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Work
from Black to White
Mezzotint is a tonal engraving process. As opposed to burin engraving,
in which black lines are incised on a white background, mezzotint begins
with a black background from which tones are deducted. It's similar to
the method of drawing in which a white sheet of paper is blackened with
charcoal and the image is "drawn" with an eraser. In mezzotint,
a copper plate is substituted for the paper, and the black background
is created using a tool called a rocker.
The
rocker has a curved serrated blade that is rocked back and forth over
the plate surface. As the blade's teeth prick the copper they plow up
tiny burrs. When printed, these burrs will hold ink. Systematically rocking
over the entire plate surface in many directions produces a field of burrs
that will hold ink all over and print as a solid black tone. Variations
in this process can imbue the ground and image with unique textures.
Shave,
Scrape, Squash, Polish
To create an image, the burrs are either shaved away with a scraper, or
squashed and polished with a burnisher. Only by completely removing the
burred ground can the plate be made to print white again. Altering the
ground in minute increments produces subtle gradations and a broad range
of grays or half tones. In fact, the word mezzotint is derived from the
Italian mezzo, for half, and tinto, for tone.
Below: cross section of the surface of the plate
Above: tonal rendering on printed paper
To print a mezzotint, viscous ink (made from burnt linseed oil and pigment)
is rolled over the entire plate surface and rubbed into the ground. The
excess ink is then wiped away. Ink sticks to the unaltered burrs and wipes
off in varying amounts where the ground has been scraped and burnished.
The more an area of the ground has been altered, the less ink it will
hold, and the lighter the tone will print. After wiping the plate, it
is placed on the bed of a rolling press. Damp paper is placed over the
plate, wool felts are placed over the paper, and the plate is run through
the press under enormous pressure that forces the ink to transfer to the
paper. The printed paper is then placed in blotters to dry. As with other
printing techniques, the printed image appears in mirror image, or in
the opposite direction, from the image on the plate.
Beware
of Soldiers on Leave!
Mezzotint was invented in 1642, by Ludwig von Siegen, a German soldier
on leave in Amsterdam. The medium's ability to render subtle tonal effects
made it ideally suited for reproducing portraits painted by famous artists.
The creation and dissemination of mezzotint prints, particularly in England,
spawned a vital industry that had a powerful effect on art history. Indeed,
mezzotints were the most important means of learning about art in Colonial
America where there were no art books, art schools, or trained artists
from which to learn. The invention of photography eventually made the
need to copy images manually obsolete, and the medium fell into obscurity.
Today, mezzotint engraving is experiencing a renaissance as an art form
for original expression.
For
more information on this engraving medium, read THE MEZZOTINT: HISTORY
AND TECHNIQUE, by Carol Wax, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., in 1990,
and in soft cover in 1996.
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