Traditionally a lithograph was made using a very high quality sandstone. The chemicals used in that process can be quite toxic so we use polyester plates which are better for the environment. To make a lithograph an image is separated into its component colors and a separate plate is made for each color. The design may be printed onto the plate using a laser printer or it may be hand drawn using a special pen. Each color is printed separately and the print must dry between printings as the plate can pull the ink off of the print. During printing, the plate is sprayed with water and ink can be rolled onto the plate since ink and water do not mix. The process can be a little tempermental since the paper tends to stick to the wet plate and that can make it difficult to line it up perfectly. This print, "P is for Poppy", is make with six colors: yellow, red, green, blue, cream and orange.
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