Foxwell Gallery

Fine Art Research
An extensive collection of fine art terms, techniques, selected artist biographies, etc

NEEDLE.
Many different types of needles (or points) are used in printmaking. The drypoint is a small, fine needle, whose point can be sharpened at various angles, each producing a different type of line. Double-ended needles possess a differently sharpened point at either end. Etching needles vary in thickness and are more or less sharply pointed, according to need; choppes are broader than usual etching needles and are sharpened in an oval section: they can produce variations in the width of a line according to the angle at which the point is held. Diamond, ruby or sapphire points are used for making light incisions in a metal plate or in a ground laid over it. Points made of ivory or bone (with more rounded ends than those of an ordinary needle) are used for tracing (to transfer a design), and for making marks on a ground without penetrating the metal plate beneath.

NEGATIVE.
A " negative " impression produces white areas in place of the black, or vice versa, e.g. an impression taken from an intaglio plate which has been inked with a roller.

NIELLO.
A niello is the incrustation of an engraved silver or gold plate with a metallic black enamel (Latin: "niggled"). A niello print is an impression taken from such a plate before the enamel has been poured into the furrows, or an impression taken from a sulphur cast of such a plate.

NUMBERING OF PRINTS.
Impressions taken from a particular edition are sometimes numbered. The numbers are written at the base: the number of the impression within the edition is followed by the total number printed. There usually is NO correllation between print number and where in the edition the actual print falls (i.e. print 1/100 is probably NOT the first impression taken from a plate, it's the first numbered).