Lithographs

Lithography or stone engraving comes from the Greek (Lithos, gr: stone) is a graphic technique where the pressure plate is a special limestone. The best stones come from the quarries of Solnhofen in Bavaria.

Lithography originated in the 1700s when the German playwright and actor Aloys Senefelder experimented with the technique, and first used as an inexpensive method for reproducing theatrical posters. A little over 100 years later, the French litany of art printing is revealed. It has become a great way to make original art - while also making it accessible to a wider audience.

The technique itself is based on the principle that the fatty clouds of water vice versa. Special limestone is used because it can suck and contain a certain amount of water and fat. The process is as follows: The stone is sanded until the previous design disappears. Stone is used over and over again. With a lithographic marker, the artist paints the pattern on the stone. It may well be an art in itself, for it has to be mirrored. Tuschen contains fat and now the stone becomes fat where the subject is.

The stone is now undergoing a chemical process to prepare it for pressure. The stone is placed in the printing machine and moistened with water all the time. The ink contains grease, and since greasy water clouds, the color will not arise where the artist drew with marker.

Paper

The paper used for art printing is handmade paper made from rags, usually linen or cotton. The paper is acid free and tolerates light without changing color. The amount of ink also helps to make lithography durable. Compared to an ordinary poster printed in offset, the color layer is 8 times thicker.

The way the colors are laid is one at a time. For example, the artist draws the artist.com of the artist. the outline color black first. Once printed, the stone is sanded and prepared for the next color. It is not uncommon for a lithograph to contain between 10 and 20 colors. This means that the process is repeated as many times. It is therefore the close collaboration between the artist and the lithographer which ends with a beautiful work.