ETCHING

Etching is a method of printmaking in which the image is incised into the surface of a metal plate using an acid. The acid eats the metal, leaving behind roughened areas, or if the surface exposed to the acid is very narrow, burning a line into the plate. T

The surface of the plate is covered in a hard, waxy ground that resists acid. The printmaker then scratches through the ground with a sharp point, exposing lines of metal that are attacked when the plate is submerged in acid.

To take a print, ink is pushed into the grooves, and the surface of the plate wiped clean. The plate is put onto a press bed with dampened paper on top, then run through the press under pressure, drawing the ink out of the grooves and onto the paper. Intaglio prints are often characterised by an embossed line around the image, which is made by the edges of the plate.

The Dutch word for eat is 'eatch'. Intaglio is Italian and means below the the surface.

The image below is an example of Pablo Picasso's etchings - from his 'Minotauromachia' in 1935.