~printmakers

Carborundum was originally used by printmakers to grind down lithography stones. It is a fine metal sand which is poured sparingly onto the stone and mixed with water, the stone is then ground using a grinder or another lithography stone until it is smooth and the printmakers arm is very tired. If the stone is not properly ground down there could be scrapes visible in the dark parts of the lithograph, or the previous image that was on the stone may show through.

Carborundum is now used in Colograph prints to create gradients of tone and a sandy texture.
It works because when the carborundum adheres to the plate the ink sits around it. It can be applied in a number of different ways.
- Painting onto the plate with PVA glue and then sprinkling the carborundum onto it
- Mixing different amounts of glue with it and then painting them on in sections, the more grit used the darker. Example: 1 spoon of carborundum to 5 spoons of glue will be much lighter than 5 spoons of carborundum to 5 spoons of glue.
- Using stencils to apply the glue and sprinkling different amounts of Carborundum through the different stencils.

The printer then waits for the glue to dry, and covers the plate with ink, being sure that it is fully absorbed. The plate is then wiped down using scrim (a type of straw-like mesh cloth) very carefully, so as not to wipe off the carborundum. When it is sufficiently wiped down the plate is printed in the press. Very large editions are not possible as a small amount of carborundum comes off every time it is wiped down.


If you know any good carborundum deviations by yourself or any one else send them to me and I'll put them up here!


Carborundum is quite expensive, but a cheap and very effective alternative is "Chinchilla Grit" which you should be able to find in your local pet shop, It is a little less fine than most grades of carborundum, but it works just as well.






Chine-collé roughly translates from French to: chine meaning tissue and collé meaning glue or paste. This process is a method of collage used in Printmaking.
First a plate is inked up as normal, then placed on the press ready for printing.
Then the printmaker places down a sheet a thin paper which has been coverd with glue (spray on glue is the easiest to use for this). The glue side faces upards so that it will adhere to the normal paper which is placed on top.
This is then printed. The print will be on the lighter paper, which is now glued to the heavy paper.
You can read more about it on wikipedia here.

Examples :


If you know any good chine collé prints by yourself or anyone else send me a note and I'll put them here!






Aquatint is a form of Etching and an intaglio technique.
An aquatint begins with a copper or zinc plate. The artist applies a ground by either dissolving powdered resin in spirits or applying the powder (Aquatint resin) directly to the surface of the plate. The plate is then heated to melt the powder (or evaporate the spirits leaving only the melted powder). The acid will not etch (bite / "burn") the places covered by the specks of aquatint, but will etch around them, so the plate is left with this stippeled texture, which comes out as tone in the final print. The longer the plate is left in the acid the darker the tone will be, and so different tones are possible.

Examples:











Etching process in which the artist paints directly on an ungrounded plate with a solution of sugar and gum Arabic (or sometimes Indian ink). Adding a little ink will make the solution easier to see when painting onto plate. Changes can be made simply wiping the solution off the plate and redrawing. When the final drawing is established, it is dried, then covered with a ground, which is in turn dried. The plate is then immersed in water. The sugar solution lifts off the plate, leaving that area exposed, while the ground around it remains. The plate is then bitten in an acid bath usually after being aquatinted (the aquatint won't get through the ground) (see previous feature!).

Examples: