How is a varnish used to stop an etching?
A varnish is used to ‘stop out’ lines at various stages to prevent the acid from etching any further. The process of re-immersing and stopping out lines is repeated as many times as necessary to obtain a variety of depth. In order to print an etching, the plate must first be inked.
Who was the inventor of woodblock engraving?
Woodblock engraving was significantly developed by a British engraver, Thomas Bewick, at the end of the eighteenth-century. It uses squared sections of the trunk of the boxwood tree, so hard and densely grained that it allows two significant advantages for printing illustrations.
How did wood engraved illustrations get into print?
Wood-engraved illustrations went through several steps on their way to appearing in print. A typical illustration might start with a sketch or photograph, taken by an artist-reporter at a news event, or even a written description which adapts an idea (whether it was actually seen or not) to visual form.
What was the advantage of etching over engraving?
Its great advantage was that, unlike engraving where the difficult technique for using the burin requires special skill in metalworking, the basic technique for creating the image on the plate in etching is relatively easy to learn for an artist trained in drawing.
Who was the first artist to use relief etching?
There are some new non-toxic grounds on the market that work differently than typical hard or soft grounds. Relief etching was invented by William Blake in about 1788, and he has been almost the only artist to use it in its original form.
When was Carborundum etching invented and by who?
Carborundum etching (sometimes called carbograph printing) was invented in the mid-20th century by American artists who worked for the WPA. In this technique, a metal plate is first covered with silicon carbide grit and run through an etching press; then a design is drawn on the roughened plate using an acid-resistant medium.
What kind of etching is used for circuit boards?
In a number of modern variants such as microfabrication etching and photochemical milling it is a crucial technique in much modern technology, including circuit boards . In traditional pure etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or steel) plate is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid.
