Understanding the difference between 'printmaking' and 'printing' is a matter of education - only a dozen or so years ago I barely knew the difference, but now I get quite evangelical on the subject, and every one of my prints has the following label attached to them:
 |
| 'Rust-framed' - a unique collagraph, now in the possession of Mike Handley |
An original print is made when the artist conceives and creates a piece of work by working with one or more of the printmaking media. Such hand-made prints can be produced in small limited editions. Many artists are not interested in producing identical prints and use the process to create several, often vastly different versions of the same image. These ‘trial-proofs’ exemplify the nature of printing in that they are unique prints created directly by an artist. An ‘artist’s proof’ (A/P) may be a print which is similar to the edition or, if an edition has never been printed, the only existing print .
Artists are drawn to printmaking because it can provide a language of marks, a richness of colour and depth and other unique characteristics which can’t be achieved in any other way.
I've learned something. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAre your book covers your own work?
I'm glad you asked! And yes my book covers are a mix of drawings, prints and photographs, layered and Photoshopped. I thoroughly enjoy the process, and in the case of 'Damage limitation' it was the process of making the cover that gave me the title.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this lesson, I love that what's created in the whole process can be art pieces in themselves. Wonderful!
ReplyDelete