Etching
is a term used to describe a type of print, but
more specifically it defines the method by which
the printing plate was made. A thin, hard,
acid-resistant coating or "ground" is applied to a
metal plate usually copper or zinc. An image is
drawn onto the plate with a needle, scratching
through the ground, exposing the metal. These
exposed areas "etch" when the plate is immersed in
acid, incising the image into the plate. This
process may be repeated numerous times, adding
detail or shading, until the desired intensity of
lines is achieved. The more the metal is exposed to
the acid, the deeper the etch, the more ink that
area will hold, and the darker it will
print.
For printing, the ground is removed and ink is rubbed into the incised lines. With a cheesecloth-like material the excess ink is then wiped away so that only the etched areas retain ink. The plate is then placed on the bed of a printing press, with damp printing paper laid on top, and an array of felt pads atop that. When the press bed passes between two steel rollers, the pressure forces the damp paper into the inked etched line, transferring the image onto paper. The inking and wiping must be repeated each time a print is to be made.
Hand-tinting is an uncommon and often tedious adjunct to
traditional printmaking, but a process which affords a more
delicate and controlled effect than is possible using the
more typical multiple colored plates. The tinting is done
directly on each print, after the printing ink has dried,
using watercolor or colored pencil.
Each print is assigned an edition number: 1/200 would
indicate that the print is the first of 200 that the artist
has reserved the right to print. When 200 have been printed,
the plate is canceled by scratching an "X" across its front.
Within the limited edition, the prints should be of
consistent quality. With an etching, #1 should appear no
better than #80. The numbers denote sequence and size of the
edition only.