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Introduction to intaglio
Intaglio is a printmaking method that transfers images from a plate to paper. The image area is below the plate's flat surface. Drypoint and etching are types of intaglio. Drypoint involves scratching the plate to create a raised metal, while etching uses chemicals to remove metal. Created by The Museum of Modern Art.
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- I noticed that he pronounces it in-TA-lio, leaving out the 'G' sound. Is the g a silent letter, is it just getting 'lost' when he says it?(12 votes)
- In Italian, 'gli' makes a specific sound which is almost a 'li' noise, but with the 'g' slightly pronounced at the beginning. Imagine flattening your tongue against the roof of your mouth as you start to say 'li'.
The 'g' is not silent - it's there, albeit softly. A quirk of Italian pronounciation :)(28 votes)
- What kind of acid is used for this?(7 votes)
- A less toxic acid that also works for copper plates is ferric.(6 votes)
- What is the name of the tool used in drypoint at1:08?(6 votes)
- It looks like a scribe. Other tools that would achieve a similar effect are etching needles and burins.(5 votes)
- I am a bit confused as to what is the difference between intaglio and relief process.
Can someone explain lt to me ?(6 votes) - At1:02, is it just me or are "dry point" and "etching" assigned to the wrong image at this point?(3 votes)
- I just had a peek and the video annotations are indeed correct. The lower image shows the black waxy ground atop the plate being removed in thin lines; the upper image is a little harder to see but shows a fine line being cut into the actual metal of the plate itself. There are other colored lines that make this a little hard to see but you can if you watch closely.(3 votes)
- What's the difference between etching and drypoint?(1 vote)
- Etching uses acid to eat away at the exposed metal. You can get very fine lines and greater control this way. Dry point is a bit cruder. You directly scratch the metal plate with a sharp instrument.(3 votes)
- where do you get materials(2 votes)
- What is the process using etching press?? Dry point I understand. But did you use something on top of the cooper plate before etching?(1 vote)
- Give the lesson at least one more listen. If that doesn't clear things up, search out an article somewhere else on copper plate etching. That should clear it up for you.(1 vote)
- So etching is the easier of the two?(1 vote)
- In some ways yes, some ways it isn't. At least it might be easier to fix mistakes from etching because you are not scratching the plate itself. But etching is more complicated with more stages in the process and you also need to use chemicals.(1 vote)
Video transcript
Phil: Intaglio is a printmaking process or a category of printmaking. Intaglio is a way in which we transfer an image from a plate to a piece of paper. Intaglio is based on
the fact that the image area is below the flat
surface of the plate. Within intaglio there are several types or categories, or processes of printmaking that you might be familiar with. One is drypoint, which is a direct marring or scarring of the surface
of a piece of metal or another plate by moving
metal versus removing it. When you scratch on a
drypoint plate, you are creating a burr or a
raised metal from the metal that you've moved. Ink can sit underneath
that burr as well as in the V-trough where the scratch was. Etching is another intaglio process. It is based on the
removal of metal through a chemical process, etching
with an acid or a base. This is different than drypoint. Drypoint's scratching of the
plate is to create a burr or to move metal. In this case we're actually
only barely scratching the surface just to remove the ground. The image area is created
in a similar format being that it's the recesses of the plate that hold the ink that allow us to transfer it to paper.