Monday, April the 17th, 2006
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Dear Frank, writes Pansy Cradledew, I always enjoy reading about Rex Tint, the mezzotintist, but I must confess that I am not entirely sure what a mezzotint is. I am sure I cannot be the only reader to confess such ignorance, and I would be very grateful for any light you can shed on the matter. Yours curiously, Pansy Cradledew. PS : What on earth has become of Little Severin, the Mystic Badger?
I hope Pansy will forgive me if I simply reprint what the wikipedia has to tell us. I do this for two reasons—one, sheer idleness and two, because it is quite fascinating in itself and I can hardly be expected to improve upon it.
Mezzotint is a printing process of the intaglio family, in which the surface of a metal plate is roughened evenly; the image is then brought out by smoothing the surface, creating the image by working from dark to light.
Plates can be mechanically roughened, but the classical way is to rub fine metal filings over the surface with a piece of glass; the finer the filings, the smaller the grain of the surface. The method commonly in use today is to use a steel rocker approximately five inches wide, which has between 45 and 120 teeth per inch on the face of a blade in the shape of a shallow arc, with a wooden handle projecting upwards in a T-shape. Rocked steadily from side to side at the correct angle, the rocker will proceed forward creating burrs in the surface of the copper. The plate is then moved—either rotated by a set number of degrees or through 90 degrees according to preference—and then rocked in another pass. This is repeated until the plate is roughened evenly and will print a completely solid tone.
Carol Wax's book The Mezzotint: History and Technique (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990) is the best available text on the subject, covering history, development, methods and materials for the whole process. Mezzotint is known for the luxurious quality of its tones: first, because an evenly, finely roughened surface holds a lot of ink, allowing deep solid colours to be printed; secondly because the process of smoothing the texture with burin, burnisher and scraper allows fine gradations in tone to be developed.
The mezzotint printing method was invented by Ludwig von Siegen (1609-1680). His earliest surviving mezzotint print dates to 1642 and is a portrait of Amelia Elizabeth, Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel. The word mezzotint is derived from the Italian mezzo-tinto, meaning half-painted.
There we are, now you know as much about mezzotints as I do. You may wish to follow the detour below, which leads to M R James' spooky story The Mezzotint. As for Little Severin the Mystic Badger, expect an important announcement very soon.
DETOURS : The Mezzotint … Bird Sounds … The Gashlycrumb Tinies