Lithography
石版画/リトグラフ / 1796– / Technique / Planographic Printing
Uses the repulsion of oil and water to reproduce crayon and tusche drawing from stone or plate, keeping all the softness of the hand.

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At a glance
Visual cues
- Greasy crayon
- Stone or metal plate
- Painterly tone
- Multicolor overprinting
Best used for
- 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
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Dictionary entry
- Type
- Draw the lettering onto the stone by hand instead of setting type
- Composition
- Split areas and lines between plates, planning for colors to overprint
- Material
- Greasy crayon or tusche on stone, tone held by oil against water
- Caution
- 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.
- Further study
- Alois Senefelder / tusche / Toulouse-Lautrec / offset lithography
Related entries
- Plakatstil / Sachplakat (プラカートシュティール/即物ポスター)Shared effects: Nostalgia.Compare Lithography and Plakatstil / Sachplakat
- Etching (エッチング/腐食銅版画)Shared effects: Luxury.Compare Lithography and Etching
Often confused with
More from Planographic Printing
Continue through styles in the same Planographic Printing family, prioritised by shared effects.
- Chromolithography (多色石版)Shared effects: Luxury / Nostalgia.
Browse all Planographic Printing entries
Cite this entry
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- Link
- https://indexstyle.org/styles/lithography
- Markdown
- [Lithography — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/lithography)
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- <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/lithography">Lithography — IndexStyle</a>