Collograph printing opens up creative adventures with texture tone and surface. it’s a printmaking method where you build up a plate by collaging materials onto a base then inking it up and pressing it onto paper. The word comes from the greek kolla meaning glue, and graph meaning to write or draw, it really is drawing with glue and texture.

What is collograph printing

Imagine a sturdy piece of mountboard or card. You glue on fabrics wallpaper leaves string threads or even carborundum for grit. Once everything is dry you seal the whole plate with varnish or shellac to protect it and create a cleanable surface. Finally you ink it up. Using relief or intaglio methods you can either wipe ink from the surface leaving it in recesses or apply ink to raised areas. The final step takes your plate through a press (or you can use a baren or spoon if you don’t have one) onto damp paper and voila you have a print brimming with texture tone and subtle variations.

Why choose this technique

Collograph printing is wonderfully flexible. you can experiment with what you have, old fabrics, scraps of paper, even recycle packing materials like tetra pak cartons. It’s more forgiving and faster to prepare than traditional intaglio processes like engraving or etching. And it marries surface texture with depth, you can achieve rich embossing and relief effects in one go.

For beginners an easy card cut collograph is a brilliant starter. You draw into mountboard or apply tape then ink and print without waiting for varnish. Once you’ve mastered the basics you can build more complex plates combining filler glue fabric metal powder or string then work in colour using a la poupée techniques.

How it differs from lino printing

So how is collograph different from lino printing? Lino is a relief method. You carve into a flat block then roll ink onto the surface, only the raised areas print. Lino gives crisp bold shapes but lacks organic texture unless you purposely carve it in. Collograph puts texture front and centre. Raised collage elements catch ink differently and create tonal variation. Lino is all about line and pattern; collograph is about layering surface depth and mood.

You can combine both techniques though. You could carve a lino block and stick it into your collograph plate. Or layer collage on top of lino to add texture around clean carved shapes. they complement each other well.

Who is it for

mix media artists illustrators printmakers and art teachers love collograph. it’s tactile fast forgiving and perfect for studio exploration or workshops. it works well for editions too: once a plate is sealed it can be wiped and re inked many times. it’s also amazing for experimenting – scrap of fabric here a bit of filler there and each plate is a surprise.

Key takeaways

- Collograph printing is about collage texture tone
- it offers textured relief or intaglio styles in one plate
- it’s more forgiving and experimental than lino
- great for mixed media illustrative workshop and edition work