Types and techniques of engraving. Intaglio metal engraving

Convex engraving. This is an engraving on wood, linoleum, plastic, cardboard, relief engraving on metal. To obtain a print, paint is applied to the surface of the design and using a printing press or manually stamped onto paper.

Raised engraving techniques

Woodcut : cut woodcut, end woodcut.

Trim woodcut allows you to create images from black lines and spots that provide maximum contrast with white paper. The master cuts along the board with a longitudinal cut. This makes the cut engraving more decorative and creates emotional tension.

For end engraving A cross-cut board made of hardwood is used, the combination of strokes allows you to create tones of different saturation, which was used to reproduce works of painting and tonal drawing.

Linocut processed with cutters similar to edged woodcuts, but on linoleum.

Flat engraving: lithography and all its varieties, also monotype. Lithography is extremely neutral in relation to the work of the master: you can draw on stone with the same ease as on paper - with a pencil, ink, scratch, ink, etc. This technique creates rich possibilities for conveying the dynamics of light, for expressing a romantic beginning, for creating a special picturesque tonality.

In-depth engraving. Copper, zinc, brass and steel plates are used as the basis of the form, the surfaces of which, after careful polishing (to a mirror finish), are engraved by various mechanical and/or chemical methods using appropriate tools. The technology for making the design of the future engraving is created by indentations in the form of combinations of strokes, dots or lines - grooves, scratched, etched or cut through a previously applied design on the metal. To obtain a printed sheet, etching ink is filled into the resulting recesses and pressed onto moistened paper while rolling the plate between the shafts of the etching press.

Types and techniques of in-depth engraving

Depending on the method by which the in-depth design is applied to the surface of the engraving board, the main types of intaglio engraving have been determined (table):

All of these modes (varieties) of intaglio printing, each individually or in combination with each other, can be used to create a color intaglio engraving from one or more boards.

Chisel engraving is characterized by the physical stress of the master during work: the steel serger with effort overcomes the resistance of the metal plate. The design is cut into the metal board with a steel cutter, creating a clear, purely linear structure. In addition to the completeness and precision of the form, the physical tension itself during work seems to transform into the plastic tension of the image. As a result, the very manner of engraving seems to strive to create an image of an active person, to convey the nature of physical activity and plastic energy. Chisel engraving is characterized by a subject composition or a representative portrait.

Varieties of intaglio engraving

Outline (contour-linear) chisel engraving developed mainly as a reproduction engraving: distributed as illustrations, for example, to the works of ancient authors, based on drawings by classicist artists; in Russia Fyodor Tolstoy (1782–1846) reached perfection.

A type of engraving on steel is engraving on organic glass or plastic.

One of the oldest types of in-depth metal engraving is classical engraving, or burin engraving. Thanks to its particularly pronounced artistic merits, it is considered as an independent type of graphic art.

The principle of creating a printing form in incisive engraving is that in-depth strokes and lines are cut out on the surface of the metal with special tools - metallographic cutters. Depending on the profile of the sharpened end, each cutter has its own purpose and name. But they are all united by the extraordinary purity and clarity of the lines, the exquisitely strict clarity of the outline. Each stroke has a subtle beginning and ending (with the exception of short strokes made steeplem). Arranged in a certain system, the strokes, with their strict sequence and varying depths of engraving, create unique, subtle gradations of tone spots, which makes it possible to reproduce works of painting and graphics. A freer and more lively arrangement of strokes is characteristic of late period development of this manner. Various approaches to the use of the visual capabilities of engraving also determine the characteristics by which the purpose of the graphic sheet can be distinguished. Systematic, geometrically clear strokes located in a certain strict sequence speak of the reproductive nature of the engraving, in which richness, contrast, and complex intersections of lines create a classic purity of the surface. As the strokes thicken, there is a gradual increase in width in the places of curves. With unusually graceful intersections of strokes, a clear and refined texture is created that quite accurately conveys the materiality of the depicted objects and space. These traditional techniques of reproduction engraving have long overshadowed creative problems creating an independent author's engraving with a chisel. Only at the beginning of the 20th century. such masters as the French painter, graphic artist and engraver Jean-Emile Labourere (1877–1943), the Greek graphic artist Dimitrios Galanis (1878–1966), who worked in Paris, and some others, came to understand a new method of engraving with a chisel, organically connected with the material on copper or zinc. A true renewal of the old engraving technique is coming. Outwardly, this is expressed in a freer drawing stroke of the pen, in a variety of textural techniques, in the economy of means of expressing a particular motif. Parts of the board untouched by the chisel, adjacent to long parallel or reticularly intersecting strokes, give the author’s print an overall light silvery tonality. As a rule, the strokes of the cutter are adjacent to the strokes of the dry point. Engravings, not regulated by traditional classical rules, were sometimes tinted or completely painted by the author with watercolors, if this suited the design. In the early 30s. XX century It was customary to print author's engravings not with the usual black paint, but with a thick dark blue or speckled red color, which contributed to the coloristic enrichment of the engraving. It is the creative approach to the use of the visual capabilities of the incisive stroke that creates the external differences between the author's engraving and the classical reproduction engraving on metal. Engravers from Germany, Italy, and France made a significant contribution to the development of engraving. In Russia, this manner appeared in late XVII V. and was developed in early XVIII century, under Peter I. Then, drawings, plans, illustrations for books, portraits, views of St. Petersburg were engraved in this manner. Documentary-accurate, sparse images were supplemented with all sorts of frames, vignettes, and numerous inscriptions, which were not always made by the authors themselves. As a rule, this was done by engravers called draftsmen, calligraphers, and ornament makers.

