On Computer “Engraving” “Russian Bookplate Journal”

The uniformity of an artist’s feelings, the uniformity of the intonation of the artist’s voice, the uniformity of artistic techniques, leads to a sense of monotony in creative work. Today, computer graphics in the visual arts is leading us toward this.

One may pronounce the word “print,” meaning an impression, many times, but each time something different may be understood by this word. In the first case- it may be printing at a printing house, in a large print run, the so-called offset printing. In the second - it may be printer output, i.e. reproduction from a computer by means of a printer. In the third case - printing in a printmaking workshop, or in the artist’s creative studio.

In the first case, there are specific technological processes for preparing the printing plate and printing. Depending on the principles of printing, there are offset and relief methods of printing an image. In commercial printing, original plates are made that are only copies of the originals. Commercial printing requires certain qualifications in producing an impression, as well as processing, adjusting and making ready the plate, and preliminary proof printing.

The second type of printing is less exacting. The result is determined by visual material that has been scanned or “successfully” refined on a computer. This concerns programs such as “Adobe,” “Corel,” etc. In terms of the technology- the image is either scanned, with subsequent refinement, or created in the above-mentioned programs. It is then saved on storage media and reproduced by means of a printer. If the result is unsuccessful, the artist can always return to the initial version saved on the computer and resume the work anew. The method is simple and accessible to everyone who has knowledge of and experience with graphics programs.

The most polyphonic and multifaceted method of printing is reproduction in a creative studio. The so-called individual, artist’s impression. Here, great successes and results can be achieved.

Fine-art printing is divided into three types:

1 Relief, or raised-surface printing - when the image is impressed onto paper from the elevated, projecting areas of the printing plate (in woodcut, linocut, and plastic engraving).

2 Planographic printing-an impression from a flat, even surface of the printing plate (in lithography).

3 Intaglio printing-the image is impressed from the recessed areas of the printing plate (in etching).

Each graphic technique is generally associated with one particular type of printing. There are such professional definitions as “intaglio printing technique,” “planographic printing technique,” and “relief printing technique.” Each type of printing, each graphic technique, imparts entirely distinctive, unique artistic merits to a work. In his creative work, the artist uses every means to reveal and emphasize the characteristic graphic techniques or, as they are called, “manners”: the manner of etching, the manner of lithography, etc. In his activity, the creator constantly expands the range of visual means for the creation of a work of art.

In addition to engraving techniques, it is necessary to know and observe all the processes involved in making an impression. These include soaking the paper, rolling ink onto or dabbing ink into the plate, heating and applying pressure to the plate, drying and trimming the impression. It is necessary to master this difficult “print,” impression after impression, which cannot be said of a single print key on a computer keyboard.

After what has been said, it is impossible to treat equally a printed work produced magically by the creator, by his hands, by his soul, and one produced by a programmed printer. It is reminiscent of a comparison: classical music and “pop.” But they never take part in the same competitions and categories.

For a graphic artist, the printing process is as important a stage as sketching and engraving. In etching, perhaps more than in any other technique, the printing process is of decisive importance. The artist carefully monitors the quality of each impression, selects and signs them, and releases only the best sheets from the edition. All copies in the artist’s edition are originals; all possess the value of an original, all retain the essential qualities of the work, and they are never absolutely identical. In each new impression, the artist can alter the shade of the paper or ink, weaken or intensify the entire etching or individual details of it. The number of possible impressions (the edition size) depends on the material of the printing plate and on the method by which it was made (the manner). Each manner of etching has reasonable limits on the edition size, and the etcher stops printing as soon as the printing plate begins to wear. Impressions from a worn plate produce a clearly unsatisfactory result. The engraving and the edition may be discredited in the eyes of professionals.

The most important thing is not to lose contact with the plate, whether in intaglio or relief printing. Whether it is a black-and-white or a color engraving. The creator’s print must be handmade and original.

Let us consider the process of engraving a “block”; whether it is wood, i.e. a woodcut, or copper or zinc, i.e. an etching. Working on a piece is magic, a sacrament, quite apart from the large share of necessary craftsmanship. The “block” must be sanded, polished, and grounded. A mirror-image drawing must be applied to it “in reverse.” From time to time, the composition must be checked using a mirror. And only the first proof impression reveals whether the image, refinements and cleaning are correct. Then comes the choice of color, the preparation of the ink and the long-awaited printing. This is the final, nerve-racking and, at the same time, festive stage. At this moment, a unique work may appear, literally realized in only a single copy. A copy that is one of a kind thanks to the individual characteristics of the master and his vision. Thanks to His Majesty Chance. But this is no longer an edition. It is an exhibition or competition copy, endowed with a particular state and theme.

This process can in no way be considered on equal terms with a computer image, and, consequently, manual and electronic printing cannot participate together in the same competitions. They are different weight classes.

There is no desire whatsoever to diminish the role of the computer. Its capabilities and role are indispensable in graphic design, in work on type and in compositional explorations. Today, this assistance is also present in work on handwritten lettering, but that is another subject.

At present, computer programs are not yet able to perform tasks from the realm of the visual arts, from the realm of the subconscious and emotional, because commands are given to the keys very consciously, while the circuit boards are not yet so sophisticated.

But this is only one part of the problems. In the modern world, electronics is developing at an unprecedented pace. There is a computer in almost every home. Thanks to the computer - the Internet. This is another window onto the world, another window onto information, but also another window onto compilation and plagiarism. A host of computer “artists,” having armed themselves with the achievements of electronic programs, have turned to computer graphics, believing that anyone can move a mouse by hand and achieve outstanding results. This, nevertheless, is not engraving. At the same time, they fail to take into account that talent, heart and personality underlie any creative process. The artist must study the laws of composition and understand that only a harmonious combination of elements on the plane, the plasticity of lines and contrast determine the entire structure of the composition. Clarity of the image and the absence of “overloading” are indispensable requirements for any composition, especially for small-format graphic art.

In my view, computer “artists” have a great deal of self-expression, pretensions to computer mastery, and an absence of the emotional experiences and creative flight characteristic of the author of a work. As a rule, the human being is absent from computer images. There is an environment, there are textures, colors, and tonal relationships. But depictions of the face or figure are very rare, highly problematic, and appear in the form of stylization or grotesque. Yet one also wants to see the “Girl with Peaches.” Apparently, computer graphics, by virtue of its present-day capabilities, is destined to be abstract.

As a rule, computer bookplates imitate various types of graphic techniques and “impose” upon the form artistic tasks alien to its nature. We see pseudo-etching, with its tonal richness, pseudo-relief printing with color gradations, and magnificent type from program libraries. But in all this there are no emotional experiences or irregularities. Everything is correct and sterile. The absence of these possibilities does not allow the artist’s individual qualities to develop. The graphic language of every artist must be individual, unique and distinctive. To become inimitable is an enormous task even with a large arsenal of means, techniques and other components. No computer can take the observations expressed here into account. What is needed is a creator who is educated, talented and bold.

In conclusion - as a result of these reflections, I want to say that competition programs should be structured as the subject or technique prescribes. Places should be awarded among equal techniques. To divide places between etching and computer, woodcut and computer - is absurd. If we are speaking of graphic art, of engraving, then such competitions should encourage the creator’s mastery, his thought, composition, engraving and hand printing. They should determine the place of a work in the visual sequence of art, and not in the computer - “print.”