Cohen, Brian D. "Freedom and Resistance in the Act of Engraving (or, Why Dürer Gave up on Etching)," Art in Print Vol. 7 No. 3 (September–October 2017), 17. The plate is removed from the acid and washed over with water to remove the acid. The ground is removed with a solvent such as turpentine. Turpentine is often removed from the plate using methylated spirits since turpentine is greasy and can affect the application of ink and the printing of the plate.

The second way to apply hard ground is by liquid hard ground. This comes in a can and is applied with a brush upon the plate to be etched. Exposed to air the hard ground will harden. Some printmakers use Additional impressions can be created by re-inking, cleaning, and putting the plate through the printing press again. Self Portrait in a Flat Cap and Embroidered Dress” (c. 1638), Rembrandt van Rijn. Etching on laid paper with small margins. A mixture of nitric acid and gum arabic (or, very rarely, saliva) which can be dripped, spattered or painted onto a metal surface giving interesting results. A mixture of nitric acid and rosin may also be used.

Christmas Gifts

It was a complex and involved process, but it did allow artists to craft and mass-produce prints of staggering clarity and quality. The Artist's Studio: What Is Etching?" (PDF). Cairnsregionalgallery.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-06 . Retrieved 2015-08-12.

Behr, Omri (1997), "An improved method for steelfacing copper etching plates", Leonardo, The MIT Press, 30 (#1): 47–48, doi: 10.2307/1576375, JSTOR 1576375, S2CID 139028601 Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. [1] In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types of material. As a method of printmaking, it is, along with engraving, the most important technique for old master prints, and remains in wide use today. In a number of modern variants such as microfabrication etching and photochemical milling, it is a crucial technique in modern technology, including circuit boards. The switch to copper plates was probably made in Italy, [14] and thereafter etching soon came to challenge engraving as the most popular medium for artists in printmaking. Its great advantage was that, unlike engraving where the difficult technique for using the burin requires special skill in metalworking, the basic technique for creating the image on the plate in etching is relatively easy to learn for an artist trained in drawing. On the other hand, the handling of the ground and acid need skill and experience, and are not without health and safety risks, as well as the risk of a ruined plate. Copper engraving is the oldest technique and was very popular during the Renaissance. As the name suggests, it involves carving an image directly onto a copper plate. It could be quite difficult and involved a certain degree of metal-working skill. Famous etching pictures: Peasant Family 1647 by Adriaen Jansz. van Ostade; Caprichos series 1799, The Colossus 1818 by Francisco Goya; Net of Religion 1794, Illustrations to the Ballads of William Haley 1805 by William Blake; Virgin in the Tree, Two Men Meet, Each Believing the Other to Be of Higher Rank 1903 by Paul Klee; Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart series 1989 Albín Brunovský.

The art of etching is one of the oldest printmaking mediums—originating in the 15 th century and evolving out of techniques developed by armorers to decorate their wares. After the ground has hardened the artist "smokes" the plate, classically with 3 beeswax tapers, applying the flame to the plate to darken the ground and make it easier to see what parts of the plate are exposed. Smoking not only darkens the plate but adds a small amount of wax. Afterwards the artist uses a sharp tool to scratch into the ground, exposing the metal. The traditional aquatint, which uses either powdered rosin or enamel spray paint, is replaced with an airbrush application of the acrylic polymer hard ground. Again, no solvents are needed beyond the soda ash solution, though a ventilation hood is needed due to acrylic particulates from the air brush spray. Traditional intaglio printmaking methods, their health hazards, new non-toxic substitutes". Greenart.info. 2013-03-14 . Retrieved 2015-08-11.

Soft-ground etching uses a special softer ground. The artist places a piece of paper (or cloth etc. in modern uses) over the ground and draws on it. The print resembles a drawing. Soft ground can also be used to capture the texture or pattern of fabrics or furs pressed into the soft surface.McIntosh, Jane (2008). The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. p.185. ISBN 978-1-57607-907-2. In the patented [24] [25] Electroetch system, invented by Marion and Omri Behr, in contrast to certain nontoxic etching methods, an etched plate can be reworked as often as the artist desires [26] [27] [28] [29] The system uses voltages below 2 volts which exposes the uneven metal crystals in the etched areas resulting in superior ink retention and printed image appearance of quality equivalent to traditional acid methods. With polarity reversed the low voltage provides a simpler method of making mezzotint plates as well as the "steel facing" [30] copper plates. Etching has often been combined with other intaglio techniques such as engraving (e.g., Rembrandt) or aquatint (e.g., Francisco Goya). The ground can also be applied in a fine mist, using powdered rosin or spraypaint. This process is called aquatint, and allows for the creation of tones, shadows, and solid areas of color. Copper is a traditional metal, and is still preferred, for etching, as it bites evenly, holds texture well, and does not distort the color of the ink when wiped. Zinc is cheaper than copper, so preferable for beginners, but it does not bite as cleanly as copper does, and it alters some colors of ink. Steel is growing in popularity as an etching substrate. Increases in the prices of copper and zinc have steered steel to an acceptable alternative. The line quality of steel is less fine than copper, but finer than zinc. Steel has a natural and rich aquatint.

Billard, Jules B. (1989). "Jess D. Jennings, "Across an Arctic Bridge" ". The World of the American Indian, A volume in the Story of Man Library. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society. p.47. ISBN 0870447998. For aquatinting a printmaker will often use a test strip of metal about a centimetre to three centimetres wide. The strip will be dipped into the acid for a specific number of minutes or seconds. The metal strip will then be removed and the acid washed off with water. Part of the strip will be covered in ground and then the strip is redipped into the acid and the process repeated. The ground will then be removed from the strip and the strip inked up and printed. This will show the printmaker the different degrees or depths of the etch, and therefore the strength of the ink color, based upon how long the plate is left in the acid.

Books Multibuys

Behr, Marion; Behr, Omri (1993), "Etching and Tone Creation Using Low-Voltage Anodic Electrolysis", Leonardo, 26 (#1): 53–, doi: 10.2307/1575781, JSTOR 1575781, S2CID 100716855