To be etched, a polished, metal plate is first coated with a ground—an acid-resistant material
To be etched, a polished, metal plate is first coated with a ground—an acid-resistant material like varnish or wax. The artist scratches a reversed image into the coating with a stylus, exposing small areas of the plate which is then submerged in acid. The acid eats away, or etches, the exposed areas of the metal. The remaining coating is removed. Ink is spread across the surface and then the plate wiped, leaving ink only in the etched lines. As in engraving, the inked plate is now ready to print and a damp paper is pressed onto the surface. This technique alone produces an image entirely made up of lines, as we see in Piranesi’s The Drawbridge; he creates shading with clusters of parallel lines and crosshatching, hallmarks of printmaking.Posted by Elizabeth TreptowGiovanni Battista Piranesi (Italian, Venetian, 1720-1778). Invenzioni Capric di Carceri; Hind 7, First State of Three, ca. 1749. Etching on laid paper. Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 37.356.5 -- source link
#piranesi#bkmworksonpaper#bkmeuropeanart#european art#printmaking#prints#etching#etch#plate#process#technique#material#acid#polish#metal#varnish#wax#engraving#intaglio#lines#crosshatching#brooklyn museum