Graphics (Greek graphikз, from gra phoЇ - I write, draw, draw), one of the types of fine art, including drawings and printed works of art (engravings). The word “graphics” has long meant writing. This type of art still retains its generic identity with signs, symbols, and ancient writings (for example, Egyptian hieroglyphs). Graphics were born from the “applied”, practical needs of painters, architects, sculptors, who used drawings as preparatory sketches, architectural plans, etc. The first engravers were masters who made seals.
The concept of graphics as a form of fine art appeared only at the beginning of the 20th century.
This is, first of all, the art of drawing, an image using lines on the plane of paper.
Its main difference from painting is the following: the painter does not use the plane of the canvas as part of the image, he completely covers it with paints; while for graphics it is white or colored paper becomes important in the process of work artistic medium- it “depicts” space and light. Artists extract various effects from paper's ability to create an environment of air and light. In graphics, especially black and white, it is impossible to achieve the illusion of reality. This technique is airy and ethereal, but it allows you to convey the most important thing, omitting details: to capture the transience of events and impressions. Sometimes the possibilities of graphics are greater than those of painting. It is in this form of art that exaggeration, grotesque, and satire are especially expressive; There is a special genre - caricature. The graphic can convey the shape of any object, the expressiveness of the silhouette of a human figure with just a few lines or spots.
All graphic works can be divided into two large groups: drawing and printed graphics.
A drawing is any image made by hand using graphic means - a contour line, a stroke, a spot. By using various combinations of these means (combinations of strokes, combinations of spots and lines, etc.) in a drawing, plastic modeling, tonal and light-and-shadow effects are achieved. The drawing is usually done in one color or with more or less limited use of different colors.
The drawing can be a preparatory sketch or an independent work of art. The drawing is always unique, there is only one copy.
Graphic pencil remains one of the favorite materials for drawing by artists. With it you can create linear or tonal images (line or stroke). More often, soft rods are used for drawings - from 2M to 6M or more. Collet mechanical pencils with thick soft graphite are pleasant to draw. Convenient to carry out quick sketches charcoal, sanguine, one-color pastel (black, brown, gray, white).
Coal as a drawing material has been used by artists since ancient times (pieces of charcoal from an extinct fire). Drawing charcoal gives a deep velvety black color, and different pressure levels can convey a variety of colors. tonal transitions: from faint gray to thick black. Charcoal can be used for both quick and long sketches. It is very comfortable, flexible and pleasant to work with. You can draw with charcoal on any paper: wrapping paper, wallpaper, cardboard, but it is better to use thick, rough paper. With charcoal, sanguine, chalk, or pastel, you can draw with both a line and a spot, quickly covering large surfaces of the paper. You can draw with either a sharp tip or a wide surface. This material allows you to work quickly, widely, variedly and makes it possible to create expressive drawings with rich tonal relationships (from lightest to darkest).
Charcoal goes well with other art materials- chalk, sanguine, pastel, pencil. You can make the charcoal pattern lighter by simply brushing off the excess charcoal with a brush. Charcoal drawings, as well as drawings made with chalk, sanguine, and pastel, must be fixed, for which a special fixative is used.
Sanguine is a free-flowing material, like coal, but the color of sanguine is reddish-brown, as it is made from different types of clay. Sanguine is formed into square and round sticks, which can be used to draw in the same way as with charcoal: a line, a stroke, a dot, a spot, using the technique of rubbing (shading).
Chalk, school chalk, white pastel - a kind of material that is free-flowing, crumbling. They work with it in the same way as with coal. For chalk, you need tinted (soft, muted tones) rough paper.
The combination of coal, sanguine and chalk is beautiful. It is advisable to make drawings with chalk on a dark background or on black paper.
Often, artists use graphic material sauce - thick rods of pressed coloring matter, which has many gray shades. The sauce can be worked in dry or wet ways, diluting it with a brush with water in places where it is necessary to emphasize more dark shade. Drawings made with sauce well convey the light and shadow features of nature.
Beautiful expressive sketches can be made with various pens, both fountain and rod. Gel and capillary pens (white, black, silver shades) are good for small drawings, even though they give a monotonous stroke. Interesting sketches are made in ink, using either a soft brush to depict a spot, or a pen to depict strokes and lines. Alternating light and dark spots in the image allows you to create various contrasting combinations.
For drawings with a pen, thick glossy paper is well suited, on which the ink does not smudge.
Often in drawing, wick pencils are used - felt-tip pens, which are filled with special liquid paint (ink) of different colors. They perform both linear and tone drawings.
In watercolor you can make both single-color and multi-color sketches using a soft brush. Using the filling technique, you can expressively convey a large spot or its silhouette.
A variety of materials and drawing techniques make it possible to convey the impression of what you see, emphasize the character of what is depicted and express your own attitude towards it. Often, artists combine different materials to enhance the expressiveness of the drawing.
Sometimes the drawing is made by the artist as a sketch of a future pictorial composition or a sketch from life. These are also unique sketches - impressions of landscape motifs or fixation characteristic features person. A few strokes, a stroke of a line, a picturesque spot on the background, combined in one image - all this is characteristic of a drawing.
The most typical type of drawing is linear. Even in ancient times, silver or lead leads were used for such an image, which left a barely noticeable line. Old masters of drawing often used a pointed quill pen or a reed stick in their images. Their clear hatching or long twisting lines conveyed the dynamics of movement well, but required a certain skill from the artist, since the strokes were applied without a preliminary pencil sketch and had to be precise and expressive.
Drawings with a brush - ink, ink, watercolor and other liquid substances - are very common. Such drawings are characterized by the use of spots of different tonal saturation. With the help of clear or blurry spots, the artist conveys space, the light-air environment or the shape of an object in interaction with light.
The combination of nervous, fast pen lines with light blurring spots creates extraordinary tonal richness in the drawing. Drawings with pen and brush are, as a rule, the embodiment of an energetic and dynamic principle; they have a very emotional impact on the viewer.
The artists' favorite material is soft and velvety pastel. Under this name, there are sets of colored crayons prepared from a mixture of special substances (gum arabic, dextrin, sugar, malt solution, milk, chalk, white) and colored dyes in the form of dry powders.
