Entry Form and Information
Please note that Artists must be invited to enter work by the Packsaddle fundraising committee.
If you would like to be considered for an invitation to enter works in the 2024 exhibition, and you have not exhibited with us previously, please forward at least two images to the Packsaddle Committee via moiralloyd52@gmail.com.
Understanding the Labels at Packsaddle Exhibitions
Our labels tell you more that just the name of the artist, the title of the work and the price. They also tell you where we sourced the work – ‘courtesy of’... an artist, a gallery or a print supplier. Where applicable, the label notes if the work is being sold framed (F) or is being displayed in a temporary frame and will be delivered unframed (UF). The labels also tell you something about how the artworks were produced: the print-making process that the artist used, or the medium and painting surface used. This part of the label uses some specialist words. Below, these words are arranged in alphabetical order, so you can find what you are looking for more easily.
acrylic (say a-krill-ik) A synthetic water-based paint that only became available in the middle of the 20th century, but is now widely used as an art medium. It is a popular alternative to oil-based paint because it is fast-drying, easy to clean up and to manipulate without using toxic solvents. It provides a range of possibilities to the artist - a wide variety of colours, which can be used on many surfaces and which can be applied in thin layers, like a watercolour, or be used to build up thick layers that can even be sculpted.
acrylic pouring A way of making abstract art by mixing acrylic paint with a thinner, sometimes called a pouring medium, which makes it more fluid, and then literally pouring the paint colours onto a surface and making them run and mix together. Also known as fluid art.
a la poupée (say a la poo-pay) A method of introducing colour into a print by applying different coloured inks directly to the surface of the etching plate and working them into the lines of the design using a small cotton dabber for each colour. Printmakers call the dabber a ‘dolly’ (in French, poupée = doll).
A.P. - short for artist’s proof - one of the first prints from a limited edition of prints, for the artist's own use. Artists may take up to 10% of the total prints as A.P.s. They are not usually numbered, but if they are, Roman numerals are usually used. Because they are rarer, artist's proofs are generally more sought after than other impressions in the print run. (see also proof)
aquatint – (say: ak-wa-tint) Aquatints have different tones of colour that flow into each other, rather like a water colour. This kind of print is created using an acid and something to resist the acid to make marks in a metal plate for printing. The artist makes the design or part of it by applying acid-resistant resin to the plate, which is heated to set the resin, then dipped once or many times into an acid bath. Variations in tone are controlled by how long the plate is exposed to acid: the parts attacked most by the acid will print darker. Aquatint is often combined with the sharp lines of etching to create the final image. (In Italian, aqua = water and tinta = colour). (See also sugarlift etching and mezzotint)
B.A.T. – short for bon a tirer. A BAT print is the first impression that the artist is completely satisfied with. S/he signs it to authorise the print run. All later print runs are judged against the BAT. A BAT print is unusual and so often commands a higher price. (In French, bon = good and tirer = to pull)
board - Many different kinds of board are used by artists – hardboard, pulp or fibreboard, plywood, Masonite or an old piece of timber that happens to be to hand. Board is popular because it is cheap and the surface is rigid and easy to work on once it has been primed. Canvas board, as the name suggests, has linen or canvas glued onto a rigid sheet of hardboard. Gessoboard has been specially sealed with a primer to provide a barrier between the board and the paint. Investors need to be aware that, in certain climatic conditions, some boards may crack, distort or yellow over time.
canvas - traditionally made from cotton or hemp fibres, however some canvases are now made of polyester – polycanvas. Before it is used for painting, the canvas has to be stretched onto a frame and the surface prepared. Canvas is less expensive than linen and easier to stretch. However, it is too flexible to use for large works. Also, it is less durable than linen, but this would be over a very long timeframe.
charcoal - Charcoal is used by artists for black and white drawings or for making a preparatory sketch for a painting. The artist preserves a finished charcoal drawing by applying a fixative, but it is still delicate and should be protected behind glass when it is displayed. Artists generally use charcoal in the form of sticks of burnt wood (vine charcoal) or as compressed charcoal powder mixed with a gum binder in charcoal pencils. Powdered charcoal can also be also used to cover large sections of a drawing surface to create a tone.
