Printmaking I

Course Description

ART2400C – Printmaking I is a 3-credit studio course introducing the major printmaking processes. It is a standard studio elective in Florida art programs and a requirement in many studio art A.A. and B.F.A. tracks.

Printmaking is distinguished from other studio disciplines by indirection: the artist does not make the image directly but makes a matrix — a plate, block, screen, or stone — from which the image is printed. That indirection is the discipline's central technical and conceptual fact. Images reverse. Marks behave differently on the matrix than they will on paper. And because a matrix can be printed repeatedly, printmaking is inherently concerned with the multiple — the edition, the variable print, and questions of originality that painting does not raise in the same way.

Most versions of the course introduce three or four processes. Relief printing — woodcut and linocut — where the artist carves away what will not print. Intaglio — etching, drypoint, and aquatint — where the image is incised or bitten into a metal plate and ink is held in the recesses. Screenprinting (serigraphy), where ink is pushed through a stencil on a mesh screen. Some programs also introduce lithography or monotype.

Alongside technique, students work on image development — drawing for print, translating an idea into a process's particular vocabulary, and understanding that the process shapes the image rather than merely reproducing it. Registration for multi-color work, editioning conventions, and the standard print nomenclature for signing and numbering are covered.

Studio safety is substantive rather than incidental: printmaking involves solvents, acids in traditional etching, and sharp tools, and contemporary programs have largely moved toward non-toxic and safer-solvent methods.

Offered at approximately 15 Florida institutions with studio art programs.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the major printmaking processes and how each produces an image.
• Prepare a matrix appropriate to the chosen process.
• Produce relief prints using woodcut or linocut techniques.
• Produce intaglio prints using drypoint, etching, or aquatint.
• Produce screenprints using appropriate stencil methods.
• Mix and modify inks appropriately for each process.
• Select and prepare paper appropriately, including dampening where required.
• Operate a printing press safely and set correct pressure.
• Achieve accurate registration in multi-color or multi-plate work.
• Pull a consistent edition and identify variation.
• Apply standard editioning conventions for signing, numbering, and annotating prints.
• Develop images that exploit the characteristics of the chosen process.
• Apply studio safety practices including ventilation, solvent handling, and tool use.
• Participate constructively in critique and articulate intent and process decisions.
• Present finished prints professionally.

Optional Outcomes

• Produce monotypes or monoprints.
• Produce lithographic prints.
• Combine printmaking with digital or photographic processes.
• Describe the history of printmaking and significant printmakers.
• Produce a portfolio or artist's book.
• Describe archival practice and print conservation.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Introduction to printmaking — the matrix, the multiple, and the vocabulary of the field.
• Relief processes — woodcut and linocut; carving, inking, and printing by hand or press.
• Intaglio processes — drypoint, etching, and aquatint; plate preparation, grounds, and biting.
• Intaglio printing — inking, wiping, paper dampening, and press operation.
• Screenprinting — screen preparation, stencils, photo emulsion, and squeegee technique.
• Inks and papers — selection, modification, and their effect on the print.
• Registration — methods for multi-color and multi-plate printing.
• Editioning — consistency, proofs, and the standard nomenclature (A/P, B.A.T., edition numbering).
• Image development for print — drawing for the matrix, reversal, and process-driven mark-making.
• Studio safety — ventilation, solvents, acids, sharp tools, and non-toxic alternatives.
• Critique — discussing work, intent, and process.
• Presentation — trimming, signing, and matting finished work.

Optional Topics

• Monotype and monoprint.
• Lithography.
• Digital and photographic hybrid processes.
• History of printmaking.
• Artist's books and portfolios.
• Archival practice and conservation.

Resources & Tools

• Printmaking: A Complete Guide to Materials and Processes (Ross, Romano & Ross), Pearson — the standard comprehensive reference.
• The Complete Printmaker (Ross & Romano) and Printmaking: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques (Westley).
• Nontoxic Printmaking resources — increasingly central as programs move away from traditional solvents and acids.
• Studio equipment — etching and relief presses, exposure units and washout booths for screenprinting, acid or safer mordant facilities, and ventilation.
• Materials — plates, blocks, screens, inks, papers, and carving and etching tools; a materials or lab fee normally applies and students typically buy some supplies.
• Print collections — museum and institutional collections; Florida institutions with print holdings include the Harn Museum at UF and the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach.
• Contemporary print organizations and journals for exposure to current practice.

Career Pathways

• Fine Artist (SOC 27-1013) — studio practice, exhibition, and sales.
• Master Printer / Print Studio Technician — collaborative print shops, a defined and skilled profession.
• Art Teacher (SOC 25-2031) — requires Florida Art Education (K-12) certification.
• Graphic Designer (SOC 27-1024) — where print process knowledge informs production.
• Screen Printer — commercial apparel and signage printing, a substantial trade.
• Museum and Gallery roles — preparator, collections, and curatorial work.
• Art Therapist — requiring graduate study.

Florida's art employment includes a substantial gallery and collector market in Miami, Palm Beach, Naples, and Sarasota; museums statewide; and the theme park and entertainment design sector in Orlando. Commercial screenprinting is widely distributed and hires directly on demonstrated skill.

Special Information

Course-title variation

The course appears as Printmaking I (the SCNS title) and Introduction to Printmaking (Tallahassee State). Under SCNS the same number at the same level is equivalent regardless of title. ART2401C (Printmaking II) and ART2406C (Advanced Printmaking) continue the sequence at institutions offering them.

Studio contact hours exceed the credit count

Like all studio art courses, this one carries more scheduled contact time than a lecture course of the same credit value — studio courses commonly meet for four to six hours weekly for three credits, and students are expected to work outside scheduled hours in open studio. Prospective students should plan their schedules around studio time rather than around the credit total, and should confirm open studio availability, since press access outside class is often necessary to complete work.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites vary; verify locally. Many institutions require ART1300C (Drawing I) or a foundations course such as ART1201C (Design), since printmaking assumes basic drawing and compositional ability. Some institutions accept students without prerequisites into an introductory section.

Fees and materials are a real cost

Studio courses charge lab or materials fees, and students typically purchase their own paper, carving tools, and some inks and plates in addition. Printmaking paper in particular is expensive. Prospective students should budget beyond tuition and ask what the program supplies versus what students buy.

Safety has changed the discipline

Traditional printmaking used solvents and acids that are genuinely hazardous, and the field has moved substantially toward non-toxic and safer-solvent methods — water-based inks, safer mordants such as ferric chloride, acrylic-based grounds, and improved ventilation. Students should expect safety instruction to be taken seriously and enforced, and should disclose respiratory conditions, pregnancy, or chemical sensitivities to the instructor, since accommodations and process alternatives generally exist.

The process shapes the image, and that is the point

Students frequently arrive intending to reproduce a drawing they have already made, and are frustrated when the print does not look like it. The productive shift is understanding that each process has a native vocabulary — the bold contrast of relief, the tonal range of aquatint, the flat graphic areas of screenprint — and that strong prints work with those characteristics rather than against them. Instructors consistently identify this as the conceptual turn that separates students who progress from those who stay frustrated.