Pastels are grouped into sets of pencils of different shades, and when drawing, the artist has in front of him, as it were, a ready-made palette.
Pastel is a covering material, since when one stroke is applied to another, the color of predominantly the top layer is visible. But you can add strokes various shades parallel to each other and rub them directly on the sketch. In terms of the perception of color spots and subtleties of color, pastel is closer to painting, while the technique of execution (strokes, lines, spots) is closer to drawing.
Pastel drawing requires rough, tinted paper: a neutral (whitened or darkened) tone helps to “collect” the color shades of the drawing into an overall harmonious structure. Sometimes gaps of lightly tinted paper left between pastel strokes, generalizing the color structure, create a single color.
Pastel, like charcoal and chalk, gets dirty, so the work must be fixed. But fixing can change the pleasant soft tone and structure of the pastel, making it brighter, sharper in color. Therefore, it is best to cover the surface of the drawing with parchment or tissue paper or store it under glass.
Scratching is working with a thick needle or awl on paper previously coated with black ink. To complete the drawing you need to take thick paper or glossy cardboard. The surface of the paper is first evenly rubbed with a candle (wax), then covered with black ink and allowed to dry thoroughly. On a dry black surface regular pencil drawing is being done. It is advisable to make a preliminary sketch in advance, since you cannot use an eraser. Then along the contour pencil drawing lines are scratched. You need to scratch easily, without piercing the paper, but only removing the top painted layer. Light areas in the drawing are scratched with frequent small strokes or expanding lines. This technique captivates with the beauty and clarity of the lines, but changing the original design is almost impossible. You can, just like in the technique of working with wax crayons, first cover paper or cardboard with watercolors. With a watercolor tint, the drawing will look even more attractive.
For mixed media watercolor and ink, you need watercolor paint, a brush, black ink, and a pen and feather. After drawing on paper with a pencil, it is moistened with water and painted over with watercolors. Then the drawing is outlined with ink on the paper that has not yet dried; the ink, spreading over the wet surface and mixing with watercolor, creates all sorts of bizarre compositions that, as if by magic, begin to change shape. In order to give the image the intended shape, it is necessary to rotate the plane of the paper in different directions.
Each graphic material, be it pencil or charcoal, ink or pastel, has its own characteristics of expression and methods of representation. A spot is a plane and shape, a line outlines a contour, highlights the main thing, a dot and a stroke not only clarify and highlight parts, but also create light and shadow nuances. The image, material and method of representation are closely intertwined, and the solution to the problem of harmony in the composition of the drawing depends on their interaction and consistency. It is known that only that which evokes surprise and interest is expressive.
“The simpler the lines and shapes, the greater the beauty and strength,” said the outstanding master of drawing Ingres. Through various means artistic expression and materials, the artist can give the same image a different character or mood. For example, the image of a tree branch in a drawing with a dot is perceived by us as a certain incompleteness, unpredictability, softness, illumination; with the help of a stroke, the sharpness, clarity, and direction of the image are revealed; lines create a feeling of smoothness or dynamism and activity of the drawing.
Strokes different lengths and thicknesses applied in different directions help to reveal the shape of objects, convey space and the location of various image objects in it.
A lot can be expressed using graphic means. For example, lightness, airiness and movement of clouds, the plasticity of the body, the state of the day, sunrise and sunset, streams of light, etc. The possibilities of graphic tools are practically unlimited; the artist can use them to convey all the shades of his feelings and experiences.
Printed graphics are a circulation art; their works exist in many copies. These are engravings of all varieties: on wood, on metal, on linoleum, etc.
Depending on the method of processing the printing plate, there are convex, recessed and flat engravings.
To make a convex engraving on the surface of the printing plate, all the places that should turn out white in the print (background) are cut out with a sharp tool, and, conversely, the future contours and spots of the design remain untouched (convex) (wood engraving - woodcut and linoleum - linocut) .
In in-depth engraving, a drawing is cut out on a board, the recesses are filled with paint and, using a special printing press (press), the lines are transferred to paper (incisive engraving, etching, aquatint, etc.).
Flat engravings include lithography (engraving on stone) and algraphy (engraving on aluminum tablets).
As a rule, engravings are black and white (dark drawing against a background of light paper). There is also a color engraving: a print on paper is made from several printing forms, each of which has its own color applied (Russian lubok, Japanese print etc.).
The oldest type of engraving was probably woodcut, which appeared in Ancient China in the 6th century; in Europe - only at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries. As a result of the emergence of the art of engraving, it became possible for the first time to widely disseminate a visible image. The appearance of engraving in Europe contributed to the development of printing.
Graphics often serve various application purposes. For example, an artist’s illustrations decorate a book, caricatures are found in magazines and newspapers, advertising posters are found on the streets, etc. More recently, reproduction graphics were widespread: a painting or sculpture was “translated” into an engraving, and in this form everyone became familiar with it. the reading public, since there were no photographic reproductions then. Works printed graphics that have independent meaning are called prints. Prints are exhibited at exhibitions and decorate the walls of residential and public buildings.
A poster is a type of graphics, which in its effect on the viewer is akin to monumental painting. The poster should be visible from afar, “shout”, call, imperiously stop a hurrying passer-by, attracting his gaze, influence quickly and brightly.
The largest collections of drawings and engravings are stored in the library of the British Museum in London, the Louvre in Paris, the Vatican Library in Rome, the Vienna Albertina, the Engraving Cabinet State Museum Fine Arts named after. A. S. Pushkin in Moscow, State Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
drawing contour shading
Graphics
Graphics from the Greek - I write - a type of fine art that uses lines, strokes, spots and dots as the main visual means, contrasting with the white (and in other cases also colored, black, or less often textured) paper surface - the main basis for graphic works
The most ancient and traditional type of graphic art, where the basis of the image is line and silhouette. In graphics, along with completed compositions, independent artistic value They also have full-scale sketches, sketches for works of painting, sculpture, and architecture.
Classification:
Depending on the method of execution and replication capabilities, graphics are divided into unique and printed. Unique graphics— creation of works in a single copy (drawing, watercolor, monotype, appliqué, etc.). Printed graphics (engraving)— creation of printing forms from which you can receive several prints.
