Copper: Copper plates are
ideal for etching, drypoint and aquatint.
Copper was always the traditional metal, and is still
preferred, for etching, as it bites evenly, holds texture well, and
does not distort the colour of the ink when wiped.
Aluminum: Aluminum plates
are an alternative to stone tablets for lithography, and are often
used for offset lithography. Light-weight and ball-grained.
The Art Box carries several sizes.
Zinc: Zinc plates are now
very widely used by printmakers who are not concerned with trying to
make huge editions, or who deep-etch plates for viscosity printing
or embossing effects. Zinc is very much less expensive than copper
and can be bought from building materials suppliers in large sheets,
and are easy to polish. Students learning printmaking use zinc
plates a great deal, and they can be bought ready polished and
backed with a resistant coating. The Art Box carries several
sizes.
Linoleum: The linoleum block
consists of a thin layer of linoleum un-mounted or mounted on wood;
in this the design to be printed is cut in the same manner as for a
woodcut. The advantage of linoleum cuts lies in the softness of the
material and the consequent ease with which it can be cut, but
linoleum is not so suitable for fine lines as wood, nor can as many
prints be produced. The process has been used widely in textile
printing and in grade-school art classes. It is especially suitable
for bold, decorative designs. The Art Box carries several sizes and
brands.
Pronto Plates:
Pronto Polyester Litho Plates
can be imaged directly from a
laser printer. They can also be imaged through a copier or drawn on
directly. They are designed to use most commercial fountain
solutions. The plates are not light-sensitive and require no special
storage. Care should be taken in handling as fingerprints may print.
The Art Box carries several sizes.
The Art Box carries a variety of
etching and carving tools. For relief printmaking, we carry
Speedball linoleum cutters and gouges, as well as rubber, foam,
and acrylic brayers of varying widths.
For woodcutting, we carry
Richeson, Loew Cornell, and Yasutomo Niji Carving Knife
sets.
Our EC Lyons
open stock of printmaking tools include: putty knives, sharpening
stones, roulettes, irregular roulettes, square burins, ball
burnishers, diamond scribes/drypoint needles, etching needles,
regular and point burnishers, twisted double points, solid and
hollow scrapers.
updated 7.21.9
