Etching

Etching is an intaglio printmaking technique in which the image is formed by the chemical action of acid rather than by mechanical cutting. A metal plate is covered with an acid-resistant varnish, the ground, through which the design is drawn with a needle, exposing the bare metal. The plate is then immersed in acid, which bites into the open lines, creating recesses to hold ink. Because drawing with a needle across the soft ground is almost as free as drawing with a pencil, etching gives artists far greater spontaneity and ease of line than engraving with a burin. By regulating the time of biting and re-covering areas with varnish, a wide range of tones can be obtained. Rembrandt was an unrivalled master of the technique, as was Francisco Goya, whose series the Caprichos and the Disasters of War became summits of graphic art. Etching remains one of the most popular and expressive methods of fine-art printmaking, widely used by contemporary Ukrainian printmakers as well.