Lithography

Lithography is another method of printing that usually involves a smooth surface like limestone and a wax or oily crayon drawing used to transfer ink onto a page or another surface, a weak acid, gum Arabic and water.  It’s different from intaglio or etching or other printing processes because no engraving of any kind is required.  Instead, it’s more of a chemical process where the image is simply drawn on the stone with the crayon (the litho crayon can be colored or non colored, it matters not) and then the weak nitric acid is applied over the stone.  The acid reacts with the places where there is no wax crayon drawing and creates a thin hydrophilic film of calcium nitrate salt and gum Arabic that will accept the water instead of the ink (on account of the ink being greasy).  When the drawing is put into a specific ink and water mixture the ink is attracted to and sticks to the greasy litho crayon drawing and the water is attracted to the negative spaces between.  The wet stone then gets run through a press where the image is transferred (backwards) onto the paper.  That is the traditional way of doing it, of course.  There are more modern ways of lithography, some of which involve offsetting and is used commonly now for posters, books, maps, newspapers, etc.  The process uses mylar, photosensitivity and ultraviolet light to get the image, but that’s another story.

The limestone used for lithography has a unique porous  but smooth surface and the texture often feels more natural than metal or plastic plates.  With stone, it’s easier to create a more versatile range of tones and textures.  One can even scratch or dig into the surface of the stone to give the plate itself the added texture and feel.  The main problem with using limestone though, would probably be the price, great weight, and tendency to crack.  Metal plates can occasionally be used for the process, but it’s not really the same. 

The mark a lithograph makes on a page is unique, as would be expected.  Because the image was drawn on with the litho crayon, the drawing tends to look like something drawn by a crayon or pencil, and as with a pencil or crayon different effects can happen depending on how you drag it across the stone.  They can look a lot like original drawings.  A good range of detail can be accomplished, and although monotone is the usual, color can also be achieved.  

One artist, Janet Wissmann, is a modern stone lithographer I admire.  She seems to specialize in monochromatic but highly detailed pictures of animals like birds and bears.  She uses the straightforward process, but also uses other media to add texture—like in the puffin picture she uses spatterings of liquid mask to keep some areas completely white and scratched or scraped the stone with a razor blade for other textures.  

Honore Daumier is another lithographer in the modern age but he uses a bit of a different technique with a couple of his prints.  Instead of leaving the drawing monotone, he goes over it with contemporary hand coloring and heightens it with gum Arabic.  The drawing itself though is typically lithograph quality—and looks much like a drawing.

The last artist I found was Thomas Hart Benton.  I really like his style, because although it is monochromatic, the values achieved by the grease crayon are very varied and smooth textured transitions.  His drawings look very classical and detailed, while maintaining a wonderful balance and contrast of dark and light.  He appears to use a nice style of crosshatching to create that unique texture of value.