Works on Paper:
How an engraving is made
The artwork on this website has been shipped to the galleries listed on the left.
A flat piece of copper or zinc (called a plate) is engraved with tools called burins.
This is the Intaglio process, where the image is cut below the surface of the metal plate.
That makes it the opposite of embossed, which rises above the surface that has been cut down.

That's a Jeweler's loop on my head.
The vise in my left hand and that the plate is on is a half-sphere called a engravers vise.
It slides in the base it is sitting in like a ball and socket joint,
allowing maximum movement in the left hand in any direction.

Sometimes the technique is to move the plate into the tool instead of the tool into the plate, or both can move into each other, depending on the cut of the line, the tool used and how the tool is sharpened.
The smallest details are done with a microscope.
Want to see step by step pictures of a plate in the several stages of being engraved in the pictorial "How an engraving is created"?
Like to see a picture of an engraved copper plate?
How about seeing a step by step slide show of an engraving being printed?
Then it is inked, wiped and laid on a piece of paper towel on the press, inked side up.
I take a sheet of dampened printing paper and holding it at the corners lay it over the plate in one smooth movement, not shifting or moving the paper so the ink does not smear. Then the felt blankets are laid on top of the paper and it is all run through a press, printing on paper that has been soaked with water overnight.
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- The printed paper
is the engraving.
It is the one on the top left in this picture being pulled from the plate,
which is resting on a paper towel I use to absorb excess moisture from
the print paper.
- Usually I work on the plate more after the first proof
is printed, if some elements do not fit the vision.
- These copies are trial proofs, and each one is usually unique
since the plate is engraved on between printing (commonly
called impressions) until the plate is finished.
- After I am done working on the plate, four or five impressions called
"Artist's Proofs" are printed to make sure to get the ink consistency
and wiping process correct.
- After that numbers are written on the engravings, beginning
with, for example 1/50.
- The first number is the individual engraving number, in this case it is "1."
- The second shows how many are
in the edition, in this case there are "50."
- You can tell an original engraving by the ridge on the
back and the impression on the front where the roller
has pushed the paper into the plate, similar to embossing,
but in the shape of the plate.
Please contact R. Michelson Galleries to see and purchase paintings and/or engravings (or Fine Impressions for engravings).
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