A copper plate coated in wax is drawn into with a needle, then bathed in acid that etches the exposed metal—Rembrandt's medium.
You scratch a drawing through a waxy coating on a metal plate, then dip the plate in acid that bites grooves into the exposed lines.
- ▸Ink fills the bitten grooves, then you wipe the smooth surface clean.
- ▸Damp paper pressed hard pulls the ink out of the grooves.
- ▸The longer you leave the plate in the acid, the deeper and darker the line.
History
Etching emerged in Augsburg armorer workshops around 1500 and was adopted as a fine-art medium by Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, and Whistler. It freed printmakers from the resistance of engraving's burin.
Process
- 01
Coat a polished copper plate with hard ground (waxy resin).
- 02
Draw through the ground with a fine needle to expose metal.
- 03
Submerge in ferric chloride or nitric acid to bite lines.
- 04
Clean off the ground; rub ink into the etched grooves.
- 05
Wipe the surface and run through an etching press onto damp paper.
Strengths
- +Fine sketch-like lines
- +Rich blacks
- +Editions of 50–100 plates
Limitations
- −Toxic chemistry
- −Slow proofing
- −Plate wears with use
Sources & citations
References for the history and process described above.
- 01Etching — The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Heilbrunn Timeline
- 02Intaglio Printmaking — MoMA — What is a Print?