Etching: a Guide to Traditional Techniques

Etching: a Guide to Traditional Techniques by Alan Smith

Etching today is regarded as the old man printmaking, its roots lying with alchemists and armours. It has slowly evolved over the centuries, taking and incorporating new developments such as photography in its stride. It is now as popular as ever with artists who seek both creativity and gravitas in its line.

This book takes you to the very heart of traditional etching techniques and includes more modern techniques only when they add to the mark-making capabilities of etching. All the techniques are described in an easy-to-follow text along with step-by-step photographs.

This book include the basics of etching, the materials required, how to prepare a plate, ways of making marks using hard ground, soft ground and aquatint. It also includes other etching techniques such as spit-bite and sugar lift and how to transfer images onto the plate using photo etching. It covers various ways of making the plate without acid, with techniques on drypoint, line engraving, stippling engraving and mezzotint. It also gives advice on paper and inks, the printing process and more advance techniques such as colour printing and editioning.