Drypoint

Drypoint is an intaglio printmaking technique in which the design is scratched into a metal, usually copper, plate with a sharp needle-like tool, without the use of acid. Unlike line engraving, drypoint does not cut a clean furrow but raises on both sides of the stroke a thin ridge of metal called the burr. It is this burr that holds extra ink and prints a soft, velvety, slightly blurred line, giving the impressions a characteristic warmth and depth. This delicate burr wears down quickly under the pressure of the press, so the run of fine impressions is small, which makes early sheets especially prized. Rembrandt was a master of the technique, combining it with etching for richness of tone, and modernists, including the Expressionists, used it actively. Drypoint remains a favourite means of printmakers because of the directness of its gesture: the act of scratching is close to free drawing, and the result preserves the intimacy of the artist's hand.