Mezzotint , or black manner. The polished surface of the plate is mechanically or chemically made granular. When printed, such a plate produces an even black tone. An image is applied to the grained surface with a needle or pencil, light areas are smoothed out or scraped out, and a gradual transition from shadow to light is created. The engravings are distinguished by their depth and velvety tone and richness of light and shadow effects.

The black style (mezzotint) was invented in the process of searching for new, more advanced ways of reproducing works of art. The fundamental difference between mezzotint and other in-depth printing methods is that the creation of an image on a printing plate occurs not by applying in-depth strokes, dots and scratches to it, but by highlighting the pattern on the grained surface of the printing plate, which gives a deep velvety and juicy tone. The artist paints not in black on white, but in white on dark, highlighting areas of the dark surface to varying degrees, thereby creating unusually subtle and very diverse gradations of tone. Highlighting is done both with a scraper (cutting off the tops of the grained surface) and with a smoothing iron (crushing the sharp tops of the rough metal). A characteristic external feature of mezzotint is the deep velvety tone in the dark areas of the engraving. In light (not pure white) areas, the tone is achieved by points of different intensity, the location of which depends on the tool used to grain the metal. The highest quality graining is obtained by working with a rocker (cutting machine). The frequency of cutting vertices is 3–4 points per linear millimeter of the surface. As a result, the surface of the board acquires a uniform granular texture, consisting of small depressions and sharp peaks between them. The distinctive features of mezzotint engraving are expressed in the special smoothness of the image boundaries, in soft tonal transitions from dark to light and in the peculiar graininess of the image. Besides graining the board with a rocker, there are other methods that are less labor intensive, but do not bear any comparison with the authentic black manner. To work in the mezzotint manner, the printing plate is prepared chemically, that is, using etching.

Dotted style or dotted line - a combination of dots stamped on the board. The engravings are distinguished by the softness of their light and shadow gradations. One of the graphic manners in which the process of engraving a board is not associated with etching with various compositions is the dotted manner (dotted line), which was invented for use exclusively for reproduction purposes. Sometimes this style is mistakenly defined as a derivative of the pencil style. This misconception, however, is easily refuted by the fact that the first engravings created with a dotted line are found in the art of Italy and Holland at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries, that is, much earlier than the appearance of the pencil style, and the tools used in engraving are, by their nature, common features with tools used in decorative and applied arts, in artistic metal processing. There is no doubt that the pencil and dotted style complement each other very well, so with mid-18th century c., as a rule, in one print you can find engraving techniques in both of these manners in different proportions. Upon closer examination of the engraving marks, it is possible to determine exactly how the printing plate was engraved, but to do this it is necessary to become familiar in general terms with the technique of creating a printing plate in a dotted manner. The peculiarity of engraving in a dotted manner is that the image is created by applying it to an engraving board complex system points of different sizes and configurations. In this case, tonal gradations are achieved by condensing or discharging dots of various shapes, sizes and depths of engraving. Points are applied to the metal surface using an engraving hammer and various steel rods (punches), sharpened at the end in the form of a rhombus, triangle, square or rounded sharp shape. The strength of tone in the finished engraving depends on the size and depth of the engraved dot on the metal. Using a magnifying glass, you can easily determine how the image was engraved, and if the drawing is made up of a system of various dots obtained from hitting a sharpened steel pin with a hammer, then you can confidently classify this engraving as a work made in a dotted manner. Some artists working in this manner enrich and complement dotted line engraving with techniques from other styles, using both mechanical and chemical methods of applying a design to a printing plate. For example, from chisel engraving, the technique of deepening the metal with a curved cutter is borrowed, with which short triangular strokes are applied, close to a point. This cutter is called a steeple. Masters of steeple in the past were Francesco Bartalozzi (1792–1799), T. Berke, and among Russian engravers – Gavriil Skorodumov (1748/55–1792). The technique of an etched dot was borrowed from the pencil style, performed using etching. In this case, the metal surface is coated with a hard acid-resistant varnish, and then dots are applied with a metal end brush to expose the metal. After etching, these points are complemented by mechanical engraving techniques that use them as a base. The fundamental external difference between these different types points from each other is that the point struck by the punch has a light tone and soft contours around it, because the metal displaced by the punch rises in a small tubercle above the surface of the engraving board. This tubercle slightly retains the ink around itself, which softly frames each dot when printing. The point created by cutting through the metal with a steeple is a triangle with one distinct sharp point. The edges of this point are sharp and clear, because the metal is removed from the board with a sharp cutter and selected into shavings. The dot obtained as a result of etching has a round shape, accurately conveying the marks of a metal end brush. The edges of these dots are sharp, smooth, essentially a style of etched stroke where the stroke is shortened to the size of a dot. The dotted style became widespread as a reproduction style; it was often used for color printing, making reproductions from paintings.