Unique graphics:
Watercolor, water paints on paper or silk. A technique that uses special watercolor paints, which, when dissolved in water, form a transparent suspension of fine pigment, and due to this, allows you to create the effect of lightness, airiness and subtle color transitions.
Shanko Irina, paper, watercolor, 2014.
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Gouache, chalk based water paints. A type of adhesive water-soluble paints, more dense and matte. Gouache paints are made from pigments and glue with the addition of white. The admixture of white gives the gouache a matte velvety quality, but when drying the colors become somewhat whitened (lightened), which the artist must take into account during the drawing process. Using gouache paints you can cover dark colors light. The dried image made with gouache is slightly lighter than the wet one, which makes color selection difficult. The foundation can also be susceptible to cracking if applied too thickly.
Shanko Irina, paper, gouache. 2012
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Pastel, colored crayons. Most often it comes in the form of crayons or rimless pencils, shaped like round bars or bars with a square cross-section.
There are three types of pastel - " dry, oil and wax. Oil pastels are made from linseed oil pigment by pressing. “Dry” pastels are produced in a similar way, except that no oil is used. The basis for mixing wax pastels is the highest quality wax and pigments. Oil pastel is considered an educational material, while its dry counterpart is used both for educational purposes and for purely artistic purposes. In the “dry” pastel technique, the “shading” technique is widely used, which gives the effect of soft transitions and delicacy of color.
There are two main types of dry pastels: hard and soft. Soft pastels are composed primarily of pure pigment, with a small amount of binder. Suitable for wide, rich strokes. Hard pastels are less likely to break because they contain a larger amount of binder. And they are great for drawing, because the side of the stick can be used for tone, and the tip for fine lines and detail work.
To paint with pastels, you need a textured surface that will hold the pigment. Pastel drawings are usually done on colored paper. The tone of the paper is selected individually, taking into account the objectives of the drawing. White paper makes it difficult to appreciate the saturation of the main colors.
Degas. Blue dancers.
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Sanguine, chalk or pencil of a “red” color. Often included in pastel kits (dry pastels).
Shanko Irina, Paper, sanguine
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Sepia, brown chalk or pencil, made from a substance produced by cuttlefish. Often included in a set for pastels (dry pastels).
Shanko Irina, paper, sepia
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Coal, in art, is a drawing material made from fired thin tree branches or planed sticks (in the 19th century also from coal powder with vegetable glue).
Charcoal sticks
Charcoal sticks are made from grape, beech or willow knots, fired in a sealed oven at high temperature. Willow charcoal sticks are the most common option. Grape and beech sticks are more expensive, but they leave richer strokes. Sticks 15 cm long are sold in boxes, their degree of hardness and thickness varies. Soft carbon turns into powder faster and penetrates paper less well than hard carbon. Therefore, soft charcoal is more convenient for creating large tinted areas, as well as for imperceptibly transitioning from shade to shade and for shading.
Harder types of charcoal are suitable for writing details and drawing lines; they are less shading. The only drawback of charcoal sticks is their fragility: under strong pressure they usually break.
Pressed coal
This type of coal is made from ground coal chips mixed with a binder and pressed into short thick sticks.
Compressed charcoal is stronger than charcoal sticks, does not break as easily and leaves a rich, velvety finish.
But it is much more difficult to brush such coal off paper than natural coal.
Charcoal pencil (retouching)
The retouch is a thin “slate” of pressed charcoal encased in a wooden shell. These pencils do not stain your hands and are easier to control than charcoal sticks. They have a slightly firmer texture. You can only use the tip of this pencil, so you won't be able to make broad strokes. The tip of the pencil can be sharpened in the same way as lead pencils are sharpened.
Shanko Irina, paper, coal, chalk.
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Sauce, a material for drawings, in the form of short round gray and black sticks. A sauce is prepared from kaolin, chalk and pressed carbon black. Sauce is a type of pastel. It has the great strength and looseness of soft pastels. Drawing with sauce is done in two ways - dry and wet.
Student work. Photo from the Internet.
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Ink, paint for drawing and calligraphy made from soot.
Mascara can be liquid, concentrated and dry in the form of sticks or tiles. Apply to paper using pens or brushes.
Shanko Irina, paper, ink, pen, brush.
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Italian pencil, which appeared in the 14th century. It was a rod of clayey black shale. Then they began to make it from burnt bone powder, held together with vegetable glue.
A. A. Ivanov. "A boy playing the pipe." Study for the painting "Apollo, Hyacinth and Cypress". Italian pencil. OK. 1831-34. Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.
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Engraving, a type of circulation graphics, when several prints can be obtained from one original. Types of engravings:
Woodcut, woodcut.
A. P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. "Mining Institute". Wood engraving for N. P. Antsiferov’s book “The Soul of St. Petersburg.” 1920.
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Lithograph, stone engraving.
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Linocut, engraving on linoleum.
I. V. Golitsyn. "In the morning at V. A. Favorsky's." Engraving on linoleum. 1963.
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Etching, metal engraving, there are several various techniques: mezzotint, aquatint, drypoint.
T.n. Master of playing cards. "Lady with a Mirror" Chisel engraving on copper. Mid 15th century
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Mezzotint
The pre-polished surface of a metal board is subjected to graining - it is covered with the help of a “rocker” (cutting machine) with many tiny depressions, acquiring a characteristic roughness. Graining is a long and very labor-intensive process. When printed, such a board (“blank”) produces a solid black tone. There are other methods of graining boards, including through etching.
In places corresponding to the light parts of the picture, the board is scraped and smoothed, achieving gradual transitions from shadow to light. Mezzotint engravings are distinguished by their depth and velvety tone, richness of light and shadow shades. Mezzotint is also used for color printing.
An example of a mezzotint engraving by the Flemish artist Vallerant Vaillant
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Aquatint
An engraving print in this manner resembles a drawing with water paints—watercolors; This similarity determined the origin of the name. The essence of this technique comes down to the fact that before etching, an acid-resistant resin is applied to the printing plate - rosin, asphalt or other powder or powder, which, in the process of heating the printing plate, melts and forms a coating on the surface of the board, through the smallest gaps between the particles of which the metal is etched onto different depths, which creates different tonal planes on prints during printing, consisting of many dots; Thus, the size of the granules of resin powder or dust, its dispersion, affects the texture and tonal characteristics, which are the main purpose of this auxiliary type of metal engraving.
