An Introduction to Intaglio Printing

Last week, I sent an email to the Intaglio printmaking tutor to ask a couple of questions about the process. These questions included the following. How do you teach students about the intaglio printing technique? Will we need to bring something to print onto like our own paper or is it provided in the studio? What are the topics for intaglio?

The reply from the Intaglio print tutor, Marcin Bialas was as follows, "We learn in studio basic techniques: etching, aquatint, drypoint etc. Students should bring one or two graphics in A4 dimension (for example). You will need: zinc plate (I can sell to you, 35x50cm for 20 Polish Zloty), solvent: benzyna ekstrakcyjna, denaturat, a steel needle (with a link to the art shop website where we can purchase one). I will tell you the rest when we meet. We have studio on Tuesday and Wednesday. See you!"

We arranged to meet him on Tuesday, he told us he would be in the studio from 10am to 7pm. On Tuesday afternoon, after completing some work in the morning, we went to meet the tutor in the Intaglio printing studio. Printmaking is a huge part of Polish art education and the facilities here as ASP Katowice are amazing. There are dedicated rooms for different printing techniques and the studios are large, open and airy with the perfect amount of natural light. We found the right printmaking room and managed to find Marcin. He asked us if we had done the technique or any other printmaking techniques before, we replied that we had not tried intaglio but we have done lino printing and screen printing. He asked to see our portfolios or a sketchbook but unfortunately we didn't have examples of these with us at the time so we will show him next week. Drawing is an important aspect in the creative process of intaglio printing so I think this is why he wanted to see some examples of our drawings beforehand so he could see which intaglio printing technique would suit us best.

Intaglio print examples exhibited on the studio walls

Marcin invited us into his office next to the intaglio print studio so that he could talk us through the technique and show us some example work. The process involves preparing an image on the surface of a metal plate - zinc or copper. The image can be a line drawing or tonal drawing, depending on which style you want to produce. The metal plate is prepared, an incision is made inside the plate and it can then be etched. It is best to start with a small plate and in this studio they almost always work on a zinc plate.

There are different possibilities that can be explored to create an image. The line technique is similar to a pen or ink drawing, the quality of line is precise, a few layers can be created and the thickness of the line can be altered from strong to delicate. This is known as Etching - an image is created from line. Aquatint technique is when images are prepared from tone; it is similar to painting or using a brush and ink. The technique uses paint and different tones. Drypoint involves drawing directly onto the plate. A strong drawing is created with an intense line. It is the only technique in which you do not need to use chemicals in the process. Instead, the plate is covered in resin.

Another possibility we could explore is mixing techniques. Aquatint (tone) can be mixed with the etching and drypoint techniques to create a mixed media print. I'm interested to try this out as I have never thought about combining printmaking techniques together into one print before.

Sugar lift is another technique we could experiment with, it is similar to etching. The technique involves creating painterly marks onto the etching plate using a sugar solution and a paintbrush. The areas painted are positive marks; it is a form of aquatint etching. This technique works well when combined with lino printing, the two techniques printed together. The intaglio tutors will help us to decide which of the techniques will suit us best when they see the ideas for our work next week. They can also help us to decide on the size of the plate once they see the proposition although it is advised that we start on a small scale so that we can check we know how to follow the process effectively. I think I will probably start working at either A5 or A6 size.

We managed to buy one steel needle from the shop he gave us the name of in the initial email, we will go back to buy another so that we can both work on our own individual plates. Marcin told us we can purchase the chemicals we need in the university art shop and also in another shop in the city. We also need to purchase paper to print onto, delicate sandpaper (1500/2000 grade) to polish the surface of the plate and scratch remover paste.

He went on to explain the first process, this involved preparing the zinc plate. I took photographs of the process along the way to help me to understand the order in which the plate needs to be prepared.

Filing the edges of the plate to remove ridges, using a 45 degree angle on the right side of the plate

Adding a chemical paste to clean the plate

The plate after its first layer of cleaning

Adding another liquid chemical to clean the plate - we also had to rub the plate with a piece of chalky substance and rinse it with water until you could no longer see any water marks

The plate on the heated surface covered in a varnish that is spread across the whole plate evenly, the experienced professor did this for us as the first time we tried we were unsuccessful as we weren't shown how to do it properly by the student helping us whilst the professor had to go out the studio

We met this tutor on our first day at ASP Katowice, whilst we were being given a tour of the university by some current students. He speaks only Polish but we have been able to converse with him. We were amused to find out what he said on that first day when asking our Erasmus friends a couple of weeks ago. The words he spoke weren't translated to us at the time but apparently he said something like, 'You are cute little girls. Please join our studio either to work or to party with me!'

Another of the chemicals used to clean/cover the plate

The plate was now ready to be drawn onto using the steel needle

We had to wait for the plate to cool down and the professor then advised us to cover the back with thick sticky tape. He also explained the drawing process. We should create a step by step drawing from a light to dark line. The lines should be separate. A simple sketch once made on the plate will be soaked in a bath of acid, then cleaned with water. Another layer can be made, 3 layers in total, keeping the design simple but precise. The first layer must always have separate lines. Any ideas can be used. We need to ensure we don't make big dents when using the needle on the plate, just scratch the surface with marks to create the image.

I look forward to coming up with a drawing that I can transfer to the plate. I will then be able to learn the inking and printing process. I hope to link my intaglio prints with some of the projects I am working on for other university classes such as Interdisciplinary. Within the project we have been set, Simulacra, I have been looking at architecture and artefacts so would like to create some intaglio prints with these subject matters.

More example Intaglio prints exhibited on the studio walls