ART TERMS GLOSSARY
Here is a list of some terms commonly used in the art world:
Photomechanical Offset Lithographs
Collage is created by application of different paper or material on the background.
Etchings are pulled (printed) from a copper plate. The artist covers the plate with an acid-resisting material called a “ground” (wax or clay), then draws on the material with a stylist (sharp instrument), exposing the copper. The plate is immersed in an acid bath that bites (burns) into the exposed lines. The surface of the plate is then inked and wiped clean, so the ink remains in the grooved areas only. Paper is then laid on the inked plate and, under great pressure, run through a hand press. Thus the image is transferred as a mirror image. The plate must be cleaned and re-inked for each print. As a plate is pressed over and over to make a print, it is slowly flattened out, and the design becomes lost. That is why most etchings are limited in number.
Colored etchings are either hand painted, or colored on the plate. Each new color requires a different plate to be made and pressed onto the original black and white print, adding layer upon layer of color.
With “dry point” etching, the artist uses a very sturdy stylist and scratches the image directly onto the polished copper plate creating deep grooves with furrows lining them. It is these furrows that, when inked and printed, leave a layer of ink above the surface of the paper giving the ink lines a very soft, velvety feel on the first impressions pulled. It is these velvety, raised furrows which provide evidence of early pulls and are quite desirable by collectors.
Giclée (zhee-clay) art prints are produced using a very sophisticated digital process and expensive high-end 6 or 8 color printers. Giclée art prints feature archival inks and media that will provide decades of lasting quality. The process requires highly skilled craftsmen and high-quality materials. The giclée process outputs stunning art prints, rich in color, and so accurate that it is often difficult to distinguish the art prints from the original art.
In 1991 Jack Duganne of Nash Productions (the pioneers of fine art inkjet printing) came up with a word to identify and set the process apart from the rest. He wanted to stay away from words like "digital," and "computer," due to the negative view the world had about digital quality of the time. He focused on how the ink is laid down by the printer, and borrowed a French word, "giclée," which literally means "that which is sprayed."
Today the term has become synonymous with fine art inkjet printing, and is accepted by most artists and photographers.
Limited Edition Graphics Only a specified number of prints are made of a certain image, and after that, the graphic may never be reproduced again. As the edition becomes close to selling out, the existing pieces gain value, sometimes exponentially. Sold out editions can double and triple in value very quickly, and sell for much more on the secondary market depending on the demand for the piece.
When pieces are numbered, usually the top number is the sequence, and the bottom number is the total edition size: 126/350 means it is the 126th print out of 350 in the edition. It is very rare that the 1st in the sequence grows in value more than the 350th, since the last print off the press is often the first one that is numbered and signed by the artist.
Other parts of the edition may exist as special prints such as:
AP = Artist Proof
HC = Hors d’Commerce
EA = Epruve de Artist
TP = Trial Proof
BT = a Bon a Tier
PP = Printer’s Proof
Mixed Media is created by using more than one process in the same piece.
Original Unique Works of Art are pieces created by the artist and are one of a kind. They may be oil, watercolor, pastel, acrylic, pencil, or any number of different mediums (including sculptural mediums such as stone or bronze.) Prints may be made by mechanically copying the original prints (or casting the sculptures), making the originals “printmasters,” and often increasing the value of the originals considerably. (Think of the Mona Lisa, and the countless prints that have been made of it. It is one of the world’s most popular pieces of art, making the original's value astronomical.)
Photomechanical Offset Lithographs have varying levels of quality ranging from the color comics in the Sunday newspaper to common color copies to very sophisticated prints on heavy weight paper. The offset is basically a way of photographing an original work and separating it into the primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and black. Then, by applying each color in a very tight pattern of tiny dots and overlapping these dot patterns, every color of the rainbow can be re-created.
Poster Prints are reproductions of an image that are not limited in number, are not usually signed by the artist, and are made with materials of lower quality. Poster prints are less expensive, and the same images are available year after year. While they may look similar to limited edition images when framed, it will be unlikely that the posters will increase in value over time. (The exception to the rule are Antique Reproduction Posters, which are skillfully re-created from turn-of-the-century advertising posters, an art form in their own right.)
Serigraphs are commonly known as silk-screens. Here the artist or printmaker cuts the design out of Mylar stencil film. (Some more sophisticated, contemporary printmakers use a photo-emulsion process to have the image burned into the Mylar with light sensitive film.) Each color must have its own separate stencil prepared. The stencil is then placed over the screen. When the ink is pressed through the stenciled screen by a squeegee being drawn across it, only those areas cut out of the film appear on the paper. Opaque color inks are used most commonly, although translucent inks, finishes, and color blending may occasionally be used.
Stone Lithographs are created by using the simple principle that oil and water do not mix. The image is drawn with a grease crayon on the smooth grained surface of Bavarian limestone. The character of the limestone is such that it will absorb water. After the image is drawn, the entire surface is moistened. The greasy areas will repel the water, but it will be absorbed by the untouched portions of the stone. When ink is rolled over the entire surface, it is accepted by the drawn areas only. Paper is then placed upon the stone and run through a press, and the image is transferred as a mirror image. A separate stone must be created for each color used. Translucent inks are used to allow the colors to mix on the paper to create a softer image with many subtle tonal qualities and textures.