Copper Plate Engraving Process

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

Copper plate engraving process.

These images are also called engravings. In modern manufacturing other chemicals may be used on other types of material. 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. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin the result may be a decorated object in itself as when silver gold steel or glass are engraved or may provide an intaglio printing plate of copper or another metal for printing images on paper as prints or illustrations.

Copper plate etching is a traditional form of printmaking that delivers beautifully crisp line work and a wonderfully unique aesthetic. 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. Today most printing plates are made by machines but fine artists still make engraved plates in order to create prints. 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.

Before any engraving could begin the illustrated design needed to be transferred onto the copper plate s surface. Steel also allowed much finer detail to be engraved which would quickly have worn on a copper plate. 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. Copperplate engraving and printing originated around 1450 about the time of johann gutenberg s system of movable wooden type.

In this video andrew raftery creates a copper eng. During the 1820 s steel replaced copper for many types of plate. The metal plate is covered with a liquid acid resisting ground. The breakfast dish fish pictured here and on the cover is a fantastic example of a copper engraved printing plate and shows the engraver s skill in all its glory.

Steel gives a much harder wearing plate that could be used for thousands of impressions before signs of wear appeared. Engraving drypoint and etching are essentially media. The finished result is quite beautiful when skillfully done. As a method of printmaking it is along with engraving the most important technique for old master prints and remains in wide use today.

Copperplate as a printing process.