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Materials and Methods

Printmaking Basics

Print. An impression made by any method involving transfer from one surface to another.

Intaglio. Any printmaking technique in which the image is produced by incising into the printing plate. The incised line or area holds the ink and creates the image. Etchings, engravings, aquatints, drypoints, and mezzotints are all intaglio prints.

Planographic. A printmaking technique in which prints are made from a flat, unmarked surface, as in lithography and some forms of monotype.

Relief. A printmaking process in which an image is derived by carving into a matrix (typically made of wood or linoleum) with a knife or burin. The surface material that remains creates the image. Ink is rolled onto the carved matrix, and the block is run through a press. Common relief prints include woodcuts and linocuts.

Materials and Methods

Acid. A corrosive liquid used to etch metal plates.

Aquatint. An intaglio technique used to create tonal effects. Fine particles of acid-resistant material, typically powdered rosin, are dusted onto a printing plate and attached to the plate by heating. The plate is then immersed in acid, which eats into the metal around the particles to produce a granular pattern. When printed the aquatinted areas produce an effect similar to watercolor wash.

Bite. The corrosive action of acid on a metal plate.

Burin. A steel engraving tool with a pointed, elliptical, or lozenge-shaped tip.

Burnisher. A polished, slightly curved tool, typically made of steel, used to level or partially erase worked areas of an intaglio plate.

Burr. The roughened edges of metal raised by a drypoint needle that hold additional ink to produce a characteristically rich, blurry line.

Counterproof. An image made by laying a clean dampened sheet face-to-face with a wet print and running both through a press to yield a copy in reverse.

Drypoint. An intaglio process in which a design is drawn on a plate with a needle-like instrument. Both the incised line and the burr it creates receive ink when the plate is wiped, giving the printed line a distinctive velvety look.

Embossing. A technique in which a gesture is impressed into paper, usually without the use of ink.

Engraving. An intaglio technique in which incisions are made on a matrix with a burin or other tool. The engraved lines typically retain the applied ink to form the image when printed.

Etching. An intaglio technique that uses the chemical action of acid to produce incised lines on a metal plate. The etched lines typically retain the applied ink to form the image when printed.

Foul bite. An accidental erosion of the resist during the etching process.

Ground. An acid-resistant coating, typically made of asphaltum mixed with rosin and beeswax, applied to a metal plate in the etching process. The image is drawn with an etching needle through the ground to expose the metal beneath.

Heliogravure. An intaglio technique whereby a photographic image is etched onto a plate, which when printed produces a print remarkably faithful to the original image. An early photomechanical process similar to photogravure.

Impression. A single print pulled from a plate.

Lift ground. An etching technique whereby a design is drawn on a plate with a pen or brush using a water-soluble ink in which sugar or salt has typically been dissolved. When the plate is covered in ground and submerged in water, the ink solution swells, lifting the ground off the plate and leaving the original design, now exposed on the plate, to be etched.

Linocut. A relief print in which the matrix is made of linoleum.

Lithography. A planographic process based on the natural incompatibility of oil and water. An image is drawn with a greasy substance on a flat stone or metal plate, which is then processed so that ink adheres to the drawn areas and is repelled by the non-drawing areas. The resulting print faithfully reproduces the original drawing on the matrix in reverse.

Matrix. The base, typically a plate, block, or stone, from which a print is made.

Open bite. An etching technique in which broad areas of the plate are directly exposed to acid.

Plate. A metal matrix employed in intaglio processes.

Plate mark. An imprint of the matrix edges that can often be detected in a print.

Proof. A trial impression.

Pull. An impression taken at any stage of the printing process.

Resist. A material that masks areas of a matrix from the action of acid.

Rosin. A solid form of resin, typically from the pine tree, which in powdered form is dusted onto a plate in the aquatint process.

Roulette. A steel engraving tool with a small spiked wheel that produces a uniform dotted pattern when rolled either directly on an intaglio print or through a ground.

Soft ground. An etching ground containing tallow to prevent it from hardening, typically employed to allow textures to be impressed into it.

Spirit ground. An alternative aquatint technique in which a solution of powdered rosin dissolved in a distilled spirit such as alcohol is poured over the plate. As the spirit evaporates, the rosin precipitates in a manner that, when the plate is etched, forms a distinctive reticulated pattern.

Spit bite. An etching technique in which acid is painted or splashed directly onto the plate.

Stop out. An acid-impervious varnish used to mask areas of the plate during etching.

Sulphur tint. An etching technique in which the metal plate is exposed to powdered sulphur or a sulphur-based paste. Used in a manner similar to aquatint to produce tone.

Tarlatan. An open-weave cotton fabric, stiffened with starch, used to wipe intaglio plates.

Woodcut. A relief print in which the matrix is made of wood.

Other Techniques Used by Buhot

Drawing. A technique in which images are depicted on a surface by making lines and regularly incorporating tonal areas, washes, or other non-linear marks.

Gouache. An opaque, water-soluble paint.

Graphite. A metallic gray writing and drawing material most commonly used in pencil form.

Ink. A writing and drawing medium in liquid form; used for printmaking in paste form.

Wash. A fine layer of color, usually ink or watercolor, brushed over a broad surface evenly so that no brush marks are visible. Often used in conjunction with drawing.