Intaglio Printmaking: The Perfect Print
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Intaglio Printmaking: The Perfect Print Clarence Mitchell III |
There are a few purposes for my experiment. The first objective is to use 1.75m and 3.0m nitric acid (HNO3) and determine which is best to produce a printing plate. The next objective it to determine the best ratio of pigment: binder with water based inks for next year's printmaking segment. All variables will remain constant when producing each printing plate, with exception to time of soaking in acid bath if necessary.
This expirement was introduced in our first printmaking lab. We had three different printmaking labs: two dealing with itaglio printmaking and one dealing with woodcut prints.
materials needed:
1.75m and 3m concentrations of HNO3
printing paper
water based ink
zinc plates
roller and pads to roll water from soaking paper
etching tools
putz pomad
mineral sprits
ground wax
First let paper soak in water while preparing print plate: Peel back covering of zinc plate and remove oxidation using putz pomade until all black residue is removed. Apply acid reistant ground wax with a brush and let dry. Trace outer dimensions of plate and draw desired image in the rectangle in wrong reading (opposite or mirror image of desired print image, it will produce a mirror image). On other side of square shad an area that covers the space of the image using a conte crayon or something chalky. Place shaded side on top of plate and trace image outline to leave outline of image on plate with ground wax. Using etching utentsil to expose zinc beneath the wax (it scratches away as easily as a pencil writes). Place about 300ml of HNO3 in a tub to allow the zinc plate to soak (in this case a different tub for each concentration). Place the plate into the acid solution to eat away at the exposed zinc plate to etch the lines. Soak the 3m HNO3 for 15 minutes (20) at most. Soak the 1.75m HNO3 for 45 minutes. Remove plates and wipe away ground wax using mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol. Appy ink the entiere plante and wipe away, leaving ink in on the etched crevices. Create a template the line up the plate and the paper to make each print. Remove excess water from each soaking sheet of paper and put paper on top of print and roll through print press. When mixing the inks I worked in ink to binder ratios so a 1:1 ratio would be 1 scoop ink to 1scoop binder.
| Acids | Printing |
Ink ratio |
| the 3m solution of HNO3 created wider etchings than the 1.75m solution; the plate soaking in the 3m solution was only soaking for 25 minutes while the 1.75 soaked for 45 minutes. I also observed more bubbles forming in the 3m solution than in the 1.75 solution. Wherever the bubbles formed there was a more violent reaction of the zinc being eaten away. |
The plate that soaked in 3m solution seems to produce prints that are not as consistently successful as the 1.75m solution. The lines of the print dont seem to take the ink consistently in all spots, white areas appear in the middle of some lines. These plates trouble holding the ink and do not allow ink to surface evenly, the 1.75m almost always works the 1st time. |
The 1to1 ratio of ink to binder seems to work best. 2:1 isnt dark or consistent enough and the no binder produces a print that i way too grainy. The color prints seem to allo have more difficulty with obtaining a rich color.
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1.75 m solution of HNO3 is too dilute to achieve a great line, while 3.0 is too concentrated I would suggest mixing the two concentrations to get a 2.4m solution, or periodically place a plate in each concentration changing every 5 mins. for about 20 minutes or until the desired effect is achieved. Click here to seek an image of the plate that I tried this varation of concentrations every 5 minutes. Without a doubt I must say that a 1:1 ratio of ink to binder produced the best printing results, that is if one wants nice, full, complete, color rich lines that exactly the same size of the lines on the plate. A more experienced individual may desire a different look, similar to the other prints I made with different variations.
Arlin Indae, for ordering the inks I needed, and Ms. Fitz for letting me borrow her printmaking book. Nobody actually helped in producing this work.