London Original Print Fair at the Royal Academy of Arts until 6th May

I'd completely forgotten that it's the London Original Print Fair at the Royal Academy of Arts this week.

London Print Fair at the Royal Academy of Arts 3-6 May 2018

The 33rd London Original Print Fair started yesterday. The Fair is held in the Main Galleries at the RA (the ones they use for the Summer Exhibition).

This is the Exhibition Guide
There are also several events during the course of the Fair.
So, for example, this is a Printing Demonstration: Hokusai's Great Wave

Printmaking Explained

It's worth noting that Helen Rosslyn a prints and drawings specialist and a Director and the Organiser of the London Original Print Fair is the author of new book called A Buyer's Guide to Prints published by the RA - new edition Sept. 2018
( I wonder why she didn't have it published in time for this Print Fair. )

Here for those who know rather less than they'd like to about original fine art prints (i.e. they're not made using the giclee process) is some information courtesy of their website - in a section called Printmaking explained. There's lots more on the website including some great examples of that particular type of print available at the Fair. plus videos about some of the processes.

If you click the links below you'll see I'm a big fan of dry point and engravings but tend to buy linoprints - and this is mainly because I can't possibly afford the prints I do want to buy!

• Monotype Explained

The image is drawn or painted onto a smooth, non-absorbent surface. Paper is pressed against the image, usually with a printing press, to create a one-off image. Most of the ink is removed during the process, so it cannot be repeated. Therefore, a monotype is always unique.

• Etching Explained

The plate is covered in an acid-resistant layer of wax called an etching ground. The image is then drawn into this surface with an etching needle. The plate is immersed in an acid bath until the acid has bitten into the drawn lines. The ground is removed and the plate is inked and printed as with an engraving.

Here's hoping your view today is on a par with David Hockney RA's 'Rue de Seine' in Paris. It will be one of the many original works by old and modern masters available to buy at @Londonprintfair, 3 - 6 May at the Royal Academy: https://t.co/uqCrCpT7EY pic.twitter.com/yRrC1iWX8J

— Royal Academy (@royalacademy) April 25, 2018

• Drypoint Explained

As in an engraving, the drypoint needle draws the image directly onto the plate. The residue copper is left on the side of the etched lines, which then collects the ink, creating a furry effect called burr.

• Everything you've ever wanted to know about lithography

Lithography is a chemical process based on the fact that water and grease repel each other. Traditionally the design is drawn with a greasy crayon onto a lithographic stone, hence the name, from the Greek ‘lithos’ meaning stone. The stone is dampened with water, which is repelled by the crayon. It is then inked with a grease-based ink, which is repelled by the water and adheres only to the areas covered by the greasy crayon. A sheet of paper is placed on top of it and the two are passed through the press together, so that the design transfers directly onto the paper.

• Everything you've ever wanted to know about screenprint

Screenprint, also known as silkscreen or serigraphy, is a stencil-based printmaking technique in which fabric, originally silk, is stretched across a wooden frame to create a screen. Areas around the image are blocked out as in a stencil and a tool called a squeegee is then used to press ink through the unblocked areas of the screen onto paper. The process is repeated for each different element of the image. Excerpt from Helen Rosslyn's A Buyer's Guide to Prints

• Engraving

The image is engraved directly onto a metal plate, usually made of copper, with a sharp tool called a burin. The plate is inked and wiped clean, before being passed through a printing press.

• Woodcut

Woodcut is a relief printing process in which the areas around the image to be printed are cut away from a wooden block, leaving the image in relief.

All about woodcut from London Original Print Fair on Vimeo.
LOPF goes behind the scenes at Paupers Press to show you how a woodcut is made. Paupers are printing Grayson Perry RA's 'Reclining Artist' published by Paragon in 2017.

• Linocut

Linocut is a relief printmaking process in which the areas around the image to be printed are cut away from a sheet of linoleum, leaving the image on linoleum in relief. The raised areas are then inked and the image transferred onto a second surface, usually paper. Linoleum is a malleable surface that is easier to cut into than wood or metal, allowing artists to create more subtle variations and effects.

‘I find linocut to be rewardingly straightforward and I love
the fact that it is so low tech – especially if printed by hand.’ Eileen Cooper RA quoted in A Buyer's Guide to Prints. Hear Eileen's artist's talk at #LOPF at 12noon Thursday @royalacademy https://t.co/7Sb7bQRfZ7 pic.twitter.com/y1go8ze0BN

— London Print Fair (@Londonprintfair) May 1, 2018

Exhibitors

The Fair hosts 50 of the world's top international specialist dealers, galleries and print publishers.  A number of exhibitors are new this year. Exhibitors include

• Advanced Graphics London
• arts, -tis, f., Germany
• Artchina Ltd
• Aspinwall Editions, New York Emanuel von Baeyer – London Gallery Boisserée Colgone/Germany Brook Gallery Ltd 
• CCA Galleries and Worton Hall Studios Gordon Cooke
• Dreipunkt Edition, Germany
• Durham Press, USA 
• Eames Fine Art Andrew Edmunds Enitharmon Editions Flowers Gallery 
• GBS Fine Art
• Gerrish Fine Art
• Gilden’s Arts Gallery
• Glasgow Print Studio
• Hanga Ten – Contemporary Japanese Prints Peter Harrington Gallery
• Elizabeth Harvey-Lee
• Gwen Hughes Fine Art
• Lyndsey Ingram 
• Bernard Jacobson
• Jealous
• Jennings Fine Art
• Galerie Lelong Editions, Paris Long & Ryle 
• Marlborough Graphics Martinez D., Paris Moritaka, Japan Osborne Samuel Julian Page 
• Paragon
• Paupers Press
• Polígrafa Obra Gràfica, Spain
• Pratt Contemporary | Pratt Editions Rabley Contemporary Gallery
• The Redfern Gallery
• Royal Academy of Arts
• Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Sarah Sauvin, France
• Karsten Schubert
• Stoney Road Press, Ireland
• TAG Fine Arts
• Greville Worthington
• Zuleika Gallery