Chromolithography vs Lithography
多色石版 / 石版画／リトグラフ
Both sit in Planographic Printing, so the question is not what they belong to but how they behave. Both are read here as technique. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.
Chromolithography
.jpg)
Multicolor printing in which a separate lithographic stone is prepared for each color and the stones are overlaid in exact register. A dozen or more stones built up an intensity like oil paint and sent reproductions, labels, posters and cards into the world in quantity. The popularization of color printing begins here.
Lithography
%20Moulin-rouge.%20La%20Goulue%20et%20Valentin%20le%20desoss%C3%A9%20-%20Toulouse-Lautrec%201891%20-%20Inv.138.jpg)
%20Bal%20au%20Moulin%20Rouge%20place%20Blanche%201889%20-%20Jules%20Ch%C3%A9ret.jpg)
Uses the repulsion of oil and water to reproduce crayon and tusche drawing from stone or plate, keeping all the softness of the hand.
| Chromolithography | Lithography | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 1830s–1930s | 1796– |
| Family | Planographic Printing | Planographic Printing |
| Kind | Technique | Technique |
| Cues | Dense color built from a dozen or more stones / Slight misregister between the stones / Flat solids used together with stipple / Border ornament used together with gold | Greasy crayon / Stone or metal plate / Painterly tone / Multicolor overprinting |
| Best used for | Using the sheer number of colors as a sign of richness · Leaving the history of the printing process visible | Limited editions and art books that must keep the touch of crayon and charcoal · Large posters that need rich tone from a small number of colors |
| Type | Treat the decorative display face at the same density as the border ornament. | Draw the lettering onto the stone by hand instead of setting type |
| Composition | Enclose the sheet in a border and set the main image at the center. | Split areas and lines between plates, planning for colors to overprint |
| Material | Combine thick color from overlaid stones with gold at key points. | Greasy crayon or tusche on stone, tone held by oil against water |
| Caution | More colors do not make it richer. The order of the stones and the register decide the result. | Pencil texture is not it, and neglecting density control crushes the tone into a merely blurred image. Learn how oil against water, the stone, damping, the roller and overprinted plates shape line and color. |