Intaglio Prints

Intaglio printing is an art form that I am trying more and more to retreat too. Thank to a very good friend and fantastic printer, Sarah Shears, I've been able to commit more and more time to this sweet, messy, and multi-faceted process.

You start with an etching tool and a sturdy, thin piece of mylar cut from a sheet in your chosen height and width. Next up comes the etching; you can either free hand (example 1 below, "Plate from a late Mother's Day gift") or secure an existing picture underneath the mylar (example 2 below, "Figure Drawing Intaglio Print"). Darker lines are created with deeper scratches - more ink pools in these areas.

Once the plate is finished your paper stock is cut down to size and set to soak up ze water. During this time you apply ink, smooshing it down nice and good into the etched lines. Once done a burnishing cloth takes the majority of the ink on raised areas back off. Run a few through the press, and repeat!

Plate from a late Mother's Day gift - still have to get a photo of one of the prints! I also need to clean this up a little more. July 2015.

One of my first ever intaglio plates. Taken from an older figure drawing. 2014.

And below, one of the prints I got from it....

Figure Drawing Intaglio Print, 6X8in, ink on water color. 2014