theGraphicArts
 

INTAGLIO

One  intaglio method is line etching.  A highly polished plate (usually copper or zinc) is covered with a dark substance (asphaltum) that will protect the plate from acid.  The artist then draws his design with an  etching needle in the dark substance.  The highly polished plate reveals his drawing and exposes the metal.  The lines are then etched into the plate by placing the plate in an acid bath.

Where  the artist wants lighter lines, he removes the plate from the acid, runs water over the plate to stop the etching, and paints the next area that is to be protected from the acid with the asphaltum.  He then places the  plate back in the acid bath until he removes it again to stop the etching in a subsequent area.  When the darkest lines have been etched, he cleans the plate to proof his design.

DRYPOINT is when the  artist will make marks directly into the copper with a steel needle (sometimes with a diamond point).  The needle scratches the copper, (digs a trench) and leaves a burr which will print a velvety line. The burr is  fragile and will wear away quickly unless the plate is steel-faced.

AQUATINT etching is different from line etching in that areas (not lines) of the design are etched.  The plate is covered with  very dry and tiny particles of aquatint resin.  A closed box with the resin inside is shaken until the air inside the box is filled with the particles of resin.  After the box is shaken, the plate is slid into  a bottom opening to allow the particles to settle on the plate.  When just the right amount of the resin particles have settled on the plate (it resembles the dust on your dresser), the plate is very carefully  removed from the box, then heated so that the resin particles stick to the plate. The exposed areas of copper around each resin particle will be etched.

Before the first acid bath, the areas on the plate  that are to print nothing on the paper (the impression) are covered with asphaltum, a dark substance that stops those areas from etching.  The first etch can last for 20 seconds (for the lightest of tones); then  the plate is removed from the acid bath, washed with water to halt the etching, and the next darker areas are covered with asphaltum.  The second etch can last for an additional minute or two.  The same  process is repeated until all of the values between dark and light have been achieved (a total of about 22 minutes).

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