Jean-Claude Richard, Abbot de Saint-Non (from the original by Hubert Robert). View of the park at Villa Madama near Rome. 1765. Aquatint
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Drypoint is a metal engraving technique that does not use etching, but is based on scratching strokes on the surface of a metal board with the tip of a hard needle. The resulting image board is a form of intaglio printing.
A distinctive feature of prints from a form engraved in this way is the “softness” of the stroke: the needles used by the engraver leave deep grooves on the metal with raised burrs - barbs. The strokes also have a thin beginning and ending, as they are scratched with a sharp needle.
Jean-Michel Mathieux-Marie
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“SCHOOL OF PRINTING GRAPHICS” is a social, educational project for wide range art lovers. The project involves the creation and practical implementation of a multi-level training program on printed graphics in a system of master classes. Thus, the basic level of training will be designed for everyone who is starting from scratch or has little drawing experience. Students of this course will be able to learn various printing techniques, get acquainted with the tools of an engraver, create a simple engraving on cardboard, print it on a machine, get a print, color it and arrange it in a passe-partout, and sign it correctly. The course “for professionals” will be of interest to everyone creative people for those interested in classical and modern printing techniques, high school students educational institutions(gymnasiums, lyceums, schools, boarding schools), students of specialized faculties, teachers. The course will begin with an overview and analysis of various printing techniques (high, intaglio, flat, stencil). The introductory part will be followed by practical work in the following areas of printed graphics: linocut, etching, photo etching, lithography, monotype, silk-screen printing, woodcut, screen printing.
For many years, printed graphics have been and remain the most striking and original phenomenon in Russian artistic culture. Many Russian artists became famous in this type of creativity, creating works in the field of original easel graphics, printed engraving, book illustration. (V.V. Mate, V.D. Falileev, A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, A.P. Shillingovsky, V.N. Masyutin, D.I. Mitrokhin, V.A. Favorsky, N.N. Kupreyanov etc.)
However, since the beginning of the 90s, a vast galaxy of wonderful Russian graphic artists found themselves virtually deprived of the opportunity to work in the techniques of lithography and etching: printing workshops and production facilities for the production of printing presses for artists were liquidated, the state stopped funding the creative houses of graphic artists, in which there was a constant study, there was an exchange of experience and a creative fusion of ideas and technologies in the field of printed graphics. The influx of young artists into this type of fine art has almost stopped, but Russian printed graphics have traditionally been very bright, being included in the collections of the best museums in the world, winning awards at international competitions, famous for its diversity of artistic movements and continuity. To date, the theoretical, methodological and technical basis for the study and use of printed graphics in creative process and issues of understanding fine art. IN Russian Federation Every year there are fewer and fewer places with special equipment and craftsmen who are able to pass on their experience in creating engravings, linocuts, etchings, photo etchings, lithographs, monotypes, silk-screen printing, woodcuts, and screen printing to young artists, students, and art school students. At the same time, the curriculum of educational institutions includes the subject “Graphics”. But, in essence, students are deprived of the opportunity to study the subject in practice, and graduates are not able to organize and teach most interesting subject in art schools and art schools.
Our “School of Printed Graphics” is designed to revive the lost professionalism, knowledge and accessibility of the general population of the region to one of the most important types of art - printed graphics (printmaking).
Today in Veliky Novgorod, thanks to the support of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications and the Administration of the Novgorod Region, there is a workshop “Novgorod Printing House”, the professional equipment of which makes it possible to conduct training courses. Here the young and professional artists, students of art departments, students of art schools can master new techniques of etching, linocut, monotype, and also have the opportunity to work on the provided equipment.
Of course, with the advent of digital technologies, the role of traditional techniques has changed significantly, but it is precisely the special expressive advantages of printed graphics, which P. Picasso, P. Gauguin, A. Durer, and E. Degas enjoyed, that allow, in the words of V. Favorsky, consider printed graphics to be the most modern of all types of fine arts.
We hope that the work of the School of Printed Graphics will become a real contribution to the preservation and development of modern graphic art in Russia.
Types of graphics are classified according to the method of creating the image, its purpose, and as a manifestation of mass culture.
According to the method of creating the image, the graphics can be printed(circulation) and unique.
Printed graphics and their types
Printed graphics are created using copyrighted printed forms. Printed graphics make it possible to distribute graphic works in numerous equivalent copies.
Previously, printed graphics (prints) were used for repeated reproduction (illustrations, reproductions of paintings, posters, etc.), because in fact, it was the only way to mass-produce images.
Currently, duplicating technology has developed, so printed graphics have become an independent art form.
Types of printed graphics
A print (French Estampe) is an impression on paper from a printing plate (matrix). Original prints are considered to be those made by the artist himself or with his participation.
The print has been known in Europe since the 15th century. At first, printmaking was not an independent branch of fine art, but only a technical method of reproducing images.
Types of printmaking
Types of printmaking differ in the way the printing form is created and the printing method. Thus, there are 4 main printmaking techniques.
Letterpress: wood engraving; linocut; engraving on cardboard.
Woodcut
Woodcut is an engraving on wood or a print on paper made from such an engraving. Woodcut is the oldest wood engraving technique. It originated and spread in countries Far East(VI-VIII centuries). The first examples of Western European engraving made using this technique appeared at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries.
The masters of woodblock printing were Hokusai, A. Dürer, A. Ostroumova-Lebedeva, V. Favorsky, G. Epifanov, Y. Gnezdovsky, V. Mate and many others. other.
Ya. Gnezdovsky. Christmas card
Linocut
Linocut is a method of engraving on linoleum. This method originated from turn of XIX-XX centuries with the invention of linoleum. Linoleum is a good material for large prints. For engraving, linoleum with a thickness of 2.5 to 5 mm is used. The tools for linocut are the same as for longitudinal engraving: corner and longitudinal chisels, as well as a knife for precise cutting of small parts. In Russia, the first to use this technique was Vasily Mate’s student N. Sheverdyaev. Subsequently, this technique was used for the production of easel engravings and especially in book illustration by Elizaveta Kruglikova, Boris Kustodiev, Vadim Falileev, Vladimir Favorsky, Alexander Deineka, Konstantin Kostenko, Lidiya Ilyina and others.
