Printing Processes Exercise

Printing is introduced with the Early Renaissance unit because of the significance of the Gutenberg Press with movable type, invented in 1450. This should be touched upon in the lecture and may even be included as a requirement for Student Collections.

The printing exercise is meant to give students an understanding of printing processes and allow them to experiment with one or more printing techniques.

If possible, show the CD-ROM, “Prints and Processes” from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This CD illustrates 4 printing processes, Relief, Lithography, Intaglio, and Screen. It also includes examples of each from the collections of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The following link corresponds with the CD-ROM: http://www.artsmia.org/prints_processes/

There are many printing processes students can take part in. Depending on time constraints an instructor may choose to let students use more than one print process. A list of sample printing ideas follows.

Styrofoam plate print:

This is a very basic printing exercise that many students may have experienced in elementary school but it can reinforce the idea of a print being a mirror image of the carved surface.

Students are each given a styrofoam plate. They may wish to design their print on paper first, then transfer that idea onto the plate. When transferring the design students may use a rounded embossing tool or a large ball-point pen. Students press the tool or pen into the plate just enough to compress the styrofoam without breaking through. This produces a lowered area that will not print. Students ink the plate and press it onto a piece of paper to produce the print.

A variation on the plate print: Issue two plates and have students cut out shapes from one plate and glue them onto the other. This produces a raised area that will be printed. When the glue is dry, ink the shapes and press the plate onto a piece of paper.

Paper or tag board stencil print:

Students create a design on paper to be transferred to tag board. When explaining the assignment it must be noted that the design will be cut out so there must not be “free floating” areas such as the triangle inside a letter A. When the design is completed on the tag board it can be cut out using an X-Acto knife or scissors. After the design is cut out the stencil is then laid over a piece of paper and ink is applied over the stencil with a paint brush, soft roller, stippling brush or any other material that will transfer color such as cotton balls. The stencil is then removed to leave the finished print.

The tag board stencil can also be used in screen printing to mask off areas of the screen that should not print.

Table transfer:

Students apply paints directly to their table or desk. Paper is then placed over the painted area on the table and pressed down firmly or rubbed down with a firm tool such as wooden spoon. When the paper is lifted the paint should have transferred to the paper. Another print or two may be made from the paint left on the table and it should be encouraged to print multiple copies. Often the second or third print is more appealing than the first.

There are many more possible printing exercises including: Wood cut, Linoleum block, lithography, intaglio and even four-color press print processes that may be adapted to this assignment depending upon time constraints and availability of facilities.