ArtFire

Hand-pulled, two color lithography by Ren Adams Art.

A stylized Chinese landscape features a figurative, imaginative version of Wu Shu mountain--cornerstone of Taoist thought and cultivation.

The Emperor (almost lost among wild trees and grasses) has made a long journey to view this rugged peak. As he pauses to absorb the great mountain's rocky face, he realizes this was not a journey of the feet, but travel of the enlightened mind.

Tusche wash done with traditional Chinese brush painting techniques.

This hand-pulled, 2-color lithograph was printed on fine, delicate light brown Chinese rice paper, which includes random embedded wood and plant fragments. There is a very light cream flat of color behind the tusche wash, which is nice and subtle.

One of a kind. Artist's Proof. Signed, titled, editioned on the back.


8 1/4" x 12". (21 cm x 30.5 cm).


What is a lithograph?

Lithography is a planographic form of printmaking developed during the late 18th century. It relies on a basic property of matter that we're all familiar with--oil and water repel each other. Traditional lithography is done on a special kind of Bavarian limestone, carefully grained so that the surface is ultra-smooth like fine porcelain. An image is drawn or painted onto the stone using greasy materials (in this case I used what is called "Tusche" for Tusche washes, which are similar in some ways to Chinese brush painting inks).

The surface of the limestone is specially sensitized using processes which include natural rosin, talc, nitric acid, and gum arabic. The result is an image and surface on stone which has areas that attract and repel oil-based ink.

This complicated process concludes when the artist runs the stone and paper, with ink, through a lithographic press which applies more than 2 tons of pressure.

Hand-pulled lithographs take a lot of strength, energy, delicacy, and devotion to produce.

You may have heard the term "lithography" applied to a form if 4-color process printing. Offset lithography is indeed similar, and is the direct descendant of old-school lithographic techniques. However, offset lithography is more like inkjet printing in speed and automation.

The process I used to create this stone was NOT offset lithography. Many hours of work went into the preparation of the stone surface, the etching of the stone, and printing by hand.

The second image shows the lithograph press I used. The third image shows the stone this image was developed on, after being grained (or sanded) for several hours. The fourth image shows the same stone with its previous painted image (I will also be offering that image in my Etsy shop).

Signed, titled, dated on the back.

rice paper, oil based ink