Ceramics & Print : By Paul Scott

Book

In this book, Paul Scott briefly discusses the history of ceramics and print, and then concentrates on the techniques used by contemporary ceramicists. These include: screen printing, both transfer decoration and working directly onto clay; photographic processes; sponge printing; stamped ware; lino cuts; prints from plaster slabs; and other printmaking techniques.

Historical & Industrial Background

Ceramics & Print have in common the ability to repeat a shape, form or image and have been used together for 100s of years to produce decorative wares and tiles. Ceramics are perceived as primarily 3 dimensional and Print 2 dimensional, ceramic surfaces are variously both.

Printmaking techniques have long been used in the pottery industry, but until comparatively recently ceramicists have tended to view the use of these techniques with disdain. Attitudes are changing rapidly now, however, as makers continue to explore creative possibilities while working with ceramic materials. From the earliest potters used thumb print to make simple patterned designs stamped into surface.

Potters were perhaps the world’s first printers.

Printing Techniques and Processes on Ceramics

1. Lithography : It is a Greek word, where lithos means stone & graphio means draw. This process relies on natural repulsion between grease and water. An image is drawn on a prepared slab of limestone with greasy crayon. Slab is flooded with water, but greasy areas pick up the ink. Thus paper applied to the inked up slabs picks up the image from drawn area.
2. Screen Printing : Screen printing is a development from stenciling, first appeared in Japan. One solution developed by Japanese was to cut two stencils exactly same shape and size. Human hairs were glued across the shapes of first stencil, holding them all in position, and the second stencil was glued on two of the first sandwiching the hair between them.
3. Photography : First person to make permanently fixed image with a camera was Joseph Nicephore Niepce. In, 1827 using a light sensitive coating on a zinc plate, he exposed it through a translucent original engraving. The first printing of photographic image on a ceramic surface was undertaken by Lafon de Camarsac in France in 1854, using a gum bichromate system. Mixed with gum arabic and a sticky substance like honey, it was coated onto a ceramic surface and exposed to light through a positive transparency.
4. Relief Printing (Block Printing) : Block or relief printing is a great transfer technique for any kind of image, text or design you want on your work. Whether simple or complex, finished lino cuts can even be the finished works on their own. When inked with under glaze or slips, you can use the blocks to print directly onto clay or push them into the surface for embossing. Linoleum or lino, as it’s commonly called, is flexible and works on flat and curved surfaces making it versatile to use. Clay, plaster, wood and rubber can also be used for block printing.
5. Sponge Printing : Sponge printing has a long ceramic tradition. Unlike rubber sponge stamps are porous and hold a reservoir of color. They can be used for much larger designs and repetition printing is easier because the sponge holds color for long time. Early sponge decoration involved the use of natural sponge in a loose and fluffy state, dipped in a medium containing ceramic color.
6. Intaglio Printing : Intaglio printing is the opposite of relief printing, in that the printing is done from ink that is below the surface of the plate. The design is cut, scratched, or etched into the printing surface or plate, which can be copper, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, plastics, or even coated paper. The printing ink is rubbed into the incisions or grooves, and the surface is wiped clean. Intaglio processes are probably the most versatile of the printmaking methods, as various techniques can produce a wide range of effects.

Thank You .