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About mezzotint techniqueMezzotint, that is black manner, (Mezzotint, Schabkunst, Maniere noire) is the technique of engraving on copper. The image in this technique is created with the help of spots of different intensity of tones from deep black to pearl – silvery and even white.For engraving by mezzotint method the surface of a copper plate is made rough with the help of a special instrument, with the help of rocker. This process of rocking in traditional mezzotint is very labour consuming and is performed by hand. The copper plate must be rocked in 24-50 directions for getting burrs of high quality, which requires very hard labour for many days. The even velvety black tone is achieved while printing such a plate. Then a drawing is transferred by a special method. When the copper plate is prepared in such a way its rough surface is gradually burnished and scraped with a sharp burnisher and scraper to get the transition from black to white tones. The whitest spots are polished. There isn’t any other technique of engraving which can render the variety of tints from the black to white. So the artist works in mezzotint not with lines (as in etching or carvings) but with tone spots. A particular soft and deep velvety tone characterizes the prints made from these copper plates. One can get not more than 40-60 prints of good quality from the mezzotint plates, as during the printing the rough surface of dark places is gradually rubbed off. The mezzotint technique was invented about 1642 by Ludwig Van Singen who was born in Germany and worked in Amsterdam. The artist – amateur prince Rupreht Phaltzy brought the new method to England. This black manner (mezzotint) got brilliantly developed there from the middle of the XVIII century, and became a specific English type of engraving. This mezzotint technique appeared in Russia at the beginning of the XVIII century. Russian and visiting foreign artists make their works in this technique of black manner. In XIX century the mezzotint technique little by little ceased. Nowadays only a few artists engravers try to restore this technique. | ||
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