Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1104178 in Books
• Published on: 1990-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 296 pages

From Library Journal
Mezzotint is an intaglio printmaking process particularly suited to the rendering of tonal gradations that was used from the 17th through the 19th centuries to create reproductions of paintings. With the widespread adoption of photographic reproductive methods, mezzotint use shifted to the creation of original images. Wax, who is a mezzotint artist, has combined a history of mezzotint with instructions for artists who wish to work in mezzotint today. Like the mezzotint process, Wax's text is painstaking and requires patience to complete, but she provides a wealth of information on one of today's lesser-known printmaking processes. The volume is well illustrated and is suitable for interested laypersons and art historians as well as practicing artists.
- Kathryn W. Finkelstein, M.Ln., Cincinnati
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful intro to a little-known technique
Mezzotint is one of the least-known but most versatile of the intaglio printing processes. It is the only process that gives such delicate nuances of light and dark, the "mezzo" in its name. Even aquatint's tonal qualities are generally crude by comparison.

Wax first shows the technique of mezzotint process. It starts with a ground that prints beautiful, silky blacks. Unlike other printmaking techniques, the artist then makes lighter marks on this dark field. This technical information is very helpful when looking at actual mezzotints - it lets you read each mark in the print with better understanding.

Wax includes a huge gallery of mezzotint prints, her own and other printmakers'. The reproductions are very good. They show how the process evolved from a technique for reproducing other artwork into an art in itself. Something is always lost in photo reproductions of these prints, but Wax's gallery should be enough to entice you into wanting to see more.

This is the only book I know dedicated to this most unusual printmaking technique. I recommend it to any serious maker or afficionado of fine prints.

//wiredweird

The Bible for the Mezzotint
Not only is Carol Wax one of the greatest mezzotint artists alive, she has written the best history and lexicon for this fine and old printmaking technique. Reading this book will either make you want to make a mezzotint or purchase one.