Mezzotint
Saturday 31 Oct - Monday 02 November | 10am-5:30pm
Learn Mezzotint; a technique celebrated for producing the richest, most velvety blacks possible – with the flip side of this being that it allows the artist to draw with light!
Before the invention of photography, the wide range of tones and delicate gradations that characterise mezzotint meant that the technique was frequently employed for portraiture and the reproduction of oil paintings. However artists such as John Martin, M.C. Escher, Yozo Hamaguchi, as well as Chuck Close among many others also found this tonal technique perfectly suited to expressing their visions.
From a technical perspective, mezzotint sits within the intaglio family as a type of engraving. Metal plates are worked over with a tool called a ‘mezzotint rocker’ until they can hold enough ink to print deep, inky black. Then, through the use of scraping and burnishing tools, the artist can smooth and lighten parts of the plate, making an image by creating tones that range from deep greys to white highlights.
On this course participants will learn how to prepare, draw and print a mezzotint on copper using an etching press. Because this is a labour-intensive technique, during the course we will also explore alternative ways to achieve a mezzotint effect and discuss how mezzotint can be combined with other intaglio techniques.
A 15% Early Bird Discount is available for bookings made 1 month prior to the start date!
Completion of this course also entitles you to a FREE 3-month Associate Membership to use the studio and consolidate your skills.
Caoimhe Dalton
Caoimhe Dalton is an Irish visual artist and printmaker working in Edinburgh, Scotland. She trained as a printmaker and graduated with Honours from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Caoimhe has also studied lithography in Academie Minerva in the Netherlands and academic drawing and painting in the Barcelona Academy of Art.
Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and her practice focuses on hands-on, manual processes such as intaglio printmaking, lithography, monotype and painting. Her prints and paintings are in the permanent collection at Limerick City Gallery and the OPW’s State Art Collection.
She has been a member of Black Church Print Studio in Dublin since winning the 1st prize John Kelly RHA Award in 2019. She currently holds the position of Studio Technician at Edinburgh Printmakers.