Copper Plate Engraving Process

A demonstration by andrew stein raftery associate professor of printmaking rhode island school of design.

Copper plate engraving process.

Engraving drypoint and etching are essentially media. During the 1820 s steel replaced copper for many types of plate. Steel gives a much harder wearing plate that could be used for thousands of impressions before signs of wear appeared. Woodcut is the opposite of this in that all unwanted matter is cut away a relief process whereas the lithograph is drawn directly onto and reproduced from a flat surface.

These images are also called engravings. Before any engraving could begin the illustrated design needed to be transferred onto the copper plate s surface. The finished result is quite beautiful when skillfully done. In modern manufacturing other chemicals may be used on other types of material.

The wood engraving is considered what type of process. Copper plate etching is a traditional form of printmaking that delivers beautifully crisp line work and a wonderfully unique aesthetic. Steel also allowed much finer detail to be engraved which would quickly have worn on a copper plate. First invented simply as a method of replicating an image intaglio printmaking has evolved over centuries into an art form in it s own right.

Copperplate engraving and printing originated around 1450 about the time of johann gutenberg s system of movable wooden type. As a method of printmaking it is along with engraving the most important technique for old master prints and remains in wide use today. In this video andrew raftery creates a copper eng. The practical discussion that follows however will be concerned solely with copper engraving an intaglio process in which the printed detail is cut into the plate.

Decorative engraving and scene depiction are achieved by using a series of burins or gravers to carve lines into the copper by hand creating the desired design. Today most printing plates are made by machines but fine artists still make engraved plates in order to create prints. In his 2009 publication the art of the printmaker 1500 1860 roger baynton williams suggested that many engravers chose the etching method to essentially bite in this initial outline. Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio incised in the metal.

Copperplate as a printing process.