The Magical (and at times frustrating) Intaglio Process- Part 1

The topic of printmaking has come up in recent discussions with a few of my friends, and I found that it's really hard to talk about the process if people haven't seen it. So I decided to photo-document the process on an image that I've currently got going and show those who are unfamiliar with printmaking just what goes into this amazing art form. This will be done in a couple of posts, as I am still working on this image. Hopefully it will be easy to follow...if you have any questions feel free to email me: lund.dani@students.uwlax.edu

PLATE #1: The final image will be a multiplate, done with this plate, a plate down below, and perhaps a sheet of plexiglass for a layer of background color. The plate shown here will ultimately be in color.

Top: I started taking photos after the plates were prepped, so this isn't the VERY first step, but you'll get the general idea. A copper plate is covered in asphaltum to protect it from unwanted acid bite. Any area where the asphaltum is removed, through drawing into it or scraping it off for example, will be bitten when the plate is put into an acid bath. The areas that are bitten will hold ink (hopefully!) when the plate is ready to be printed. Plates are left in the acid for several hours to achieve dark values.

Bottom: To get value covering large areas of a plate, a process called aquatinting is used. The plate goes into the aquatint box (as shown in this photo), and is covered with rosin dust. Then...

The rosin is burned onto the copper using a hot plate. This creates tiny pits for the acid to bite into, making it so that the area can hold ink once it's ready to print. If the plate was placed in the acid without aquatinting, the unprotected copper surface would undergo an "open bite", which would leave a smooth surface that wouldn't hold ink as desired.

Top: I want a range of values in this area, so I'm using varnish to cover the parts that I want to stay light. The varnish protects the surface from acid bite. The plate can be left in the acid for any increment of time before being removed, revarnished to keep the new values, then replaced to achieve the darkest tones.

Bottom: Into the acid with you! This is a dutch mordant acid bath. It stings a little if you get it on bare skin, and a whole LOT if it gets in a cut or something (I know from experience)

Top: After a few rounds of varnish and going back into the acid, the plate is ready to print. First, the varnish and aquatint are removed with denatured alcohol, then the asphaltum is removed with paint thinner.

Bottom: Plate on the press, inked and ready to go (more on inking down below)

Proof #1! It's looking good. On the final print, this will be done in color, but it's good to do it in black and white first to get a sense of the values in the image. (Oh, and one more thing-when using text, as I did on this plate, it has to be written backward, since when you print, the image you end up with is a reverse of what was on the original plate)

PLATE 2: This image will be in black and white, printed on top of the plate up above in the final product. But first, it needs to be bit into the plate and proofed!


Top: Plate before going into aquatint/acid. It took about 5 hours of scraping and using the "wonderful magical joel solution" (a concoction invented by Beloved Professor Joel) to take asphaltum off the areas that I wanted to be dark. Then the plate was aquatinted and burned, just like the one above.

Bottom: Plate after sitting in acid for a few hours, cleaned off and ready to print. No varnish was needed on this image because I wanted everything to be equally dark.




Top: Inking-oil based chicago black ink, spread over the entire plate (it smells good too...)

Bottom: After covering the plate, it's wiped with tarletons. The areas that have been bit by acid are where ink will stay. At least, that's the idea. It doesn't always work that way... :S

Top: On the press, ready to go. First, the plate is set down face-up, covered with damp paper, then a couple of blankets to cushion the plate and provide pressure to press the image from the plate onto the paper.

Bottom: Will it turn out...?

Top: And here's where we say "SHIT". As you can see, the aquatint didn't turn out in several areas (It was supposed to all be dark silhouettes). What likely happened was that the plate wasn't evenly covered in rosin, or it wasn't burned long enough, or a combination of both. Other problems can occur as well, like not leaving a plate in the acid long enough, leaving it in too long, over/underwiping the plate after inking, soaking the paper too long/not long enough, too much/not enough pressure when running it through the press...many issues to think about!

Bottom: Now, I have to cover the plate with asphaltum again, let it set, go back in and scrape out everything that should be dark, apply a fresh aquatint, and put it back into the acid again. Frustrating, but I'm very committed to this image, so I'll keep plugging away until I'm happy with it!

More to come as I continue my work...