These acid-bitten areas hold the ink, recessed below the surface of the plate, ready to be put through the etching press. The longer the plate is left in the acid, the more metal is eaten away, resulting in deeper and darker lines. Finally, the plate is dipped into an acid bath, which then “bites” into the exposed lines. The artist then uses an etching needle to draw their design directly into the wax-like matter to reveal the plate below. A metal plate is first coated with a thin layer of an asphaltum-based, acid-resistant substance called etching ground. In contrast to the painstaking engraving process, etching allows for more spontaneity. The process, however, is still practiced by many artists today. The etching printmaking technique dates back to the 1500s when it was used to apply decorative motifs to armor. As the burin is pressed deeper into the copper, the line becomes wider. The tip of the burin is diamond-shaped, allowing the artist to achieve depth and tone by varying how deep it is pushed into the copper plate. To do so, the artist must turn the plate while pushing the burin straight ahead. Creating elaborate prints with curves, however, is no easy feat. The meticulous process involves cutting a design into a copper plate using a tool called a burin.Įngraving is perfect for rendering straight lines and shading (through hatching and crosshatching). “Mercury (Hermes)” Engraving (Photo: Wikimedia Commons )įirst developed during the Middle Ages, engraving is the oldest and most common of the intaglio techniques. Read on to learn about each printing process.įive Different Types of Intaglio Printing Engraving Each one produces a distinct look and feel, and many artists will combine two or more techniques to produce one-of-a-kind prints. There are five traditional intaglio processes: engraving, etching, drypoint, aquatint, and mezzotint. After the bed arrives at the other end of the press, the blankets and paper are removed to reveal the finished print. The bed is then cranked between the two rollers, which forces the paper into the recessed areas of the metal plate. A dampened sheet of paper is laid on top of the plate, and two felt blankets are placed on top of the paper. Once inked, the plate is then positioned onto the bed of an etching press, which is a machine with two steel rollers that provide pressure. Once the plate is inked using a roller, its surface is wiped clean and only the pigment in the recessed areas is left. Originating from Italy, intaglio is the collective term for printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into the surface of metal plates (most commonly made of copper, zinc, or brass). Learn more about the various intaglio printmaking techniques below. Made by engraving into metal, some historians believe that intaglio evolved from goldsmiths’ practice of taking an impression of a design they engraved on an object onto paper (in order to keep a record of it). Intaglio printmaking techniques emerged in Europe centuries after the invention of woodblock printing in Japan. There are four traditional printmaking categories: relief (which includes techniques such as woodcut and linocut), planography (lithography), serigraphy (silkscreen), and intaglio. Printmaking is an artistic process based on transferring images from a master plate (usually made of wood, metal, or glass) onto another material (most often paper or fabric). But beyond the proliferation of information, there was another benefit to the industrial machine: it facilitated the phenomenon of printmaking as an art form. By the 15th century, it allowed for the mass production of printed matter such as newspapers and books.
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The invention of the printing press changed the world.