The Great Attraction of Lithography

Creating an image on a lithographic stone is an action as natural as drawing on paper. This also means that continuous tone may easily be achieved unlike in an etching. The effect of a lithograph is similar to a drawing or watercolor. The relationship between artist and printer is essential and famous collaborations exist where artists have refused to work with any but their favorite printer. Many historical exponents of the art of lithography include Goya, Delacroix, Daumier, Gericault, Manet and Toulouse Lautrec. Henry Moore is also well known for his use of the medium in the century.

Lithography: The Process

Lithography was discovered in Germany by Aloys Senefelder in 1798. It is based on the principle that limestone is naturally attracted to oil and that oil and water have a natural antipathy, refusing to mix. In hand-made lithographs the artist draws or paints directly onto the limestone with a greasy lithographic material either in pencil or liquid form. By a succession of simple chemical processes these marks are bonded to the surface and made highly receptive to oil in the areas marked with the lithographic material and fully resistant to water on the rest of the stone. Upon printing, the plate surface is first dampened with water that adheres to the non-image water receptive areas. The artist then rolls a thin layer of oil printer's ink on to the stone, which is repelled by the water but accepted by the oil receptive image areas. In traditional stone lithography, the image is transferred to paper through a simple, flat bed screw press. The image in such cases has to be drawn in reverse on the stone so that it becomes right reading on the paper. The stone is ground down after the edition is completed, effacing the plate permanently so the image can never be printed again.

Color

As with almost every printmaking process, hand-made lithographs require the production of a new plate (stone) for each color. It is not uncommon to print in up to twenty or more colors, so the artist can become involved in a long process of production, normally working in close association with a master printer. In stone lithography, the artist/printer must grind the stone down after he/she has completed the run of an individual color in order to erase the previous forms drawn on the stone with the lithographic material. Then the artist can draw on the stone the new forms for the next color he wishes to print. The artist repeats this process until all the colors have been printed and the image is complete. The artist must have a through understanding of how the colors will marry once they have been printed on top of one another.

Artist

Example

"Allegro con Brio"

Lithograph

30 3/4" x 30 3/4"

2001

Edition Size:
200 on paper

SOLD OUT

"Seventh Torii"

Lithograph on Paper

39" x 26"

1989

Edition Size:
300 Arabic Numerals
100 Roman Numerals

"Music Box #1"
Part of a two piece suite, available individually

Lithograph on Paper

10.25" x 10.25"

1988

Edition Size:
275 on Paper

Delacroix, Michel

"Le Marche aux Fleurs"

Lithograph on paper

18 1/4" x 22"

1997

Edition Size:
150 arabic numeral
CL roman numeral

"Cocktail Party"

Lithograph

23" x 30"

Year

Edition Size: