An etching is made twice: first as a plate in the artist’s studio, then as an impression in the print shop. In our copperplate workshop in Berlin-Charlottenburg every sheet is inked by hand, printed on dampened mould-made paper, dried and, if desired, coloured with watercolours – just as etchings have been printed for centuries.
The plate: the artist’s work
Before anything can be printed, the plate has to be finished. The artist has drawn the image into an acid-resistant ground and bitten the lines into the metal in an acid bath – how that works is explained in What is an etching?. We print from the plates of the artists whose work we publish. The plate is the real tool: every line that later appears on paper lies in the metal as a fine groove.
Steps 1 to 4: inking and wiping
Inking is what separates a good impression from a mediocre one. It takes experience and a steady eye.
- Inking: the stiff, oil-based printing ink is worked firmly into the plate with a dabber or spatula until every groove is filled.
- Wiping: with tarlatan, a stiff, open-weave cotton cloth, the surplus ink is removed from the surface in circular movements. The ink in the grooves stays put.
- Hand polishing: finally the plate is wiped with the flat of the hand. This removes the thin film of ink on the smooth areas that would otherwise print as a grey haze.
- Cleaning the edges: the bevelled edges are wiped separately so that the plate mark later stands clean in the paper, without smudges.
Because all of this is done by hand, there is always a touch of individuality: a slightly warmer sky here, a little more depth in the shadows there – each impression is a sheet in its own right.
Steps 5 and 6: printing on the star-wheel press
We print on a star-wheel press (in German Sternpresse), an intaglio press named after the star-shaped wheel used to turn its rollers. The paper has been dampened beforehand so that it softens and can be pressed into the finest lines.
- The inked plate lies on the press bed and the damp sheet is laid on it in register.
- A thick felt blanket goes on top. It spreads the pressure and pushes the paper into the deepest grooves.
- Plate, paper and felt are slowly cranked through the rollers. This is when the characteristic plate mark – the embossed edge around the image – is formed.
- The impression is then carefully lifted from the plate; only now can the result be seen.
For the next sheet everything starts again: ink, wipe, polish, print. This repetition is what makes printing etchings so demanding – and why a genuine etching is more than printed paper. How to tell it apart from an art print is shown in how to identify an original print.
Step 7: drying takes time
A fresh impression is damp and the ink still soft. The sheets are therefore laid between highly absorbent blotting paper for at least two days and weighted flat. The blotting paper draws out the moisture, while the weight stops the paper from cockling as it dries. Only then is the sheet ready for colour or a frame.
Step 8: colouring by hand
Many of our etchings are coloured with watercolours once they are dry. The colouring is done by hand with a brush, and the transparent paints let the printed lines show through. That makes every hand-coloured etching a small one-off. How the colouring is done and what to look for when buying is covered in hand-coloured etchings.
Tip: for most etchings in our shop you can choose between “hand-coloured” and “monochrome”. Both are the same etching from the same plate – the only difference is the colour applied by hand afterwards.
Step 9: framing and dispatch
If you wish, the sheet is framed – with a mount and in one of several mouldings, from a simple round profile to burr wood. Which frame suits which motif is explained in framing etchings. Framed or not, the etching leaves our workshop on Kaiserdamm just as it was made: printed and checked by hand.
Kunstverlag Christoph Falk has worked this way since 1982 and supplies galleries, art dealers and museums as well as private customers. More about us: our publishing house and print workshop.
Berlin, Gendarmenmarkt – Tritt, 33.18 x 41.18 cm212,00€
Berlin, Dom mit Kurfürstenbrücke – 37 x 45 cm212,00€
Berlin, Am Kupfergraben – WT 15 x 22 cmfrom 88,00€
Berlin, Reichstagsgebäude – H. Sommer, 20 x 26 cmfrom 58,00€
All topics on etching and printmaking: back to the guide overview.
