Mixed media overview
Etching and Printing Techniques
A method of reproduction using a metal plate (Corinne uses mostly copper, but other metals such as Zinc or Stainless Steel can be used) as the substrate. The plate is coated with a wax ground which is then drawn through to expose the metal, it is then immersed in a bath of acid that bites into the exposed metal areas. With the wax ground removed the plate is inked up, the etch areas retaining the ink and the image is transferred onto the paper via pressure between two rollers.
An alternative method to acid etching is what is known as “Dry Point Engraving” Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically identical toengraving. The difference is in the use of tools, and that the raised ridge along the furrow is not scraped or filed away as in engraving.(1) Traditionally the plate was copper, but now acetate, zinc, or Plexiglas are also commonly used. Like etching, drypoint is easier to master than engraving for an artist trained in drawing, because the technique of using the needle is closer to using a pencil than the engraver’s burin. The plate can now be inked up and printed in the same way as for an etched plate.
Black background prints are created using an Aquatint. Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique, a variant of etching. In intaglio printmaking, the artist stops out areas of the plate that will later be the coloured image, and then coats the plate with a very fine dust resin the ‘Aquatint’. The stop out varnish is now removed and the remaining Aquatint areas are inked up, and the inked plate is passed through a printing press together with a sheet of paper, resulting in a transfer of the ink to the paper. The clear image areas are now worked back into with coloured pencils to produce the illustration, leaving the background black.
