Hatching – A technique used in drawing and linear forms of printmaking, in which lines are placed in parallel series to darken the value of an area. Cross-hatching is drawing one set of hatchings over another in a different direction so that the lines cross.
Hors Commerce (H.C.) – Hors Commerce (Not for Trade) traditionally were the graphics pulled with the regular edition, but were marked by the artist for business use only. These graphics were used for entering exhibitions and competitions, but today, generally these graphics are allowed into distribution through the regular avenues.
Icon – An image or symbolic representation often with sacred significance.
Iconography – The symbolic meanings of subjects and signs used to convey ideas important to particular cultures or religions, and the conventions governing the use of such forms.
Impasto – Paint applied in outstanding heavy layers or strokes; also, any thickness or roughness of paint or deep brush marks, as distinguished from a flat, smooth surface.
Impressionism – A style of painting that originated in France about 1870, paintings of casual subjects, executed outdoors, using divided brush strokes to capture the mood of a particular moment as defined by the transitory effects of light and color.
Intaglio – Any print or printing process that uses the idea of the ink being in recessed grooves in the plate. The plates are inked and then wiped. The print is made by pressing a damp print paper in the plate and e ink is drawn up out of the grooves and onto the paper.
Issue Price – The price of a limited edition print when it was first offered for retail sale.
Kiln – An oven in which pottery or ceramic ware is fired.
Kinetic art – Art that incorporates actual movement as part of the design.
Limited Edition – An edition is a set of identical prints numbered and signed by the artist. Two numbers are often written at the lower edge of a print; the first indicates the print place in the order of all prints in the edition; the second number indicates the total number of prints for that type of numbering in the edition. There are several different types of numbering systems used to number an edition such as: Arabic, AP (Artists Proof), Roman Numerals, HC (Hors d’Commerce), M (Museum Edition), PP (Printers Proof, EP (Exhibition Proofs), TP (Trial Proofs) and many others.
Knowing the total edition size of your prints can be found by adding up all of the ways the edition has been numbered. Example: Print “XYZ” has been numbered in this way:
150 Arabic – 55/150 – 150/150
10 AP (Artists Proof) – AP 5/10 – AP 10/10
10 M (Museum Edition) – M 1/10 – M 10/10
5 PP (Printers Proofs) – PP 3/5 – PP 5/5
Total Edition Size for print “XYZ” is 175
Linocut – A relief print produced in a manner similar to woodcut. The lino block consists of a thin layer of linoleum (a canvas backing coated with a preparation of solidified linseed oil) usually mounted on wood. The soft linoleum can be cut away more easily than a wood-block and in any direction (no grain) to produce a raised surface that can be inked and printed. Its slightly textured surface accepts the ink evenly.
Lithography – A method of printing from a prepared flat stone, metal, or plastic plate, invented in the late eighteenth century. A drawing is made on the stone or plate with a greasy crayon or tusche (lithocrayon and lithographic drawing ink). Then the stone is etched. The aim of the etching is to make those parts of the stone, which have the design, able to absorb the grease, whereas the areas that do not have the design are prepared to absorb water and to repel grease. In order to protect the design the artist covers it with talcum. Afterwards a mixture of dissolved Arabic and nitric acid is applied which then has to dry. The pores in the stone close at those parts which are not covered by the design, and the parts that are covered by the design, the acid saponifies with the lithocrayon. And the crayon and ink become insoluble in water. Then the etching is washed with water and the design is again supplied with grease by applying a washing-out solution, consisting of asphalt, dissolved in oil of turpentine, virgin wax, wood tar and lavender wax. When ink is applied with a rough leather or rubber roller it sticks to the greasy drawing but runs off (or is resisted by) the wet surface allowing a print – a lithograph- to be made of the drawing. The artist, or other print maker under the artist’s supervision, then covers the plate with a sheet of paper and runs both through a press under light pressure. For every new ink a new stone is prepared. For color lithography separate drawings are made for each color.
Manifesto – A public declaration or exposition in print of the theories and directions of a movement. The manifestos issued by various individual artists or groups of artists, in the first half of the twentieth century served to reveal their motivations and raisons detre and stimulated support for or reactions against them.
Mannerism – Artistic style that developed in the sixteenth century as a reaction to the classical rationality and balanced harmony of the High Renaissance. It is characterized by the dramatic use of space and light, elongation of figure, exaggerated colors, and distortions of perspective, scale and proportion.
Margin – The white unprinted area surrounding a printed image.
Matte – A dull finish or surface, in painting, photography, and ceramics.
Matting – Decorative board used in framing that provides contrast between the image and the molding. Most matting is acid free.
Maquette (ma-ket, muh) – In sculpture, a small model in wax or clay, made as a preliminary sketch, in three dimensions for either a sculptural or an architectural project.
Medallion – Cast metal medallions sometimes are issued in conjunction with the publication of prints, especially stamp prints. Design of the medallion artwork usually duplicates some portion of the print. Such medallions can be gold-plated, silver, bronze, or even pewter in some cases.
Medium – The material or technique used in creating the artwork. Examples are: oil paint, acrylic, watercolor, bronze, wood, stone, charcoal.
Mixed Media – An artwork combining two or more artistic media, for example watercolor and charcoal, wood and steel, etc.
Montage – A picture made up of various proportions of existing pictures, such as photographs or prints arranged in such a way so that they overlap, join, or blend into one another.
Monochromatic – A color scheme limited to variations of one hue, a hue with its tints and/or shades.
Monoprint – One of a series of prints in which each has some differences of color, design, texture, applied to an underlying common image.
Monotype – A one-of-a-kind print made by painting on a sheet or slab of glass and transferring the still-wet painting to a sheet of paper held firmly on the glass by rubbing the back of the paper with a smooth implement, such as a large hardwood spoon. The painting may also be done on a polished plate, in which case it may be either printed by hand or transferred to paper by running the plate and paper through an etching press.
Neoclassicism – New classicism, a revival of Greek and Roman forms in art, music and literature, particularly during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe and America. It was part of a reaction to the excesses of Baroque and Rococo art.
Offset Lithograph – A photomechanical reproduction created by the separation of colors in the original and then the recombining of those colors on a printing press. Most posters and open-edition prints are offset lithographs.
Opaque – Impenetrable by light; not transparent or translucent.
Open Edition – A print produced with no predetermined limit to the number of copies that might be made such as posters typically pieces with no investment value. Open edition prints may or may not be signed by the artist.
