Illustration Processes to 1900 (July 2013): Difference between revisions
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Illustration Processes to 1900 (I-20), Rare Book School, taught by Terry Belanger, 22-27 July 2013 | Illustration Processes to 1900 (I-20), Rare Book School, taught by Terry Belanger, 22-27 July 2013 | ||
first thing to ask: date? is it printed on both sides? is the caption letterpress or freeform? | |||
sock impression: on damp paper; kiss impression: on dry paper | |||
letter press -- ~200 sq in of printing space, about 200lb of pressure, so ~1lb per sq in (not much at all) | |||
== Relief == | == Relief == | ||
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==== Woodcuts ==== | ==== Woodcuts ==== | ||
fast to print | fast to print (about 100x faster to print than intaglio) | ||
don't wear out | don't wear out | ||
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done on plank side of wood | done on plank side of wood | ||
occasionally find pen corrections, since labor was cheap and materials were expensive (reverse of today) | |||
=== C19 === | === C19 === | ||
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advantage over intaglio: can be printed with the text | advantage over intaglio: can be printed with the text | ||
''Civil War Artist'' by Taylor Morrison, good description of process of making a wood engraving | |||
bolted together smaller pieces of boxwood to make large enough image | |||
Bewick manner -- popularized wood engraving | Bewick manner -- popularized wood engraving | ||
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can only do about ~100 impressions, not enough for a book run; by 19C, could get ~1500 copies from copper by beating it first to make it stronger | can only do about ~100 impressions, not enough for a book run; by 19C, could get ~1500 copies from copper by beating it first to make it stronger | ||
under pressure of rolling press, lines of copperplate squash together | |||
* refurbishers could touch them up; were paid by the hour (unusual for book trade, because it was such skilled labor) | |||
at about 1000 impressions, it's cheaper to duplicate the plate | |||
Pallaioulo -- Battle of the Nudes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Nudes_(engraving)) | |||
game of collecting Italian Renaissance prints was over by the end of the 18c -- very rare | |||
==== Etchings ==== | ==== Etchings ==== | ||
pure etching virtually unknown in handpress period | |||
speed: map engraver in Ordinate Survey Office expected to do 2x2 inches a day | |||
Etchings on an ungrounded plate | Etchings on an ungrounded plate | ||
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==== Aquatints ==== | ==== Aquatints ==== | ||
white islands surrounded by black sea indicates | white islands surrounded by black sea indicates aquatint | ||
painting the ground onto the plate; can do multiple bites with the acid to get a "terraced" visual effect (patches of uniform darkness, patches of uniform medium gray, etc.; see pg 21) | |||
=== C19 === | === C19 === | ||
=== Photographically assisted === | === Photographically assisted === | ||
Revision as of 00:27, 24 July 2013
Illustration Processes to 1900 (I-20), Rare Book School, taught by Terry Belanger, 22-27 July 2013
first thing to ask: date? is it printed on both sides? is the caption letterpress or freeform?
sock impression: on damp paper; kiss impression: on dry paper
letter press -- ~200 sq in of printing space, about 200lb of pressure, so ~1lb per sq in (not much at all)
Relief
can't tell if a relief print is printed from wood or from metal (eletrotype)
if sheet is printed on both sides, 90% certain it's relief
don't get large areas of dead black in intaglio the way you do with relief
Hand press period
Woodcuts
fast to print (about 100x faster to print than intaglio)
don't wear out
ink is such in, so you can stack sheets while wet
done on plank side of wood
occasionally find pen corrections, since labor was cheap and materials were expensive (reverse of today)
C19
Wood engravings
done on endgrain, which is much harder; you an use a burin
advantage over intaglio: can be printed with the text
Civil War Artist by Taylor Morrison, good description of process of making a wood engraving
bolted together smaller pieces of boxwood to make large enough image
Bewick manner -- popularized wood engraving
- vignette: no edges -- not rectangle or oval
- Bewick known for his vignetes; see pg 13 in workbook for a passage from Jane Eyre that mentions Bewick
- many imitators
- large Bewick block collection at the Newberry
- Bewick manner uses white lines when you can, since it's easier
Facsimile -- copy what an artist gives you
Interpretive -- interpret what an artist gives you
White-line
Stereotype/electrotypes
stereotype begins around 1810; eletrotypes in 1840s
copper-faced woodblock made from original wood engraving; can't tell the different between a printing done from copper face or from original woodblock
plaster in wood engraving means its a stereotype
Wax engraving
Photographically assisted processes
Photoxylograph
Process relief line engraving
Process false halftones
Process relief halftones
C20
C20 developments
Scraperboard
Intaglio
if there are flowing lines, it's intaglio
offsetting tells you two plates were in the same place at the same time long enough to offset, but doesn't necessarily indicate from the same shop
pentimento: an alteration that's been rubbed out (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentimento)
Hand-press period
Copper engravings
can only do about ~100 impressions, not enough for a book run; by 19C, could get ~1500 copies from copper by beating it first to make it stronger
under pressure of rolling press, lines of copperplate squash together
- refurbishers could touch them up; were paid by the hour (unusual for book trade, because it was such skilled labor)
at about 1000 impressions, it's cheaper to duplicate the plate
Pallaioulo -- Battle of the Nudes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Nudes_(engraving))
game of collecting Italian Renaissance prints was over by the end of the 18c -- very rare
Etchings
pure etching virtually unknown in handpress period
speed: map engraver in Ordinate Survey Office expected to do 2x2 inches a day
Etchings on an ungrounded plate
Line engravings
line engravings are opposed to mezzotints, stipple engravings and aquatints, which are all tonal engravings
Mezzotints
can only get ~200 from a plate; not used in books but as framing prints, because rubbing destroys them easily
Prince Rupert is fabled to have invented it (in John Evelyn's Sculptura, or the History of Chalcography), though Siegen did
first known is a large plate of an executioner; it made its way to England as the "Little executioner" (smaller image just of executioner's haed), which is in Evelyn's book -- famous image
Stipple engravings
Aquatints
white islands surrounded by black sea indicates aquatint
painting the ground onto the plate; can do multiple bites with the acid to get a "terraced" visual effect (patches of uniform darkness, patches of uniform medium gray, etc.; see pg 21)