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Intaglio Prints
Intaglio is Italian for to engrave or cut into. Intaglio prints are produced using copper, zinc or steel plates. Copper is popular as its malleability allows corrections to be more easily made, zinc a less forgiving, economical option and steel plates, being by far the hardest material, are used when large editions are required such as in book illustration.
Unlike relief printing, it is the engraved areas that hold the ink and print. Before printing, the untouched, raised areas of the plate are carefully wiped free of ink with a cloth followed by the ball of the hand. The paper is dampened to make it more flexible, and rolled through a press with enough pressure so that it is squeezed into the areas that contain the ink. The image can be created in a variety of ways, such as direct incising as in drypoint or engraving, or depressions created by the use of acid as in etching and aquatint. Alterations to the design can be made by burnishing and reworking the an area An intaglio print is easily identified, as a recessed impression of the plate left on the paper from this printing process.
Intaglio printing can be divided into the following categories:
Drypoint
As the name suggests, drypoint prints are produced by scratching the surface of the metal plate using a needle, this scratching creates a metal bur that holds the ink The bur is very fragile and the wear created through the process of printing means that the plate will only yield an edition of ten to twenty prints of good quality.
Visually, drypoint produces a characteristically soft and heavy line.
Engraving
Engraving is visually characterised by fine line that is smooth, flowing, and varying in width according to how much metal the engraving tool has removed.
Tonality is achieved by the use of engraving fine parallel lines closely together (hatching), cross hatching, or closely spaced fine dots (stippling). Engraving is done on copper or steel plates. The use of steel plates for book illustration was popular in the nineteen century, as they are capable of producing thousands of impressions without any image degradation. Today engraving is most commonly used in the production of currency and stamps.
Mezzotint
The mezzotint process has the ability to create subtle variations of tone; from beautiful rich blacks to delicate, glowing highlights. Mezzotint prints are unique to intaglio process as the print is developed from dark to light. The plate is initially roughened with a mezzotint rocker, and if printed at this stage it would produce a solid black. Using various tools the roughened plate is then burnished (smoothed by rubbing) to produce the subtle midtones and brilliant highlights that characterize this printmaking method.
Etching
The line in etching is unlike the smooth line produced in engraving, it is characteristically sharper and slightly irregular due to the action of acid used in this process. Etching can be divided into soft ground and hard ground etching, Soft ground allows for a freer line as it offers less resistance to the drawing instrument.
Etchings are produced on, copper, zinc or steel plates that are covered with a thin coat of wax, the design is draw into the wax using an etching needle exposing the metal but not scratching it as in engraving or drypoint. The sides and the back of the plate are covered in varnish to protect the plate when it is immersed in acid. The acid bites into the exposed metal of the design and the quality of the line produced can be varied by the concentration of the acid and the immersion time. This process can be repeated numerous times; areas of the design can be covered with varnish (stopped out), which will in effect greatly increase the variety of mark produced on a single plate. Line variation can also be produced by successive acid immersion and only drawing one section of the design at a time, the first lines drawn on the plate will be the darkest and last lines the lightest. Soft- ground as the name implies uses a softer wax. Paper is laid onto the wax and the design is drawn onto the paper. When the paper is lifted off the plate it removes the wax where the pressure was applied by the pencil. Fabrics can also be pressed into the soft wax to create subtle textural qualities in the final print. Before printing an etching or aquatint the wax or resin must be removed from the plate
Aquatint
Aquatint is commonly used in conjunction with etching. The etched line to express the design with the aquatinting used to describe tone. Resin is dusted onto the metal plate and melted forming an irregular pattern of globules on the plate. Variations on how the plate is dusted can supply a large range of textural and tonal effects to the print. The resin acts as resistance to the acid when immersed. The process can be repeated, creating a large range of tones, that visually are similar to ink wash drawings.
Sugar Lift
Sugar lift is variation on aquatinting; it is technique that can record the freedom and spontaneity of a brush on the plate. The design is created by painting a sugar solution onto a plate. The sugar solution is allowed to dry until it is sticky; at this point a hard wax ground is painted onto the plate. The sugar dissolves, lifting the hard ground from the plate when it is submerged in water. These exposed areas are then aquatinted before printing. The aquatint can also be applied before the sugar and hardground for more delicate effects
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