About Original Prints
intaglio prints:
An intaglio print is created by etching or engraving an image into a copper or zinc plate. Ink is rubbed over the indentations in the plate and then wiped off the surface. A damp sheet of paper is placed over the inked plate and passed through a press. The pressure of the press pushes the damp paper into the plate and transfers the ink to the paper.
Line etchings:
These images are created by rolling melted wax over the face of a polished copper plate and scratching through the wax. The plate is then dipped in acid, creating a groove wherever the plate has been exposed. This part of the process may be repeated several times to achieve varying tones of the same color. The longer the plate is in the acid bath-the deeper the groove and the darker the color on the finished piece. An artist may color line etchings with watercolors.
engravings:
While engravings are printed the same way etchings are, they are created using tools instead of acid to create the image.
About Aquatint Etchings by Stephen McMillan
Drawing and Printing Process for Aquatint Etchings
Aquatint is an etching technique
that produces a full tonal range and rich texture in prints. To create an
aquatint three things are needed: a shiny copper plate, rosin dust, and acid.
Quite simply, the rosin dust is dropped and melted onto the copper plate 
creating
a matrix of small dots, and the plate is submerged in a tray of acid to be
etched. The rosin on the plate is acid resistant, so only the metal that is not
covered with rosin will be etched. The metal that is exposed will etch into
microscopic canyons in the copper plate, which when inked will hold different
amounts of ink, depending on the depth of the etch. The deeper the etch, the
more ink will be held, and the darker the tone produced when printed. To etch an
image into the plate an acid resistant stop-out material is painted onto the
plate between each etch to control where and how long the acid etches each area
of the plate--the amount of rosin used, the amount of heat applied, and the etch
times must all work together. The mastery of these techniques is as vital to
creating the print as is the drawing of the image onto the plate.
The artist begins by choosing an
image from one of the slides he
has taken and making it into a 3"x 5"
print. He refers to this photograph as he draws the image onto an aquatinted
copper plate. He uses a high quality watercolor brush to paint the stop-out
material onto the plate. The areas on the plate that correspond to the lightest
areas on the photograph are painted out first, often before the first etch. Next
the areas that correspond to a slightly darker tone on the photograph are
painted out, and another etch is done. This process is repeated, usually seven
or eight times, until a full tonal range is created. It often takes several
weeks to produce a plate.
For multiple color prints a
separate plate must be drawn for each
color used. The artist does color separations in his head to determine how much
of each color to use in each area of the print. The two to four basic colors are
blended in the printing to create all the desired colors on the finished print.
The corresponding areas of each of the plates must be drawn so that they will
register or match up when they are printed. After the first plate is drawn, a
technically involved image-transfer method is employed to leave a ''ghost'' of
the first plate on subsequent plates to be etched. This ''ghost'' image is used
as a guide to help the artist draw the subsequent plates in register with the
first plate. Often stencils also need to be cut to transfer image information
not in the ''ghost'' transfer image.
After the plates are etched they are ready to be printed. Etchings are printed intaglio, that is, with the ink in the etched areas rather than on the surface. Each copper plate is inked and wiped by hand before being printed on 100% rag paper on an etching press. To create the finished print, the plates are printed in the same order and alignment as used for the image transfer.
Lots more about aquatint... "More Rosin" by Stephen McMillan
click here to see more Aquatint Etchings by Stephen McMillan
Mezzotint
is an engraving technique that originated in the 17th
Century and is the oldest way to achieve tones in printmaking.
The artist works directly on a copper plate – beginning with a tool
called a “rocker” which he uses to create pits in the plate.
This is done by rocking the tool back and forth with consistent pressure
until the whole surface is evenly pitted. If
the plate were inked and a print pulled at this point the image would come
through as a solid, velvety black. The
artist then uses burnishing tools to smooth out the pits wherever he wants light
in the images. The burnished areas
will hold less ink than the deeply pitted areas.
Once the plate is prepared, the plate is inked, excess ink is wiped away
and it is pulled through a press with damp paper to create the finished print.
click here to see more mezzotint engravings by Mikio Watanabe