INTAGLIO PRINTS

INTAGLIO PRINTING

COPPERPLATE ETCHING

Coat copper plate about a penny’s thickness with a waxy substance called asphaltum. Artist draws lines into it exposing bare copper later etched by immersion in acid. Remove wax. Coat plate with ink, and then wipe it from the plate’s surface. Etched lines hold ink. Place plate, damp paper and covering wool blanket on printing press bed. Run through the press. Blanket absorbs water from paper and pulls ink into it. Voila—a print. Each one is considered an original since the plate needs re-inking for each. Prints in numbered edition have a fractional number below the image’s lower left side. Denominator is number of prints in the edition--numerator is order of printing. A/P means “artist’s proof”—the first print with which to compare the rest. Procedure is over 500 years old, but this artist isn’t yet.

MEZZOTINT

Classical mezzotint uses a hand “rocker” on the copper plate to produce a uniformly coarse surface that prints entirely black. It takes many hours to roughen the plate by this method. Carborundum mezzotint process involves sprinkling silicon carbide powder on a plate, adding water to make a paste and then placing what is called a lithographic levigator on top. Levigators range upto 50lbs and are also used to grind lithography stones. In 25 minutes the hand rotated levigator grinds the copper surface to a velvety roughness that gives an even black image. The artist gets great physical exercise if she hasn’t dropped dead of exhaustion at this point. She then smooths the roughness with burnishing tools to print lighter tones. The Carborundum plates are harder, and print editions can be larger than those of the more delicate “hand-rocked” plates. Printing process: coat plate with ink and then wipe it from the plate’s surface by using Tarleton (sized cheesecloth) and hand wiping. Place plate, damp paper and covering wool blanket on printing press bed. Run through the press. Blanket absorbs water from paper and pulls ink into it. Voila—a print.

ENGRAVING

The artist uses a diamond-tipped needle to draw directly onto the surface of a copper plate. Artist’s engraved line raises a burr much like small piles of

snow pushed aside when shoveling a walk. To achieve tone the artist may slightly sand the plate’s surface. Burr holds ink. Place plate, damp paper and covering wool blanket on printing press bed. Run through the press. Blanket absorbs water from paper and pulls ink into it. Voila—a print. Engraving editions are notoriously small since the burr wears down quickly.

AQUATINT--TO ACHIEVE TONE IN ETCHINGS

Technique used in etchings to produce shaded areas that range from light to dark. Process involves acid biting a fine network of lines around resin grains attached to printing plate. This network of tiny channels holds ink. The longer the acid exposure, the darker the aquatint up to a point.

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