Glossary

ART56 Glossary is limited to those terms you are likely to encounter when viewing one of the works.

Acryl/Oil:   A picture/painting painted in a mixed technique of artists' acrylic and oil colours.

Aquatint:   Acid-resistant particles (e. g. Asphaltgrains) are spread over specific areas of the plate. The plate is then heated so that the grains melt and stick to the plate. When the plate is in acid, this achieves gradations of tones (e. g. light grey up to a rich black) when the plate is inked, accordingly how immensed it was in acid.

Blue:   Prussian blue etching Ink

Burnt Sienna:   Etching colour with reddish pigments

Canvas:   Artists'  linen cloth/sheet for painting in acryl, oil, etc.

Drypoint:  Intaglio technique in which the needle is used to scratch a line onto a plate. The resultant burr of the plate that is raised holds more ink than the incised line itself and gives the typical "shading" of the lines. The plate wears out rapidly because the burr soon breaks off during printing with the etching press. Edition max. 15 impressions.

Edition:   The limited number of impressions/prints pulled from a plate. e. g. 1/40 is the first print from 40, 40/40 is the last one.

Engraving:   Line engraving - the motif is incised in the plate with a graver or burin. The depth of the furrow is increased by retracing shallow lines and the burin until the desired depth is achieved. 

Intaglio:   The tradtional technique of printing in which ink is forced into incised lines or recessions on a plate, the surface wiped clean, dampened paper placed on top, and paper and plate run through an etching press to transfer the ink to the paper. (NB: All prints in ART56  gallery are printed by me in this traditional method)

Line etching:   Intaglio technique in which lines are incised in a plate by acid

Mezzotint:   An intaglio process in which the entire surface of a plate is rocked with a serrated tool to produce a roughened surface that, when inked, yields a rich black. The areas to be white in the print are painstakingly rubbed with a burnisher and an engraver's scraper, which smooth and depress those areas so that they do not take the ink in relief paintings.

Monotype:   A one-of-a-kind print made by painting on a polished plate and either printed by hand or transferred to paper by running the plate and paper through the etching press.

Mould-made copperplate board:   (Laid paper) Soft, absorbent paper for intaglio prints, which weighs between 150g/mē - 350g/mē.

Papiersize:   Full margins size of the paper on which the motif/theme (plate-size) is printed on.

Plate:   A thin (0,5mm - 1 mm), sheet of metal, most commonly used are steel, copper and zinc, that is engraved or etched so as to be printed from.

Plate-size:   The size of the motif/theme, e. g. 14,7 cm (height) x 19,6 cm (width)

Remarque:   Line-etching proofs which are fitted on the edge of the plate. After several experiments a proof sheet will be printed. The plate will now be cutted in its last shape (the edges with etching-proofs are cut away). Since remarque is printed (pulled) before the first print of the edition, it also confirms it as the very first sheet. Remarque sheets are for connoisseurs of artists graphics (etchings) very popular because their existence is very rare.

Sepia-Prussian blue:   Colours which when mixed, give various tone from brownish green up to a dark grey blue.

Sheet:   Impression's number - 7/40 is the seventh print of 40.

State:   A print is described as existing in a different state (1st state, 2nd state, 3rd state...) every time the plate is in any way altered and is then used for further impressions. e. g. Night Guards (Project:  Rembrandts Heritage - The Night Guards)

Unicum/Unique copy:   From artist reworked original print e. g. coloured by stencil or watercoloured.

Woodcut:   Woodcuts are carved on the plank side of the wood, with the grain. Fine detail is difficult to achieve. Every part of the wood surface is removed exept the lines of the image. When the block is completed, the image stands up as a level surface in relief. By the elimination method the first motiv will be pulled so many sheets as needed for the edition, after the second motiv, sheets will be pulled again, then the next step until the whole picture is finished. ( e.g. Repose)

Wood panel
:
   Artists'  wood panel, 3-4 mm thick.

All works are signed and dated either on the right or on the left  side on canvas (paintings), numbered and signed on the left side and signed and dated on the right side on paper (etchings)
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WOLFGANG  M.  EPPLE                                       Painter & Etcher
- das Atelier
Line etching and Aquatint
Drypoint
Mezzotint
Examples of various Technics
Night Guards - Remarque
Back to  Etchings