Printmaking technique: Mezzotint

The past two weeks we've been working in mezzotint. It's a method of incision utilizing copper. We rough up a copper plate using a steel tool called a rocker. This step takes hours, if not days depending on the size of the plate. Then you use scrapers and burnishers to remove or smooth out the rough copper burrs on the plate surface. The rough areas, when inked, will print black; the smooth areas, white; and areas in between are various shades of gray. This technique is unique in that the etcher is working in reverse. Removing the light areas, rather than adding dark areas.

Here are two of my mezzotint prints.





This is a photo of my workstation today, customized for this technique.