WHAT IS A DRYPOINT - INTAGLIO PRINT?

These prints are "hand pulled" Intaglio Prints.  Intaglio means incised line, or any line that is engraved into the printing plate.  Engravings, Woodcuts, Etching and Drypoint all fall into the category of intaglio printing. Hand pulled simply means the print was created by hand (not a machine like a printing press).  The Drypoints seen below are first created by scoring a line into the surface of the soft copper plate using pointed steel scribes. The deeper the scribed line, the wider and darker it will be. The use of crosshatching is also effective to obtain different areas of blended value from light to dark. The finest of hair line will be visible in the final print.  Once the plates id finished a "proof" is run to see what areas need further work.  Once that has been done a print is run. Each print is warmed so that the stiff ink (thick) is easier to spread across the plate. Each plate is then hand wiped by the artist using a starched cheesecloth known as tarlatan. Varied effects can be obtained depending on  what the artist is trying to achieve. At this time the moist piece of dampened print paper is placed over the plate.  As soon as the plate is wiped it is placed under the roller of an etching press and hand cranked through the press by hand. Massive amounts of pressure per square inch are applied as it passes through the press and the ink from the surface of the print as well as the scribed lines transfer to the paper. There is no way any two prints can be identical because there are so many hand operations done in their creation. DRYPOINT ARE ORIGINALS - they are not reproductions.  The two prints below have nomenclature that is different on each print. On Birdseye View, seen above, it reads from left to right: #3 print of 50 printed, The title Birdseye View , then the year it was printed, then the Artists signature,  and on the far right, "imp".  This is Latin meaning "I did the printing" . Occasionally one artist will create the plate and then have another artist print it.  When this happens the printer may sign it as well because there is an Art to printing as well. You will notice a few of the prints listed as "State Prints". These prints are very unique and were specifically created to create a certain atmosphere or feeling in the print.  They are one of a kind prints, even though pulled from the original plate.