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Drypoint is an intaglio* technique in which you draw into a plate with a needle tool to make an incised line. The unusual thing about drypoint, however, is that it is in fact the raised burr thrown up along the incised line which gives the print its characteristic qualities – usually a softer denser line than you might get from an engraved mark alone.
Plates are usually acrylic or sometimes aluminium, but were traditionally made from copper or zinc. The burr is a relatively fragile vehicle for printmaking, so drypoint is generally only suitable for relatively short editions of 10 – 20 prints. As the burr wears down under pressure from the plate, the line becomes more dependent on the incised line, and so becomes less rich.
*Intaglio = a process in which a design is engraved into the surface of a plate so that when ink is
applied and the excess is wiped off, ink remains in the grooves and is transferred to paper in
printing, as in engraving or etching
Please enjoy browsing the gallery of drypoint images below and do please also like our Seymour Road Studios facebook page and enjoy more up-to-date photos of students’ work there.
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