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PRINT TERMINOLOGY - GENERAL ART TERMS

Acrylic: A plastic used as a medium for pigments in painting or as a casting material in sculpture.

Applique: (Fr. "Applied"; pron. apli-KAY) A cutout attached to a background.

Aquatint: An intaglio method in which areas of color are made by dusting powdered resin on a metal plate and then letting acid eat the plate surface away from around it.

Aquarelle: (pron, ak-we-RELL) Transparent watercolor.

Artist Proof (AP): A print outside of the numbered series, usually 1/10 of the edition. The Artist's Proof is sometimes referred to by its French name, epreuve d'artist ( abbreviated E.A.) either AP or E.A. are commonly used in the lower left corner of the piece.

Assemblage Sculpture: formed by joining individual pieces, sometimes "Found Objects."

Bon-a-tirer: (Fr. "Good to pull"; pron. bone-ah-ti-RAY) The first impression of a print run acceptable to the artist and used as the standard with which each subsequent impression is compared.

Bas-relief: (Fr. "low relief'; pron. B4H relief) Sculpture in which the figure projects only slightly from the background.

Catalogue Raisonne: (Fr. "reasoned catalogue": pron. catalog re-zo NAY) Complete descriptive listing of an artist's works.

Collage: (pron. co-LAZH) A work made by gluing pieces of paper, fabric, etc., onto a flat surface.

Diptych: (pron. DIP-tick) A two part painting, often of attached panels. A triptych is composed of three parts, a tetratych four, etc.

Derriere Le Miroir (DLM): This large format periodical was published  from 1947 to 1982 in France, Maeght Editeur. It featured portfolio editions of original Lithographs and lithographs by great artists of the time.

Dry point: An intaglio technique like engraving in which the image is drawn on a metal plate with a needle, raising a ridge which prints a soft line.

Embossed print: Uninked relief print in which dampened paper is pressed into recessed areas of a plate to produce a three-dimensional impression.

Engraving: An intaglio process in which lines are cut into a metal plate and then filled with ink to transfer the image onto paper.

Etching: An intaglio process in which an image is scratched through an acid-resistant coating on a metal plate. The plate is then dipped in acid which eats into the exposed surface.

Foreshortening: Alteration of the scale of an image to suggest perspective.

Found object: A natural object incorporated into a work of art.

Giclée (pronounced "zhee-clay") reproductions were originally developed in 1989 as a plate-less method of fine art printing. The word Giclée is French for "to spray " and is a registered trade name of The 'IRIS' Printer. The images are scanned and digitally stored in a computer and sent directly to a high resolution printer. Unlike other printing methods, each image is sent to the printer individually.

Gouache: (pron. gwash) Watercolor to which an opaque white has been added.

Graphic: Any work printed directly on paper from a plate or block.

Haute Relief: (Fr. "high relief': pron. O relief) High sculptural relief in which figures project from a background at least half their real depth.

Hors de Commerce: (H.C.) (Fr. "Outside of sale", pron. OR decom-AIRCE) A designation for prints not in the numbered series pulled for the use of the publisher, normally limited to five or six.

Impasto (Ital.; pron. im-PAHS-to) Thick application of paint creating a textured surface.

Intaglio (Ital. "Incision"; pron. in TAHL-yo) Any technique in which an image is incised below the surface of the plate, including dry point, etching, aquatint, engraving, and mezzotint.

Linocut: A process in which an image is cut in relief on a linoleum block.

Lithograph : A Plano graphic process in which images are drawn with crayon or a greasy ink on stone or metal and then transferred to paper.

Mezzotint: An intaglio process in which the plate surface is roughened and then an image is created by smoothing the areas to be printed.

Mixed Media: The use of different materials in the same work.

Mobile: A sculpture that permits motion.

Monotype: A unique print made from an inked, painted glass or metal plate.

Pastel: A soft chalk made of pigments. water, and a binder, blended into a stiff paste and dried.

Photomechanical offset printing: A process in which an image is transferred to a printing plate photographically and then onto a roller which prints on paper. An offset print is not a graphic.

Planography: Any process of printing from a surface level with the plate, as lithography.

Relief: A technique in which the portions of a plate intended to print are raised above the surface, as woodcut, linocut, etc.

Roman numbered edition: A smaller edition numbered with Roman numerals, usually a deluxe edition on higher quality paper.

Serigraphy: (screen printing, silk- screen). A stenciling method in which the image is transferred to paper by forcing ink through a fine mesh in which the background has been blocked.

Signed and numbered: Authenticated with the artist's signature, the total number of impressions in the edition, and the order in which the impression is signed; "5/20" indicates that the print is the fifth signed of an edition of 20 impressions.

The Terragraph is a unique printing process, developed by Har-El Printers & Publishers and the Terragraph Atelier, in Jaffa Port.. It combines advanced binding materials and the most basic pigment - sand. The first step is to seal the paper with a silicone varnish, to keep the sand and the oil binders in relief on the paper's surface. The sand is ground to different coarseness of grain, according to the necessary effect.. Where the sand area is needed, first a binder is applied or mixed with the sand, and printed through a screen.

VERVE: Described as the "ultimate review of art and literature," this magazine was published periodically from 1937 to 1960 in twenty-six different issues, often featuring original prints by great French artists of the time. E. Teriade, Director

Woodcut: A process in which an image is cut in relief on a wood block and then transferred to paper.

XXe Siecle: XXe Siecle Review of art was published in France and also by Tudor Publishing in New York. I often featured original lithographs by great contemporary artists of the 19th and 20th Century. G. di San Lazzaro, Editeur.

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