The Renaissance of Etching is a groundbreaking study of the origins of the etched print. Initially used as a method for decorating armor, etching was reimagined as a printmaking technique at the end of the fifteenth century in Germany and spread rapidly across Europe. Unlike engraving and woodcut, which required great skill and years of training, the comparative ease of etching allowed a wide variety of artists to exploit the expanding market for prints. The early pioneers of the medium include some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, such as Albrecht Dürer, Parmigianino, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who paved the way for future printmakers like Rembrandt, Goya, and many others in their wake. Remarkably, contemporary artists still use etching in much the same way as their predecessors did five hundred years ago. Richly illustrated and including a wealth of new information, The Renaissance of Etching explores how artists in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France developed the new medium of etching, and how it became one of the most versatile and enduring forms of printmaking. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}

Intaglio printmaking involves engraving or incising a figure in stone or other hard material to obtain an impression from the subsurface design. In this thorough handbook, a noted printmaker and teacher offers complete up-to-date coverage of etching, engraving, drypoint, and other well-known intaglio techniques, as well as such less-familiar methods as tuilegraphs, collagraphs, and transfers. The first part of the book is devoted to a thorough introduction to materials and tools, printing equipment, papers, presses—even how to set up your workshop for maximum safety and efficiency. In Part Two, the author proceeds to a detailed discussion of etching techniques, including formulas for grounds and inks, aquatint, white ground, hard ground, soft ground, sugar lift, and acids. Once familiar with basic etching techniques, the student is then given precise illustrated instructions in printing techniques, including basic printing, double intaglio printing (the author's own method); color printing and embossing, the viscosity method, and viscosity and aquatint. For each procedure, clear, step-by-step directions cover the process itself, materials and equipment required, and cleanup. An especially helpful "what went wrong" section at the end of each chapter diagnoses problems and offers solutions. In Part 4 Ms. Leaf details other mediums and methods: drypoint, notable for its characteristic velvety dark lines; engraving, one of the earliest forms of expression known to man, dating back to prehistoric times; collagraphs, plates made in the same way as collages and then printed; and the Blake Transfer Method, adapted from a technique developed by the English artist and poet William Blake (1757–1827). A final Appendix treats such ancillary topics as framing and matting prints, storage, agents, and where to sell and show your work. Enhanced with over 220 illustrations, including works by Rembrandt, Callot, Dürer, Goya, and Brueghel, and a wealth of illustrative figures and photographs, this precise and detailed manual belongs at the side of any serious printmaker, novice, or ink-stained veteran. "Excellent, comprehensive . . . superbly organized." — AB Bookman's Weekly.

First published in 1999, Chambers explores English etching changed that radically during the nineteenth century. This book looks into the freedom and directness of the etching process became a key plank in a sustained attempt to raise the status of etching in Britain spearheaded by artists such as Francis Seymour Haden and James McNeill Whistler and members of the Etching Club. An Indolent and Blundering Art? Opens with a description of the use of language and art criticism to redefine etching

Cultural Writing. Art. Essays. MAGICAL SECRETS ABOUT THINKING CREATIVELY: THE ART OF ETCHING AND THE TRUTH OF LIFE by Kathan Brown is a new volume in the Magical Secrets series published by Crown Point Press in San Francisco. What are Magical Secrets? They are ways of setting yourself up for thinking creatively, for a sudden understanding, something like a miracle. Kathan Brown learned the Magical Secrets in this book by helping artists of extraordinary acclaim make etchings. She founded Crown Point Press, now probably the world's most influential etching publisher, in 1962. In this book, you'll meet sixteen artists who will be remembered by future generations. Kathan Brown knows them well, and with pictures and graceful, inviting prose she shares with you their ways of working, thinking, and being.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 1, 2013-January 5, 2014.