Slide 1
Lithography prints from a flat prepared surface
Lithography prints from a flat prepared surface, traditionally limestone. The image does not require a carved relief or an engraved groove.
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A greasy crayon or liquid drawing material establishes the design. This allows the printed mark to preserve qualities associated with drawing directly by hand.
Slide 2
Water and grease separate printing from nonprinting areas
The prepared printing surface is dampened. Non-image areas accept water, while the greasy image areas can receive oily printing ink.
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Chemical treatment stabilises the distinction between those areas. The process depends on differences in surface behaviour, even though the design remains essentially on one level.
Slide 3
Preparation preserves that printing response
Preparing that water-and-grease response is part of making a lithograph. The original drawing material can be removed while the prepared surface keeps the printable image.
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The original drawing material can be removed during processing. The prepared surface retains the printable image through its altered properties, rather than needing every original crayon particle.
Slide 4
Separate colour impressions must line up
Colour lithographs can require separate prepared surfaces for different colours. Each impression must align with the marks already on the sheet.
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Misalignment changes edges and overlaps, making registration part of the image's construction. The printer's work helps turn several individual designs into one coherent coloured picture.
Slide 5
The method served commercial images and artists’ prints
Lithography became important for commercial images as well as artists' prints. Its possibilities included larger formats and increasingly elaborate colour work.
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The technique's history crosses categories such as illustration, advertising and fine art. An image's printing method does not by itself determine the audience or purpose for which it was made.
Sources
- Lithograph materials and techniques
Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Lithography in the nineteenth century
Metropolitan Museum of Art