We are interested in: "Print - what is it?"

In many houses and to this day, flat black wooden sticks have been preserved with uncomplicated pictures cut on them. A few owners of this Soviet consumer goods and to this day are sure that they possess objects of art called prints. Not that they are completely wrong, although there can be no question of real art here. Just print - it's a much broader concept than it seems to many. We understand: print - what is it?

About the meaning of this word

The word "print" is a Russian version of the term brought to us from Europe, where it appeared in the 14th and 15th centuries (in French estampe, in Italian stampa), and was directly related to the development of book printing. Prints called engraving or some other impression from the matrix (printed form) on a paper sheet. At first the print was not a self-sufficient type of art, but was only a technical way of reproducing images. And very laborious, requiring from the artist painstakingness and the highest skill. But since then the printmaking technique has been constantly evolving and improving. It overgrew with unexpected techniques, took new outlines, and so now it is not so easy to determine the meaning of the word. Prints in our time - this is a general name for many types of art.

On the types of prints

Trying to understand what the printmaking technique is, let us first turn to history. Before the image is printed on paper, it must be painted or engraved on some basis: wood, metal, etc. Wood engravings, then copper ones, were first to appear. Over time, there were other varieties of such techniques. Convex and deep engraving - their technologies differed only in what color of the impression will correspond to the grooves on the matrix board. Lithography - on a flat surface paint was applied, and the resulting impression, as a rule, did not have a relief. Currently, prints, depending on the way they are produced, can be attributed to several types: high and deep printing, flat, stencil. Each of these species, in turn, is divided into groups. Let's talk about this a little more.

Printed graphics

Graphics in Greek - this is a drawing. Later transferred to other material graphics - prints. But it is not necessary to consider prints as some ancient, antediluvian mastery: this kind of creativity in many countries is popular to this day. For example, in Mexico, contests and exhibitions are regularly arranged to help those wishing to master this common occupation in the country. After viewing the works of local masters, the answer to the question: "Estamp - what is this?" - will sound like this: "Print is a joint talent of the artist and carver." After all, the technology of work has not changed for a long time. On the board of solid wood, the desired pattern is applied with the cutters, then with a roller it is covered with a printing ink. And then a sheet of paper is attached to the board and pressed by the press. Impressions can be done very much, and each while it will be considered the original.

Etching

And yet, to the question "Estamp, what is this?" Do not rush to answer: "Craft". Print is an art, which even the most eminent painters did not shy away from. One of the prints - etching - became known, among other things, thanks to the works of such geniuses of his time as Rembrandt and Goya. The word "etching" (from the French words eau-forte, strong water, i.e. nitric acid) means a kind of engraving on metal, a method that allows to obtain impressions from typographic forms pretreated with acids. On the metal board a needle is made with a needle, then the deepening of the image elements is enhanced by etching the metal with acids. Later etched places are filled with paint and on special machines print an impression on a moistened sheet of paper. Technology is not simple, but the result! His etchings became famous for the genius Albrecht Durer, but in the same technique there were many others - known or already forgotten masters.

About silkscreening

The correct answer to the question "Estamp, what is this?" Is the answer: "Silk screen printing". Silkscreening, or screen printing, is called the method of reproducing texts or drawings using a printed stencil form, through which the ink falls on the material prepared for this purpose. The method using photoemulsion is in many ways reminiscent of the process of printing photos. At present, screen printing is especially popular, as it is the most technologically advanced. The field of its use is almost unlimited: from microchips to huge posters, from one copy to thousands of copies. The method of screen printing is applicable for paper and textiles, for ceramics and synthetic materials. Silkscreen is ideal for decoration of products of various shapes and purposes: cans, bottles, latex balloons, etc.

But silk-screen printing is not only of great practical importance. Silk screen printing is also a very interesting art form, which gained popularity in the last century. Even such well-known personalities as Jackson Pollock and Fernand Leger, Andy Warhol and a number of other remarkable, unlike masters, addressed him. They proved: print - it can be great!