Customer Reviews

Etching, Engraving and Other Intaglio Printmaking Techniques (Dover Art Instruction)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is stocked as reference in a classroom situation. Lots of detailed information on many techniques in an easy to follow manner along with detailed photographs. Detailed recipes for etching solutions and description of appropriate use. Great for the novice but also valuable as a reference. Lots of valuable information for a small price.

Leaf's text covers a remarkable range of intaglio techniques. The first chapters cover the basics of tools, printing papers, and setting up a workshop. Next, she covers the basics of familiar printmaking techniques, etching (including soft ground), aquatint, and some interesting variations. This section also includes recipes for inks and grounds - not encyclopedic, but a basic set of materials for different techniques. Leaf covers each technique methodically, describing its goals, materials, and process. The end of each chapter offers an especially helpful "what went wrong" section.

Following the basics, Leaf continues with some elaborations, including multiple layers of aquatint and viscosity printing. She also lays out some unusual techniques, including collographs and "tuilegraphs." That's a fascinating variation on linoleum prints, but based on slightly different materials and very distinctive ways of creating the image in the printing surface.

Despite its strengths, this book has a few significant weak spots. Safety standards aren't always what a current reader would hope. For example, discussion of the corrosive etchants talks about flushing eyes with water in case of an acid spash, but doesn't mention goggles. Elsewhere, she mentions protective gloves in the text but omits those gloves from the photos that show the process under discussion. And, when it comes to disposing of spent etchant, I can't agree with pouring "neutralized acid on the ground where you don't expect anything to grow." On the positive side, techniques are profusely illustrated, showing both techniques and finished products.

Those problems just mean that the reader should approach this with a critical eye, not avoid it completely. There's just too much good here to give up.

-- wiredweird

This book is complicated and difficult to follow. Although the procedure for etching and engraving is not a simple one, I found this to be particularly difficult to follow and unless familiar with this type of printmaking or have someone instructing who can answer questions or fill in the blanks, would not recommnend.

I cannot complain about Leaf's intro to etching. My only caveat is that although the title includes engraving, there is only one rudimentary chapter on engraving. But otherwise the structure and clarity of the the text is great. I'm always referring back to it.

great reference book - agreed by 4 others who recieved copies