4-Day Workshop · 2 Hours per Session
Take your etching practice further by combining two distinctive intaglio techniques — hardground etching and mezzotint — to create a single, layered print.
This workshop is designed for printmakers who have already experienced both hardground etching and mezzotint and want to explore how these two processes can work together within one image.
Hardground etching allows you to create precise lines, contours and drawn marks, while mezzotint provides rich tonal areas, deep blacks and subtle transitions from light to dark. By combining them, you can create prints with both defined linear detail and atmospheric tonal depth.
Across four 2-hour sessions, you will develop one artwork from initial idea through to a finished intaglio print.
The strength of this approach comes from the contrast between the two techniques.
Hardground Etching
Use etched lines to define forms, create detail, develop contours and introduce expressive drawn marks.
Mezzotint
Use tonal development to build shadows, depth, texture and gradual transitions between light and dark.
Together, the techniques allow you to create an image that moves between line and tone, definition and atmosphere, detail and depth.
Rather than treating the two processes as separate techniques, you will learn how to plan and develop them as parts of a single composition.
Throughout the workshop, you will work on developing one combined hardground and mezzotint piece.
You will explore:
Planning an image for two complementary intaglio processes
Deciding where to use etched lines and where to develop tonal areas
Creating hardground marks alongside mezzotint textures
Building contrast between line and tone
Developing rich blacks and subtle tonal transitions
Understanding how the two processes interact during printing
Inking and wiping a plate with both linear and tonal information
Making test prints and adjusting the image
Refining your plate towards a finished print
Rather than completing a technique exercise in a single class, the four sessions give you time to develop, test and refine one finished piece.
Develop your composition and establish the areas that will be created through hardground etching.
You will work on the linear elements of your image, considering how the etched lines will interact with the tonal areas developed later through mezzotint.
Begin developing the tonal areas of the plate using mezzotint techniques.
You will explore how to create different values, from subtle mid-tones through to deep blacks, while considering how these areas support the etched lines.
Bring the two processes together and begin testing your plate.
You will print proofs, assess the balance between line and tone, and identify areas that need further development or adjustment.
Continue refining your plate based on the test prints before working towards your finished impressions.
The final session focuses on bringing the different elements together and producing your completed print.
This workshop is intended for experienced printmakers who have already tried both hardground etching and mezzotint.
It is not an introductory course in either technique.
You should already be comfortable with the basic processes of:
Preparing and working on an etching plate
Hardground etching
Mezzotint plate preparation and tonal development
Inking and wiping an intaglio plate
Printing with an etching press
The workshop focuses on combining and developing these skills, rather than teaching each technique from the beginning.
You are encouraged to come with an idea for the artwork you would like to develop.
Because you will be combining two techniques, consider an image where both linear detail and tonal depth can contribute to the final composition.
You may work from a drawing, photograph or other visual reference and adapt it to suit the characteristics of hardground and mezzotint.
By the end of the four sessions, you will have developed a combined hardground etching and mezzotint artwork, along with a deeper understanding of how different intaglio processes can be integrated within one plate.
You will leave with:
✓ One developed hardground + mezzotint plate
✓ Test proofs throughout the process
✓ Finished impressions of your combined print
✓ Experience integrating line and tonal techniques
✓ A process you can continue developing in your own printmaking practice
Duration: 4 sessions
Session Length: 2 hours per session
Total: 8 hours
Level: Intermediate / Advanced
Techniques: Hardground Etching + Mezzotint
Format: Small-group, hands-on workshop
Explore what happens when the precision of hardground meets the depth and atmosphere of mezzotint.
Artwork is by artist Rhianna Catt who specialises in combining both methods together to create beautiful animal imagery. Check out her work here: https://rhiannacatt.myshopify.com/
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