Dry needle a type of in-depth engraving on metal, based on scratching strokes with a needle. How independent technology spread in the 19th century. Masters A. Durer, Rembrandt, Whistler. Graphic manners that are not associated with the use of etching liquids, but which use in-depth engraving techniques when printing, can also be classified as an etching technique. Of these, the most popular graphic style among artists is drypoint. You can recognize and correctly identify drypoint only by knowing the engraving technique in this manner. A polished sheet of zinc, copper and, less commonly, steel is engraved with steel needles of different sections. The engraver's task is to create deep grooves with raised burrs-barbs on the surface of the engraving board. These burrs (barbs), together with scratches, are clogged with specially prepared etching paint and, when wiped, retain the required amount of paint on the surface of the plate. When printing, the paint transfers to the paper both from deep grooves and from the surface of the board, near a raised burr, giving the print an extraordinary richness and velvety feel. Drypoint style is quite easy to identify: the strokes have a thin beginning and ending because they are scratched with a sharp needle. Around the rich stroke there is a wet trace of drawn-out paint. The character of the strokes is energetic, straight and angular, since rounded lines are not characteristic of the technique of scratching and cutting burrs. Most of the dry-point strokes are removed with a scraper or pressed down with a smoothing iron. In this case, marks also remain on the print, organically fitting into the overall graphic structure of the sheet, since the nature of the corrections coincides with the engraving techniques. The earliest cases of drypoint engraving date back to the 15th century.

The pictorial qualities of this manner were used as auxiliary in the finalization of engravings. Very often, the expressive capabilities of drypoint were complemented by other manners - such as etched strokes, aquatint, soft varnish. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to determine which style is the main one in an engraving and which one is auxiliary. When carefully examining the print, it is important to make sure that drypoint is used last, to correct and complement the image, because it is impossible to apply a layer of acid-resistant varnish to convex burrs and therefore there is always the possibility of their destruction by acid during subsequent etching.

Etching from a technological point of view, it is polar opposite to the cutter: recessed elements are created by etching the metal with acids. The peculiarity of engraving in this manner is that a carefully polished engraving board (copper, zinc, steel) is coated with acid-resistant varnish and then dried. Engraving is carried out with etching needles of various thicknesses and cross-sections, thereby exposing pure metal (in the marks of the needle, the surface of the board is freed from varnish). The mold is then dipped in acid and the exposed areas are etched to varying depths and widths. After which the remaining varnish coating is washed off the board with kerosene (or other solvent). The strokes obtained as a result of etching are filled with paint and imprinted on paper using an etching press. In the process of creating an engraving, each stage of work on the etching board leaves a trace when printing on paper, by which you can determine the manner of the etched stroke. When applying a solid acid-resistant varnish to an engraving form with a roller or swab, small dust particles present in the varnish or on the swab burn out when the board is coated, and the acid “breaks through” the varnish, etching out small dots that are not very noticeable on the print. However, upon careful examination of the print with appropriate magnification, you can notice pinpoint ink in clean areas. This indicates that the printing plate was acid etched. Due to the fact that fast and agile engraving with sharp needles occurs without significant physical effort, the drawing retains spontaneity and the image remains vivid. The nature of the strokes in the etching is free in different directions, it has both light round and straight and angular contours. The stroke line has a blunt beginning u1080 and ending. An etching needle scratches a thin film of varnish with extreme ease, which already provokes the artist to achieve maximum mobility and freedom of line. Etching is characterized by a picturesque and emotional manner, freedom of stroke, subtlety of chiaroscuro. The etching shows interest in the light-air environment. The image characteristic of etching is always in the making, in the process. He is dynamic and psychologically deep. Etching is characterized by a landscape, a psychological scene, an intimate portrait.

Aquatint invented to reproduce tonal drawings in ink. A type of engraving based on etching a metal board with acid through asphalt or rosin dust adhering to it. "Aquatint" is derived from Italian. Acquaforte – etching and tinto – painted, tinted. The principle of engraving in aquatint is that different sized grains of acid-resistant resins, in most cases rosin, are applied to the surface of a carefully polished copper, zinc or steel board using various methods. When the board is heated, the particles of resin dust applied to it melt, and a texture is created in the form of a grid, in which the size of the gaps of pure metal is determined by the size of the grains and the time of heating of the mold. These gaps of pure metal are etched with acid to varying depths (the size of which depends on the etching time). By successively covering the necessary places with acid-proof varnish, the artist thereby changes total time etching of one or another area. Dark places take longer to etch, light places take less time. In this way, a wide tonal range is created, allowing the finest tonal relationships to be conveyed in the engraving. In aquatint, as in other manners, external characteristic features depend mainly on the technology of manufacturing the printing plate. The melted grains of aquatint give the print a texture that cannot be found in any other medium. Depending on the amount of rosin melted before etching, the texture on the surface of the print is either white dots on a dark background, or hooked etchings on a light one. The smallest particles of rosin dust give an even tone after etching, from light gray to thick black.

