Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band Public Feed
The Beauty of Printmaking
Today, Printmaking is used as an art technique in which you etch a design on a piece of wood, stone, or other material and are able to transfer that design onto a piece of paper. It is used for more than just making art pieces, however. For example, it is used to make the design for every dollar bill in America.
The first etching ever found (and possibly created) was during the Ice Age on bones and cave walls. Duplicating an etching was not actually used until around 3000 BCE by the Sumerians. Only stone cylinders were used back then, but more and more materials were being used as time went on and by many different cultures. Like how wood was first used by the Japanese back in 764 CE. Techniques of making Printmaking have also branched off to make unique styles. Such techniques as Relief, Lithographing, Intaglio, etc. Printmaking may be used mainly just for art nowadays, but it was, in fact, a revolutionary technique used by scholars, scientists, and designers alike. The reason it was so revolutionary, was because it was the first method ever that allowed people to copy a design/information that someone's created, without having to make/write it all over again.
Printmaking allows such works as the one above to be made. I notice how by using the contrast of the Black and White, it gives the owl such a shadowy and creepy feel. The shadowy characteristic may also be thanks to how he/she used White as the outlining, and Black to fill in the negative space. I wonder what I would feel if the colors reversed. Would I still feel the creepiness of the menacing Black eyes? What if it was a different animal? Would I feel a different emotion if it was a squirrel, even if he/she used the same method?
Art: Printmaking and Why It Is Important
Printmaking is a form of art used to create designs. The designs are first made on special material, including blocks of linoleum or wood, and then they are pressed onto another material, usually being paper. The design can then be multiplied through the same pressing process as many times as necessary. This is one of the many reasons why printmaking is important. Being able to reproduce a piece of art helps preserve the artwork. Also, photo recreations can never be as precise as the original artwork, which makes printmaking crucial in the sharing of artwork.
One style of printmaking is known as relief printmaking. Originating from Egypt, it is a process in which ink is put on the front of a printmaking material, giving those spots color once printed. The spots that are not occupied by ink stay colorless. Through this process, a block of material can be directly placed onto a piece of paper to produce artwork.
Printmaking was first created in early AD, notably in China. The man credited for its creation is Hishikawa Moronobu. He would usually display his pieces of art to common people on the street, and most of these pieces showed off the traditions of the time. It then spread and began to be used by many.
Printmaking was revolutionary from the moment it was invented. It was originally used to display cultures of religious people, which spread these customs and ideas across the world. Printmaking also made it easy to spread this artwork without fear of losing it or damaging it, as it could be copied many times. Printmaking was also revolutionary because it helped workers like goldsmiths document the work they had done. Printmaking could be copied onto the surface of book covers, which made these books more interesting to the eye.
This print originally caught my eye because of the woman in the front. Because her body takes up most of the frame, it is easy to see her and what she is doing. This automatically drew me to this pictures. The patterns of lines seen on her dress are also very pleasing to the eye. The lines are all heading to the same direction, which gives the viewer a calm view of the image. If the lines were all over the place with no common pattern, it would interrupt the eye and make it harder to look at. However, there are problems with the art. There is more than just the woman in the design, and a lot is going on behind her. Because she is so prominent in the frame, the viewer's eyes may miss the people in the back as well as even the beautiful background.
Overall, printmaking is a very interesting art style. It revolutionized art as a whole, and helped culture and religion spread across the world. This style also makes it easier to reproduce art, and is still used widely in many places today.
ART9-021
- Term
- 2016-17: 2nd Semester