Chine collé (say sheen koll-ay) A print in which one or more layers of very fine tissue, called China paper, have been stuck onto a backing of strong paper and then dampened and run through a printing press. This process can provide layers of different colour and can give the print extra texture. Ink can also be printed over the paper. It is different from a collage because it is run through a press to bond the layers together rather than just gluing them. (In French, Chine = China and collé = glued). Also called chine appliqué.
chop - the embossed stamp of the print workshop where the print was made. It can be found in the bottom right hand corner of the paper, outside the image area of a print. Printmakers like to have a distinctive chop, which serves to authenticate and identify their work. For example, the Whaling Road Studio has a whale; Cicada Press has a cicada. The chop is a way of acknowledging the vital role of the master printmaker in the creation of a print. Print making is a collaboration between the artist and the printmaker, and the chop is the printmaker’s mark, just as the signature is the artist’s mark.
Print studios are usually in or close to centres of dense population, and artists go there to work with the printmaker. Sometimes a master printmaker will travel to a group of artists, e.g. an Aboriginal community to work with local artists to create images on plates, stones or acetates. These are then taken back to the studio, where the printmaker etches the plate or cuts the screen from the acetates, then sends the proofs back to the artists for approval. It is part of the printmaker’s skill to help artists find ways of working that can be transferred to a print. For example, teaching Aboriginal women in the Utopia community how to make screenprints allowed them to transfer traditional body paint lines and images onto paper.
collage (say ko-large) An artwork made by assembling found objects such as leaves or wood and pieces of paper, photos or cloth to form an image or a design. The pieces are glued into place. (In Greek koll = glue and in French coller = to glue)
collagraph (say kol-a-graf) A print made by applying ink to a collage. A collagraph uses the relief method. The artist builds up an image on a rigid surface, e.g. metal, cardboard or wood, using glue and materials, such as string, cut card, leaves or grasses. S/he applies ink or pigment to this collage using different cotton dabbers to apply each colour. The plate is wiped so the colours merge, then it is pressed onto paper or another material using either a printing press or various hand tools.
Different effects can be achieved with a collagraph thanks to the collage's highly textured surface and to the fact that the inks blend in slightly different ways each time they are applied, so that each print becomes a unique work. (In Greek, koll = glue and graph = drawing).
conte – (say kon-tay) Conte sticks or Conte crayons are made of pigments, clay and a binding material, e.g. wax. They are square in cross-section, which makes them suitable for detailed work and they can also be used to create layers of colour. When they were first invented, in 1795, they came in a very limited range of colours, but now they are manufactured in many colours. They can be used on paper or on canvas.
coreten or cor-ten (say kor-ten) - steel that is specially manufactured to look rusty from being exposed to the weather. Coreten can be bought in sheets and is used in art as well as in architecture.
Courtesy of... The artworks in our exhibition come from the artists themselves or from galleries or print wholesalers. This part of the label tells you where the work was sourced. We make the profits that we use to support NERAM from the commission we earn from our sales. The commission ranges between 40% - from individual artists to 20% in shared commission with galleries. Importantly, no one is asked to do anything for nothing.
diptych – (say dip-tick) an image in two parts, which may be joined or simply hung close together. An image with three parts is a triptych. (In Greek, di = 2, tri = 3. and ptyche = fold)
drypoint – A kind of etching made by drawing onto a metal plate with a sharp, pointed instrument. No acid is used to etch out or deepen the lines – hence it is ‘dry’. The ink is trapped in the dry-cut lines and the printing press forces these lines onto the dampened paper to transfer the image. This technique creates softer, furrier lines than etching because the ink contains tiny metal fragments left from pulling the pointed instrument across the surface of the metal.
