Printmaking is, generally speaking, an art followed more by the professional than the amateur. A quite heavy investment in equipment is required and there are some quite serious health and safety issues to be considered as well.
Nevertheless, everyone has to start somewhere, or just needs a basic handbook and this series is aimed squarely at those specific requirements. Anyone finding this review helpful will find it an advantage to follow the series link below and read about other titles from A&C Black on printmaking. The publisher has laudably not attempted to produce a one-for-all compendium but rather to concentrate on very specific areas and to do them justice individually.
This volume is aimed at artists interested in photopolymer technology, the use of light-sensitive materials which can be applied to a variety of backing supports such as metal, plastic or board. Colin Gale, founder of Artichoke Print workshop, also covers acids, aquatint, papers, presses and inks.
This is an authoritative look at a very specialised subject and one which is only likely to be visited in book form occasionally. The whole series brings the available information very much up to date and deals with the safe practice that has become a much greater concern and also the Health and Safety legislation that goes along with that. The book is well-illustrated with the work of a number of contemporary printmakers and contains, for the price, a very reasonable amount of colour.
Year published 2006
List price: £14.99