Of the Mastery of Metal and Light

Dustgrain copperplate (photo) gravure or heliogravure is an intaglio etching technique first patented by William Fox Talbot in 1852 and further developed by Karl Klič in 1879. It is one of the few true continuous tone printing processes in which a photographic positive is exposed onto a sensitised gelatin tissue resist. The tissue is developed and adhered to a copper plate, dusted with fine rosin powder and etched in a series of carefully timed and controlled ferric chloride baths. The plates are then hand inked and printed in the same fashion as an etching plate. The prints display very finely rendered continuous tone, which is very difficult to achieve with traditional etching techniques.

Behold, I stand before a sea of glass.jpg — “I didn’t know it was a sea of glass
That I was jumping into

Until I was already cut open."

- Excerpt from Sea of Glass by J Foster

Artwork:
Behold, I stand before a sea of glass
Copperplate gravure on Hahnemuhle Etching 300gsm
30 x 40cm

photogravure /ˌfəʊtə(ʊ)ɡraˈvjʊə/

Process of engraving by photography
An image produced from photographic positive transferred to a metal plate and etched
Setting continuous tones into a surface using a continuous tone positive and aquatint
photo- from Greek, combined term for “light” and “to shine” (phos + bha)
-gravure from French grav(er), Germanic grave, Middle English graven, to engrave

Plate 2 for Behold, I stand before a sea of glass — Plate 2 for *Behold, I stand before a sea of glass*

Plate 1 for Behold, I stand before a sea of glass — Plate 1 for *Behold, I stand before a sea of glass*

William Fox Talbot makes two very important discoveries during his experiments in the 1840s.

1. Gelatin sensitised with potassium bichromate became insoluble when exposed to light and could be used as an etching resist.
2. Screen of black gauze or crepe could break up an image to provide the “shoulder” (grip or tooth) needed to print halftone or tonal images.

These discoveries not only lead to photogravure, but become the foundation principles of all photomechanical printing processes.

Sea of Glass #1
Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm
30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm) — Sea of Glass #1 Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm 30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm)

Sea of Glass #2
Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm
30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm) — Sea of Glass #2 Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm 30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm)

Sea of Glass #3
Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm
30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm) — Sea of Glass #3 Copperplate gravure on Hahnemühle Etching 300gsm 30 x 40cm (image 5.9 x 7.6cm)

Jungle Gravure.jpg — Jungle Gravure [CMYK]

Each colour is etched onto its own copper plate. When the image is printed all four plates are inked up and printed into the same sheet of paper in quick succession. The inks therefore physically mix on the surface of the print.

Of the Mastery of Metal and Light

“I didn’t know it was a sea of glass That I was jumping into

Until I was already cut open."

Jungle Gravure [CMYK]

“I didn’t know it was a sea of glass
That I was jumping into