2.3: Printmaking
1. Which of the following is a printmaking process?
a. intaglio d. intonaco
b. glazing e. arriccio
c. scumbling
2. When a printmaker rolls ink onto a raised surface and presses a piece of paper onto it, the resulting
image on the paper is known as ________.
a. a batten d. a buzz up
b. an edition e. an impasto
c. an impression
3. Images were first reproduced by printmaking in this ancient culture.
a. Mesopotamia d. India
b. Greece e. Japan
c. Rome
4. The earliest existing printed artworks on paper were created in this culture.
a. Rome d. Greece
b. Mesopotamia e. China
c. Egypt
5. This type of printmaking is done by carving away part of a block in order to leave a raised surface
that can be inked and printed.
a. lithography d. silkscreen
b. mezzotint e. relief
c. etching
6. A relief print created out of a solid wood block is called ________.
a. a woodcut d. an intarsia
b. a linocut e. a planograph
c. a woodograph
7. If you were to carve away the surface of a woodblock, removing the shape of a star, then ink the
block and make a print, you would be left with a negative star shape on the paper.
8. For his print Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Dürer hired expert craftsmen to
________.
a. market the prints
b. make the paper for the print
c. interpret the Book of Revelations
d. manufacture the ink
e. create the block and cut the lines into it
9. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries there were many masters of woodblock printing in
this country, whose work reflected the lifestyle of an urban cultural class.
a. United States d. Japan
b. Austria e. Siam
c. France
10. This style of printmaking means “pictures of the floating world” and was practiced by the Japanese
artist Kitagawa Utamaro.
a. ukiyo-e d. planography
b. mezzotint e. Expressionism
c. fan printing
11. If an artist were to create a woodblock print with three different colors, how many separate relief
blocks would he or she need?
a. one d. four
b. two e. five
c. three
12. This twentieth-century German artist used the natural grain and splintering of the woodblock to
make his work Prophet more expressive.
a. Emil Nolde d. Kitagawa Utamaro
b. Albrecht Dürer e. Katsushika Hokusai
c. Dox Thrash
13. To create a color woodblock, such as Hokusai’s famous “The Great Wave off Shore at
Kanagawa,” a printer must produce a new ________ for each separate color.
a. style d. design
b. piece of paper e. medium
c. relief block
Art
14. A relief print created out of a sheet of linoleum is called ________.
a. a woodcut d. an intarsia
b. a linocut e. a planography
c. a linograph
15. This contemporary artist, who once created album covers for the rock band Radiohead, used the
softness of linoleum to depict the fictional destruction of Los Angeles.
a. Kitagawa Utamaro d. Stanley Donwood
b. Albrecht Dürer e. Katsushika Hokusai
c. Dox Thrash
16. This term for plate printmaking means “cut into” in Italian.
a. intaglio d. sgraffito
b. impasto e. graffiti
c. intermezzo
17. This printmaking tool is a sharp instrument used to mark the surface of a plate.
a. register d. screen
b. palette knife e. burin
c. levigator
18. This intaglio printing process involves carefully and cleanly scoring a metal plate.
a. mezzotint d. engraving
b. drypoint e. aquatint
c. etching
19. One advantage of using a metal plate over a woodblock for printmaking is that it ________.
a. creates a more textured surface d. is longer lasting
b. is a softer material to cut e. is more pliable
c. reacts better to acids
20. This intaglio process is achieved by pulling a burin across the surface of a metal plate, leaving a
burr where the ink will collect.
a. drypoint d. aquatint
b. engraving e. mezzotint
c. etching
21. If an artist wants to create a print with very fine detail and precise, even lines, drypoint would be a
good method to use.
22. This intaglio process employs acid to mar the surface of a metal plate.
a. engraving d. linocut
b. etching e. mezzotint
c. drypoint
23. This seventeenth-century Dutch artist was a master of etching and used it to depict Adam and Eve
as well as other religious subjects.
a. Francisco Goya d. Rembrandt
b. Albrecht Dürer e. Dox Thrash
c. Max Beckmann
24. This intaglio process makes an image that resembles the effect created by water-based media, and
uses melted rosin to create an acid-resistant coating.
a. linocut d. drypoint
b. mezzotint e. aquatint
c. engraving
25. Compare the prints of Adam and Eve by Dürer, Beckmann, and Rembrandt (2.3.8, 2.3.9, and
2.3.10). Each uses a different intaglio method. Describe the visual differences between the images,
the technical differences between the processes, and explain why you think each artist chose that
particular method. How does each process affect the final image? What might the different
processes and artistic styles imply about the character of Adam and Eve?
