed emulsion and then pushing ink through that screen with a rubber blade. However, within that process, there are many variations and nuances to be played with as part of this versatile and dynamic technique.

Traditional screen printing

Hand-pulled screen printing follows traditional methods and can be used with bespoke ink choices such as metallic or neon options. With a bold graphic quality, it is often combined with other techniques such as lithography for stunning results.

CMYK screen printing

CMYK Screenprinting is a handmade and artisan process working from a digital file, breaking screens down into Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. Using only this combination it can produce 70% of colours visible to the human eye -  combined with archival inks this process gives wonderful depth and vibrancy to editions. 

SCREENPRINTING WITH TRUE-GRAIN

True-Grain is a textured polyester acetate film that allows the creation of hand-drawn prints. An artist can use traditional mark-making techniques and washes directly onto the film with markers, graphite, inks, oil-pastels… resulting in subtle and painterly effects.

DiGiTAL

GICLEE

An archival Giclée print is made using an extremely high resolution scan. It is produced on specialist large-format inkjet printers which use a base of CMYK but with an additional, up to 12, ink cartridges. The inks are light fast and pigment-based on acid-free fine art and photographic papers. The resulting edition has a high level of detail, smooth gradient transitions and vivid colours, and will last a lifetime and beyond.

FLATBED

High-quality digital Flatbed printers open up a world of substrate - the material that is being printed on - possibilities. Not only can they be used to print on anything from photographic paper to acrylic, glass to ceramic or metal and wood, they can also be used to print on top of existing finishes such as varnish and gold-leaf. Using ultra-violet lights to dry ink instantly, they produce fade resistant artworks and even 3D textures.

LENTICULAR

Lenticular printing brings together a series of tiny vertical plastic lenses with one, two, or many more, images woven together to create the effect of 3D, animation, or both. The print can be manipulated to take into account the distance or angle that the viewer will see the piece from, and the format has been embraced by many contemporary artists in their work.  Used to evoke a flickering neon, the not quite stillness of an ever-moving landscape, or bring reverberation and resonance to an abstract artwork – it’s an immersive technique that can provide fantastic results.

LITHOGRAPHY

Lithography is a high-quality and detailed printing process based on the principle that oil and water do not mix.

MACHINE LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTS

Machine made Lithographic printing uses aluminium plates that are etched by laser. The etched areas repel water and attract ink. Printers have up to six sections, for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black, plus two more for any precisely mixed – or ‘spot’ – colours. Each section has a series of rollers. A roller for water and another for ink sit above the printing plate. The image is then transferred from the plate, which carries the ink in the laser etched areas, onto a rubber blanket roller – the reason this is also known as offset printing – which in turn places the image onto the paper held smoothly in place by a roller beneath. The rubber blanket is used as it presses the very fine details of an image into the surface of the paper, producing reliable clean, sharp detail with every print.

HAND-MADE LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTS

In the most traditional format, the lithographic plate is made of limestone. The artist draws directly onto the levelled and smoothed surface with grease-based materials. The process can allow for a very tactile and sculptural way of drawing, with areas of the image being worked into and removed by sandpaper or a knife. The stone is treated with chemical solutions to establish the areas that will hold moisture, and so repel ink and stay white, and make the greasy image, that the ink will stick to, sink down into the stone. Now water is added with a sponge and grease-based ink with a roller. Paper is placed on top of the stone and both are passed through a press to transfer the inked image to the paper, producing detailed and delicate results – perfect to make hand-drawn artwork shine. 

OTHER

ETCHING

An etching is made using a metal plate of copper, zinc or iron, that is treated with an acid-resistant substance – like wax or varnish – which is known as the ground. The artist then draws into, or scratches away, the ground, to reveal the metal underneath. The plate is exposed to acid, which eats away at the uncovered metal - these are the areas that will hold the ink and create lines and marks in the finished print. Having removed the ground, ink is added to the eaten-away areas of the plate, but wiped from the surface with a cloth. The plate is passed through a printing-press with a dampened piece of paper, which picks up the ink from the etched lines. Etching is a process that gives beautiful, detailed and textural images and has engaged artists for hundreds of years.

HOT FOILING

Hot foiling is a technique that fuses the foil – which is traditionally metallic gold, silver or copper, but can be any spot colour, and matt, shiny pearlescent or even holographic – to the paper with heat and pressure. The area to be hot foiled is acid etched into a metal plate, which is heated. The foil is placed between the die and the paper and stamped into the paper either by hand or using an air-powered machine. With its crisp, clean qualities it can be chosen to add an element to a piece, or used on its own to bring a new dimension to line drawings, and turns any edition into a tangible, tactile and luscious object. 

REPRO PRiNTS

Our reproduction prints form a collaboration between artist and printmaker. The production process has the original work at its heart. Then, using printing techniques as new media to create with, the artist has the opportunity to evolve an artwork into a new execution - perhaps they might opt to add a perfectly dead flat area to a piece in a way not possible with traditional paint, or employ a spot varnish or gold foil - and explore the new options that editioning and printmaking techniques allow.