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Putting artistry to the acid test
Etching is a labyrinthine, painstaking process, but artists who create
etchings aren't complaining — to them, every step in the
complicated process is an opportunity to innovate. There are multiple
creative decisions to be made just to create an image on the metal
plate: what type of acid-resistant varnish (called a ground) to put on
the copper or zinc plate, what tools to use to scratch an image into
the ground, and how long to submerge the plate in a bath of acid that
eats away (or etches) its surface. The acid etches or bites the metal
only where the ground has been removed — and the longer the artist
leaves the plate in the acid, the deeper the etched grooves become.
Only then is the matrix ready to be inked and printed.
Getting into the groove
Once the plate is etched, the ground is removed and the plate is inked
and wiped. The wiping process removes the sticky printer's ink from
the smooth, unbitten parts of the plate and pushes the ink into the
grooves that have been etched into the plate. The artist has to be
meticulous about leaving just the right amount of ink in the etched
areas — too much ink will create splotches, too little will create
only a faint image, and leaving inky fingerprints on the plate can ruin
a print. A damp sheet of paper is laid on top of the inked plate and
run through a printing press, which squeezes the softened paper into
the inky grooves. This transfers the image onto the paper — and at
long last, the artist has a print to show for the effort.
Made in the shade
One of the reasons etching has replaced engraving in popularity is that
it produces richly shaded areas in addition to lines. Changing the
resistance of the ground by making it semi-porous allows the acid to
bite the plate in tiny spots. When covered with ink and printed, these
tiny dots produce soft atmospheric tones of gray on the paper. Changing
the amount of time the plate is exposed to acid — shorter for some
parts of the image and longer for others — creates a range of
light and heavy lines, which become pale and dark areas on the final
print. The opportunities for experimentation are limited only by the
artist's training and imagination — and the result achieved by
a master etcher is an astounding, nuanced work of art.
Here are some examples of etchings available from NextMonet. Click on
any image to learn more about the individual artwork.
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| John Register |
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Jessica Dunne |
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Mark Adams |
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Jimin Lee |
Select any of the printmaking techniques listed here in order of
historical development to learn more about it:
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