Venice

THE 3 TECHNIQUES OF INTAGLIO PRINTING.
The intaglio printing, derived from the Italian word "intaglione" meaning to burn or dig, covers a number of techniques, which involve either burning, etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint a design into a metal plate before printing on the desired support (wood, paper, carton, leather etc).

Michel Rigel uses three different techniques to produce his engravings.

Drypoint:

This is the most direct of all intaglio techniques. The technique is to make marks on a metal plate using a sharp point. The printing process is started by first covering the “drypointed” plate in ink. The excess ink is then wiped off the surface of the plate, (but remains in the grooves) before the desired support is placed on the plate and compressed. When the desired drying time has been reached the newly printed support is removed from the plate.

Etching:

Etching starts by first covering a highly polished degreased and bevelled copper or zinc coated plate in varnish. The future design is then drawn in reverse with a sharp point, cutting through the varnish to bare metal. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath that eats only into the areas of the metal plate that are not covered with the varnish. First covering the “etched” plate in ink starts the printing process. The excess ink is then wiped off the surface of the plate, (but remains in the grooves) before the desired support is placed on the plate and compressed. When the desired drying time has been reached the newly printed support is removed from the plate.

Aquatint:

The aquatint technique uses a thin layer of powdered resin that is acid resistant to cover a highly polished degreased copper plate. When the resin has dried the plate is dipped in acid, leaving only the areas of bare metal around the grains to be attacked by the acid producing the artists gravure.