The technics

PREAMBLE : THE ENGRAVING

Any image printed on a paper can be called « engraving », but two kinds of techniques can be found : intaglio engraving, and planographic techniques

Intaglio engraving.

Consists in digging into a copper (burin, drypoint, aquatinte, soft-ground etching, mezzoting…), introduce some ink in the grooves, then press firmly a moist paper. This is a very slow technique, each image is made one by one, the quick wear of the copper limits the edition to about one hundred impressions, each impression is unique.

Planographic techniques : lithography, typography, silkscreen printing, offset...

On a flat support, a greasy material holds the ink on which the paper is pressed. This is a very fast technique, which enables numerous printings and editions, and all the engravings are the same.

The creation is said to be “original creation” when no photomechanical means is used between the work to the artist and the result on paper.
The intaglio graving is original, the offset is not !

ETCHING

Also called soft-point etching, this technique consists in digging a soft metal.

THE TOOLS

The burin

• Little steel sharply pointed bar, with a handle-, used to make furrows in the metal. The burin forces copper shavings to either side of the furrowed lines. It is the technique Dürer used.

Drypoint
The image is scratched out of the copper surface with a sharp steel point mounted in a handle. The grooves are bordered by a burred line, this burr is not scraped, it catches the ink and contributes to the beauty of the image.
Etching (aquafortis)
An acid-resistant varnish is coated on the copper, the drawing is designed on the varnish, with a finely pointed. needle. Then the copper plate is immersed in the acid bath, which “bites” the spots not protected by the varnish. This is the technique Rembrandt used.
Aquatint
The varnish is replaced by fine grains of resin which are sprinkled on to the metal. The plate is then heated to seal the resin, then soaked in a bath of acid. Only the copper exposed between the particles is bitten. Technique used by Goya.
The press consists in two heavy steel cylinders, with cast-iron legs. Between the cylinders, a steel platform receives the copper plate and the moist paper, then a wool cloth to soften the etching. A big wheel pushes the platform forward.

The other techniques : lift-ground etching, stippling, mezzotint, sugar-lift aquatint, monotype etc..
Coloured etchnings almost require as many plates as colours. Plates are superimposed when edited.
Copper and zinc, but also brass, are the usual materials for the plates.
In case of mistake, a scraper is used together with a burnisher

Examining an etching after the impression Photo Coomans	Copper plate engraved at the back side and etching appearing on the right side. Photo Coomans