Roses, Drypoint on white and grey Rives BFK, 14×11″ paper, 2016
What is Intaglio?
Simply put, there are two basic types of printmaking: prints made from the ink on top of the carved plate’s surface (like woodcuts). Woodcuts are a type of relief prints. The second type of printmaking is made from incised plates that are inked, then wiped off, leaving the ink in the crevices (like drypoint engravings). These are Intaglio prints. Drypoint is a type of intaglio.
For drypoint, after the plate is scribed, the entire top of the plate is covered with ink. The ink is then carefully removed, often with pieces of newsprint, and stiff cheesecloth. The process of wiping the ink takes time, between 15 to 45 minutes per print, and the wiping has a lot to do with the final result. Plate tone, line variance, and lifting techniques can do a lot to change the look of a print. Thankfully, Nikki Barber has been handling this part of the process for me. We talk about each print, to be sure I’m getting the results I want. She’ll darken some areas, lighten others. You can see the difference in the petals on the table, we left those with some plate tone so they’re a gentle gray.
Plate Tone?
One of the things I enjoy in these prints is the plate tone. Plate tone is a light haze of ink intentionally left on the surface of the plate which creates delicate areas of tone or shading. For highlights such as the pedals of a flower, the plate tone can be lifted off, creating a soft glow effect. Nikki experimented with various lift up methods, causing the pedals to glow, and the jug to appear slightly round or slightly flat.
I think I might be approaching 20 different (and rather pretty) drypoint images for Some Pretty Paintings, my solo show at Smith & Vallee Gallery in January. The drypoints are printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber and are printed in editions – between 3 and 10 prints per image.
I’ll post one artwork per day through December. Please share and enjoy these images.
If you’d like to have one of these original drypoint prints for yourself or a friend, they are only $125, and you can have it in time for the holidays. Contact me if you’d like me to save one for you.
See you in January!
Ruthie V.
Some Pretty Paintings
A collection of figures and flowers in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
Launch your creativity for 2020 with this 30 day Creative Challenge. Connie Pierson How it works January 1-30 we’ll post a daily creative challenge to our website. V.Notes subscribers will receive this post in their inbox every day at 7am. If you want to participate, subscribe to V. notes. Help us grow! Invite your friends to …
[image_with_animation image_url=”11410″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] From yesterday’s V.Note: “Though I thought I should give it a try, I really thought I wouldn’t like drypoint because every time I heard the word “drypoint” I heard nails on a chalkboard, and most of the prints labeled as “drypoints” seemed less rich and subtle than the etchings …
Neil Welliver is one of Patty Haller’s inspirational artists. See a resemblance? Neil Welliver in conversation with Edwin Denby Q. Why do you staple the big charcoal drawing to the white canvas? A. The charcoal drawing, when it is stapled to the white canvas, is ready to be transferred to the canvas and it’s been …
Peter Laurent de Francia 1921 – 19 2012) was an Italian British artist. Influenced by nineteenth-century socialist painters such as Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier, as well as by socially committed artists of his time such as Renato Guttuso and Pablo Picasso, de Francia created artworks with a drive for social change. Peter de Francia wrote about the work of artist Fernand …
Some Pretty Paintings: Roses
Roses, Drypoint on white and grey Rives BFK, 14×11″ paper, 2016
What is Intaglio?
Simply put, there are two basic types of printmaking: prints made from the ink on top of the carved plate’s surface (like woodcuts). Woodcuts are a type of relief prints. The second type of printmaking is made from incised plates that are inked, then wiped off, leaving the ink in the crevices (like drypoint engravings). These are Intaglio prints. Drypoint is a type of intaglio.
Inking a Drypoint Plate
Plate Tone?
I think I might be approaching 20 different (and rather pretty) drypoint images for Some Pretty Paintings, my solo show at Smith & Vallee Gallery in January. The drypoints are printed in collaboration with Nikki Barber and are printed in editions – between 3 and 10 prints per image.
I’ll post one artwork per day through December. Please share and enjoy these images.
If you’d like to have one of these original drypoint prints for yourself or a friend, they are only $125, and you can have it in time for the holidays. Contact me if you’d like me to save one for you.
See you in January!
Ruthie V.
Some Pretty Paintings
A collection of figures and flowers in paintings and prints
Show opens January 5, 2019
Show up through January 27th
Artist Talk Saturday, January 5th (3:30-4:30pm)
Opening Reception to follow (5-7pm)
Smith & Vallee Gallery
5742 Gilkey Ave, Edison
(360) 766-6230
Open Daily 11-5
www.smithandvalleegallery.com
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Peter Laurent de Francia 1921 – 19 2012) was an Italian British artist. Influenced by nineteenth-century socialist painters such as Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier, as well as by socially committed artists of his time such as Renato Guttuso and Pablo Picasso, de Francia created artworks with a drive for social change. Peter de Francia wrote about the work of artist Fernand …