Train Lithograph

This is my another one of my attempts at recreating the look of a traditional process by digital means. For this one I imitated lithography and I really enjoyed it. I'll definitely have to use this process more often. Lithography is a method of printing that has been used since 1796 and is based on the principle that water and oil repel each other. To create a lithographic print you need to start out with a piece of Bavarian limestone (seriously, it has to be from Bavaria. Most other limestones just don't work) that has been made very smooth. An image is then drawn onto the stone with wax or another oily surface. The stone is afterwards treated in order for it to attract water more effectively. When printing, the stone is made wet. This water repels the oily ink that is used and the areas that were drawn on with wax (and therefore repel the water) attract the ink. This method is effective at accurately reproducing a wide variety of line qualities. For this train, I attempted to recreate the textures and lines that appear when a lithographic crayon is used to draw on the stone. Also, in lithography, each stone can print one color, however, unlike screen printing and relief printing, a variety of densities of color can be achieved. I limited the amount of colors used in this image to mimic the traditional printing method. Many of my favorite artists of the past used lithography including: A.M. Cassandre, Will Bradley , and Ludwig Hohlwein.