The boundaries between different tonal spots in aquatint are mostly rigid, conveying the movement of the brush with which the covering varnish is applied in order to change the etching time. If the opening is done with the end of a bristle brush, then the boundary between them is loose, ending with a contour characteristic of an end brush or sponge, which is used to apply the covering varnish. The tonal spots are even over the entire area because the etching time for each area within the spot is the same. There are cases when there is a tonal stretch within the boundaries of one spot on an aquatint print. This is usually noticeable on one of the edges of the engraving board. An artist who wants to achieve such a stretch lowers the board halfway into the acid and etches by shaking the ditch. Thus, within the boundaries of one spot, another, but very soft, boundary is obtained, which on the print looks like a tonal stretch.

Reserve . One of the varieties of etching - reserve - appeared as a result of improving the methods of engraving in aquatint and introducing etched stroke techniques into this style. Characteristic features reservations are free movements wide brush strokes or moving pen strokes, with their peculiar thickenings, thin endings when lifted from the surface and small splashes. If in aquatint the background surfaces are covered with a brush, and the design of the composition motif is etched as the remainder of the surface from the background, then in the reservation manner the design is applied freely with a brush to the degreased surface of the board. The composition of the applied black paint is such that after this design is covered with a covering varnish and, after drying, placed in water, the paint will dissolve in the water and fly off the board along with the varnish, exposing the surface of the metal, ready for etching. The background surface is automatically varnished once, preserving all the freshness and spontaneity of the image applied with a pen or brush. Depending on the tool used to apply the easily water-soluble paint to the surface of the engraving board, there are two types of reserving - brush reserving and pen reserving. The impression obtained from the reserve-brush form resembles a brush drawing, only the strokes on it are of a uniform tone, without stretch marks, with smooth, clearly defined edges. If painting with a brush was carried out on a slightly degreased board, then the edges of the strokes take on an uneven splash-like shape. Rolled paint at the borders of strokes gives a characteristic silhouette, which some artists use as a kind of graphic texture. This technique also characterizes the print as an engraving made in the brush-reserve manner. Broad brush strokes expose a large enough field of pure metal that will not hold paint when printing. Therefore, to hold the paint, these areas of pure metal within a wide stroke are powdered like aquatint, using the expressive texture of molten rosin. Therefore, the graphic texture of aquatint is visible inside the wide stroke. This is one of the characteristic features of the engraving, made in the brush-reserve manner. An impression obtained from a reservation-pen printing plate differs from a reservation-brush engraving in that the nature of the strokes on the etched metal accurately preserves the expressive features of the drawing with a metal or bird's pen. The technological process (opening, washing and etching) is similar to the process of the reserve-brush style, with the only difference that there is no need to use aquatint techniques, since the pen drawing does not expose large surfaces of pure metal. The reserve pen style differs from the etched stroke in that the nature of the drawing with an engraved needle is completely opposite to the nature of the drawing with a pen. The etching needle, leaving a mark of equal thickness on the black surface of the acid-resistant layer, creates a white on dark pattern (during the engraving process). A pen, metal or bird, draws with black paint on the white, grease-free surface of the metal, creating a lively, expressive design on the engraving board in the form in which it will be printed on paper. Based on these seemingly insignificant external differences in the nature of drawing on the printed form, it is possible to determine the type of engraving. The reserve first appeared in France in the second half of the 19th century. Since then, engraving technology has been continuously improved. New compositions of painting paint, new compositions of covering varnish appeared, tools, brushes, feathers (various bird and reed feathers) were changed, new, more advanced working techniques were developed, aimed at preserving the author's drawing on the printed page as accurately as possible and to the fullest extent possible. form. The latter is the essence of the reservation.

LavĄis - drawing on a board with acid applied with a brush. Engraving using the lavis technique resembles a brush drawing with a wash. In the broad strokes, blurred in some places, watercolor techniques clearly appear. The boundaries of such strokes and tone spots are soft and free; by overlapping each other, they create very flexible tonal relationships. In order to understand the nature of such an engraving and recognize it in a print, it is necessary to have an idea of ​​the technology for manufacturing its printing form, which ultimately leads to the appearance of those characteristic external features by which the graphic style is determined. Such varieties of aquatint, which have acquired independent meaning, include lavis. Printing plate manufacturing technology in this case quite simple. On a carefully polished surface, covered with thin aquatint (meaning applied and melted rosin dust), a design is applied with an etching composition, which includes a strong 40% acid and a coloring matter, which allows you to see the design in contours and determine it by the depth of tone. Painting is done with watercolor or fiberglass brushes. The thicker the etching composition is applied, the deeper the strength of the tone. Drawing is free, without the need to cover it with acid-proof varnish, which eliminates the appearance of hard boundaries near tone spots on the print. With high-quality printing, a production engraving creates the full impression of a unique watercolor drawing. The substitution of one graphic technique for another is not always undeniable, and artists working in this manner use different methods of applying a rosin layer in order to obtain different textures, which gives the print originality and leads to undeniable artistic results. Ultimately, modern lavis, in its external pictorial characteristics, is very close to aquatint, but differs from it in the watercolor tone spot, softness and blurriness of the outlines of the drawing strokes. Like aquatint, lavis is used in combination with other etching techniques, such as drypoint.

