1.1 What is Printmaking?

Printmaking is essentially the process of creating an original ‘print’, by transferring an impression from one surface to another. It is not a direct process such as drawing or painting but any method that allows an artist to create an image in one place that is then transferred to another. Printmaking is an exciting art form which at Magenta Sky we are very passionate about.

There are four main categories that the various forms of printmaking fall into – Relief (lino/woodcut, wood engraving), Intaglio (etching, drypoint, mezzotint), Stencil Based (screenprinting) and Planographic (lithography).

1.2 What is Drypoint?

Drypoint is a form of intaglio printmaking, (from the Italian word intaglione meaning to engrave or cut). It is the opposite to relief printing (linocut / woodcut) in that the marks that you draw are the areas that will print, making it a positive not a negative process.  

Intaglio printing also includes etching, engraving, mezzotint and aquatint and generally involves the use of a metal plate that is cut into in some way using various tools or acids, is then inked up and printed from (traditionally using a printing press!)  

Drypoint however is the simplest of intaglio methods and involves scratching directly into a plate using a strong, sharp metal point. There are no acids or complex processes involved and no real need for a press, making it the only form of intaglio that can be attempted from home. It is therefore the only intaglio process that we cover in this course.

Drypoint is a technique that involves a certain level of drawing and generally produces quite linear images. However with a little practice it is easy to build up areas of tone by crosshatching as you would with a line drawing. In addition, by clever use of the printing ink, it is also possible to build up intense flat coloured areas within a print too.  

The drypoint that we will describe in this course will involve using a perspex plate and oil-based inks. Perspex is used as a cheaper alternative to traditional metal plates such as copper and zinc that are usually associated with intaglio processes. It also allows for the tracing of a design from an image placed underneath the plate. Perspex can usually be bought from most DIY stores in large sheets that can then be cut down to size using a Stanley knife or from some art shops and specialist printmaking suppliers. (Another cheap way of sourcing thin 3mm perspex is to buy cheap clip frames or picture frames that use plastic instead of glass and simply discard the frame).

The perspex drypoint plates do have a limited life for the purposes of printing editions and will usually only produce up to five good crisp images before the plate begins to wear and the image either needs to be re-scratched or abandoned.

Oil-based inks are required for drypoint and are used in conjunction with damp printing paper to pick up the often very fine detail that is scratched into the plate. The damp paper will be soft enough to work itself into the scratched areas of the plate that are filled with the oil-based ink when burnished firmly from the back. Dry paper and water-based inks would not work for this method. When choosing a printing paper, this will need to be of high enough quality that it will not disintegrate when soaked in water (i.e. cartridge paper is no use in this method). Somerset, Fabriano, Arches, Heritage and many Japanese printing papers are all popular printmaking papers for this method.