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Photo etching
describes transfer of images to the plate by a photographic technique
using an acid-proof light sensitive medium and is used by me to create
diverse structures.
Blind etching does not describe a true etching technique, but rather
the uncontrolled and uniform application of acid to the accessible parts
of the copper plate to free up parts of the picture.
Chine Collè describes the attachment of layers of paper during
the printing process. Here very thin moistened paper covered with glue
on the exposed side is mounted on the pre-prepared printing plate and
run through the printing press together with hand-made copper plate
printing paper. Through the printing pressure the papers are bound together.
In other print graphic techniques a consistent result is achieved by
using an engravers proof block, but in etching the printing process
also plays an important role in the final result.
The plate is colored with rollers, plugs or so called 'Puppets',
and the excess ink is wiped off the plate with a gauze cloth or the
palm of the hand, so that color remains only in the indentations. The
printer now has the choice of leaving a lot or little color on the plate,
of wiping single parts more or less, of wiping the plate warm or cold,
of toning it up with gauze, or of wiping it out hard with the palm of
the hand or with chalk. In addition he has the possibility of using
several different colors and bringing these to the plate “a Ia
poupee” or through the use of small plugs, brushes and rollers,
which requires enormous coordination especially when the colors should
or should not blend with adjacent colors.
All these factors explain why the prints from one run will never be
exactly alike. This also explains why the number of colors seen is often
not identical to the number of plates used.
Because copper prints are not cut but torn and the shrinking process
of the moist paper is not always the same, all measurements should only
serve as a guide. Even though the plates are backed with a thin layer
of steel, not all will survive the constant mechanical pressure, coloring
and wiping. Therefore the marked edition size only reflects the maximum
number that might be printed, but does not mean in each case that the
edition was completely printed.
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