Pastel – A colored crayon that consists of pigment mixed with just enough of an aqueous binder to hold it together; a work of art produced by pastel crayons; the technique itself. Pastels vary according to the volume of chalk contained…the deepest in tone are pure pigment. Pastel is the simplest and purest method of painting, since pure color is used without a fluid medium and the crayons are applied directly to the pastel paper. Pastels are called paintings rather than drawings, for although no paint is used, colors are applied in masses rather than in lines.
Patina – A film or an incrustation, usually green, that forms on copper and bronze after a certain amount of weathering and as a result of the oxidation of the copper. Special chemical treatments will also induce different colored patinas on new bronzes.
Photorealism – A style of painting that became prominent in the 1970s, based on the cool objectivity of photographs as records of subjects.
Plate Signed - Prints in which the artist's signature is put onto the plate, and then transferred to the print through the same process as the design.
Pochoir – A stencil and stencil-brush process for making multicolored prints, and for tinting black-and-white prints, and for coloring reproductions and book illustrations, especially fine and limited editions. Using a thin piece of metal or card in which a design etc has been cut which can be reproduced on another surface, eg paper, by printing or inking over the metal. Pochoir, French for stencil, is sometimes called hand-coloring or hand illustration.
Pointillism (pwan-tl-iz-uh m, -tee-iz-, poin-tl-iz ) – A branch of French Impressionism based on the principle that juxtaposed dots of pure color, as blue and yellow, are optically mixed into the resulting hue, as green, by the viewer themselves. A technique that called for optical mixture or broken color to be carried to the extreme by applying color in tiny dots or small, isolated strokes and the forms are visible only from a distance, when the viewer’s eye blends the colors to create visual masses and outlines.
Pop Art – A style of painting and sculpture that developed in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, in Great Britain and the United States; based on the visual clichés, subject matter, and impersonal style of popular mass –media imagery.
Portfolio – Art by one artist that are grouped together and sold as a set.
Post Impressionism – A general term applied to various personal styles of painting by artists that developed from about 1885 to 1900 in reaction to what these artists saw as the somewhat formless and aloof quality of Impressionist painting. Post-Impressionist painters were concerned with the significance of form, symbols, expressiveness, and psychological intensity.
Post Modern – An attitude or trend of the late 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, in which artists and architects accept all that modernism rejects. In architecture, the movement away from or beyond what had become boring adaptations of the International Style, in favor of an imaginative, eclectic approach. In the other visual arts, Post-Modern is characterized by an acceptance of all periods and styles, including modernism, and a willingness to combine elements of all styles and periods. Although modernism makes distinctions between high art and popular taste, Post-Modernism makes no such value judgments.
Presentation Proof – On occasion an artist may wish to inscribe an impression of a lithograph to a friend or collaborator. If such impressions also bear designation as artist’s proof they will be recorded as such. However, if they bear no designation other than the artist’s dedication or inscription, they will be recorded in documentation as presentation proofs.
Printers Proof (PP) – On occasion a printer’s proof is pulled for the printer and designated as such. Such impressions when they exist are essentially comparable to the bon a tirer impression.
Printing Element – Each separate stone or plate used in the printing of a multi-colored lithograph is referred to as a printing element.
Progressive Proof – A series of progressive proofs may sometimes be printed to record the development of a color lithograph. For example a set of progressive proofs for a four-color lithograph would include the following: Stone A, B, A+B, C, A+B+C, D. The final impression in the series (A+B+C+D) may, on some occasions become the bon a tirer impression; on other occasions it may be designated as a trial proof or a progressive proof.
Proofing session – A proofing session has been completed when each printing element to be used in the make of a multi-color lithograph has been printed one upon another on a single sheet of paper. If an initial proofing session demonstrates a need to alter one or more of the printing elements, a second proofing session may be required in order to reach a bon a tirer impression.
Publication Proof – Unsigned and un chopped impressions (not in excess of five) will be printed on occasion for use in connection with print sales.
Realism – A type of representational art in which the artist depicts as closely as possible what the eye sees.
Record Impression – One record impression is printed when there is no numbered edition and only proofs are preserved.
Relief Printing – A printing technique in which the parts of the printing surface that carry ink are left raised, while the remaining areas are cut away. Woodcuts and linoleum prints are relief prints.
