Etching
Victoria Chick talks about the etching process. Photo to the right is 1895 etching, Pony, by a German Etcher, Henkey. Second photo is Loretta Alfonsi, a California artist, used aquatint almost totally to achieve the tonal effect for her print of cowboys
on their horses.
 

Etchings are the most numerous original intaglio prints the collector is apt to find. The etching process is much easier than the engraving process that I wrote about last month and, because the artist’s direct drawing skills are used, rather than the specialized metalworking skill as is necessary in hand engraving, etching surpassed hand engraving in the 17^th century as the printmaking process of choice among artists.  

Etching is based on the principle that acid will “eat” into metal as a type of corrosion process. Metal printing plates, usually copper or zinc, are totally covered with a protective material called a ground. This can be wax, asphalt, or polymer based. After it has dried, the artist draws with a steel needle through the ground, thereby exposing the metal as lines. Then the printing plate is placed in an acid bath for seconds or minutes, depending on the strength of the acid, to allow the acid to react with the metal, etching it out wherever it is exposed.  When removed from the acid, the plate is rinsed with water to stop the acid reaction. Then the artist washes the ground off with solvent and gets ready to print for the first time. Ink is put on the plate and scraped across it with a stiff piece of matt board or plastic card so the ink is deposited into the etched lines. Then, the surface of the plate and edges are wiped with a gauze-like cloth rag called tarleton cloth. Excess ink is picked up by the cloth. Some artists leave a thin film of ink on the surface because they like the tone. Others want the ink only in the etched lines so when it is printed there is a strong contrast between black line and white paper.

The inked plate is then laid on the bed of the press, a piece of very damp printing paper is set on it, a heavy felt pad over the paper, and then it is run under the rollers of the press with enough pressure to transfer the ink to the paper and to emboss the paper where the edge of the metal printing plate contacts it.

That is the basic process.

The artist may decide the print is not quite satisfactory. So the plate will have ground put on it again and more drawing will take place; or exposing previous lines will make those lines darker after another acid bath has etched the metal deeper.  State is another term you will see. When you see an etching marked “first state”, “second state”, and so on, the term “state” means the printing that is done in one of these processes.  An additional state means more work has been done on the plate before printing it again.

If the artist thinks the etching has been sufficient, a few artist proofs may be run to determine quality before deciding to print a whole edition. These are often so indicated by printing “artist proof” and the number in the left bottom margin and with the artist attesting to approval by signing in the right bottom margin.  

A related technique to the etching process described above is aquatint. An acid bath is required for aquatinting too. But where a broad tone is desired rather than lines, the ground is composed of tiny, almost microscopic droplets that create a shaded look when printed rather than the linear effect produced by drawing through the ground with the steel needle.  The original method of getting droplets was to sprinkle rosin on the plate then warm it so the rosin would melt and adhere to the metal, protecting those areas during the acid bath. Some contemporary artists get the droplet effect by spraying aerosol paint lightly toward a plate held 12 -24 inches away. The paint droplets prevent the acid from contacting the metal plate. Aquatint may be used on its own and is frequently used in combination with linear etching.

I have written before about the practice of artists signing and numbering their prints. Any original print done in the last 100 years, and certainly in the last 75 years, should have the artist’s signature and the edition number in pencil at the bottom for the value to be at its highest. Etchings commonly have editions of 100 to 250 if the etcher has taken it to a commercial printer for that part of the process. Under 100 would be more likely if the artist was doing the entire process personally.

In the late 19^th century, many artists who were painters joined together in societies to produce etchings. Painters liked etching because the freedom of drawing through the ground onto the plate let them achieve similar results as if they were drawing with ink or graphite on paper. Some even hand-colored the etchings with watercolor washes. The benefit to them with etching was they could make and sell multiple images with less time and work. Most artists did not have their own printing presses so would  turn their plates over to printing companies to print an agreed on number for the edition or, as a society, they would own a printing press available for members’ use. London was the home of the first society; but they spread quickly to the United States. The New York Etching Club was founded in 1877, followed by societies in Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and later, Chicago. Some societies produced annual books of their members’ original etchings as, by the late 19^th century, there were avid collectors.  Before the artist signing each etching became standard practice, being printed by a society gave an etching authenticity and let the public know it was of a high standard. The practice of limiting editions started with the societies. Members understood the importance of rarity to keep prices from falling. After an edition was completed, plates would be destroyed or marks would be deeply scratched across them, thereby canceling the plate so no more prints could be made from it.

In plates that were not canceled, restrikes would sometimes be done. These prints, although considered original being printed from the original plate or matrix, were often somewhat blurred because the plate would become worn from too many printings. Some collectors became connoisseurs and could tell by examining a print what printing company had done the work and if it was from the original edition or was a restrike.

Societies became less important as the 20^th century went by. The public became more confident of what was offered for sale so the imprimatur of a society became unnecessary.  Artists themselves attested to the authenticity of their work by their signature in the lower right margin under the printed image and to the number in the edition. This was usually in the form of a  fraction in the lower left margin under the image. 5/50 would mean the print was the fifth one out of a total of fifty in the edition.

Today, etching continues to be an exciting medium for the printmaker. And the collector has an incredibly wide range of historic as well as contemporary etchings from which to choose. A good place to start looking for contemporary etchings is a local gallery featuring a printmaking show. For antique etchings or those done in the last 100 years, try the internet for best prices. If you are totally new to prints, visit the print department of an art museum first to see  quality examples and how they are framed.  Often a museum has many more prints in storage than are displayed. Ask if you can make an appointment to see the print collection. You might be able to go behind the scenes with a curator and learn a lot.

Happy Collecting!