aquatint

Printmaking technique. When combined with etching it produces areas of subtle tone as well as more precisely etched lines. Aquatint became common in the late 18th century.

An etching plate is covered with a fine layer of resin and then immersed in acid, which bites through the resin, causing tiny pits on the surface of the plate. When printed, a fine, grainy tone is apparent. Lighter tones are created by using acid-resistant varnishes, darker tones by longer exposure to the acid. English painter Thomas Gainsborough experimented with aquatint, but the first artist to become proficient in the technique was J B Le Prince.

It was invented in the 18th century, and Goya used it in combination with line etching in his Disasters of War and other graphic works. It had a vogue in England in the early 19th century, as in the topographical prints published by Rudolph Ackermann, being used for colour as well as black-and-white prints. After long disuse it has had some revival in the 20th century. The ‘sugar process’ of aquatint (an old trade recipe) was employed by Picasso in his illustrations to Buffon's Histoire Naturelle, 1942. Other artists to have used aquatint include Degas, Rouault, and John Piper.