encaustic (say en-cost-ik) Encaustic art uses melted wax to which coloured pigments have been added. Special brushes and/or metal tools are used to shape the wax as it cools, and/or heated utensils are used to shape the wax once it has cooled on the painting surface. As with acrylics, the encaustic can be laid on in delicate, thin layers or in thick layers that can then be carved and moulded. Encaustic painting can be done on many surfaces, including wood or paper. The finished surface of encaustics can be glossy or roughly textured. (in Latin/Greek, kaust = burn)
engraving – a print made by cutting directly into the hard, flat surface of the printing plate with a sharp instrument. The printing plate is usually metal – copper, but it can be glass or plexiglass. The engraver uses only the sharp engraving tool, not acid as an etcher does. Hand engraving is a difficult technique and has mostly been replaced by etching or photo or laser engraving.
You can distinguish an engraving from an etching by looking at the lines with a magnifying glass. In an etching, the ends of the lines are blunt and slightly irregular where the acid has bitten in. In an engraving, the lines are sharp and the ends pointed.
etching –To make an etching, the artist uses a special etching needle to draw into a waxy material, called a ‘ground’ that has been applied over a metal printing plate. A hard ground etching is cut into a hard material, e.g. a mix of asphaltum (a kind of bitumen) and beeswax or rosin. In a soft ground etching, the artist uses material that contains more wax or tallow so it will remain soft and pliable on the plate. A soft ground etching looks more like a pencil drawing because the lines are more granular.
When the plate is submerged in an acid bath, the acid bites into the metal surface only where it is unprotected by the wax. The length of time the plate stays in the acid bath determines how deeply the lines are cut. The deeper the line, the darker it will print. After the wax is removed, ink is rubbed over the plate and forced into the etched lines, then the unetched surface is wiped clean, and an impression is printed. If the plate is not wiped totally clean, the artist/printmaker can create a less crisp but more atmospheric effect. An etcher may use a number of plates to add layers of colour, e.g. a two-plate etching or a multi-plate etching. The artist may also hand-colour the etching.
F the work is being sold in this frame and is ready for hanging.
facsimile – a way of reproducing an artwork or a page from a book using a photographic plate. In the art world, limited editions of facsimiles of famous works, by e.g. Norman Lindsay, are now produced so that many people can own and enjoy works that would otherwise be unavailable. Limited edition facsimiles are numbered and accompanied by a certificate. To ensure the numbers are controlled, the printing plate that was created from a photograph of the original image must be destroyed. As with giclee, there is disagreement about whether something produced by technology should be called art. Depending on the equipment used, the quality of facsimiles varies. (Latin: fac = make, simile = alike)
gelatin silver print - A hand printed photograph, which uses the original techniques of pioneering photography. The process uses light-sensitive silver salts, which make the image in the negative visible on the developing paper. The final image is made up of tiny silver particles, bound in a layer of gelatin. The process of making a gelatin print requires many skills which subsequent commercial photographic development has superseded. The effects of this process can be much more evocative than fast machine printing.
gesso (Say jess-oh) – a kind of primer that can be used on wood or canvas. It prevents the paint from soaking into the weave of the canvas or the fibre of the wood. It provides a smooth slightly absorbent surface for the artist to paint on.
giclée (Say: zhee-klay) A print of an artwork or a photograph scanned on a very high-quality ink-jet printer, which is capable of producing millions of colours accurately. After printing, a specialist examines the giclée to certify that the colour tones are accurate, and then applies a thin, transparent coating so that the print will retain its colour for many years to come. The process was invented in the late 1980s.
There is disagreement about whether giclée is merely a very fine reproduction or an artwork in itself. Those who say it is a reproduction point out that it is the result of a machine process rather than the product of a human hand. Those who say it is an artwork, like other limited edition prints, point out the skill required to keep the fine detail from the original image.