26. The wash-like appearance of Goya’s print Giant was created using this process.
a. aquatint d. silkscreen
b. woodblock e. lithography
c. engraving
27. If an artist wanted to create a print that visually resembled brush-and-ink painting, ________
would be a good method to use.
a. engraving d. silkscreen
b. drypoint e. woodblock
c. aquatint
28. This Spanish artist created artworks in both print and paint that depict horrific events that
happened during the French occupation of Spain between 1808 and 1814.
a. Albrecht Dürer d. Max Beckmann
b. Pablo Picasso e. Rembrandt
c. Francisco Goya
29. This intaglio process is achieved by roughening the entire metal plate surface with a rocking tool,
then smoothing the areas where the ink is to be wiped away.
a. mezzotint d. engraving
b. etching e. drypoint
c. aquatint
30. The African-American artist Dox Thrash wanted to use dark, rich tones to reflect the somber mood
of the nation during World War II in this mezzotint from c. 1941.
a. Defense Worker d. Double Elvis
b. Adam and Eve e. Prophet
c. Giant
31. This US government program helped to create jobs for artists (and many other occupations) during
the Great Depression and World War II. It allowed African-American artist Dox Thrash and other
artists to use their art in support of the country. What was this extensive program called?
a. Peace Corps d. Americorps
b. Printer’s Guild e. Works Projects Administration
c. Conservation Corps
32. If an artist wanted to create an image of a bright moon in the night sky using mezzotint, he or she
should smooth the burrs on the surface of the plate for the area of the moon.
33. This type of printmaking is achieved by “collaging” materials to a surface that will later be inked
and printed to paper:
a. serigraphy d. constructography
b. woodcut e. mezzotint
c. collagraphy
34. This artist was most associated with the development of collagraphy, and was a longtime member
of the faculty at the University of Washington.
a. Glen Alps d. Dox Thrash
b. Rembrandt e. Stanley Donwood
c. Kitagawa Utamaro
35. This printmaking process means “stone writing” in Greek.
a. etching d. lithography
b. intaglio e. linocut
c. aquatint
36. In one of his lithographic images, this French artist depicted the aftermath of a violent incidence of
police brutality, where a family was killed in a case of mistaken identity.
a. Honoré Daumier d. Albrecht Dürer
b. Francisco Goya e. Andy Warhol
c. Rembrandt
37. This printmaking process is used for t-shirts, solar panels, and circuit boards.
a. mezzotint d. silkscreen
b. lithograph e. linocut
c. intaglio
38. Silkscreen printing uses a stencil process, and was first developed in ________ during the Sung
Dynasty.
a. China d. Russia
b. Germany e. Egypt
c. Japan
39. Why do you think that Andy Warhol chose the process of silkscreen printing to depict his subjects,
be they famous icons or humble cans of soup? Research silkscreen prints by Warhol. What does
the process he used add to the meaning of these artworks? Do you think that they would have been
as effective if they were paintings?
40. A group of prints that are identical and produced in a limited number is called ________.
a. a draw d. a ream
b. a pull e. an edition
c. a bite
41. This process can be used to create a unique printed image, and involves a clean plate of metal or
glass on which the artist carefully inks the image before printing.
a. monotype d. relief
b. mezzotint e. linocut
c. etching
42. This female artist practiced monotype printmaking and was a member of a group of abstract
painters called The Irascibles.
a. Mary Cassatt d. Kitagawa Utamaro
b. Kathy Strauss e. Andy Warhol
c. Hedda Sterne
43. This type of print can be made using any print process, but with the intention of creating a unique
image rather than an edition.
a. monoprint d. relief
b. intaglio e. etching
c. linocut
44. Which two printmaking methods did the artist Kathy Strauss combine to create her unique artwork
Kepler Underneath 1?
a. lithography d. monoprint
b. intaglio e. aquatint
c. silkscreen f. drypoint
45. if you wanted to create a poster that displayed exactly the same information, and could be
reproduced in thousands of copies, monoprinting would be a good process to use.
46. Printmakers Chicago, a commercial printing service, provides craftsmen who __________.
a. recreate original imagery in print form
b. find the right paper and surface appearance for the artwork
c. provide expertise on archival quality for long-lasting prints
d. do digital reproductions of original work
e. all of the other answers
Match the artwork with its medium:
a. mezzotint d. engraving
b. silkscreen e. aquatint
c. woodcut
47. Albrecht Dürer, Adam and Eve
48. Dox Thrash, Defense Worker
49. Andy Warhol, Four Marilyns
50. Francisco Goya, Giant
51. Kitagawa Utamaro, Lovers in an Upstairs Room
52. Printmaking is a process-oriented art form. The artist must be methodical and determined to get the
best results. Which of the processes discussed would allow the most spontaneity? Which seems the
most rigid and elaborate? Which process would you use to create a self-portrait that expresses your
personality? Why?