B. Kustodiev “Portrait of a Lady.” Linocut
Abroad, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, France Maserel, German Expressionists, and American artists worked in the linocut technique.
Among contemporary artists, linocut is actively used by Georg Baselitz, Stanley Donwood, and Bill Fike.
Both black and white and color linocuts are used.
R. Guseva. Colored linocut. Still life "Fried egg"
Engraving on cardboard
A type of print. A technologically simple type of engraving, it is used even in fine arts classes.
But in the twentieth century. Some significant graphic artists have used cardboard engraving in their professional practice. A relief print for printing is made using an applique made up of individual cardboard elements. The thickness of the cardboard must be at least 2 mm.
Engraving on cardboard
Intaglio printing: etching techniques (needle etching, aquatint, lavis, dotted line, pencil style, dry point; soft varnish; mezzotint, engraving).
Etching
Etching is a type of metal engraving, a technique that makes it possible to obtain impressions from printing plates (“boards”), in the process of creating an image on which the surface is etched with acids. The etching has been known since the beginning of the 16th century. Albrecht Durer, Jacques Callot, Rembrandt and many other artists worked in the etching technique.
Rembrandt "The Preaching of Christ" (1648). Etching, drypoint, burin
Mezzotint
Mezzotint (“black manner”) is a type of engraving on metal. The main difference from other etching styles is not the creation of a system of indentations (strokes and dots), but the smoothing of light areas on a grained board. Mezzotint effects cannot be achieved by other means. The image here is created due to different gradations of light areas on a black background.
Mezzotint technique
Flat printing: lithography, monotype.
Lithography
Lithography is a printing method in which ink is transferred under pressure from a flat printing plate to paper. Lithography is based on a physical and chemical principle, which involves obtaining an impression from a completely smooth surface (stone), which, thanks to appropriate processing, acquires the ability to accept special lithographic paint in its individual areas.
University embankment, 19th century, lithograph by Müller based on a drawing by I. Charlemagne
Monotypy
The term comes from mono... and Greek. τυπος – imprint. This is a type of printed graphics, which consists of applying paint by hand onto a perfectly smooth surface of a printing plate, followed by printing on a machine; The print obtained on paper is always the only one, unique. In psychology and pedagogy, the monotype technique is used to develop imagination in children of senior preschool age.
Monotype
Anyone can master the monotype technique. You need to chaotically apply paints (watercolors, gouache) onto a smooth surface, then press this side to the paper. When the sheet is torn off, the colors are mixed, which subsequently form a beautiful harmonious picture. Then your imagination begins to work, and based on this picture you create your masterpiece.
The colors for the next composition are chosen intuitively. It depends on the state you are in. You can create a monotype with certain colors.
Screen printing: silk-screen printing techniques; cut out stencil.
Silkscreen printing
A method of reproducing texts and inscriptions, as well as images (monochrome or color) using a screen printing plate through which the ink penetrates onto the printed material.
I. Sh. Elgurt “Vezhraksala” (1967). Silkscreen printing
Unique graphics
Unique graphics are created in a single copy (drawing, applique, etc.).
Types of graphics by purpose
Easel graphics
Drawing- the basis of all types of fine art. Without knowledge of the basics of academic drawing, an artist cannot competently work on a work of art.
Drawing can be performed as an independent work of graphics or serves as the initial stage for creating pictorial, graphic, sculptural or architectural designs.
Drawings in most cases are created on paper. Easel drawing uses the entire range of graphic materials: a variety of crayons, paints applied with a brush and pen (ink, ink), pencils, graphite pencil and charcoal.
Book graphics
This includes book illustrations, vignettes, headpieces, drop caps, covers, dust jackets, etc. book graphics This also includes magazine and newspaper graphics.
Illustration– a drawing, photograph, engraving or other image that explains the text. Illustrations for texts have been used since ancient times.
Old Russian handwritten books used hand-drawn miniatures. With the advent of printing, hand-drawn illustrations were replaced by engraving.
Some famous artists, in addition to their main occupation, also turned to illustration (S. V. Ivanov, A. M. Vasnetsov, V. M. Vasnetsov, B. M. Kustodiev, A. N. Benois, D. N. Kardovsky , E. E. Lansere, V. A. Serov, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, V. Ya. Chambers.
For others, illustration was the basis of their creativity (Evgeny Kibrik, Lydia Ilyina, Vladimir Suteev, Boris Dekhterev, Nikolai Radlov, Viktor Chizhikov, Vladimir Konashevich, Boris Diodorov, Evgeny Rachev, etc.).
(French vignette) – decoration in a book or manuscript: a small drawing or ornament at the beginning or end of the text.
Typically, the subjects for vignettes are plant motifs, abstract images, or images of people and animals. The purpose of the vignette is to give the book an artistic appearance, i.e. This is a book design.
Vignettes
In Russia, decorating text with vignettes was in great fashion during the Art Nouveau era (the vignettes of Konstantin Somov are known, Alexandra Benois, Evgenia Lansere).
Dust jacket
Applied graphics
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec "Moulin Rouge, La Goulue" (1891)
Poster– the main type of applied graphics. IN modern forms the poster developed in the 19th century. as trade and theatrical advertising (posters), and then began to carry out the tasks of political propaganda (posters by V.V. Mayakovsky, D.S. Moor, A.A. Deineka, etc.).
Posters by V. Mayakovsky
Computer graphics
IN computer graphics computers are used as a tool for creating images and for processing visual information obtained from the real world.
Computer graphics are divided into scientific, business, design, illustrative, artistic, advertising, computer animation, and multimedia.
Yutaka Kagaya "Eternal Song". Computer graphics
Other types of graphics
Splint
A type of graphics, an image with a caption, characterized by simplicity and accessibility of images. Originally a type of folk art. It was made using the techniques of woodcuts, copper engravings, lithographs and was supplemented with hand coloring.
Popular prints are characterized by simplicity of technique and laconism of graphic means (rough strokes, bright colors). Often the popular print contains a detailed narrative with explanatory inscriptions and additional (explanatory, complementary) images to the main one.
