From the 1940s to 1960s most Australian movie posters were produced with far more human involvement/assistance than other techniques therefore daybills from this era are often referred to as “hand litho”. This unique process is recognisable by its rich texture of colour and subtle tones.

To view Australian “hand litho” movie posters go to http://www.aussieposters.com/

“Hand lithos” were made using flexible zinc plates that were rolled around a large printing drum. The term ‘hand litho’ comes from the fact that the inks were applied to the plate by hand by the printers/artists who worked from tracing drafts they either executed themselves from reference material supplied by the distributors, or where the distributors contracted art studios (like Richardson for example) to execute the artwork.

Some collectors classify them as the same. Also for some reason some dealers think that listing the poster as ’stone’ litho raises the value.

It’s fairly easy to tell the difference between them - simply put a hand litho next to a stone litho daybill and the differences are obvious. Stone lithos have a finer grain to the inking, a greater subtlety to the shading and colors, a finer line to the black plate art, and so on.

A hand-litho actually requires a degree more skill than stone-litho.

On most of my ebay listings I refer to the artwork and the colours on an Australian “hand litho” movie poster as “off the planet” and “leaves all other versions for dead”. See for yourself with “Danger Street” a great example of a Richardson Studio daybill.

Prior to the 1940s stone lithography was the most common movie poster printing process in Australia. This process was replaced primarily due to World War II.

Stone lithography was the first printmaking technology that allowed artists to work using traditional techniques, and to create prints that could rival an original painting in terms of detail, mood and color variations. Stone lithography was extremely popular and invented in 1798, and even though more modern methods have replaced the majority of its uses, it is still practiced today by some artists and lithography studios.

The basic idea used in stone lithography is extremely simple:

1. The artist draws/paints on the stone with a greasy substance. For example, a litho crayon is a soft waxy/greasy crayon. There are also litho paints and pencils. The stone picks up this greasy substance and holds it.
2. The stone is moistened with water. The parts of the stone not protected by the greasy paint soak up the water.
3. Oil-based ink is rolled onto the stone. The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not.
4. A piece of paper is pressed onto the stone, and the ink transfers from the stone to the paper.

To view Australian “hand litho” movie posters visit http://www.aussieposters.com/
 

Tags: Hand litho, Stone litho, daybill, Australian daybill, Richardson Studio