Printmaking has always been an area of art that has a particular interest for me. I am saddened that I won't have time in my schedule to take a class before I graduate. I will have to add it to my bucket list of things to do. When looking at prints it is easy to get confused on what type of print you are looking at. MOMA has a great interactive display that helps you learn how each different type of print is made. It is basic information to learn before you can really begin to enjoy the innovations made by people who choose to work within certain types of printmaking. 

When buying a print the lower the number the more it is worth.  As you produce a print, the plate becomes worn so the quality is diminished.  I have a nice four horsemen of the Apocalypse that is an artist proof (labeled a/p), meaning it is the original.   It is signed by the artist, Zensky.  I have never been able to find any information on the artist, but I continue to hope.  It was a re-gift, so the person who gave it to us knew nothing about the print. She only knew I was an art major and thought I might enjoy it, whereas she did not.  Prints are not to be confused with posters.  Posters are mass produced which is why they are inexpensive.  They are mechanical reproductions of works of art. They are not works of art in and of themselves, whereas prints are.  Sometimes the print is an original work, other times it is a re-working of a painting.  There is always skill involved.  They are hand made, signed (usually) and numbered. 

Who is your favorite printmaker?  For myself it would have to be historically, Dürer's engravings and for contemporary, Michael Parkes who is a stone lithographer.