Intro To Art - Intaglio Prints

Engraving

Before beginning the engraving, the artist must apply a thin layer of acid to the metal surface on which the engraving will be done.

Engraving

Mezzotint

Etching

Intaglio

Linocut

(1) Rembrandt; (2) etching

A type of etching that uses powdered resin that stops the acid from eating away at the surface, creating a tonal effect.

Aquatint

Mezzotinting roughens the plate with little dots that will absorb some of the ink after it has been wiped clean. The first tonal method to be used enabling half-tones to be produced.

Printmaking process in which lines are incised into the surface of a plate. Western artists used the intaglio process by cutting into metal plates and inking them.

Drypoint is a technique that is much easier to master than engraving because the needle, or burr used is more like a pencil than engraving tools. The artist draws on a metal plate with a special needle called a burr.

Sculptured artwork on a flat surface where some parts are raised parts have been carved away. Some types of relief sculptures include the bas relief, a low level relief, and alto relievo, a high level relief.

A waxy material used in engraving. The artist scratches the ground where he wants the final lines to appear.

The artist making the engraving, the engraver uses a tool called a burin to cut a design into the surface.

A variant of etching using powdered resin instead of ink to create a tonal effect. The tonal variation of aquatint plates are controlled by the level of acid exposure.

A process of incising an image onto a hard surface such as wood, stone, or a copper plate. The engraving showed much detail, giving it a realistic look.

Printmaking process in which an impression is taken from a metal plate on which an image has been etched (or eaten away by acid). Rembrandt is most famous for his etchings, such as Christ healing the Sick.

The product made by using a metal plate and special tools to scratch an image into a waxy surface, and is then dipped into an acid bath. Goldsmiths have been etching elaborate decorations into armor, guns, and other metal items since the Middle Ages.

A type of etching that uses powdered resin that stops the acid from eating away at the surface, creating a tonal effect. Picture 1 is an example of aquatint.

Intaglio come for the Latin verb, itagliare. In Latin, intagliare means "to cut". Intaglio can be dated back to the Sumerian society, around the year 3000 BCE.

To cut into

When an artist etches a piece, he/she draws the image or design on a surface, which has been coated with a thin layer of acid. The artist is still essentially drawing when he/she creates an etch, however the end result, media, and tools is quite different.

Relief printing is done by outlining an image on a surface, and then carving along the outline. The artist then applies the raised areas with ink, to be pressed on to a surface. Intaglio is sort of the opposite of relief printing, in that the ink is pushed into the lines and pits and wiped off the surface of the plate. The resulting image comes from the ink in the engraved or etched lines. The resulting image is reversed.

To create a drypoint, the artist draws onto a metal plate using a hard tipped needle known as a burr. The pressure and burr with influence how the final piece appears.

In engraving, artist typically would use a metal sheet as the surface for their piece. Etching is difficult because of the amount of scraping required, the strength and control the artist must use, the sound of the scraping, and the inability to make corrections.

The three main types of Intaglio printing are etching, engraving, and drypoint.

Engraving is a process of incising an image onto a hard surface such as wood, stone, or a copper plate. Etching is a printmaking process in which an impression is taken from a metal plate on which an image has been etched (or eaten away by acid).

Relief: Sculptured artwork on a flat surface where some parts are raised parts have been carved away. Ground: A waxy material used in engraving. Etch: The product made by using a metal plate and special tools to scratch an image into a waxy surface, and is then dipped into an acid bath.

Sumerian