Lithographs

Lithography is the most common form of print production. A metal plate with a completely smooth surface is used. Oil/fat or gum Arabic is used to divide the surface into hydrophobic regions that accept the ink, and hydrophilic regions that reject it and thus become the background. Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image, thus when the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the hydrophobic regions and the water will clean the hydrophilic regions. This allows a flat print plate to be used enabling longer print runs than etching.

Lithography has been a popular method for artists since the 1820s, when artists such as Delacroix,Gericault and Goya took it up. Other artists to use lithography to make most of their prints include Tououse-Lautrec, Picasso and David Hockney.