Glossary Term: Meaning
"half-tint" or "half-tone", it is the mechanical intaglio
technique in which the entire metal plate is roughened to create a burr that
holds ink, producing a dark background. The artist works from dark to light,
using a rocker to burnish or smooth
the surface to create areas that hold less ink. In this way, a full range of
tones is produced. Because this method is so labor intensive,
mezzotints are usually small in size. This printing process, while relatively
uncommon today, was widely used
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for portraiture.
| Title: The Chuck Close Mezzotint “Keith” 1972 (1972) |
| Process: Portfolio with 10 photographs of work and etching, mezzotint and printed text |
| Size: 15 3/8 X 11 3/4" in folio |
| Edition: 20 |
| Printer: Crown Point Press, Oakland, California (Kathan Brown, Patricia Branstead) |
| Publisher: Parasol Press, Ltd., New York |
| Part of Exhibition: Yes |
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