Litho portfolio • Tracy Dudley

What is a Lithograph?

Lithography is alchemy.* The idea sounds simple enough: oil and water don’t mix. “Chemical printing” so named in 1798 by its inventor Alois Senefeler, starts with a drawing in greasy ink on fine-grained Bavarian limestone or an aluminum plate. The initial drawing is fixed with a mixture of gum and acid. Then the original drawing is replaced by asphaltum, a greasy substance that is much more receptive to printing ink. The plate is rolled with ink over the entire surface of the plate but the ink adheres only where the drawing was and does not come off the roller on to the wet area of the stone. The plate is then run through a press, creating the print. Each impression requires wetting the plate, inking the image with a roller, and running the plate through the press. Each color requires a new etching and the process is repeated. I use aluminum plates for my lithographs mainly because of the expense and lack of availability of the stones. I sometimes combine other mediums with my lithographs creating mixed-media pieces.

These prints are pulled at the Hui Noeau print studio in Makawao, Maui. BFK Rives or Arches Cover paper.

*quote by Dr. Carol Pulin, Director American Print Alliance

Sample Certificate of Authenticity