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When large areas of a metal plate are etched out (see below Etching), leaving the design in relief to be surface printed, the process is generally called relief etching. Usually the method is used for areas, but it can be also used for lines. The English artist and poet William Blake was the first printmaker to experiment extensively with relief etching. He devised a method of transferring his...
in printmaking: Relief etching )To make a relief etching, the areas not to be removed by acid are protected with liquid ground or varnish. The varnish used has to be tough (asphaltum, or ground) because the relief bite takes a long time, and when large areas are bitten, the plate has a tendency to heat up. If various levels are desired, relief etching can be done in stages, as in regular etching.
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