Agnes Tait1894 - 1981

Self Portrait1934

private collection11 1/2” x 9”lithograph

Skating in Central Park1934

Smithsonian American Art Museum33 3/4” x 48”oil on canvas

Child with Sailboat1928

private collection19 3/4” x 13”

watercolor

Claiborne Merchant1951

private collection24” x 20”watercolor

Jacques Cartier1951

private collection29 1/4” x 23 1/4”

oil on canvas

William McNulty1944

private collection13” x 10”

drawing with conti crayon

Raciadoc. 1974

private collection14” x 19”watercolor

Sailor Cats1941

private collectionsize unknown

lithograph

Dominique1937

private collection10” x 13”lithograph

The Survivorsc. 1941

private collection9 5/8” x 15 3/4”

lithograph

The Lithographic process

Lithography is the original form of surface printing and offered a new freedom to the artist or printer. The illustration could be drawn directly onto a highly polished chalky limestone block with special crayon pens. Drawing onto the stone was almost as natural an action as drawing onto paper. This photo gallery shows the lithographic process as it would have be used in the 1800s. Demonstrating the technique is Rew Hanks, Australian contemporary artist and printmaking teacher.

A greasy lithographic pencil is applied to a thick slab of limestone, the surface of which has been polished or 'grained'.

The image is then fixed to the stone using a weak solution of nitric acid and gum arabic. The image is then washed out with turpentine.

A thin layer of bitumen is then applied to the surface of the stone to help replenish the greasy deposits of the image. The stone is then rinsed with water.

Then a greasy ink is rolled on. The ink adheres only to the image drawn with the pencil and is repelled by the water-soaked surrounds.

Paper is then placed over the inked surface and a metal or plastic sheet is lowered onto it.

With the aid of a specific press, a scraper is drawn across to transfer the image to the paper.

The final print.