Existing comment:
* Soft Ground Etching uses a soft wax ground, which is partially scraped away to simulate the effects of pencil and crayon. This type of etching was especially popular during the 18th century when a greater appreciation of actual drawing occurred and demand exceeded supply. Later artists, such as Cassatt, also used this technique.
* Mezzotint is a type of engraving capable of achieving a wide range of tones, including half (mezzo in Italian) tons with great accuracy. Therefore it is most often used to reproduce paintings, though artists such as Constable and Turner were not above trying their hands at this medium.
* Lithograph is a process of drawing directly on stone with a grease crayon. Invented in the early 19th century, lithograph soon supplanted etchings and engravings as a wonderful and expressive method to reproduce drawings and paintings. Great artists who used this method include Gericault, Daumier, Fantin-Larour, and Toulouse-Latrec.
* Wood Engraving flourished in the 19th century as a method for reproducing paintings but was also used as an expressive medium by 20th-century artists such as Rockwell Kent. Though it uses a wood support, wood engraving is more like engraving than woodcut. Here the wood is turned so that the artist cuts into the grain of the wood with a sharp burin-like tool. The technique allows for greater precision and control. Very fine lines on the support's surface can be infinitely varied in width and separation to produce a range of gray tones (as in the Wolf), as well as virtuoso blacks and whites (as in the Kent).
* Silkscreen is a subset of serigraphy and is much like stenciling where ink is forced through fabric such as silk. It was developed as an artistic form in the 20th century and is frequently employed by abstract and pop artists. It also has commercial applications for printing posters and T-shirts. |