Printmaking: History and Process [Paperback]

Donald Saff (Author), Deli Sacilotto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1978 | ISBN-10: 0030856639 | ISBN-13: 978-0030856631 | Edition: 1st

A basic text that discusses techniques and applications in every major area of printmaking. Proceeds from the beginning steps to the most advanced procedures. Over 600 illustrations. Provides a history of printmaking.

Product Details

• Paperback: 436 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 1st edition (January 2, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030856639
• ISBN-13: 978-0030856631
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Printing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding introduction, August 11, 2006

By 

wiredweird "wiredweird" (Earth, or somewhere nearby) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Printmaking: History and Process (Paperback)

If you're going to have just one book on the wide world of printmaking, make it this one. Despite its heft, over 400 pages in large format, it almost comes across as rushed. I don't mean sloppily done, quite the opposite, but with just so much to say that the pages can barely hold it all.

Saff and Sacilotto start with relief techniques, the processes that are easiest to intuit and that have the longest histories. This isn't just a history book, though, it includes modern materials and techniques, all in enough detail for a beginner to get going on. The next section, on the many kinds of intaglio printing, is equally thorough. It covers the whole range of ways that people can create images on printing plates. That includes familiar etching, engraving, and drypoint techniques, but also lift, aquatint, mezzotint, mixed technique, and more. The discussion covers every step, from preparing a plate to take the ground on through to printing the edition and cancelling the plate.

The section on litho, though, is where this really comes into its own. It's an exhaustive discussion of everything about the process, from the chemistry of stone or metal, to creating multiple lithographic stones in good registration, to surfacing the stone, to drying the finished prints. And, unlike many other discussions of printmaking, these authors never shy from photographic techniques and technological support. I really appreciate the fact that they see the artistic potential in everything, not just some purist list of historical techniques. The last section on printmaking covers serigraphy, and does just as complete a job as the other sections did. Final chapters cover papermaking, blind impressions, framing, and curatorial care.

There's not a lot to object to here. The authors often recommend formaldehyde as a preservative, something that only the best-equipped shops would attempt to handle today. Likewise some of the more aggressive etchants - HF is so hazardous that its use seems hard to justify for most purposes. Well, in the nearly 30 years since this was written, attitudes toward work place hazards have changed a lot. On the positive side, though, it's illustrated with 675 black and white figures and forty color plates, another reason this book seems so dense. There's more information per page in this book than in any other I can think of, and far more pages than in most other books. It has my highest recommendation.

//wiredweird

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Printmaking: A History and Process, June 21, 2000

By 

William L. Phipps, Director of Printmaking (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Printmaking: History and Process (Paperback)

Excellent!Printmaking along with The Complete Printmaker and The Tamarind Book of Lithography are the shop manuals for Parsons School of Design and New School University Printmaking Studio.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for printmakers, April 25, 2000

By 

Jen Ericksen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Printmaking: History and Process (Paperback)

This book is an absolute must-have for printmakers, professionals as well as amatuers and students. I'm an art student whose focus is in printmaking and this book was strongly recommended to me by my professor. It is an encyclopedia of information on printmaking, including not only the "how-to" but the history and development as well.