Gezicht op eiland en Kasteel Tenos 1682

This print by Johannes Kip shows the island and castle of Tenos. It’s made with etching, a printmaking technique that relies on the corrosive power of acid to create lines in a metal plate. Look closely, and you can see how the artist has used a vocabulary of marks - hatching and cross-hatching - to render the image. See how Kip uses the thinnest lines to capture the billowing clouds, and thicker, deeper marks to capture the imposing castle. The etched line lends itself to conveying a sense of volume and texture. The process is labor-intensive. A polished metal plate is coated with a waxy ground, and the artist draws through this ground with a sharp needle, exposing the metal. The plate is then immersed in acid, which bites into the exposed lines. The longer the plate is left in the acid, the deeper the lines become, and the more ink they will hold when the print is made. The plate is then inked, wiped, and printed onto paper under high pressure. Considering the amount of labor, it's fair to say that etching can be seen as a craft as well as a fine art. By appreciating the craft that went into this print, we recognize the skill and effort involved in its creation.