Construct · 1 fields · 2 citations

mezzotint: a standalone construct

One name. One construct. A landmark on the map.

● anchor · a printmaking construct Nearest construct by meaning·not indexed
mezzotint1 CONSTRUCTMezzotintMEZZOTINT · DARK TO LIGHT

A single standalone construct; nearby constructs are located against it in the Collider. Tap a field for its definition, unit, and measures.

Printmaking (intaglio)

Working from black to light by smoothing a roughened plate

Mezzotint is an intaglio tonal process worked in reverse, from dark to light. The whole plate is first roughened with a toothed tool called a rocker until, fully inked, it would print a rich, even black; the image is then made by scraping and burnishing the roughened surface smooth in the lighter passages, so that the smoother an area is made, the less ink it holds and the paler it prints. This gives mezzotint its deep velvety blacks and soft gradations, long used for reproducing paintings. The Complete Printmaker and Gascoigne's How to Identify Prints describe the rocking, scraping and burnishing that define it.[1][2]

Unit
The tonal value of each area, set by how far the roughened ground is smoothed away
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Judged from proofs by the depth of black and the smoothness of gradation from dark to light

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Nearby constructs

aquatint1 fields · 2 citationsanchor · a printmaking constructimage4 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, four constructs

References

  1. Ross, J., Romano, C., & Ross, T. (1990). The complete printmaker: Techniques, traditions, innovations (Rev. & expanded ed.). Free Press. ISBN 9780029273722
  2. Gascoigne, B. (1995). How to identify prints: A complete guide to manual and mechanical processes from woodcut to ink jet. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500234549

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