Soft varnish . A related manner in which acid is used in engraving a printing plate is soft, or tear, varnish. This technique owes its name to the specific acid-resistant varnish that coats the engraving board. This varnish contains a filler (lamb fat), which makes it very flexible, allowing it to come off the etching board upon slight contact, exposing the metal, making it ready for etching. Depending on the nature of the texture of the material and the force of contact, bare spots appear on the surface of the printing form, which after etching form granular strokes of varying depths. Having a fairly complete understanding of the process of drawing on a printed form, you can easily identify the soft varnish style and distinguish it from the pencil style, with which it is similar in appearance. A sheet of thin and soft paper is carefully placed on the surface of the prepared board with an acid-resistant layer of soft (tear) varnish applied to it - with the grainy and rough side facing the varnish. The paper and board are fixedly fixed on the table, after which a drawing is applied to the paper with soft pencils. The pencil presses down on the paper, which in turn sticks to the soft varnish. Depending on the pressure, the paper sticks more or less to the varnish, and when it is lifted, it strips the varnish from the printing plate, exposing the metal, ready for etching. If you need to add a different texture to the drawing, you can replace the drawing surface, for example, by placing thin fabric or coarse gauze between the board and paper. The texture of the print from the etched board looks spongy, with beautiful grainy strokes reminiscent of pencil strokes. An engraving made in the "soft varnish" manner looks like a soft, loose, rough and deep-shadowed design, which is a combination of grainy strokes and tonal spots printed on paper as a result of embossing using an etching press. When recognizing an engraving, you should carefully examine clean surfaces that have no strokes. These places on the print in most cases have small dotted inclusions of paint. The fact is that a rather thin layer of soft varnish is applied to the surface of the mold, and the paper, even without pressure, bends under its own weight and touches it, and its rough surface slightly exposes the metal. During the etching process, the acid “breaks through” the varnish in these places, and during printing, microscopic dots appear in clean areas of the engraving. Experienced etchers know this and try their best clean places cover with acid-resistant varnish.

The border of any print is the chamfers (oblique cuts of the edges of the board), which are extruded onto the paper and are also the edges of the printing surface. When creating an engraving in the “soft varnish” manner, the border of the image moves away from the chamfers by 5–8 mm, forming facets. This clear field, framing the image along the entire perimeter, is obtained as a result of covering it with liquid varnish in order to protect the edges of the engraving board from accidental finger grabs during the etching and washing process. The presence of clean facets on the print also suggests that the engraving may have been made in the “soft varnish” manner, although such facets may also be in aquatint.

Pencil style. The pencil style combines two methods of engraving - chemical and mechanical. Being created solely for the reproduction of drawings, it was not widely used as an independent style. The first sign of an engraving created in a pencil manner is a complete imitation of traces left on paper by graphite pencil, sanguine, or pastel. Chemical engraving in this manner is carried out as follows. The polished surface of the copper board should be coated with a hard varnish and then smoked with a torch (similar to preparing an etching board for etching). The strokes that translate the drawing are made with tape measures, which are steel wheels of different diameters and with notches of various configurations, freely rotating on metal rods mounted on handles. On the surface of these wheels there are various sharp notches that leave a light textured mark on the black, smoky board. When a combination of various textures created by tape measures is rolled onto the surface of the varnish, an image is obtained that, after etching and printing on paper, produces an image that imitates a pencil or pastel drawing. Impressions obtained from engraving boards made in an etched pencil manner are distinguished by the purity of the stroke, set in dots - varied in configuration, but with equal intervals between them. Each dot has a clear etched border. In places where there is a dense accumulation of dots, it is slightly visible White paper, which creates a feeling of freshness and transparency in the shadows. Using the above tools, you can engrave a polished copper board without applying acid-resistant hard varnish, thereby eliminating the etching process. In this case, each mark on polished copper will be obtained as a result of pressing the sharp edges of the tape measure into the metal, which is accompanied by the formation of a small elevation (extruded metal), or a small burr, around each depressed point. When filling the indentations with paint and then wiping, these burrs retain a small amount of paint, which gives each stroke and the engraving as a whole a soft, as if moistened character. As a rule, the techniques of chemical and mechanical engraving are not combined on one board, therefore, by comparing several prints, it is easy to recognize in what particular pencil manner one or another was made.

The expressive capabilities of each technique, its language and its aesthetics are shown, which in engraving are determined by technology, the very method of processing the board. And this explains why the history of engraving has so many different techniques.

An original type of artistic engraving that combines several technological techniques for processing a metal surface and received its name from the place where it was used is Zlatoust steel engraving. The essence of Ural engraving lies in the technological sequence of a number of operations, each of which performs a specific task and serves as a preparatory step for the next one.

Polishing . The plate is a blank made of carbon steel, soft, easily amenable to various deformations according to the author’s design (convexity, concavity, etc.), polished with abrasive wheels made of wood and covered around the perimeter with leather or technical felt. Abrasive powders from coarse-grained to fine-grained were applied to the adhesive base of leather or felt, which made it possible to obtain a high class of surface finish.

2.Drawing . The pre-polished surface is washed with gasoline and cleaned with tooth powder using a soft cloth. The design is applied with a core or squirrel brush using asphalt varnish.

Two methods of drawing have been used:

– through carbon paper, the contours of the design are applied from the sketch directly to the plate;

– in serial or mass production of a product, the transfer of the design was carried out using a stencil or meshography, i.e. metal mesh.

3.Drying the product. Two methods of drying products were used: natural drying, when the product is left to dry for one day, and forced drying in ovens, which significantly accelerated the process.

