Martin Mitchell: Mezzotints
Green Pebble Autumn 2007 issue

Fifty miles from Jude Lockie’s studio,
Norwich-based artist Martin Miitchell
focuses not on woodblock but on
mezzotints to produce his prints.

Mezzotints start their life as copper
plates. A curved serrated tool, a
rocker, is used to engrave thousands
of tiny, evenly placed, dots into the
plate; these will hold the ink and
produce a deep velvet dark tone.

Using a variety of sharp blades,
scrapers and burnishers, the artist
selectively scrapes and burnishes back
the plate until he produces a tonal
design. The deeper the indented area, the darker it will print. No ink will
adhere where the plate is burnished smooth, and these areas will appear as highlights.

According to Martin, an artist can easily spend 12 hours preparing a 30 x 40cm plate,.....

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Martin Mitchell: Mezzotints Green Pebble Autumn 2007 issue

Martin Mitchell: Mezzotints
Green Pebble Autumn 2007 issue