A comprehensive history and how-to treatise on mezzotint engraving, a printmaking technique known for creating lush tonal gradations and dramatic lighting effects Award-winning mezzotint engraver Carol Wax traces the art form's beginnings in 1642, through its growth as a vital British industry for reproducing paintings, to its demise after the invention of photography and resurgence as a means of original expression. This newly revised edition explains various means for creating dark backgrounds on copper plates and rendering images reductively, or in the mezzotint manner. Copious illustrations accompany step-by-step technical instruction and include prints by practitioners at the forefront of the current mezzotint revival. Includes helpful information on . tools . inks . papers . printing techniques . using mezzotint with other mediums . related engraving and drypoint techniques Additional updates emphasize nontoxic materials and make this book useful to artists with diverse experiences and interests. AUTHOR: Carol Wax is an artist whose award-winning mezzotint engravings are in numerous museum collections. In addition to writing, she lectures, teaches printmaking, and makes art in New York's Hudson Valley. SELLING POINTS: . The first historical treatment of mezzotint as both industry and art form, and the most comprehensive instruction of the technique and process published to date . For artists interested in mezzotint, related engraving and drypoint techniques, and nontoxic printmaking methods. Also printmakers in general, historians, curators, and collectors. . Written by an experienced and award-winning artist in printmaking 293 b/w and colour images