Giclee prints of the works of eminent artists give collectors an opportunity to acquire what would otherwise be an unaffordable artwork. Some artists overlay the giclee print with gilding or more paint to make it an individual piece, and label it U.S. (In French, giclée = sprayed ink.) Also called archival digital image.
gouache (say gwahsh) - Goauche can be the name given to a type of paint or to a painting using this paint. Gouache is similar to watercolour, but dries to be opaque. Like watercolour, it is a mixture of pigment and a binding agent, e.g. gum arabic, but the pigment particles are larger and it also contains chalk, which makes it denser and therefore able to cover a surface completely. Gouache is popular with artists working outdoors (en plein air), because it dries quickly and has good reflective qualities. One of the challenges of using gouache is that it dries to a different tone than appears when it is wet, which makes it difficult to match when working in different painting sessions. (In Italian, guazzo = wet)
graphite – a form of carbon that leaves a shiny metallic grey colour on a surface. Artists use it in ‘lead’ pencils or in powder form, applied with a brush.
Hard-ground etching see etching
intaglio: (Say: in-tal-yo) One of the main methods used to create a limited edition print. In this method, the ink-holding image is below the surface of the printing block, which is usually a zinc, copper or polymer plate. The artist creates the image by cutting into the printing block with a sharp instrument, sometimes using acid to cut even deeper. The ink is applied to the whole surface and then wiped off, leaving the ink only in the incised marks. Wet paper is pressed onto the block, using a printing press to force the paper into the incisions, where it absorbs the ink. This requires much more pressure than methods using relief printing, so on an intaglio print you can often see the indent of the press at the sides. Aquatints, Engravings, Etchings and Dry-points are all printed intaglio. (In Latin, intaglio = incise)
limited edition print - one of a number of more or less identical images, collectively known as an edition. Each print has its own number, e.g. the tenth print from an edition of 25 would be marked 10/25. In Australia, there are rarely more than 99 in a limited edition, and often fewer. There is a limit to the number of prints made for two reasons. Firstly the plates or woodblocks are worn down a tiny bit by each printing, so the plate or block deteriorates and printing must stop before the print is less than perfect. Secondly, the smaller the edition, the more valuable the print is to collectors. When the print run is finished, the plate or block is often destroyed or defaced by scratching lines across it to ‘cancel’ it so it cannot be used again.
Before the main print run of a limited edition, some prints are made for checking by the artist and the master printmaker. They are known as proofs. The proofs taken off the press before the numbered edition begins include A.P. artist’s proof and P.P. printer’s proof. They have curiosity value over and above the numbered print run and so can draw a higher price.
Sometimes the artist decides to change the image once s/he has seen the artist’s proof. Any prints made before the change are called First State and then prints with the change are called Second State. If only one print is ever made, that is labelled Unique State (U.S.). A U.S. print is one of a kind and therefore may draw a higher price.
linen – Artists sometimes use linen instead of canvas for painting on with oil or acrylics. Like canvas, it must be stretched over a wooden frame and the surface properly prepared before it can be used. Linen is made from the fibres of flax, which is more expensive than the cotton used for canvas, but it is more resistant to decay and is strong enough to be used for large works without bowing.
linocut - A print made by cutting into the surface of linoleum with a sharp knife or chisel. The artist outlines the design onto the linoleum surface, then cuts or gouges the non-printing areas away. The uncarved areas are a mirror image of the parts that will show when printed. Because the artist is working in reverse, s/he may make rubbings of the linoleum to check on the effect. When all is ready, the linoleum sheet is inked with a roller and then pressed onto paper or fabric either by hand or with a press. Linocuts can be left black and white or they may be hand-coloured by the artist. Sometimes the artist may even overlay the print with other mediums, e.g. gold leaf.
For some artists, the fact that linoleum has no particular direction to its grain and does not split, makes it easier to obtain certain artistic effects than with most woods. However others maintain that linocuts lack the grainy character of woodcuts and engravings.
lithograph: (Say: lith-o-graff) A print made not by cutting, as with relief and intaglio methods, but by using the difference between water-repelling substances such as wax and water-retaining substances such as limestone and paper.
