The Complete Printmaker: Techniques, Traditions, Innovations [Paperback]

John Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1991

The revised and expanded edition of "The Complete Printmaker" covers various aspects of fine printmaking and takes the reader step by step through the history and techniques of over forty-five print-making methods - from the traditional etching, engraving, lithography, and relief print processes to today's computer prints, Mylar lithography, copier prints, water-based screen printing, helio-reliefs, and monotypes. The book also includes a survey of issues and contemporary concerns in the printmakers world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; Rev Exp edition (April 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0029273722
• ISBN-13: 978-0029273722
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #65,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Process, process, process!, October 31, 2004

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wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Printmaker: Techniques, Traditions, Innovations (Paperback)

This book is almost a catalog of every printmaking process around. It covers all the basics: intaglio, relief, screen prints, litho, and monoprint. It covers related technique, including embossed "dimensional" prints (aka "blind" prints), molded paper, and more. It devotes special attention to collographs, prints from textured or collage surface, and much too much more to describe.

Best, the tools, materials, and how-to of every process are described in a fair bit of detail. Because so many processes are listed, each one gets just a short section, nowhere near what a printmaker would need in practice. Still, the descriptions serve at least two purposes. First, they may entice an artist into learning more about a process.

Second, and more importantly for me, is that you don't have to be a printmaker to read this book and benefit from it. I'm a fan of fine prints, even though I don't make prints myself. I like to know what I'm looking at. I like to see a mark in a print and understand where it came from, how the artist's hand created it. By explaining each process, this book helps me understand the result of the process, and understand its effect on the finished product. Not everyone sees art that way, but it makes me feel somehow closer to the creator.

I recommend this to anyone who loves fine prints. Perhaps it's helpful to the printmaker looking for new techniques to try. It is certainly useful for the viewer, in understanding how the artist makes a vision come alive on paper.

//wiredweird

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, explains everything you want to know, June 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Printmaker: Techniques, Traditions, Innovations (Paperback)

I have been studying basic printmaking techniques, for about a year , and have found this book to be an excellent guide. It has excellent explanations. Also advice on safety precautions & how to set up the studio. Also very helpful is a quite extensive list of suppliers of printmaking equipment and papers in the U.S.A. It is the most complete book of the many art books that I have read ever. It covers just about everything. Ideal for the artist with experience in printmaking but sufficiently easy to understand for the novice.

57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DA-YAMN, but this book rocks my world., February 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Printmaker: Techniques, Traditions, Innovations (Paperback)

Okay, well, maybe I'm a little passionate about the things I like, but I'm a Leo and that should be expected. I borrowed this book today from my AP Art teacher, my budding interest in printmaking beginning to develop, and I'm floored by the thorough descriptions of so many different printmaking processes. As printmaking is such a broad art form, I had never found a book that satisfies my desires to learn about intaglio, woodcut, monotype, screenprinting and book arts (including a few pages on letterpress printing!), let alone all the other printmaking forms. Highly recommended for anyone in search of a Printmaking Bible.