Featured Some intaglio print textures (Engravings, Etchings, etc.)

The surface of an intaglio print is inked, then wiped clear so that ink remains only in the marks on the plate, then plate and paper are run through a press with enough force to squeeze the paper down into the marks to pick up the ink.

Lighting and atmosphere within a print can be greatly controlled through judicious wiping of the ink from the plate.

Prints very frequently are a combination of more than one technique.


Burin Engraving - using a hand tool called a burin to carve lines into a metal plate. The lines are smooth and tend to be very controlled.



Stipple Engraving - building an image from small dots poked onto the plate



Mezzotint - using a tool called a roulette to churn up the entire surface of a plate, then using scrapers and burnishers to smooth the metal and bring out an image.



Drypoint - using a needle-like stylus to scratch an image directly onto a plate. (They tend to have a wispy look.)



Etching - covering the plate with a resist, scratching lines through the resist using a needle-like stylus and immersing the plate in acid to bite the lines. Several immersions are common with areas covered over with resist to produce degrees of tonality - lightest in the bath the shortest time, darkest the longest. Lines have a free hand appearance and are slightly ragged.



Aquatint - covering the plate with a fine dusting of resin, then melting the resin to make it adhere. The plate is immersed in acid, which eats around the resin. Tonality can be controlled as in an etching.



There is another intaglio technique called monotype in which ink is applied directly to the surface of an unworked plate and then run through the press to transfer the image to a piece of paper.

 

Interesting stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

Appreciate you sharing the different techniques. I had no idea there were so many.

@daveydempsey
Maybe this should be moved and pinned to the top of the Art forum. If Bob doesn't mind.

 

Excellent info! Yes, pin it!

 

Got it bookmarked,good stuff! Thank you.

 

Please don't tell me those are copyrighted. They are now in the process of printing one per page.
They will NOT be used for anything other than my own education. And not duplicated.
Honest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you. Thank you.

 

All these photos are my own.

I'm flattered that the thread has been pinned.

 

That's pretty cool info.

 

Running an intaglio print through a press is known as pulling the print.

A note on color:

Most frequently, color is added to an intaglio print by hand painting, usually with water color. This can be done any time after the print has been pulled, and it's not uncommon that a print be colored many years, even decades, after it came out of the press.

There is a technique, called a la poupee, which has colored inks applied directly to the plate before the print is pulled. The inks are worked into the appropriate areas of the design with stubs of cotton fabric, called dollies or, in French, poupee.

 

Excellent explanations and examples. Thanks!

 

Quite an education.
Many thanks.

 

Hi MOS. Fantastic information, thank you. Can someone explain how I bookmark this for future reference?

 

very interesting...thanks for posting !

 

This is a good site for additional info on printing processes (I think Fig posted a link to it in the past)...

http://www.graphicsatlas.org/

 

I have acquired a print with a cloth liner behind the print but not touching. The print image shows up on the cloth.

Any thoughts about this piece or the liner?

Thank you
Mo

 

Thank you
Mo