Splint
Letter graphics
Letter graphics form a special, independent area of graphics.
Calligraphy(Greek kalligraphia - beautiful writing) - the art of writing. Calligraphy brings writing closer to art. Unsurpassed masters The peoples of the East, especially the Arabs, are considered in the art of calligraphy. The Koran forbade artists to depict living beings, so artists improved in ornaments and calligraphy. For the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, the hieroglyph was not only a written sign, but also a work of art. A poorly written text could not be considered perfect in content.
The art of sumi-e(sumi-e) is a Japanese adaptation of the Chinese ink painting technique. This technique is as expressive as possible due to its brevity. Each brush stroke is expressive and significant. Sumi-e clearly demonstrates the combination of simple and elegant. The artist does not paint a specific object, he depicts an image, the essence of this object. Works using the sumi-e technique are devoid of excessive detail and provide the viewer with room for imagination.
PRINTED GRAPHICS If you approach printed graphics from the point of view of technical techniques, then they consist of four main technical elements: 1. Board, generally the surface on which the drawing is applied. 2. Tools. 3. Printing ink. 4. Printing. According to the material of the printed board and the methods of its development, three main types of printed graphics are distinguished. I. Convex engraving. All places that should appear white on the paper are removed from the surface of the board by cutting or hollowing out, and, conversely, the lines and planes corresponding to the drawing remain untouched - they form a convex relief on the board. This group includes engraving on wood (woodcut) and on linoleum, and is also known as an exception, raised engraving on metal). II. In-depth engraving. The image is applied to the surface in the form of deep grooves, scratches or grooves. Ink enters these recesses and is transferred to the paper under the strong pressure of the printing press. The pressure of the printing press leaves indentations in the paper (Plattenrand) along the edges of the board, which separate the design from the margins. This group includes all types of engraving on metal - engraving with a chisel, etching, etc. III. Flat engraving on stone. Here the drawing and background are on the same level. The surface of the stone is treated with a chemical composition in such a way that the greasy paint, when rolled, is perceived only in certain places that convey the image, and the paint does not apply to the rest of the surface, leaving the background of the paper untouched - this is the lithography technique. In addition to stone, aluminum plates are also used in flat printing - the so-called algraphy.
woodcuts The most ancient engravings - woodcuts (woodcuts) - appeared in the 6th–7th centuries in China and then in Japan. And the first European engravings began to be printed only at the end of the 14th century in Southern Germany. They were absolutely simple in design, without any frills, and were sometimes hand-painted with paints. These were sheets of paper with pictures of scenes from the Bible and church history. Around 1430, the first "block" (woodcut) books were made, in which the image and text were cut out on one board, and around 1461, the first book illustrated with woodcuts was typed. In fact, a printed book from the time of Johannes Gutenberg was itself an engraving, since the text in it is laid out and multiplied by imprints from relief cliches. The desire to make a color image and “draw” not only with lines, but also with a spot, “sculpt” chiaroscuro and give tone led to the invention of color woodcut “chiaroscuro”, in which printing was carried out from several boards using the main paints of the color spectrum. It was invented and patented by the Venetian Hugo da Carpi (c. 1455 - c. 1523). This technique, however, was labor-intensive and was rarely used - its “rebirth” occurred only at the end of the 19th century. Woodcut printing is characterized by distinctness and some isolation of lines; The more details, transitions, and crossing lines in a drawing, the more difficult it is for the carver and the less expressive woodcut is - the most natural, most organic technique for decorating a book, for book illustration. An important technical revolution was made at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries by the English engraver Thomas Bewick – edge or tone woodcut
Durer. Apocalypse. 1498. woodcut Dürer's graphic heritage is extensive. There are currently 105 known copper engravings, including etchings and drypoint engravings, and 189 wood engravings.
Hans Holbein. “John the Baptist with an axe”, “St. Varvara". Illustrations for “Garden of the Soul”. 1522 -23
G. Dore. Illustration for the fairy tale by C. Perrault Puss in Boots. 1862, end engraving
In-depth metal engraving All in-depth printing options share the same metal (usually a copper board) and the same printing process. They differ in the way they create a drawing on the board. In this case, it is necessary to take into account three main types of intaglio printing: mechanical (which includes engraving, drypoint, mezzotint), chemical (etching, soft varnish, aquatint) mixed technique (pencil style and dotted line).
Chisel engraving on metal - the further history of inventions in engraving was directly dependent on the desire to increase the number of prints, bring the design to greater complexity and reproduce the smallest details even more accurately. So, almost after woodcut - at the end of the 15th century. - incisor engraving on metal (copper board) appeared, which made it possible to work more flexibly in drawing, to vary the width and depth of the line, to convey light and moving outlines, to make the tone thicker with different shadings, to more accurately reproduce what the artist intended - in fact, to make a drawing of any complexity. The most significant masters who worked in this technique were the Germans - Albrecht Durer, Martin Schongauer and the Italians - Antonio Pollaiolo and Andrea Mantegna. The 16th century appreciated engraving as a high art - similar to painting, but using graphic design with its technical intrigue and peculiar beauty. Thus, outstanding masters of the 16th century. turned engraving from a mass applied material into high art with its own language and themes. Such are the engravings of Albrecht Dürer, Luke of Leiden, Marco Antonio Raimondi, Titian, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Parmigianino, Altdorfer, Urs Graf, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Hans Baldung Green and many other outstanding masters.
Dry needle Dry needle is a steel needle with a sharp tip. This needle is used to draw on metal in the same way as using a metal stylus on paper. A dry needle does not cut into the metal, does not cause chips, but scratches the surface, leaving small elevations and edges (barbs) along the edges. The drypoint effect is based precisely on the fact that, unlike incisive engraving, these barbs are not removed with a smoothing iron and they leave black velvety marks in the print. drypoint allows for a very small number of prints (twelve to fifteen), since the barbs that determine the main effect of the engraving are soon erased. Perhaps this is why some old masters (in the 17th century) used drypoint only in combination with other techniques, such as etching (the soft, tonal effect of the barb was especially masterfully used by Rembrandt in his etchings). Only in the 19th century, when the “staining” of the copper board made it possible to secure the barbs, did artists begin to turn to drypoint in its pure form (among the masters of drypoint we can name Elle and G. Vereisky).
