Home Lithography Printing

Hand printing a lithograph in my home studio. I'm working with ball grained aluminum litho plate and aluminum foil kitchen lithography. For this specific print, I drew with grease pencils and etched with coca cola. I print with a wooden spoon onto gampi paper.

[@fbpliegorrivero8869]

Fantastic and fine work ❤

[@NH-bm9vy]

Ooh la la is right! Wonderful work as usual...

[@valeriesyposz]

Thanks!!

[@julivale3090]

Wow, I just found your channel and, I got to admit, I'm really impressed. Thanks for sharing, you've just got a new subscriber.

[@valeriesyposz]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@phyllisjeanfulton]

me too never thought of doing this on a ball grained aluminum

[@jn.ooomami]

You ate!

[@moonlightdriver800]

Wow! Just wow!! Your contribution to the art of lithography is amazing!

[@valeriesyposz]

😊 Thank you!

[@lucretiaonutube]

Fabulous demonstration! Could I ask why you use gum Arabic early on? Is it essential, I have all other materials.

[@PanerramikVon]

wow!! I like.

[@valeriesyposz]

Thank you!

[@huseynhagverdi9972]

fantastik

[@BLUEMOONENTERPRISES]

Great work! Thanks for showing more of the process. What was the first plate you printed used? I can see the other plate was aluminum foil. Can you reuse the first plate?

[@valeriesyposz]

The first one is a ball grained aluminum plate- originally a photosensitive litho plate for commercial use that was grained on the back side for use by artists. I have only ever bought them prepared and used them once.

[@BLUEMOONENTERPRISES]

@@valeriesyposz Thanks! I was thinking about trying a ball grained plate and now you've given me the push. :-)

[@juljos9343]

I’ve never seen the ball grained plate in any art shop to buy. Where can you get it.

[@sallyweiner4180]

Wow!!!!

[@valeriesyposz]

Thanks!

[@aidasoto2936]

Nice....esa técnica en mi idioma se llama "AGUAFUERTE"

[@downtime86stars17]

Beautiful work! Can you re-use the plate for other images (the hard plate, not the foil)?

[@valeriesyposz]

You can re-print the same image later on. You could also regrain the surface for a new image, but getting it done by a ball-grain machine is going to give the best grain.

[@downtime86stars17]

@@valeriesyposz Thank you!

[@dravnr88]

Is your ink water based? I've tryed this tecquinque but i failed and i don't undertood where, i used olive oil, maybe this one?

[@valeriesyposz]

Olive oil isn’t the problem, I’ve tested it successfully. Ink needs to be oil-based and not easy clean up.

[@dravnr88]

@@valeriesyposz thank you very much, water based ink is the guilty 😅

[@nirajjoshi4742]

Sehr schön

[@valeriesyposz]

Thank you 😊

[@ediesedgwick4462]

I've always wondered, Is it not possible to use a clean brayer, instead of a baren or spoon, to transfer the image, please?

[@valeriesyposz]

In theory, yes. In practice, there will be some difficulty in getting enough pressure. If your image is simple and bold and you print with a loosened ink on a thin paper, it might be fine.

[@ediesedgwick4462]

@@valeriesyposz Thank you so much! 🤗

[@kstutz230]

Is gum Arabic needed? What does it do?

[@valeriesyposz]

For ball grained plate- yes. Aluminum foil- you can get by with just cola. Helps keep the non-drawn areas hydrophilic/not accepting grease so the ink doesn’t stick there.

[@patriciazamora512]

Alguien sabe el nombre del papel que usa?

[@valeriesyposz]

Gampi paper. Es un papel de Japon.

[@ParulBhagatDancechoreo]

Which chemical have you used

[@valeriesyposz]

Coca Cola

[@123tobiiboii123]

Hi! you seem to have a lot of experience with this technique and there isn't a lot of info out there. I'm having issues with ink rolling onto the non-image area and once it starts it's kind of hard to stop. I'm trying to diagnose the issue without buying a bunch of stuff. I see you are using arabic gum and assume it's to make the non-image area even more hydrophilic, it seems like some do and some don't. Do you find it a necessity? I am also using etching ink because it's what I have available but although nice and stiff it's very tacky so I'm wondering if that's the issue, I've tried to loosen with some drops of gamsol but don't know if I should just look for new ink, get arabic gum, get tack reducer or talc or what. So many elements at play and I'm trying to filter the wheat from the chaff. Sorry if this is a bit unclear but just wondering if I could get your experienced insight. Determined to use this great technique!

[@valeriesyposz]

Quick question- are you asking about ball-grained aluminum plates or kitchens aluminum foil?

[@123tobiiboii123]

​@@valeriesyposz Sorry, yes foil. I've been trying to get success with kitchen lithography but there are a lot of variables to figure, I've gotten it to "work" but I really want to get that flawless inking I see you and ArtBahar have. I'm also thinking if I should need distilled water or anything too and not tap as I know hardness matters in commercial offset

[@valeriesyposz]

@@123tobiiboii123 Thanks! And yes, there are a lot of variables. I use litho ink which is also very tacky, so I wouldn’t think that would be the problem. You can loosen ink a bit to get it to print darker, but tacky ink shouldn’t be the cause for scumming. Often it’s a case of the foil/side of foil you print on. Testing multiple brands and shiny/dull might lead you to the best choice. Also, if your drawing materials are too greasy, sometimes that leads to unwanted ink picking up, as well as filling in. Gum isn’t necessary if you’re printing soon after but I use it so I have more time flexibility.

[@123tobiiboii123]

@@valeriesyposz Scumming, yes great word and will help me troubleshoot, I've also recently found the tamarind book of lithography and will start improving my general understanding. I appreciate you helping and giving me direction. Time to experiment!

[@valeriesyposz]

@@123tobiiboii123 The Tamarind book is my go-to❤️

[@prettynoose8497]

I guess I still don't fully understand lithography. Why don't you just screen-print instead?

[@valeriesyposz]

It’s akin to asking someone who paints in watercolour why they don’t use oil paint instead. While there is some correlation, the resulting aesthetics are completely different. Screen print is great in the way it is very fast and versatile to print on a variety of materials. I, personally, just prefer lithography.

[@zacharydutcher3586]

NaOH

[@doveseye.4666]

Why do we get 10 minutes of work and then when your done we get 5 seconds to see the result, are you not confident enough to give us a couple minutes to see the end result so infuriating, nice picture though.

[@Paul-uc8vn]

Just a thought but you could just press pause.

[@the25thprime]

This is a tutorial

[@doveseye.4666]

@@the25thprime yes yes it is, but that is what all the careful listening and watching is for, the end result is how we witness what we just saw, done being smart?

[@-Luka-Brazi]

Seems like a lot of work…with dubious results. Not sure I see the advantage (to pens and brush)…and none of you people ever offer any explanation of an advantage.

[@theshoreclose3525]

The advantage is obvious. You can make several identical prints (even hundreds) from one plate. Can you do that with pen and ink?

[@allangibson8494]

This was how images in books and newspapers were created until the 1850’s when the photographic reproduction variation of this method replaced it.

[@shannonpalmer]

Why does anyone have to give you an explanation of anything? Some people are printmakers. They enjoy it and find it rewarding. Literally no one cares if you don’t want to do it.

[@downtime86stars17]

That is a very snobbish comment. The ability to make reproductions of their artwork has been used for hundreds of years by artists all over the world. Durer, Rembrandt, Hokusai, Turner, Chagall, Whistler, Matisse, and so many more made prints. Rivera, Toulouse Lautrec, Manet, and Picasso were known for their lithographs.