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A printing
process based on the antipathy of grease and water. The printing
elements used are limestone and aluminum or zinc plates, grained
to varying degrees of roughness. The image can be produced by
photochemical and transfer processes, or be drawn using
lithographic crayons and pencils, tusche, chalk, and various
grease, lacquer, or synthetic materials. The stone is then
washed with a solution, thus chemically producing
water-receptive non-printing areas and grease-receptive image
areas. The drawing grease is cleaned from the printing surface.
A roller bearing greasy printing ink is then rolled over the
surface, with the ink adhering only to drawn grease-receptive
image areas. Finally, paper is laid on top of the stone or
plate, which is passed through a lithography press for transfer.
Lithography is often described as a surface or planographic
printing process in order to distinguish it from the relief and
intaglio processes.
Lithography was
invented in 1798 in Solnhofen, Germany by Alois Senefelder. The
early history of lithography is dominated by great French
artists such as Daumier and Delacroix, and later by Degas,
Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Braque and Miro.
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