Robert Rauschenberg. This artist used silkscreen printing a lot, mostly the photographic film. This was done by combining usual silkscreen methods but with a photographic film over the top instead of a paper template. The usual method works by printing ink through a screen and on to a surface. Between the two is a template which is usually cut out of, working as a negative printing technique, the area which is cut-out is where the ink will eventually rest. Essentially the template blocks the ink from getting to the surface. With photographic silkscreen printing, the method works by missing out of the the template and instead exposing the screen to a photo after a thin film has been lain over the screen.
It was most commonly used in the pop art movement with artists drawing inspiration from the world around them, depicting real scenes. Andy Warhol was also a huge fan of the photographic printmaking method.
Unfortunately, I cannot remember the artist that Jenny told us about in the talk, or I may have been cleaning out a screen at the time, but I want to talk about lithography anyway as it really interests me. The intricate detail is probably the biggest selling factor for me, its slightly photographic without losing all the personalness by getting all the way there. Lithography is a technique which uses a flat stone which is worked on to with arabic gum or a wax crayon, this is a positive image which is produced so where is drawn onto is what is printed. The stone is then covered in water, only the wax oil based part remains unwet as oil and water do not mix. Ink is then dripped onto the stone and the area which is covered in wax is revealed as the ink colour as the oil based materials mix, the water drags the oil away and is left bare. The stone is then used to print onto surfaces. A photographic film can be placed on the stone to get a completely photographic lithograph, this works in a similar way to the screen process where the film covered stone is exposed to a photograph. Rauschenberg, along with other artist including Hockney, Johns and Picasso used this technique a lot in their work.