To make a lithograph, the artist draws the image onto a flat, porous stone, often fine-grained limestone, with an oil-based medium such as a wax crayon. Before printing, the stone or plate is dampened with water, which sticks only to the non-oiled parts. When an oil-based ink is applied, it sticks only to the oily lines. The ink is transferred to the paper by pressing the stone onto the paper, which creates the image. It is often possible to see the outline where the stone has flattened the paper to make a lithograph. A black and white lithograph can be produced with just one plate; a coloured lithograph will require a number of different plates - one for each colour, to build up the finished image. (In Greek, litho = stone).
mezzotint (Say: met-so-tint) A print made by roughening different areas of the plate with thousands of little pits, using a metal tool with small teeth, called a "rocker". When ink is applied to the plate, the tiny pits hold it while the smooth areas do not and will print ‘white’. The roughened areas will print from grey to black, depending on how rough the surface is. The artist works from dark to light in what is a very time-consuming process.
A feature of this technique is the differing intensity of blacks that can be produced - from a dense velvety black to the palest grey. The artist can hand colour the prints by retouching the image with watercolour or oil pigment. The mezzotint, like drypoint, does not use acid to etch out the marks on the plate. (In Italian, mezzo = half and tinto = painted)
mixed media - a combination of different painting and drawing materials and methods that have been used to create one unique piece of artwork. A mixed media work combines elements that are traditionally distinct, for example, a work on canvas may use paint, ink and collage. This is quite different from multi-media works, which combine e.g. sound with vision.
M.P. – short for monoprint, also written 1/1. A monoprint is one of a kind. This can be for one of two reasons: The artist is not interested in making a number of prints, but may be using an etched plate because s/he is interested in the effects created by transferring the image onto wet paper from the printing block rather than simply applying the paint direct onto the paper. Or the artist has created a series but has reworked the image in between each impression so that no two prints are absolutely identical. Monoprints are particularly interesting to some collectors because they combine printmaking, painting and drawing. See also U.S.
oil – a painting medium using pigments that are bound with a drying oil, e.g. linseed oil. Linseed oil, like linen comes from the flax plant, in this case, the seed. Artists use different oils for different effects or different drying times. The pigments for paintings were originally prepared by the artist, but from the middle of the 19th century they could be bought in tubes. For many years oil was the most popular medium, but it has now been mainly superseded by acrylic.
The long history of oil painting shows us that over time works fade and or develop a yellow tint or crack with age... but this is over a very long time frame.
oilstick – a painting medium that uses oil paint in solid form. Oilsticks are a recent innovation, made by compressing wax and oil with the pigments and rolling this mixture into a short, fat stick that can easily be held.
Artists use oilstick for drawing or painting directly onto paper or another surface. If the oilstick has been applied thickly, it does not dry to the same extent as oil paint so it can be deformed by pressure or heat. Oilstick works need to be protected behind glass. They are too recent an innovation to be sure how they will last over time.
open bite – an etching technique in which large area of the metal plate are exposed to acid. These open areas hold less ink and so create a mottled effect. Most of the ink runs to the edges, making darker lines there.
paper - Artist quality paper is heavier than standard office paper, which is 80 gsm (grams per square metre). Most watercolour papers are in the range between 280gsm to 640gsm. Heavier paper is preferred because it does not buckle.
The best art papers are designated archival, meaning they will last without significant deterioration for a century or more. Archival papers are made of 100% cotton or linen fibre, unlike standard paper, which is usually made from pulp from fast growing trees such as pine or eucalypt. Papers derived primarily from wood contain lignin, which causes paper to darken and become brittle when exposed to light, so it is less suitable for artworks. Archival papers are pH neutral (meaning there is no residual acidity left from the chemical processing of the pulp). The pH of paper affects its durability. Acidity is also an important factor in the framing of artworks, as acidic mounts or backing boards can cause foxing and other long-term problems.