Mezzotint, or "black manner", is a type of engraving. The “black manner” engraving technique was invented not by an artist, but by an amateur - the German Ludwig von Siegen, who lived in Amsterdam and was strongly influenced by the light and shadow contrasts in Rembrandt’s paintings. His earliest engraving, made in mezzotint technique, dates back to 1643. In the mezzotint technique, the board is prepared with a special tool “rocker” - an arched blade studded with thin and sharp teeth (or a spatula with a rounded bottom), so that the entire surface of the board becomes uniformly rough or grainy. Covered with paint, it gives an even, thick, velvety black print. Then, with a sharpened trowel (scraper), they begin to work from dark to light, gradually smoothing out the roughness; in places that should be completely light, the board is polished clean. Thus, through more or less grinding, transitions from a bright highlight to the deepest shadows are achieved (sometimes, to emphasize details, masters of the “black manner” used a cutter, a needle, and etching). Good mezzotint prints are rare as the boards wear out quickly. Mezzotint masters rarely created original compositions, setting themselves mainly reproductive goals. Mezzotint reached its greatest flowering in England in the 18th century (Irlom, Greene, Ward and others), becoming, as it were, a national English graphic technique and creating masterful reproductions of pictorial portraits by Reynolds, Gainsborough and other outstanding English portraitists.
etching The desire to achieve complex light and shadow effects and a more refined design led to experiments with chemical effects on the board - with etching, and, ultimately, contributed to the birth of a new technique - etching, which flourished in the 17th century. This was the time of the best master engravers, different in temperament, tastes, tasks and attitude towards technology. Rembrandt made individual prints, achieving complex light and shadow effects by etching and shading on different papers. Jacques Callot made etching his life and engraved a whole universe of portraits, scenes, human types; Claude Lorrain reproduced all his paintings in etchings so that they would not be counterfeited. He called the book of etchings he collected “The Book of Truth.” Peter Paul Rubens even set up a special workshop where copies of his paintings were made in engravings; Anthony van Dyck engraved a whole series of portraits of his contemporaries with an etching needle. At this time, the etching featured the most different genres- portrait, landscape, pastoral, battle scene; image of animals, flowers and fruits. In the 18th century, almost all major masters tried their hand at etching - A. Watteau, F. Boucher, O. Fragonard - in France, G. B. Tiepolo, G. D. Tiepolo, A. Canaletto, F. Guardi - in Italy. Large series of engraving sheets appear, united by themes, plots, sometimes they are collected into entire books, such as the satirical sheets of W. Hogarth and the genre miniatures of D. Khodovetsky, the architectural vedutes of J. B. Piranesi or the series of etchings with aquatint by F. Goya.
Jacques Callot. Water mill. From the series of 10 Italian landscapes. 1620s Etching The first master of etching, performing fully armed with technology
Jacques Callot. Etching from the series "Gypsies"
Rembrandt Harmens van Rijn. Rembrandt with disheveled hair, etching. Rembrandt raises etching to unattainable heights, making it a powerful tool artistic expression
Parmigianino (Francesco Mazzola). Love couple. Etching, drypoint. It is in his etchings that the unexpectedness of invention, that combination of sketchiness and completeness of the image, that dynamics of the stroke, which are an integral feature of etching, begin to sound for the first time.
A type of etching is the so-called soft varnish. Apparently, it was invented in the 17th century, but gained real popularity in the second half of the 19th century. Lard is mixed with ordinary etching ground, causing it to become soft and easily come off. The board is covered with paper, on which they draw with a hard, blunt pencil. The pressure of the pencil causes the rough edges of the paper to stick to the varnish, and when the paper is removed, it carries away particles of the loose varnish. After etching, the result is a rich, grainy stroke reminiscent of a pencil drawing.
The flourishing of engraving techniques is largely explained by the needs of the rapidly developing book publishing. And the love of art, which constantly demanded more and more accurate reproductions of famous works of art, contributed to the development of reproduction engraving. The main role that engraving played in society was comparable to photography. It was the need for reproduction that led to a large number of technical discoveries in engraving at the end of the 18th century. This is how varieties of etching appeared - dotted line (when tone transitions are created by thickening and rarefying dots filled with special pointed rods - punches), aquatint (i.e. colored water; a drawing on a metal board is etched with acid through asphalt or rosin dust applied to it), lavis (when the drawing is applied with a brush dipped in acid directly onto the board, and during printing the paint fills the etched areas), pencil manner (reproduces the rough and grainy stroke of a pencil). Apparently, again at the end of the 18th century - early XIX century, mezzotint tone engraving, invented back in 1643, was discovered. The invention of end-grain woodcut by the Englishman Thomas Bewick in the 1780s contributed to the further development of reproduction technology. Now the artist did not depend on the structure of the wood fibers, as it was before, when he dealt with longitudinal cuts, now he worked on the cross cuts of hardwood and could create compositions with a cutter that were more complex and sophisticated in nature.
Aquatint A special type of etching is aquatint. She is considered the inventor French artist Jean-Baptiste Leprince (1765). The effect he achieved with his invention is very similar to the halftones of an ink wash painting. The aquatint technique is one of the most difficult. First, a contour outline of the drawing is etched on the board in the usual way. Then the etching primer is applied again. From those places that should be dark in the print, the soil is washed off with a solution, and these places are dusted with asphalt powder. When heated, the powder melts in such a way that individual grains stick to the board. The acid corrodes the pores between the grains, resulting in a rough surface that gives a uniform tone in the print. Repeated etching gives deeper shadows and tonal transitions (while, of course, the bright areas are covered with acid varnish). In addition to the Leprince technique described here, there are other methods of aquatint. in aquatint, transitions of tones from light to shadow occur not in soft influxes, but in jumps, in separate layers. The aquatint method was often used in combination with etching or engraving, and sometimes in combination with color printing. In the 18th century, aquatint was used mainly for reproductive purposes. But there were also outstanding original masters who achieved remarkable results in aquatint. Among them, in the first place we must put F. Goya, who extracted from aquatint, often in combination with etching, expressive contrasts of dark tones and sudden impacts of light spots, and the French artist L. Debucourt, whose colored aquatints attract with the depth and softness of tones and subtle colors nuances. After some waning interest in aquatint in the 19th century, it experienced a new revival in the 20th century.
