Etching

Etching is a traditional printmaking technique that creates images through the controlled corrosion of metal plates, typically copper or zinc. A clean metal plate is coated with an acid-resistant ground, and a design drawn into the ground to expose the metal beneath. This plate is then immersed in an acid bath, which "bites" into the exposed lines, creating grooves and areas of varying depths depending on how long different areas are left in the acid.

Once the remaining ground has been removed from the plate, ink is rubbed into the grooves, the surface is wiped clean, and dampened paper is pressed onto the plate using a printing press to reveal the image. 

Viscosity printmaking is a technique that enables multiple colours to be printed simultaneously from a single plate using different viscosities of printing inks. Developed by Stanley William Hayter in the 1960s, this method uses inks of varying viscosities—some thick and tacky, others thinner and more fluid—applied to different levels of a textured or etched plate. Inks of different viscosities will either accept or reject each other when rolled over the plate surface. Thinner ink flows into deeper grooves and recessed areas, while stiffer ink adheres to raised surfaces and ridges. By carefully controlling the ink consistency and using multiple rollers, artists can achieve complex and subtle gradations of colour to produce painterly prints with remarkable depth and luminosity, as colours blend and separate organically across the plate's varied topography.