Fine papers are manufactured under the brand names such as Arches, Hahnemuehle and Zerkall. There has been a recent resurgence in handmade papers. Some oriental papers have special status, for example, Japanese washi paper is made from long tree fibres, which create robust papers, better capable of enduring folding and other stresses even though the paper is significantly thinner. Information on the paper used is often noted in gallery records, but it is not usually recorded on labels at exhibitions.
pastel - a painting medium that artists generally use in the form of a stick or crayon in which the powdered pigment is bound together with gum arabic. As with charcoal, finished drawings made with pastel must be protected under glass and/or by spraying with a fixative to prevent smudging.
photogravure – a mix of photographic and mechanical processes to achieve a wide variety of tones. A highly polished copper plate is used to attach the gelatin film, which is then dipped in a series of baths of hot water then ferric chloride to create different areas of resistance. The image is then etched into the remaining gelatin and ink is applied.
There are now some high-tech variations to this traditional way of making a photogravure.
photopolymer etching – a process that uses a light-sensitive layer of polymer on a backing plate of steel or plastic. The artist draws an image or places a found object on the polymer then exposes the polymer to sunlight or artificial light. The area covered by the object or the drawing will remain soft, the clear areas will harden. The soft polymer is washed away and dried, then etching ink can be applied in the normal way. See also solar plate etching.
print - in our exhibitions, a print is a work of art that requires mastery of a variety of different techniques from the artist and the print-maker. (This may be two people working together, or the same person.) A print can require different and perhaps more skills than a single work on paper or canvas. Thus it should not be considered as inferior, though it sometimes is.
There are four main techniques for making a print:
• A relief print in which the image stands out from the block.
The artist cuts away areas not intended to be inked, then applies ink to the higher areas and presses the block onto paper create the image. This method does not necessarily require a printing press. Linocut and woodcut are types of relief print.
• An intaglio print in which the image is cut into a metal plate with a fine tool and ink is forced into the cuts and these print the image onto the paper. The artist covers the whole surface with ink, rubs it into the cuts then wipes the excess ink off. This method requires a printing press. Engraving, etching, drypoint and aquatint are types of intaglio print
• A lithograph print in which the image is created using the difference between a water-repelling substance, e.g. oil or grease and a water-soluble substance on a flat surface.
• A silkscreen print in which different layers of colour are pushed through different screens each with an ink-blocking stencil, to build up the image.
proof – one of the prints taken off the press before the main print run of a limited edition, made for checking by the artist, the etcher or the master printmaker. You see these letters than an edition number at the bottom of some prints. The proofs taken off the press before the numbered edition begins include:
A.P. artist’s proof
B.A.T. = the proof approved by the artist before a print run
C.P. colour proof
E.P. etcher’s proof
P.P. printer’s proof
T.P. trial proof = not yet the final edition
W.P. working proof = not yet the final edition
V.E. varied edition = each print in the edition is slightly different
H.C. “hors de commerce” = not for sale
All of these have curiosity value over and above the numbered print run and so can draw a higher price.
red dot – In our exhibitions, a red dot is an indication that the work on display has been sold. This does not always mean you have lost your chance. In the print section of the exhibition, it is often possible to order another of the limited edition prints on offer, thus you may see more dots appearing on a single label. These dots are carefully numbered so that we can deal with customer requests in the order they were made. If the order cannot be filled, your money is refunded in full.
reduction linocut – An etching technique where the artist starts with carving a design on a new lino block and prints the first colour onto each sheet of paper in the edition. Then s/he carves more of the same block away and prints the second colour onto each sheet of paper. This process goes from the lightest colour to the darkest. The print may be a double-plate linocut or a multi-plate linocut, depending how many times the block is carved and coloured.
relief - One of the main methods of printing a limited edition print. In this method, the ink-holding image is on the surface of the printing block, which could be wood, lino or metal. The unwanted parts of the block are cut away, leaving the image standing out. The ink is applied to this top surface and the cut out parts are left ink-free. The block is pressed onto paper or the paper is pressed onto the block to make the print. The ink creates the image and the ink-free parts create the outlines. Linocuts and woodcuts and some kinds of collagraphs are printed in relief.
