What are limited edition prints ?
Limited edition prints derive from an artist's original image & are
reproduced on a surface as set numbered editions.
Each print is an original and is personally signed by the artist .
Each of the various techniques has a distinct appearance.
A hand coloured engraving is created by cutting lines into the surface of a plate (zinc, copper or acrylic). The engraved lines are then filled with ink and the surface of the plate is wiped clean. A print is pulled from the plate by passing it through an etching press with a piece of rag paper on top. The resulting print is then hand coloured with watercolours and coloured inks.
An etching is a print that is hand pulled from a metal plate (copper or zinc) where the line has been bitten into the plate with acid which corrodes & eats into the metal. It is done by coating the plate with an acid resistant resin (ground). Into this an image is drawn with a needle so that the metal is exposed underneath. The plate is then immersed in a bath of acid which erodes the exposed metal. When the desired depth has been obtained the ground is cleaned off so that prints can be taken from the plate.
In printing, all varnish is removed, the plate is coated with ink, and then wiped so that the ink remains in the depressions but is removed from the surface. It is then covered with a soft paper and run through an etching press under pressure to force the paper into the lines. Only a limited number of first-rate proofs can be made from a plate, and some etchers destroy their plates after making a given number of prints. There are many variations in the technique of etching.
Mezzotint prints are produced by an engraving that has been scraped to represent light or shade. Mezzotint involves uniform burring with a curved tool by cradling it back and forth until the surface of the plate presents an all-over, even grain. This yields a soft effect in the print. The picture is developed in chiaroscuro with a scraper and a burnisher, every degree of light and shade from black to white being attainable. In pure mezzotint, no line drawing is employed, the result being soft without the sharp lines of an etching. Mezzotint was often used for the reproduction of paintings, particularly, in England, for landscapes and portraits.
The plate is covered with a porous ground, or resist, through which acid
bites many tiny pockmarks in the metal. If an area is to be completely white,
that part of the plate is coated with varnish. The plate, when inked, becomes a
printing template. The tones produced resemble those of a wash drawing.
A Collagraph is an original hand made print pulled from a plate that was
constructed by glueing textured materials to a hard-board surface. The
materials create various lines, textures and tones when hand inked and hand
wiped. The plate is inked by forcing the ink into the textured recesses in the
plate and hand wiping the raised areas. The print is made by passing the
inked plate and rag paper through an etching press. Pressure from the
press forces the rag paper into the recessed areas of the plate and when the
paper is removed the ink is transferred to the paper.