Technique of Etching & Engraving

In all art, technique and aesthetics are opposite sides of the same coin.

That is why John Brunsdon is as concerned in this book to consider the effect which any etching or engraving aims to achieve, as he is with the technical means by which that effect is to be brought about. Primarily, however, this is a technical book, so its first consideration is with basic hard, soft and aquatint grounds, relief etching and lithographic crayon, and the more sophisticated techniques of colour etching and printing. Zinc and steel engraving are described, as are the processes of dry point and mezzotint. Included also are those mixed media, incorporating woodcutting, silk screen and lithography, in the coverage of a craft which is to-day so much more many-sided than formerly. The largest scale work including murals, is also discussed along with the lay-out of the studio or workshop in which the engraving will be performed. Diagrams and photographs clarify each stage in the author’s verbal descriptions. As a work of reference the book’s usefulness is increased by a technical glossary, a bibliography, and a list of the leading suppliers of equipment and materials both in Britain and in the United States of America.

John Brunsdon works both as a creative engraver and as a practising teacher at St Albans School of Art. Trained at Cheltenham College of Art and the Royal College of Art, London, Mr Brunsdon has exhibited in America, Switzerland and Scandinavia, as well as in Britain.