4. Etching. The etching substance contains copper sulfate, aluminum alum, and table salt. The solution temperature is 50–60 degrees. The sheet was etched in places not covered with varnish, which protects the metal surface from the action of the solution. The product is poured with the etching solution several times until the required depth is reached and an orange slurry layer forms on the metal surface. Then the varnish is washed off, the product is thoroughly degreased with gasoline or tooth powder. Next, it is washed with water and dried.

5. Wash into nickel . One of the complex and responsible operations. The engraver has to carefully work with a brush, painting over with varnish the places on the steel plate that are not subject to nickel plating. Asphalt varnish, squirrel brush.

6. Nickel plating . The nickel plating operation is carried out in a bath. The holding time depends on the number and size of products simultaneously loaded into the bath. Coating thickness is 2-3 microns. Upon completion of the operation, the product is washed alternately in cold running water and then in hot water. After nickel plating, the varnish does not wash off. The metal surface, subjected to etching before nickel plating, gives a matte velvety background; The smooth polished surface acquires a glossy, shiny background after nickel plating.

7. Gilding . On the product, those places that should not be gilded are painted over with varnish. The back side of the plate is also varnished. The gilding operation takes place using the galvanic method. The mode depends on the gilding surface area and the number of products loaded into the bath. The temperature in the galvanic bath is room temperature. After gilding, the varnish is carefully removed from the product. The surface of the product is degreased.

8.Blueing. Carbon steels, which were used in the manufacture of objects using the Zlatoust engraving technique, when heated, acquire so-called tarnish colors: from straw to dark blue. Those places on the plate where there is no nickel layer coating are subject to blueing or, according to the artist’s or author’s intention, they must acquire the desired shade of blueness. A combination of several tarnish colors is possible. Blueing is carried out in a bath. For blueing, two components are used, one of which – saltpeter – is heated to a temperature of 380–400 degrees. The holding time depends on the weight of the product. Visual control. As soon as it appears on a metal surface required color, the product is immediately immersed in another medium - cold water. Blueing enriches the color palette of artistic engraving and expands the creative capabilities of the engraver.

Blueing– a type of blueing, the method of heat treatment of steel allows you to obtain various dark shades of the metal. Using variations in color: light, white, gold, yellow, blue, gray, black, maintaining a balance between matte and glossy surfaces, working from the same sketch, the engraver creates works of different artistic expressiveness.

At this stage, the work of the engraver ends.

9. Varnishing. Since nickel and gold are applied in a thin layer to the product, they do not serve as an anti-corrosion guarantee. In order to protect the product from corrosion, its surface is coated with colorless varnish. Before varnishing, the product is thoroughly washed, cleaned and dried. Forced drying. The finished product undergoes control and arrives at the enterprise’s finished product warehouse

Unlike woodcut printing, in which the “printing” design is raised, the design on a metal board consists of recessed strokes, either cut with a chisel or etched with acids. Therefore, this kind of engraving is called “in-depth”.

There are several types of metal engraving.

1. CARVING ENGRAVING

The most early type engraving on metal, invented in the middle of the 15th century, was the so-called chisel engraving. The design in it was scratched or cut out with deep lines on a copper board using special cutters - gravers. Sharp protrusions that formed along the edges of the cut grooves were cleaned off with a smoothing iron. After this, the board was ready for printing. The paint was applied to the entire board in such a way that it would fit tightly into the grooves, into the deep strokes of the design. Then the board was wiped dry, and the paint remained only in its deepest parts. By pressing wet paper under strong pressure against such a board, which absorbed the paint, an impression was made on it.

The absence of fiber, which made it difficult to work on a wooden engraving, made it possible to make strokes in any direction and of any thickness in a metal engraving. The grid of strokes itself could be as dense as desired. Therefore, despite the labor-intensive nature of this technique, it opened up immeasurably greater possibilities in conveying volumes, light and shade, and perspective compared to wood-edged engraving. And this was one of those conquests that the art the so-called Renaissance.

The greatest master of reproduction engraving on copper was the Italian Marcantonio Raimondi. In his engravings he reproduced paintings of the great Italian artists- Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, as well as other painters.

However, very soon engraving ceased to be just a means of reproducing painting and acquired the character of an independent art form.

The first great artist most Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) devoted his creativity to the art of engraving.

He lived in an era when a widespread movement began in Germany masses, which required art to intervene more actively in public life.

The invention and development of printing contributed to the implementation of this task. Artists now have the opportunity to access more wide circles people.

In his works, Dürer, while preserving traditional religious and allegorical plots, figuratively embodies the phenomena of the reality around him. So, for example, in the engraving “Rest on the Flight to Egypt”, using the Gospel legend, Durer depicts a contemporary German village. Mary and Joseph look like simple peasants, resting among the typical German well-known to the artist rural landscape with houses under a high” pointed roof, with a fence made of poles. The whole scene is filled with great lyrical warmth, which is greatly facilitated by the subtle transmission of light, softly enveloping all objects. This engraving is made on wood. But Dürer here significantly enriches the technique of cut engraving. Not limiting himself to contour lines alone, he supplements them here and there with subtle shading, creating the illusion of light and shade. Thanks to this, places left clean are perceived not just as a white sheet surface, but as a transparent and light air environment.

