engraving techniques | summer school

Engraving Techniques Summer School

23|26 July 2020

Tutor: Giancarlo Busato

Through my university internship, from 23 to 26 July 2020, I took part as assistant in Giancarlo Busato’s Summer School - my second workshop in Print Club Torino.

This workshop was the first time that I faced engraving techniques.
Giancarlo is a brilliant tutor, able to involve with patience every level of methods experience.
I met enthusiastic artists that spread me their passion and bits of knowledge.
I deeply enjoyed these course days.

This Summer School was an intensive engraving course designed for students, art lovers and graphic artists; organized by Print Club Torino in collaboration with Giancarlo Busato of the Stamperia d’Arte Busato (VI).

The tutor | Giancarlo Busato

Giancarlo Busato is a master engraver and leader of "Stamperia d'Arte Busato" in Vicenza.

He calls himself the Wandering Printer because he brings the culture of engraving and printing techniques around Italy and Europe.

In Vicenza, he is hosting young talents and artists as in the past.

His lab continues to narrate to young and old about this wonderful art.

My tasks

I took care of welcoming the participants and developing the workshop while taking photos.
Gladly I assisted those who needed help, both tutors and participants.

This workshop introduced me to engraving techniques closely.

It allowed me to discover and deepen my knowledge of this art form.

I was pleasantly included in this environment full of enthusiasts.

Camilla, Alice, Luisella and Michele :)

The Summer School

Each participant had the opportunity to work with Giancarlo Busato on the engraving techniques such as drypoint, mezzotint, etching, aquatint and vernis-mou.

This workshop concerned the theoretical background and manual experimentations of engraving.

Each member completed an individual project under the expert guidance of Giancarlo Busato.

The four-day full immersion is formulated for those who want to improve their knowledge of the art of engraving. The techniques are deepen traded. The participants are helped to create, of their choice, slabs of small or large format. The tutor and the Print Club Torino provided all the materials.

Engraving techniques

Engraving is a fine-art intaglio printmaking process.
The design is incised onto a metal surface (copper or zinc), by making grooves using a steel tool with a square or diamond-shaped end called a burin.

Drypoint

Drypoint is an engraving technique where the metal is engraved without using acids. The etching is made directly with a sharp point. Different depths produce different sizes of line and texture.

Mezzotint

It's a variant of engraving. The metal plate has a rough surface, scared all over by rockets.
The design is created by burnishers and scrapers that scape the surface which is to be left white. This technique allows a high range of tonal effects.

Etching

The metal plate (made usually from copper or zinc) is coated with ground made of a waxy acid-resistant substance. The design is drawn with a metal needle exposing the metal.

A mordant bath of acid eats into the metal plate where the design is exposed.

In the end, the ground is wiped off with a solvent.

Aquatint

Discovering aquatint with Giancarlo|Same subject but different combinations of aquatint tonal effects

Aquatint is a tone process that allows the creation of a greyscale design, similar to watercolour.

It's an indirect type of engraving.
The technique relies on covering with more or fewer grains of rosin (powdered acid-resistant) the ground. With heating, particles of the resin become fused with the metal plate.
The corrosion occurs with the help of an acid, like etching, corroding metal among resin-grains.
With this system, velvety effects and nuanced tones are obtained during printing.

Walk | detail | etching and aquatint - Michele Pieretti

Vernis-mou | Soft ground etching

The plate preparation consists of the application of soft sticky ground made of varnish and tallow.

The design is drawn on a sheet of paper and placed on copper. Whenever the pencil passes expose the metal: this technique allows creating broad soft lines. The print process is the same as that etching one.

Printing process

The ink is forced and dragged into the grooves.

The ink in excess is removed with tarlatan - gauze because it helps to push the ink into the linework.

The most important thing to do before printing is to dampen the paper. This process makes the paper receptive to the ink.

The chosen papers tend to be between 250gsm and 300gsm that are most suitable for etchings.

When the plate is ready is placed on the press bed, under the dampened paper. A set of felt blankets is placed on top of them. The press applies regular pressure and pulls the ink from the lines and transferred them to paper.