Graphic Arts: Definition, History, Types, Characteristics, Comparisons and Examples of Graphic Arts

Graphic Arts: Definition, History, Types, Characteristics, Comparisons and Examples of Graphic Arts – Hello guys, do you know Graphic Arts? On this occasion About the knowledge.co.id will discuss what it is Graphic Arts and other elements about it. Let's look at the discussion together in the article below to better understand it.

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Graphic Arts: Definition, History, Types, Characteristics, Comparisons and Examples of Graphic Arts

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It is true that there are many kinds of pure art, one of which is very well known is graphic art. This art is related to the world of drawing. For those of you who like to draw, pursuing this type of pure art is actually very exciting. Especially now that the digital world understands the term graphic design which can be turned into a fairly profitable business.

But before you think too much about a business that uses graphic art methods, it would be a good idea for you to know about many things about this one art. At least you have to recognize the meaning of graphic art and its types. In the following, some meaningful data related to graphic design will be presented. So that you can recognize many things about this type of art. The more you understand this art, the easier it will be for you to apply it or even use it as a business field.

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Definition of Graphic Arts

Graphic art is a 2-size art that is created through the printing method. For example: screen printing (silkscreen), high printing (a kind of stamp), flat printing (lithography), etc. The essence of printmaking is to make prints that can be used to transfer photos from prints to work media (eg paper). Etymologically, graphics comes from the Greek word "graphein" which means to write or draw (Susanto, 2002:47). Graphics in English are graphs or graphics which mean writing, painting by incising or scratching.

The word "graphics" may sound like the term "photo" in "graphic design", but "graphics" is defined here as the art of manual printing without a printing press. Even though the printing press is a more advanced technology nowadays, manual graphic printing is still being used. The reason could be purely due to an artist's aesthetic choice in choosing methods and media. It could also be because manual graphic printing methods are indeed more effective than printing machines, considering that printing machines are only used efficiently in industrial-class large-scale production.

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History of Printmaking

There are 2 opinions regarding the beginning of this art in the world. First, tracing the findings of the oldest graphic printing art found in the east of the world, to be precise in China. In that country graphic art is used to reproduce religious writings. These religious texts are engraved or engraved on wood, after which they are printed on paper. China has been manufacturing paper and mass-producing it since 105 under the Yi Dynasty. The invention of paper is the key to the rapid growth of this art.

Graphic artworks using woodcut media are also commonly found in other eastern countries such as Japan and Korea. The Romans also understood this method, which was used to decorate robes with stamp printing, but its development has been stagnant. The graphic printing method did not grow in the West because the Europeans at that time did not understand paper yet. New graphic methods grew in Europe in the 13th century, with the invention of the printing press by Guttenberg and the establishment of early paper mills in Italy.

Second Opinion, Printmaking has emerged from ancient times with the discovery of handprints in prehistoric caves, located in Sulawesi. Even though they haven't used the latest printing methods, the essence of graphic art is still there, namely transferring photos from hand-shaped prints.

• The Growth of Graphic Arts in Indonesia

Initially, graphic arts in Indonesia were an alternative medium, apart from painting and sculpting, for pure artists. Graphic arts only emerged in Indonesia in the 1950s. After that the graphic printing method also began to be widely used in applied arts to make struggle posters.

Important figures in graphic arts from Indonesia are Suromo and Abdul Salam from Yogyakarta. After that there were also Baharudin Marasutan from Jakarta and Mochtar Apin from Bandung.

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Types of Graphic Arts

There are 7 types of graphic art that are common in the world. These seven types are distinguished based on the printing method used in the manufacturing process. These seven methods are stencil printing, screen printing, basic printing, colography, inside printing, image printing, and large printing.

The following is a complete discussion of some of these printing methods:

• Print Filter (Silkscreen)

Screen printing is also known as screen printing, generally used in making posters, banners or photos on t-shirts. In using this method, screen printers usually use prints made of a flexible, elastic, and smooth material such as gauze. Printmaking artists who commonly use this method are: Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Joseph Albert.

• Flat Printing (Lithography)

Etymologically, the word lithography comes from the Greek, namely Lithos and graphein. Lithos means stone and graphein means writing. Thus, it can be said that lithography is the art of printing written on stone. To use this method, the artist usually creates motifs in rock (usually limestone which is a bit easier to work with), after they smear it with dye, and then put the printed media (usually paper) onto the carving that has been dyed the. Artists who use this method are Pablo Picasso, Odilon Redon, Joan Miro, and others.