A low-cut Swiss woman from the 16th century, confidently holding a beer mug, possibly a flower vase. Aquatint made from a drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger, kept in public library city of Basel. Basel. 1790
Swiss nobleman of the 16th century, armed with a two-handed sword (aquatint, made from a drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger, stored in the public library of the city of Basel. Basel. 1790
The combination of engraving with etching gave rise to two more types of in-depth engraving in the 18th century. The pencil style is somewhat reminiscent of soft varnish. In this technique, an engraving is made on etching ground, processed with various tape measures and the so-called matuar (a kind of pestle with teeth). After etching, the lines are deepened with a cutter and dry point directly on the board. The effect of the print is very reminiscent of the wide lines of an Italian pencil or sanguine. The pencil style, intended exclusively for reproduction purposes, became especially widespread in France. Demarteau and Bonnet masterfully reproduced the drawings of Watteau and Boucher, printing their engravings either in sanguine or in two tones, and Bonnet, imitating pastels, sometimes also used white (in order to obtain a tone even lighter than the paper). The dotted line, or dotted style, is a technique known already in the 16th century and borrowed from jewelers: it was used to decorate weapons and metal utensils. The dotted line is closely related to the pencil style, but at the same time it is stylistically close to mezzotint, since it operates with wide tonal spots and transitions. The dotted line technique is a combination of engraving with etching: frequent groups of dots, as if merging in one tone, are applied with various needles, wheels and tape measures into the etching ground and then etched. Delicate dots on the face and naked body are applied directly to the board using a curved dotted pen or needle. The dotted technique was especially appreciated in color prints from a single board, painted with pads, repeating the coloring for each new print. This technique was most widespread in England in the second half of the 18th century. Dotted line engravings were almost exclusively of a reproduction nature.
From a practical point of view, metal engraving at one time satisfied two important requirements: 1. It provided samples and motives for decorative compositions. 2. It was the most suitable technique for reproduction purposes - drawings, paintings, statues, buildings. 3. In addition, in contrast to woodcuts, some eras (XVII-XVIII centuries) cultivated in-depth engraving in a very large format, framing it and using it to decorate walls. 4. Finally, woodcuts are often anonymous; metal engraving has been the history of artists from the very beginning; even when we do not know the name of the author of the engraving, it always has signs of a certain individuality. Woodcuts and metal engravings are just as different in their origin. - Woodcut is associated with a book, with letters, with a printing machine. - In-depth engraving, by its origin, has nothing in common with either printing or writing in general - it is distinguished by its decorative nature, it was born in the workshop of a jeweler (it is curious that copper engravers were educated in the workshop of goldsmiths, where they decorated the hilts of swords, plates, cups carved and chased). In this sense, chisel engraving has very ancient roots: even ancient jewelers can be called graphic artists, since an imprint can be obtained from every metal surface (for example, from an Etruscan mirror). And in the later engraving, in its brilliance and splendor and at the same time accuracy, vestiges of jewelry art were preserved.
lithography The next “revolution” occurred in 1796, when Aloysius Senefelder invented lithography - flat printing from stone. This technique freed the artist from the mediation of a reproductionist - now he himself could apply a design to the surface of the stone and print it, without resorting to the services of engravers. Lithography, or flat printing, is printed on a stone of a special type of limestone, bluish, gray or yellowish in color (the best varieties are found in Bavaria and near Novorossiysk). The lithography technique is based on the observation that the wet surface of a stone does not accept fatty substances, and fat does not allow liquid to pass through - in a word, on the mutual reaction of fat and liquid (or acid). The artist draws on the stone with a greasy pencil; after this, the surface of the stone is lightly etched (with a solution of gum arabic and nitric acid). Where fat touches the stone, the acid does not act; where the acid acts, greasy printing ink does not stick to the surface of the stone. If, after etching, paint is rolled onto the surface of the stone, it will only be accepted by those places that were touched by the artist's greasy pencil - in other words, the artist's drawing will be completely reproduced during the printing process.
From the 2nd quarter of the 19th century. , with the growing popularity of lithography, the era of mass printed graphics began, and this was associated, first of all, with book publishing. Engravings were used to illustrate fashion magazines, satirical magazines, albums of artists and travelers, textbooks and manuals. Everything was engraved - botanical atlases, regional studies books, “booklets” with city attractions, landscapes, poetry collections and novels. And when the attitude towards art changed in the 19th century - artists were finally no longer considered artisans, and graphics emerged from the role of painting’s handmaiden, the revival of the original engraving, valuable in its own right, began. artistic features and printmaking techniques. Representatives of romanticism played their role here - E. Delacroix, T. Gericault, French landscape painters - C. Corot, J. F. Millet and C. F. Daubigny, impressionists - Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Pizarro. In 1866, a society of aquafortists was created in Paris, the members of which were E. Manet, E. Degas, J. M. Whistler, J. B. Jongkind. They were engaged in publishing copyright albums of etchings. Thus, for the first time, an association of artists was created who took up the actual problems of engraving art, the search for new forms, and designated their activities as a special type of artistic activity. In 1871, such a society was founded in St. Petersburg with the participation of N. Ge, I. Kramskoy and. Shishkina.
Further development of engraving proceeded in line with the search for its original language. By the 20th century, the history of engraving techniques and this art itself seemed to have closed the cycle: from simplicity, engraving came to complexity, and having achieved it, it again began to seek the expressive sharpness of a laconic stroke and generalization to a sign. And, if for four centuries she tried to avoid exposing her material, now she has again become interested in its possibilities. A significant phenomenon in the history of printed graphics at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries was the flourishing of the Russian and Soviet school of engraving, represented by a large number of talented artists and several major phenomena artistic life on a European scale, such as the St. Petersburg association “World of Art”, avant-garde movements of the first years of the twentieth century, the form-creative searches of the graphics of the Favorsky circle and unofficial art of the 1960-80s.
Photoengraving or heliography represents the most advanced technical and artistically a method of preparation using photographs of recessed boards similar to copper engraving. The boards are produced by direct metal etching or copper build-up on a positive image. Heliography. Niépce. 1824