Dürer in his art relies on the unreal properties of nature. He studies anatomy and tries to derive mathematically accurate, perfect proportions human body; studies perspective, which helps to depict space and volume with scientific accuracy. Although he was a painter, he worked especially hard as an engraver. He owns the most perfect of woodcut engravings, but his best creations belong to the field of metal engraving. Such are his unrivaled performances of “Saint Jerome” (Appendix 6), “Knight, Death and the Devil” and “Melancholy”.

In the engraving "Saint Jerome" Durer again uses biblical image. But instead of the saint traditionally depicted in the desert, Durer's Hieronymus is a wise and calm old man who sits in a room full of many living details characteristic of a 16th-century German house. However, instead of reading scripture The old man is engaged... in engraving. This work is a wonderful example of the use of all the possibilities of engraving. Here, not only are all objects accurately outlined and executed in volume, but also the warm sunlight (precisely solar!) light flowing through the windows into the room is conveyed with great conviction.

In the engravings “Knight, Death and the Devil” and “Melancholy” the artist speaks a completely different language. During the turbulent period of the beginning of the Reformation, the knightly uprisings and the approach of the Peasants' War of 1525, Dürer seemed to express his thoughts about the fate of Germany in a complex allegorical, sometimes encrypted form.

Chisel engraving is technically very labor-intensive. It requires a lot of work on the board, but it gives especially great accuracy and clarity in conveying the space and volume of objects. Therefore, it is no coincidence that engraving reached its greatest flourishing precisely during the Renaissance, when art was faced with the task of cognition and reflection. real world, when in painting the desire for clear and precise forms, completeness and definiteness of composition and drawing dominated.

Later, starting from the 17th century, engraving increasingly became only a means of painting reproduction.

In the 18th century, it was especially successful as an illustration in scientific and art books and albums. In Russia, engraving appeared at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries under Peter I as a technique for creating geographical maps, drawings in scientific books, large sheets with images of battles on land and sea, festivals and portraits. Its recognized masters at that time were the brothers Alexey and Ivan Zubov.

Later, in the 18th century, Russian art nominated remarkable engravers-portraits E. Chemesov and G. Skorodumov. They sought to emphasize the features of a living person, to introduce psychologism, liveliness and simplicity of the image into the portrait. Therefore, their work broke out of the narrow framework of official portraits. This is especially true for the engravings and etchings of E. Chemesov, which are also distinguished by their rare skill and variety of strokes. “Self-portrait” (Appendix 7) is one of best works Chemesova.

Metal engraving, copper engraving. Production and sale of metal engravings, copper engravings. Painting works, made using the technique of metal engraving, copper engraving. What is patinated copper, enamel, niello and translucent enamels of the widest range used for? color range, a technological technique that allows you to create lines of any thickness on an engraving, minimum size which is 0.1 mm, is also the use of pictorial painting of engravings with translucent high-temperature enamels followed by firing of the plate.

The production of engravings to order takes upon itself the development of graphic sketches that serve as the basis for the future engraving. Why, if the customer does not have necessary materials, independently takes photographs of the necessary objects. We create like original engravings self made, as well as copies of famous engravings and lithographs. A handmade artistic engraving on metal with views of Moscow and St. Petersburg or a copper engraving with any design will be an unforgettable and unique gift. Thanks to the combination of methods used, the finished product of our engraving workshop in Moscow impresses with the warmth of handmade work, the effect of metal shining under the glaze, with mathematical precision of execution and thoughtfulness of all details.
You can order the production of engravings of architectural themes, reproductions famous paintings, engravings on religious themes, banknotes, labels, as well as custom engravings based on your sketches. An engraving as a gift will be unique, aesthetic and original, be it a gift to an official or a loved one. A unique patented technology that combines several methods of engraving and subsequent processing allows us to produce highly artistic engravings with pictorial painting using colored translucent high-temperature enamels. The combination of traditional and new techniques allows you to create rich and spectacular images that retain their original brightness and clarity for many decades. Our masters can short term make copies of famous engravings and lithographs, as well as stylize any drawing into an engraving - from a portrait to a landscape.
You can choose the products you like from our range of ready-made engravings or order engravings based on your own sketch. Finished engraving is issued on a passe-partout. A nameplate with your text or symbols can be attached to the free field of the passport under the engraving. The frame of the product is made of high-quality baguette. A neat box made of coated cardboard will protect your engraving from accidental damage.
Production time for engravings: from the workshop’s assortment – ​​from 5 days, according to the customer’s sketch – from 15 days. The maximum possible size of the visible copper part of the painting is 600 X 400mm.

Metal engraving as an art form arose during the Renaissance. A bunch of famous artists worked in the technique of engraving. Works are known not only on plates, but also on daggers, swords, and bracelets. There are many techniques, each with its own aesthetics and language.

Today, metal engraving is experiencing a rebirth. Thanks to the use of new technologies, it is possible to create a unique masterpiece to order.

Metal engraving

History and technology

New genres and trends took root more easily in engraving than in painting, which is why many Renaissance artists willingly turned to this type of art. His works could be replicated in hundreds of copies, they became available to wide sections of the population. In addition, engravings brought in good income.

