Winchelsea, Sussex

In the etching process, the artist draws with a needle on a wax-covered metal plate, so that the drawn lines expose the metal under the wax. When the plate is immersed in acid, the acid bites into the exposed areas creating the design. In the mezzotint process, the darker tones are produced by roughening the bare metal of the plate with a special tool. These roughened areas trap and hold the ink, creating the shadows. The lighter tones are formed by smoothing away some of the roughened parts, so that they pick up less ink.