screenprinting - One of the main methods of printing a limited edition print. In this method, the image is created using a stencil on a screen. The screen is made of open-weave material, usually silk or nylon, stretched on a frame, hence the most common version is a silkscreen. The tiny holes in the material will allow ink through. An image or design is painted on the silk using a stencil, which is usually made of paper. It covers parts of the screen and protects it from the wash of paste spread over the material to block all unwanted holes. Ink will only be able to pass through those parts of the material left exposed by the stencil. Coloured ink is forced through the open holes in the material onto the art-paper below with a rubber blade or a sponge. A number of colours can be built up to create the image by using different stencils each time a new colour is applied. This layering process can create a rich variety of tones where the colours overlap.
serigraph – A serigraph is a kind of screenprint. In a serigraph the image may be transferred to the screen using photography, then the colours are built up with a different screen for each colour, making sure the colours work together but remain separate. In this, the process makes use of technology, but is never mechanical. In Latin, seri = silk and in Greek, graphos = writing.
shellac – a resin that is sometimes used as a primer on canvas or wood or resin. It can create a soft, golden glow.
soft-ground etching – see etching
solar plate etching - sometimes called printmaking with the sun. It is popular because it uses UV light to etch the plate rather than acids, so it is more environmentally friendly. The artist may paint over the solar plate using water-based pigments that will be opaque and not let the UV rays through or s/he may overlay the plate with a transparent film on which the artwork has been sketched or reproduced, or where found objects, e.g. leaves, have been laid out. The sketch or the objects do not allow the UV rays through. The emulsion on the plate hardens where it receives the UV rays and the rest can be washed off, so the plate forms a kind of negative image. Once exposed, the solar plate is wiped over with ink and then run through the press in contact with dampened paper, as in other intaglio processes.
sugarlift aquatint –The artist begins this print-making process by painting the design on the metal plate with a sugar solution. Then the entire plate is coated with an acid-resistant varnish. Once dry, the plate is immersed in warm water and the sugar mixture melts, lifting away part of the varnish. The plate is then dusted with granules, using the aquatint method and dipped in acid. Where the varnish has been lifted, the acid bites into the plate. When the printing plate is prepared with ink, the ink collects in the etched areas and creates rich tones on the paper. (also known as Lift-ground Etching).
U.S. – a print that is in a unique state. It is one of a kind, usually because it has been hand-coloured or it is a collagraph.
V/E – a limited edition print that has been verified by the artist or the printmaker, sometimes because it has been changed in some way, e.g. by hand-colouring.
watercolour – A watercolour is unlike an oil or acrylic painting, where the paints essentially stay where they are put and dry more or less in the form they are applied. In the watercolour painting process, water is an active and complex partner, changing both the absorbency and shape of the paper when it is wet and the outlines and appearance of the paint as it dries.
Basic watercolour technique includes washes and glazes. In a wash the artist applies diluted paint in a way that disguises individual brush strokes or makes them disappear to produce a unified area of colour, e.g. a light blue wash for the sky. In a glaze the artist applies one paint colour over a previous paint layer, so that the first colour shows through. Each new layer refines the colours and the way they relate to each other. Painters who use this technique may apply 100 glazes or more to create a single painting.
woodcut - A print made by cutting a design into a block of wood, using the relief method. In a woodcut, the printing parts remain level with the surface while the rest is removed, by cutting or gouging. The areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The surface is covered with ink, leaving ink only on the flat, upper surface but not on the non-printing areas.
Multiple colours can be printed on apiece of paper, using a different block for each colour. This requires the printmaster to ensure that the paper stays in precisely the same place. This is done by keying the paper to a frame. Alternatively, the artist may choose to hand-colour the print later. This is usually done directly onto the front of the paper, but sometimes the artist creates a more subtle effect by applying the colours to the back of the paper, which has been wetted slightly to make it easier for the colour to take.
This glossary was compiled using the following:
Art Lex Dictionary http://www.artlex.com
Goldman, Paul, 1981, Looking at Prints: a guide to technical terms, British Museum, London
Herberts, Kurt, 1958, The Complete Book of Artists’ Techniques, Praeger, New York
Wikipedia. http://www.wikipedia.com (various articles on individual techniques)
