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Printmaking There
are many different types of printmaking, just as there are many types of
paints. An artist chooses the medium based on the effect he/she is looking
to achieve. Printmaking is considered an original art form because it is
done completely by hand. The basic idea behind the printmaking processes
is the ability to make more than one of a specific image in a limited
edition. The artist will use some sort of stencil or plate to layer blocks
of color on top of one another. The nature of printmaking requires that
the entire edition be printed simultaneously because the artist must print
one color at a time on each piece of paper. In some types of printmaking,
the plates themselves have a limited lifetime and all plates must be
destroyed after the entire edition is completed. Printmaking is often
confused with offset printing, what is commonly used for printed media
such as newspapers, magazines, posters, etc. However, there are several
key distinctions. First, offset printing uses only four colors, CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black)
to create a rainbow of colors where as in printmaking the artist must
mix the colors he wishes to use. Second, the four colors are all printed
simultaneously in offset printing, while they are printed one at a time
in the printmaking process. The most important difference is the image
is usually reproduced by photographic means in offset printing. In original
printmaking, the artist makes the stencils and plates by hand and thereby
creates the image. |