Sculptor Manuel Pereira da Silva

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Engraving: Woodcutting and Calcogravure

Engraving is an art technique, in which it is possible to print multiple copies of an image from an array.

In order to make an engraving it is necessary a support (matrix) in which the drawing will be made. This media is inked and the image is printed on the paper. The engraving is a multiple, that is to say that one can draw several copies of the same drawing.

The engravings have artistic value because they are totally original and made by hand.

Array types:

Woodcutting is the oldest technique for producing engravings and its principles are very simple. The artist removes from a flat wooden surface (the matrix), with the aid of cutting tools and notches (gouges) the parts that he does not want to have color in the engraving. After applying paint to the surface, place a paper over it. When applying pressure (with a press) on that sheet the image is transferred to the paper. It is a process very much like a stamp.

Woodcutting by Manuel Pereira da Silva

Wood matrix

Linoleogravure is a technique that resembles the carving of woodcut, however, instead of wood, the matrix is made of synthetic material - rubber plates, called "linoleum". This technique is more recent than woodcut due to the material of its matrix, and was much used by modern artists, like Picasso for example.

Calcogravure or calcography is the engraving process done in a metal matrix. The engraving in metal began to be used in Europe in XV century. The matrices can be made from copper, zinc, aluminium or brass plates. These are recorded with a direct incision or by the use of acid baths. Etching, water-ink, dry-tip are the most usual techniques. The die receives ink and a press is used to transfer the image onto the paper.

Metal Matrix

Calcogravure by Manuel Pereira da Silva

Metal Matrix

Calcogravure by Manuel Pereira da Silva

The technique of the burin has its name in function of the tool used in the engraving, the burin. The prints of the engravings of this technique have dense lines, but without marks of the burrs. The handling of the burin allows the artist to control and regularity of the trait and, consequently, of the cut.

The dry tip gets its name depending on the tool used, the dry tip of engraving. It is the method that most closely approximates the gesture of drawing, given the artist's freedom to drive the tool. The act of scratching the sheet with metal tips results in prints with quite thin lines because of the burrs that are raised during the engraving.

The black way, also called half-ink or mezzotint, has its origin in the need for engravers to represent tonal variations of paintings on the plates. His invention is attributed to Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1680), around 1642. His method is to create black tones with the instrument 'berceau', and to create tonal gradations from black to white with scraper and burner tools. David Lucas (1802 - 1881), English engraver, made beautiful reproductions of works of the painter John Constable (1776 - 1837), with this technique.

The metal engraving, designed for the reproduction of prints, has its origin with the European goldsmiths of XV century that developed the technique of the burin to trait. In the early days of this period, great artists excelled in the study of metal engraving, in the case of Albrecht Durer (1471 - 1528), son of a goldsmith, who had extraordinary mastery of the burin, Martin Schongauer (1448 - 1491), Lucas Van Leyden - 1533), Antonio Pollaiuolo (1433 - 1498), Andrea Mantegna (1471 - 1506), among others.

Among the techniques of indirect recording I highlight the strong, (from the Latin aqua-fortis), so called because of the nitric acid used in this technique. The procedure is to protect the sheet, usually copper, brass or zinc, with a layer of varnish made with wax heating, Judeia bitumen and solvent, which applied on the plate creates a protective layer. For removing the lacquer from the areas to be etched with acid, a blunt or rounded end metal tip is used to prevent the matrix from being scratched. Then the plate is taken to the acid bath where the recording of the matrix takes place.

Rembrandt H. Van Rijn (1606 - 1669), is considered one of the greatest water-forers of all time, but there are other artists of great relevance that must be mentioned; case of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720 - 1778), Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696 - 1770), Giovanni Antonio Canal, common Il Canaletto (1697 - 1768), Giorgio Morandi (1890 - 1964), Pablo Picasso others.

The Lithography technique is based on the chemical principle that water and fat repel each other. The images are drawn with greasy material on limestone and with the application of acid on it, the image is recorded. Like metal engraving, this technique also requires a press to transfer to the paper the image engraved on the stone.

Screenprinting begins to be applied more frequently by artists in the second half of the twentieth century. As with the techniques described above, Screen Printing also features a variety of image recording techniques. One of them is the photographic process recording. Images are recorded on the polyester canvas and with the manual use of a squeegee with the ink the image is transferred to the paper.