Intaglio Prints

Mezzotint

Intaglio, 4"x5" copper plate mezzotint

Exhibited during June 2025 in the Juan Tabo Public Library in Albuquerque, NM.

Monsoon A.R.T. debut exhibit August 7 - September 25, 2025 at The Mothership Alumni in Albuquerque, NM.

One of the older forms of intaglio, the mezzotint process takes patience. A copper plate is pitted fully (using a mezzotint "rocker") so that it prints entirely black, then the plate is burnished to flatten the copper in areas desired to be light, or white. With mezzotint, the artist can achieve dark and white areas, with a full gradient of shades between.

In the intaglio printing process, the ink is pressed into the recesses of the plate, then wiped off of the surface. Paper (soaked in water and blotted) is placed on top of the inked plate and run through a press at reasonably high pressure.

Other forms of intaglio include etching (which uses a chemical bath to etch the exposed surfaces of the metal plate), drypoint (physical scratching of the plate surface), engraving, or a combination of these techniques. The printing method is essentially the same for all of these.

Memento Mori, Respublica

Mezzotint, 4"x5" copper plate

Exhibiting during June 2025 at the Juan Tabo Public Library, Albuquerque, NM

Monsoon A.R.T. debut exhibit August 7 - September 25, 2025 at The Mothership Alumni in Albuquerque, NM.

Guarded Faith

Sugar lift, 8"x10" copper plate etching

A sugar lift is achieved by painting an aquatinted plate with a mixture of corn syrup and India ink. This is painted in the areas that you wish to print dark. Once painted, the plate is then coated with a hard ground (asphaltum), then placed in a hot water bath. The areas painted with the corn syrup will lift off and dissolve into the water. The plate is then etched in ferric chloride.

Manhattan Snowstorm

Spit bite, 8"x10" copper plate etching

To achieve this etch, the ferric chloride was painted directly onto an aquatinted plate. In past centuries, printmakers would add saliva to increase the viscosity of the acid to keep it from running uncontrollably. Today we add gum arabic instead of saliva, but still refer to this technique as a "spit bite."