The first engravings served a purely practical purpose: they were used to print images of saints and playing cards.

The very first to appear was engraving. It required effort on the part of the artist. Using a chisel (cutter), the master created strokes, overcoming the resistance of the metal. It is characterized by mintness and at the same time expressiveness of the figures. Albrecht Durer worked in this technique. His three works “The Knight, Death and the Devil”, “Saint Jerome in the Cell” and “Melancholy” are considered masterpieces of engraving art and still cause controversy among art critics.

Etching

It was invented in the 16th century. This method bears little resemblance to working with a graver. An artist doesn't have to put in so much effort. The etching needle easily scratches the film, which ensures smooth, light lines. An etching is similar to a drawing, while a chisel is more likely associated with a sculptural bas-relief.

Landscapes, portraits, and sketches were made using this technique. Van Dyck worked in the genre of etching - he created portraits of his contemporaries. The works of students of Rubens-Snyders and Jordaens are known. Rembrandt created a number of masterpieces.

Metal engraving in the genre of etching flourished in France in the 18th century. Francois Boucher was not only an artist, but also an outstanding etcher in the Rococo genre. The master's series depicting intimate, street scenes, life of the peoples of the East. He made a number of engravings based on Watteau's drawings. Boucher's works are grace, sophistication and freedom of composition.

In Russia, not many masters worked in the etching genre. The heyday of this genre occurred in the 19th century. Ivan Shishkin, Andrey Somov, Taras Shevchenko worked in this technique.

Sword engraving

Aquatint - a type of etching - allows you to create engravings with tonalities greater range. Francisco Goya did a lot for the development of this genre. He is known as the inventor of a system of techniques in this technique. Aquatint remains one of the most difficult techniques in our time. It requires a workshop and a number of tools.

Other techniques

1. Mezzotint - another type of metal engraving - allows you to obtain a special depth and velvety tones. This technique is also used to produce color printing. The technique was invented in XVII century. The artists Johann Pichler, John Farber and outstanding artist XX century Maurits Cornelius Escher.
2. Drypoint, unlike etching, does not require engraving or etching. Strokes are applied not only with steel, but also with a diamond cutter. The softness and unusualness of the impression is given by the barba - a groove with burrs. Rembrandt and Durer worked in this technique (along with other genres of engraving). Many artists of the 20th century practiced the drypoint technique: Max Beckman, Milton Avery, David Milne, etc.
3. Mederite - metal engraving, which became famous in Belarus XVII-XVIII centuries. The metal was etched with nitric acid. Mederite was used in cartography and book publishing.
4. Several other techniques are known, for example, soft varnish, lavis, reserve. Some artists work in mixed media, which allows you to create your own unique style.

Engraving continues to attract artists in our time. Today, laser and electromechanical engraving are common. There are a number of workshops that specialize in performing work using this technique.

Surely, every person before the important birthday of his friend or loved one I was thinking about a gift. Indeed, it is very difficult to choose a thing that would amaze with its beauty and elegance. It’s too commonplace to purchase personalized mugs or portraits, paintings or unusual things... But there is a way out - metal engraving. Such a wonderful gift, made to order, with an image or inscription, can be called a real work of art that will not leave anyone indifferent! The sea will bring such a gift positive emotions and impressions, besides, it will look beautiful in any interior.

A Brief History of Metal Engraving

The distinctive beauty and sophistication of metal engraving was appreciated several thousand years ago. Archaeologists in Eurasia have found many bronze items dating back to the first millennium (jewelry, daggers, dishes and axes), which were decorated by masters with engravings. As a rule, these were skillful ornaments of flora and fauna, mystical creatures and people. Throughout the entire period of the formation of the art of engraving, two artistic directions: line and armor threads. The first is produced using the cutting technique in the form contour lines or strokes on a smooth, flat metal surface. The second type is armor engraving - a technique for applying reliefs with an in-depth background or with voluminous, convex processing of the elements that are depicted.

Metal engraving became popular in Europe already in the fifteenth century. Then the craftsmen processed the metal using a cutter and a gravel, which they used to apply drawings to a polished metal board. Through blows and mechanical action, the design, step by step, “transferred” to the material and became a real decoration.

Modern metal engraving

The development of technology allows modern masters carry out beautiful and quick application of the necessary elements on the metal. Metal engraving in the 21st century can be handmade, laser or electromechanical. It depends on this appearance engravings. Modern technologies allow each stroke to be accurately and subtly applied to the required element and create real works of art, and the masters, passing on ancient secrets to each other, complement the work with the knowledge of their ancestors. Thus, in the end, a metal engraving becomes a real decoration and the best gift!

Advantages of metal engraving as a gift

Nowadays it is becoming popular to give beautiful and sophisticated gifts. Engraving is one of these. The fact is that since ancient times it has served as an excellent way to make a thing of its kind one of a kind in the world, unique, inimitable. When engraved, an ordinary, faded souvenir becomes bright, unsurpassed, and unique. If you cover the necessary gift precious metal, it will become a real valuable heirloom! Yes, such pleasure is not cheap, but it is really worth it. Even a simple inscription made on metal will speak of excellent taste and the desire to please the hero of the occasion with something special. Such a gift is for all occasions, it will become not just a memory, but will take first place among and will be passed on from generation to generation!