The artist and the printer choose the matrix with which they will work (stone, zinc or tracing paper).
At the ART ESTAMPE Studio, the artist can create his own drawings directly on the calcareous stone with a grease pencil or a soft brush and lithographic ink, or on a zinc plate. With these two techniques he must draw in mirror-image.
For ease, the artist usually draws directly onto tracing paper (one sheet for each print colour) either at the ART ESTAMPE Studio or beforehand in his own studio.
Tracing paper is favourite : it makes it possible for the artist to draw normally, it is the technique used most often in our workshop. The artist’s original drawing is then transferred onto the aluminium matrix either on the same scale or enlarged/reduced as desired.
Steps to create a lithograph
The choice of matrix
FAQ : stone - zinc - aluminium or tracing paper : a false debate
Originally, only stone was used. It is the oldest technique but nowadays, workshops rarely use it because it is easier to use zinc or aluminium (zincography) or better still tracing paper.
Zincography costs more to print because there are more colour passes.
But if Picasso or Chagall worked on stone, it was because there was no other technique available to them at that time, not because stone is a more prestigious technique. If their prints are so expensive, it is because these are great artists, not because the matrix was stone rather than zinc or tracing paper.
Zincography costs more to print because there are more colour passes.
But if Picasso or Chagall worked on stone, it was because there was no other technique available to them at that time, not because stone is a more prestigious technique. If their prints are so expensive, it is because these are great artists, not because the matrix was stone rather than zinc or tracing paper.
The paper choice and pulling
Paper supports the impression of lithograph, so it is a particularly important element that the printer and the artist must choose with the greatest care.
The choice of paper indeed determines the final look of the lithograph. It is for the printer, the artist and the publisher to find a suitable design choice.
They agree the paper size and image, as well as the edition size.
At the ART ESTAMPE Studio we mostly use pure rag Arches vellum paper .
The choice of paper indeed determines the final look of the lithograph. It is for the printer, the artist and the publisher to find a suitable design choice.
They agree the paper size and image, as well as the edition size.
At the ART ESTAMPE Studio we mostly use pure rag Arches vellum paper .
➥Learn more... about art papers, the manufacture of paper, the paper size, the watermark, the hierarchy of papers.
Tests
Using the artist’s indications of colours, the lithographer carries out the first drafts of the lithograph. When the artist and the printer are satisfied with the result, the artist signs the Approval Proof ("bon à tirer" in French).
Printing and control
The printer puts all the paper allowed for the pulling on into the machine and prints the lithograph colour by colour.
For an edition of 100 numbered proofs, you need to start the pulling with 150 sheets in the machine, to take into account the risks of losses during each colour passage (losses for the wedging, for the colour tests, the maladjustment of the machine during impression...)
When the impression is completed, matrices are destroyed.
➥Learn more... let us follow the printing of a Graciela Rodo Boulanger lithograph step by step.
After impression of the last colour, each sheet is checked and must conform to the Approval Proof signed by the artist. If a proof does not conform to the Approval Proof it is destroyed.For an edition of 100 numbered proofs, you need to start the pulling with 150 sheets in the machine, to take into account the risks of losses during each colour passage (losses for the wedging, for the colour tests, the maladjustment of the machine during impression...)
When the impression is completed, matrices are destroyed.
The signature and numbering
The proofs that conform are then numbered, for example from 1/100 to 100/100 for a numbered edition of 100, and are hand-signed by the artist, generally in pencil.
The proofs pulled before appoval and those which carry the corrections made by the author are called test proofs.
When the edition numbering is completed from 1/100 to 100/100 for the edition sleeping partner (a publisher or the artist himself), the remaining proofs, according to the artist’s wishes, are numbered EA (artist’s proof = AP) or HC (out of the deal). Generally in France, this remainder accounts for 10% to 15% of a numbered edition.
The EA and HC can also be numbered or not according to the artist’s wishes, in our example, EA 1/10 to EA 10/10 and HC 1/5 to HC 5/5.
According to tradition, some proofs are also reserved to the collaborators of the workshop: draughtsman, machine operators... These proofs are dedicated to such and such an individual or to the workshop, signed by the artist but generally do not carry any numbering or annotation EA or HC. You can find also the term PP (printer’s proof), usually translated by "épreuve d'atelier" in French (workshop proof)
Certain lithographs carry an additional mark : the dry stamp (in relief) on paper; it is the signature or the punch of the printer or publisher.
The proofs pulled before appoval and those which carry the corrections made by the author are called test proofs.
When the edition numbering is completed from 1/100 to 100/100 for the edition sleeping partner (a publisher or the artist himself), the remaining proofs, according to the artist’s wishes, are numbered EA (artist’s proof = AP) or HC (out of the deal). Generally in France, this remainder accounts for 10% to 15% of a numbered edition.
The EA and HC can also be numbered or not according to the artist’s wishes, in our example, EA 1/10 to EA 10/10 and HC 1/5 to HC 5/5.
According to tradition, some proofs are also reserved to the collaborators of the workshop: draughtsman, machine operators... These proofs are dedicated to such and such an individual or to the workshop, signed by the artist but generally do not carry any numbering or annotation EA or HC. You can find also the term PP (printer’s proof), usually translated by "épreuve d'atelier" in French (workshop proof)
Certain lithographs carry an additional mark : the dry stamp (in relief) on paper; it is the signature or the punch of the printer or publisher.
FAQ
Numbering
Numbering does not follow the order of pulling out of machine, and can start either with the last, or first sheet according to the sequence of the pile of proofs after pulling. Similarly during the printing, the first proof of colour 1 can become the last proof of colour 2, according to handling operations carried out in the workshop.
First proof or last proof
Another generally accepted idea : it is often said that the printing of the colours progressively deteriorates towards the end of the pulling, so the first proofs are of better quality than the last : if that was originally the case for printing etchings when the steeling did not exist because of the copper crushing, this is completely false in the case of lithography.
Small or large edition ?
The collector often prefers small editions to large, but it is firstly the quality of the work itself and the fact that you have an original fine art print (and not an interpretation print) that are in our opinion the more relevant selection criteria. Thus small edition does not mean Masterwork and large edition does not detract from the quality of the creation.
Some American commercial editions are pulled to nearly 1000 proofs, and the publisher will say that the more famous the artist, the larger the number of collectors so the greater the number of prints and the higher the price : it has an undeniable logic !
Some American commercial editions are pulled to nearly 1000 proofs, and the publisher will say that the more famous the artist, the larger the number of collectors so the greater the number of prints and the higher the price : it has an undeniable logic !