Sea Shack

Mezzotint is a very simple way of making a tonal image, dark to light. A plate, in this case copper, is given a roughened surface by a rocker. The textured metal holds ink. If the plate were to be inked up at this point, it would print a black image. A range of tones can be created by burnishing areas of the plate back to a smoother, more flattened surface with steel tools. In some areas of this print, a lot of ink has been left on the plate, while other parts are hand wiped, giving the image a painterly quality.