ABSTRACT
There are two more intaglio processes used on steel plates, giving different effects from line engraving and mezzotint. Etching and aquatint were used as independent means of producing a picture, although the contemporary view regarded them as artistically inferior, due not least to the less arduous methods employed. The use of acid to take away some of the hard physical work of line engraving was already well established in the 18th century in England when Sir Robert Strange (1721-92) used etching to delineate the main outline of the design, then going over the lines again with a graver to sharpen up the line edges. Anthony Walker (1726-65) took the idea still further by using two or three progressive bitings before tidying up with a graver, and William Sharp (1749-1824) etched and rouletted his plates before engraving.
