It is a most versatile material and is a key element in printmaking, but many do not realize its application in creating prints completely within the papermaking process. The adoption of paper as a substrate for writing and printing has been traced to early 2nd century AD China and Ts’ai Lun, a court official who oversaw the Imperial Library, though its actual invention remains a mystery. The articles below provide an introduction to the principle techniques of printmaking, all of which are practiced in our workshops.Īt Pace Prints, we have always pushed beyond established technical limits and definitions. For further insight into the unique approaches our artists and printers take to printmaking, visit our videos page. Pace Prints has a 50-year history of collaborating with masters and innovators of printmaking. Artists began to sign and number each impression around the start of the 20th century. The total number of impressions made is called an edition. Unlike paintings or drawings, prints usually exist in multiple impressions, each of which is pulled from the inked surface. This surface is then inked and the image is transferred to paper by the application of pressure, thus creating an impression or print. Prints are produced by drawing or carving a composition on a carrier surface (the matrix) such as a wood block, metal plate or stone. An original print is a work of art on paper which has been conceived by the artist to be realized as a print, rather than as a reproduction of a work in another medium.

Making fine art lithographs