Remarque (ri-mahrk) – a distinguishing mark or peculiarity indicating a particular stage of a plate such as a small sketch engraved in the margin of a plate and usually removed after a number of early proofs have been printed.
Renaissance – Period in Europe from the late 14th Century through the 16th Century characterized by a renewed interest in human-centered classical art, literature, and learning.
Repoussoir (ruh-poo-swahr) – From the French verb meaning to push back, a means of achieving perspective or special contrasts by the use of illusionist devices such as a figure or object in the extreme foreground: used as a contrast and to increase the illusion of depth.
Representational Art – Art in which it is the artist’s intention to present again or represent a particular subject; especially pertaining to realistic portrayal of subject matter.
Reproduction – A mechanically produced copy of an original work of art.
Romanticism – An artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in18th Century Europe, partly as a revolt against the aristocratic political norms of the Enlightenment period. It was a reaction against the rationalization of nature, in art and literature stressing strong emotion as a source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on emotions like horror and the awe experienced in confronting the sublimity of nature. It was influenced by ideas of the Enlightenment and elements of art and narrative perceived to be from the medieval period.
Serigraph – (also referred to as ‘silkscreen’ or ‘screen print’) a metal frame, which has a polyester screen stretched across one side, serves as printing form. The artist inks this screen (with pencils, a brush or a sprayer) with gum Arabic, glue or cellulose varnish. For the printing process the artist covers all those parts on to which the ink is supposed not to penetrate. Thus, the screen can be compared to a stencil, which is partially covered. For the printing process the paper is put underneath the screen, leaving a gap of about 3 millimeters between the paper and the screen. The screen is covered with a little ink, which is spread by means of a squeegee, pulled from back to front, producing a direct transfer of the image from screen to paper. The pressure exerted by the squeegee forces the ink to flow through the open parts in the screen and is then homogeneously spread on the paper underneath. As is the case in all printing methods, in silk-screen printing, too, the artist needs a new printing form, i.e. a new screen, for every new ink he applies. A separate stencil is required for each color and one hundred colors or more may be necessary to achieve the desired effect. A serigraph differs from other graphics in that its color is made up of paint films rather than printing ink stains. This technique is extremely versatile, and can create effects similar to oil color, transparent washes as well as gouache and pastel.
Seriset – A seriset is similar to a serigraph. A serigraph is normally called a hand pulled serigraph in that each silk screen is hand pulled. A seriset is the same process but the screens are mechanically pulled.
Stipple – In painting, to apply small dots of color using the point of a brush; also to apply paint in a uniform layer by tapping a vertically held brush on the surface in repeated disjointed touches.
Surrealism – A movement in literature and art that developed in the mid 1920’s and remained strong until the mid 1940s, growing out of Dada and automatism. Based upon revealing the unconscious mind in dream images, the irrational, and the fantastic, Surrealism took two directions: representational and abstract. Dalí’s paintings with their uses of impossible combinations of objects depicted in realistic detail, typify representational Surrealism. MirU’s paintings, with their use of abstract and fantastic shapes and vaguely defined creatures, are typical of abstract Surrealism.
Time-Limited Edition - An edition whose size is established by the number of orders a publisher receives during a set period of time.
Tirage – Document that provides background information on the graphic edition such as edition size, printer, technique, year of execution.
Trial Proof – A Trial Proof was used in a similar way as the Hors Commerce – as a guide to the printer before printing the edition. Trial proofs can also be different colored prints that those used in the regular edition. Pieces numbered Trial Proof can be used as an extension of the regular run or they can be entirely different colors from the regular run.
Watercolor – Pigments dissolved in water. Watercolor painting typically is done on relatively rough-surfaced, absorbent paper.
Woodcut – A printing technique in which the printing surface is carved with special tools in a solid block of wood. The wood is cut so the grain runs the length of the block. The block is cut and then inked with a brayer or dabber. The paper is ten placed in the block and the whole thing is run through a press or rubbed over by a barren or the bowl of a large spoon. The use of etchings and line engravings pushed woodcuts out of the limelight for fine art in the 17th century. It was revived in the 19th century by artists such as Gauguin and Millet.