• High Print (Woodcut)

The woodcut method is also known as embossing. This method is used to emboss photos on the surface of the print media. If you want to identify examples of objects that use large print, you can see the stamp. At the base of the stamp always has a part that has been embossed. This section will later be where the ink will be placed which will be emphasized on the paper. The well-known media for protruding prints are generally made from hard but easy to build, such as wood, iron, rubber, metal, plywood and so on.

The high printing method which is considered to have a very high artistic value is the woodcut method which was discovered in the 14th century by Egyptian Copts. Generally this method is used to make motifs on woven fabrics by Europeans. One of the popular artists in the field of high print is Johannes Guttenberg.

• Print In (Intaglio)

The intaglio method is a graphic art method in which the method of making is in the form of incising or inscribing a motif onto a metal plate with a blunt object. The main medium for describing motifs here is metal plates, which can be copper, iron, zinc, brass, aluminum and so on.

This method has several sub-techniques, namely:

• • Engraving

This method uses burin as the main equipment for using the method and uses metal as the medium. The method of manufacture is to engrave metal using burin. After the carving is finished, apply paint to all metal surfaces, after which the paint is cleaned until only the part that is carved remains. After that, the carvings that still have paint are pressed onto printed media such as paper or cloth to obtain the carving motifs.

• • Etching

Etching, also known as etching, is a deep printing method that uses copper as the engraving medium. The way this method works is actually quite easy, namely by covering all copper surfaces with paraffin. After that, the surface of the paraffin is etched using sharp etching pins until the copper surface is exposed.

After the copper surface is also scratched, soak all metal surfaces with acidic liquid so that corrosion occurs on the scratched surface. After corrosion occurs, rinse off all the paraffin then print it onto paper media by pressing it with great pressure.

• • Mezzotint

This method uses a special tool called a rocker. The way it works is by scraping the metal surface and leaving a bright black impression, the image must also be made aggressive in several parts. This method is generally used for printing images.

• • drypoint

This method is actually almost the same as engraving, namely by making an engraving on a metal surface. It's just that what is used for carving is sharp tools and not burin. The artist who presented this method was a German artist with the nickname Housebook Master in the 15th century AD.

• Printing photos

This method can be regarded as a modern method and uses a camera to take printed photos. This photographic process includes washing the film as well as printing the image. It's just that, this method has now turned into printing with automatic equipment and it's not very often that people use the image printing method to print images.

• Chollography

The way this method works is by placing the printed motif on the bottom of the paper, after which the paper is painted or shaded using a pencil with emphasis. After that, the paper is removed from the mold and will create photo objects that arise and the non-illustrated parts will be concave.

• Stencil Print

The way the stencil printing method works is by cutting the paper according to the desired motif, then pasting it onto the print media. After finishing pasting, the printed media will be painted or sprayed with spray paint. After the paint is dry, the paper will be removed leaving the motif on the printed media.

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Characteristics of Graphic Arts

Graphic arts is a branch of fine arts in which the process of making their works uses the printing method. Generally the result of graphic artwork on paper. Except for the monotype method, the process can produce a large number of copies of works. This is what is called the printing process. Graphic art prints are made on a surface called a plate. The plates that become the printing media include wooden boards, metal plates, acrylic glass sheets, linoleum sheets or lithographic stones. Another form of printmaking is called art or screen-printing, which uses sheets of porous fabric stretched over a framework.

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Comparison of Graphic Arts And Graphic Design

The difference between graphic art and graphic design. Here are the differences:

Graphic Arts :

• Pure art
• Manuals
• Original there is a limit of repetition of works
• There is freedom to work

Graphic design:

• Art of use (applied art)
• With the help of machines
• Can be repeated many times so that it can produce
• Made to order (consumptive product)

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Example of graphic art

Reporting from the Art Encyclopedia, the main types of classical graphic arts are drawing, including:

• Cartoon
• Caricature
• Animated Novels
• Line photo
• Sketch (with pencil, charcoal, pen or ink)

Although it is a type of visual art, based on its application, works of graphic art can also be classified as:

• Applied art when design oriented.
• Fine art when it stands alone.

Thus the review from About the knowledge.co.id about Graphic Arts, hopefully can add to your insight and knowledge. Thank you for visiting and don't forget to read other articles.