Etching 101
Etching, which is the medium I have chosen for this series of images based on the writing of J.R.R.Tolkien, author of The lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, is one of the most powerful and versatile of all the graphic arts. Briefly, in the process of etching the artist, using a metal scriber, draws through an acid proof ground made of wax that has been thinly spread over a metal plate. Then the plate is placed in a pan that is filled with acid that incises the metal wherever the artist has drawn.The plate is covered with ink and its surface is wiped clean, leaving ink only in the lines. Dampened paper is placed on the plate, both are covered by special blankets, and all three are run through an etching press at high pressure. The paper is forced into the lines absorbing the ink, and the print, also called an etching, is produced.
Because scratching through a wax ground is so easy, and because one can continue working indefinitely without stopping to refill a pen or sharpen a pencil, this medium allows a freedom and fluidity of drawing that is unmatched. This freedom tends to give the etched a great sense of spontaneity. Yet because of the fineness of lines possible, one can achieve a high level of precision. Also by varying the size of the scriber one uses, and/or the amount of time the plate is left in the acid, a wide range of line thicknesses is possible. One can also obtain a great range of chiaroscuro with etching. Integrating relatively open lighter areas with dense fields of texture made of perhaps thousands of lines, the etcher can produce images of the highest contrast and subtlety.
Along with their wonderful aesthetic qualities, there is another unique advantage that etchings have over other types of artwork. They are much more affordable. This is because of the fact that even though many prints can be made from one copper plate, each of these objects is considered an original work of art. Unlike drawings and paintings which exist in their original form only as one-of-a-kind objects.
There are also no photo-mechanical processes involved when an etching is produced, and hence they are far more valuable than so called “prints” produced by indirect means such as digital reproduction or photocopy. A true etching will always have a plate mark: the the imprint of the outer edge of the plate left in the paper from the pressure of the printing press.
Another important thing to understand is the concept of the edition. This is the total number of finished prints produced from a plate, (or sometimes an individual state of a plate). The number of a print and the total number of the edition are represented as 1/50 for the first print in an edition of fifty 2/50 for the second, and so on until 50/50. The individual number of an etching, whether it is number 1 of 50, or50 of 50, has nothing to do with it’s value. The number and edition are traditionally written in pencil in the center of the space below the bottom of an etching, along with the title to the left and signature to the right. One should look for these when purchasing an etching, along with the plate mark.
Artists also produce proofs from a plate, which are not part of the edition. A proof is made on an unfinished plate so that the artist can check it’s progress. Any number of these can be made depending on the complexity of the image, and of course, on how perfectionistic the artist is.