Graphic art - embellishment of spaces

Graphic art is for everyone at all times. Graphic art is a lively form of art enjoyed a wide public. It takes many forms and employs several different techniques; the relief, intaglio, and planographic techniques, as well as the latest printing techniques. 

The name graphic comes from Greek word grafein which means to engrave, draw or write. Graphic is a general name for methods in which images are printed from a a printing surface made by an artist produces printing surfaces, from which the final work is printed, i.e proofed. The image is made as a mirror image on the printing plate and proofed on paper using a printing plate and proofed on paper using a printing machine i.e. a press. In multi-colour printmaking, an individual printing surface is made for each colour. A proof is not a copy of an artwork, but an individual and original artwork, a sheet of graphic art. 

Graphic art is a matter of taste. You don't need to be an expert to buy art. You can choose by your own taste and budged. Of course you need to take in consideration the place and the context where you planning to place the piece of artwork. 

The frame is also important. With framing you can ad creativity. The quality of frame is important, also the quality of the glass. You also need to pay attention to other art in the same space. Sometimes it is nice to acquire just a single large work of art and sometimes it is better to hang many small works on the wall. 

Because graphic art usually is a part of a series, the price of an individual work is often reasonable. Graphic art has often been regarded as "domestic art" due to its relatively low price. Also the artist can make several proofs from a single palte, each proof is a separate work of art. Each proof from the same plate is marked with the number pf proofs in the series and the sequence number of the proof in the series.

Printmakers are like handcraft workers, so that it is natural for them to use different printing techniques. Printmaking techniques are traditionally divided into four groups according to the level on which the surfaces to be printed are on the plate, in other words, on which part of the plate the printing ink remains and from which it transfers to the paper in printing. The rule is always to produce a new independent artwork, and not to reproduce an existing artwork. 

In relief-printing methods (kohopainomenetelmät), the parts to be printed are raised, like reliefs. The part that is not wished to print is cut away. Relief-printing techniques are woodcut, linocut, wood engraving, and, as the latest arrival, various kinds of plastic plate. 

Relief print by Anne Mäkelä (detail)

In intaglio methods (syväpainomenetelmät), the lines are engraved or etched to form recesses in the surface of the plate. In proofing, the ink is pressed out of these recesses and onto paper. Intaglio technique include copper engraving, dry point, mezzotint, etching, soft-ground etching and aquatint, by means of which areas of colour are created. Intaglio techniques also include photogravure (heliogravure) and photopolymer techniques by means of which photograph-base prints can be made. 

Soft-ground etching by Pälvi Hanni (detail)

 

Etching by Anne Mäkelä (detail)

Aquatint by Pälvi Hanni (detail)

Photpolymer by Janne Laine (detail)

In planographic methods (laakapainomenetelmät), the printing surface is flat. The printing surface is treated in places to receive ink, and other places to reject it. Planographic techniques include lithography, monotyping, and offset lithography. 

Monotype by Hannamari Matikainen (detail)

Serigraphy, i.e. screen-printing (serigrafia eli silkkipaino), is based on the penetration of ink through a fabric stretched on a printing frame. A mask cut from paper can be used as  a barrier, or an image can be exposed from a film onto an emulsion mask on the screen. 

Serigraphy by Virve Lilja (detail)

The use of pigment printer proofs (pigmenttivedos), in making graphic id becoming increasingly common and can be even be regarded as a fifth working method. Artists ma a work either by working on a photograph they have taken or in some other way by using a computer image-processing program as a tool. 

Pigment proof by Pia Feinik

Pigment Proof by Pia Feinik

Drawings too can be made onto a series. In this case, each drawing is made as similar as possible to the others and the finished drawings as marked as a series, in the same way as printing proofs are marked.  

The purchase of an artwork is always an investment, which, in addition to the price and the technique used, is affected by the artist's reputation.  

Each proof is an individual work of art. Several proofs can be printed from a single plate, but the plate is always re-inked for each proof. Each proof approved by the artist is confirmed by the artist with series number and signature. 

The following proof marks written by the artist them self are to be found at the lower margin of a print. 

- proof number/number of proofs in the whole series

- artist's signature and year of manufacture of work

Each proof is numbered. In addition to the proof number, the total number of proofs in the series is usually also marked in the lower left-hand margin of the work. 

The proof markings can be as follows:

T.pl'a (tirée par l'artiste) means the the print has been proofed by the artist them self. 

E.v (edition variée) means that the proof series varies, so the proofs differ from each other.

E.A. or A.P (Épreuve d'artiste) is an artist series, printed in addition to the actual series. The number of proofs is generally about 10 % of the actual series. 

H.C. (Hors Commerce) means not intended for sale. 

In co-opertation with artists: 

Janne Laine Pälvi Hanni Anne Mäkelä Sauli Iso-Lähteenmäki 

Paula Ollikainen Hannamari Matikainen Virve Lilja Pia Feinik

For more information Suomen taidegraafikot.