Technical Terminology

Contact Inking:
An Atelier 17 technique, the colour is mixed with thin oil and rolled onto a glass slab. The plate is turned upside down, and hit or pressed at selected areas to pick up colour from the slab. The plate is then rolled up with surface colour, through which the brilliant highlights of the contact colour will appear.

Drypointed scraper prints:
The techniques was first developed at the Atelier 17, and is used mainly on zinc plates. The plates are deeply/sculpturally scored with a scraper, and often combined with etching, aquatint and other techniques.

Engraved prints on plastic:
Developed in conjunction with the sculpture, these PVC plates are engraved by hand and/or by machine, mezzotinted, scraped, drilled, etc. This technique is effective when combined with colour as the plastic material does not interfere with the colour.

Heat-branding for printing:
PVC sheets are burnt, or branded with hot wire or electric solder. A powerful embossed line emerges which can be printed by intaglio or surface inking.

Intaglio collographs:
Thin brass plates, plastic plates or acetates rolled up in colour and placed in several layers, on top of the base plate. They can be stuck to the underlying plate but are mostly used as movable sliding plates.

Folded brass plates:
Three dimensional constructions made out of thin brass, which can be hammered, engraved or drypointed. The constructions are flattened under the press and used with various base plates.

Space Engraving / Sculpture:
Sculpture of transparent volumes, line or machine engraved on acrylic surfaces. The mechanical engraving is done either with a hand held router or a pantograph. Some of these works could be editioned with the pantograph but are mostly unique.

Perspex:
The name used in England for acrylic while in America it is referred to as lucite.