The artist follows three basic steps in creating unique printed images. First, the printing surface is prepared by being incised, cut away, drawn upon with a special tool, or stenciled. Next, the prepared surface is inked, often with a roller, or for a color image, with successively colored plates. Finally, the image is transferred to the surface to be printed by pressing the two together either by hand or with a printing press. Multiple images may be made from the same prepared plate, following the three steps outlined above. When a group of prints is made from the same plate, it is called an edition. The artist usually numbers individual original prints within an edition.
There are four different printmaking methods: relief, intaglio (scratching the design into a surface), lithography, and screenprinting (using a stencil). Westermann used relief printing and lithography to make his prints.
The relief process involves the artist cutting away all areas of the printing surface that are not meant to receive ink; the design is therefore raised in relief. When the artist inks the surface and applies the paper to it with some pressure, the raised, inked areas imprint the design onto the paper. Westermann used the relief processes of woodcut and linoleum (or lino) cut prints. (Linoleum is softer than wood to cut, allowing the artist greater opportunities for gradations in line.) An example of one of his woodcuts is The Connecticut Ballroom. Disasters in the Sky #2 is a linoleum-cut print.
Lithography depends on the idea that water and oil naturally repel one another. The artist draws the image directly on a stone with a greasy crayon or pencil. A solution of gum arabic (an adhesive) and acid fixes the image on the stone. Next, the stone is dampened with water and then inked. Because it has an oil base, the ink repels the water and adheres only to the places where the artist drew with the greasy crayon. Finally, paper is applied to the stone and run through a press, and the drawn, inked image is transferred to the paper. To add color, the artist uses a different stone for each hue. Examples of Westermann’s one-color lithographs are See America First and Woman from Indianapolis. He executed many color lithographs, including the three-color lithograph Death Ship of No Port and the four-color lithograph Green Planet.
For a virtual demonstration of the four printmaking methods (relief printing, intaglio, lithography, and screenprinting) visit www.moma.org/whatisaprint/flash.html.
Below are some questions to guide you and your students as you examine prints and analyze their visual form and meaning.
- Consider the medium. Which printmaking method did the artist employ?
- What is the size of the work?
- Is the print in black and white or is it in color? Are the colors bright? Subdued? Descriptive? Does color create a mood?
- Look at how lines are used. Describe their movement. Do they outline objects? Do they add an expressive dimension to the artwork?
- Does the artist suggest the presence of light? How?
- Is shading used? In what areas?
- Does the artist convey a sense of deep space within the artwork? Does the artist do this by overlapping? Through adjusting the sizes of different objects within the work?
- How are the different parts of the artwork composed, or brought together? Is the overall effect one of unity? Does the artist focus your attention on one area of the print?
Prints
Death Ship of No Port, 1967
(See America First) Untitled #16, 1968
Green Planet (Green Planet π), 1967
The Connecticut Ballroom, 1975-76
Disasters in the Sky #2, 1962
Woman from Indianapolis (Columbia, Missouri), 1967
See America First: Untitled #16, 17–25 October 1968
See America First: Untitled #1, 6–11 October 1968
See America First: Untitled #2, 5–21 September 1968
See America First: Untitled #7, 24 September–October 1968
See America First: Untitled #9, 1–14 October 1968
See America First: Untitled #13,
14–21 October 1968
See America First: Untitled #17, 23–25 October 1968