Intaglio printing is an expensive printing technique.If your print is a little smudged or blurry, dampen your paper less or blot it more before printing. If your print appears a little too pale, try wiping less ink off your plate (it is possible that you have removed too much ink) or dry dampening your paper Your plate can now be inked up and wiped again for another print! When you have finished printing the ink can be cleaned up with plain water and a cloth. If using an etching press, the pressure shouldĪfter the print has gone through the press, peel off the paper to reveal your print! The pressure of the press combined with the dampened paper should draw the ink out of the lines of the plate. Place your slightly dampened paper on top of the plate.
What does intaglio mean how to#
We are using our etching press (Watch this space for blog tutorials on how to printĭrypoint without a press).
What does intaglio mean registration#
Place your plate face up on the registration sheet on the print bed. This will ensure all images are positioned in the same place on each piece of The drypoint plate onto the registration sheet and draw around this.
To create a registration sheet use a large sheet of paper (photocopy paper is fine) draw around the piece of printmaking paper, remove and then position Ink on the plate – this is an opportunity to be a little experimental with your image, much like you would be with a mono-print. For a little plate tone, leave some of the smudged Any smudges can be removed with the fabric. You should be able to see your drawing filled with ink. Wipe the edges of the plate so that a border is not printed onto your paper. YouĬan create a point with your fabric to wipe small areas of your plate for detail: here we have wiped the centre line of the feather and some of the
Wad up the fabric and remove excess ink from the areas of your plate you do not want to print. This should start to reveal yourįinally, wipe your plate with a piece of soft fabric. Next, wad up a piece of yesterday’s newspaper or an old phone book page and continue to wipe the ink in circular motions. With a coarse material such as scrim, wipe the plate in circular movements, removing excess ink and pushing the ink into the burred lines. This also helps to fill the drawn lines with ink. Use a small piece of mount board or an store reward card (make sure it is a soft flexible one otherwise you risk scratching your plate) to scrape the excess Use a dauber or a wadded up piece of fabric to dab ink all over the drawn areas of your plate. Squeeze out a little ink onto a piece of glass, perspex It has a tacky but not too oily consistency and the pigmentation is strong. If too dry, your image will appear too pale.Ĭaligo Etching Ink is oil based and water soluble so it is washable in water. If the paper is too wet when printed it will blur the lines of the print. The paper should feel very slightly damp to the This time, remove your paper from the water and blot it on blotting paper or a clean piece of fabric. This helps to draw the ink out of the burred lines of your plate. You want to soak your paper in clean water for about 5 minutes. We are using Somerset Satin White 300gsm. When your plate is finished, you are ready to print! First, soak a piece of printing paper.
You may need to hold you plate up to the light away from your drawing to see how it is looking as it can be difficult to see your marks in the transparent With pressing hard or softly to create different marks. Trace your drawing with your tool into the surface of the plate. Use an etching tool (or a pointed tool such as a nail in a piece of dowel). Place your Drypoint Plastic Printing Plate over your image. We love to use Drypoint Plastic as it is easy to draw into and a drawing can be traced through it! Drypoint plates can be made in copper, zinc or plastic. It requires less specialist equipment and no chemicals or acids. Intaglio printmaking is the opposite of relief printmaking as it is the sunken areas of the plate thatĭrypoint is an easy technique to get to grips with and is a great method if you would like to take your drawings into print. Meaning that the print reveals the drawing. These lines create a burr that holds ink,