The Art of the Mezzotint
Ludwig von Siegen, an amateur artist, invented the mezzotint in Germany in the 17th century. The process starts with a raw copper plate and a tool called the “rocker”. The rocker is a bevel-edged, very sharp, crescent-shaped, steel tool. When moved in a rocking motion on the copper plate it cuts burrs or ruts into the soft copper. The plate has to be “rocked” in many different directions, until the face of the copper is cut up all over into a minutely dotted surface. The average sized copper plate takes over 120 hours to “rock”, to prepare the plate for the image. E.S. Lumsden, the author of the printmaker’s bible The Art of Etching, describes the mezzotint best, “The (mezzotint) process is such a laborious one that few artists can summon the courage or command the necessary staying power to carry it through.”
The texture on the surface of the copper gives the ink something to adhere to. At this point, if the plate was wiped with ink and run through the press, it would print a solid black. Everything which is required to print lighter than this black has to be scraped more or less strongly, using a tool called a burnisher. The artist now is essentially removing the texture created by the rocker. Less texture holds less ink, thus making the areas where the artist “burnishes” lighter. In order to produce a pure white, the original smooth surface of the copper has to be regained.
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Mikio "rocking" the plate
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Mikio burishing (drawing) on the plate
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