Techniques

​

Richard Ziegler made use of reproduction techniques - previously used in offices - for his art. On the one hand, they corresponded to his spontaneous means of expression as a draughtsman; on the other, they gave him the opportunity to produce his own edition prints (rarely more than 20 copies). There is probably no other artist who discovered these techniques for himself and elevated them to art in so many astonishing variations. 

Two drawing techniques typical of Ziegler's work:

Monotype (drawing print)
A paper is lightly placed on a plate (usually glass) that has been rolled in with paint and then drawn on the reverse side. On the front of the sheet - invisible during the drawing process - a reversed “print” is created. Like a drawing, this print is unique and cannot be reprinted.

Another variant is to draw directly onto the inked plate in order to make one or more increasingly faded prints.

​

Edged pencil drawing
Drawing with an angular oil crayon, for which not only the tip but also the side edges are used. A variety of tonal effects from deep black to the lightest gray can be achieved in a single stroke by applying different pressure.

 

 

Other printing techniques were:

Opal printing (glass, pen and brush printing)
The printing technique possible with the “opalograph” is similar to the lithographic flat printing process. A brush or pen drawing made with salmia ink on paper is pressed onto an opal glass plate treated with grease. Where the ink etches away the grease, the glass plate later accepts the printing ink and repels the remaining grease. Greater pressure reinforces the lines drawn. Several prints can be made from the inked plate (usually on Japanese paper).

​

Wax printing (stencil printing)
Wax printing is a through-printing process similar to screen printing.

The drawing is carved directly into the wax layer (which is applied to a wafer-thin fabric carrier) of the stencil using various tools, the tip of which can also have a wheel or round head, for example. This damages the wax layer and makes it permeable to ink. A roller is then used to “press” ink through the matrix, which is stretched on a frame, onto the paper underneath. Several prints are possible with this process (up to 20 prints per motif).

​