Wings - Original mezzotint print - LIMITED EDITION of 20

Original mezzotint print of a dragonfly's wings.

Image size: 10cm x 10cm / 3.9 x 3.9 inches
Paper size: 20cm x 25cm / 7.9 x 9.8 inches
Edition size: 20

I include a picture of the original copper plate etching - if you look very carefully you may see the flatter area of the dragonfly figure, which I created with a burnisher. The rest of the plate is covered with a rough texture, which I created with the mezzotint rocker, also pictured, to produce that pure, velvety black.

For anyone who is unsure what a mezzotint is, here is a description of the technique, borrowed from the Tate Gallery website:

"A form of engraving where the metal printing plate is indented by rocking a toothed metal tool across the surface. Each pit holds ink, and if printed at this stage the image would be solid black. The printmaker works from dark to light by gradually rubbing down or burnishing the rough surface to various degrees of smoothness to reduce the ink-holding capacity of areas of the plate. The technique was developed in the seventeenth century, and became particularly popular in eighteenth century England for reproducing portrait paintings. It is renowned for the soft gradations of tone and richness and velvet quality of its blacks."

Image copyright © Imogen Duthie

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