Amy B. answered • 09/02/20
MFA with College Teaching in Drawing, Printmaking and Art History
Engraving, as a method of printmaking, is believed to have its origins in armour designs, particularly those of armour designer, Danell Hopfer, in the late 1400s. Hopfer engraved designs on metal armour with a burin (and hand tool). It is believed that he was the first to keep records designs by engraving them on iron plates, rubbing ink into the lines and printing them. Nearly simultaneoulsy, methods of acid-etching metal were being invented: coating a metal plate with wax, drawing through the wax with a needle and then immersing the plate to eat away the exposed lines. This less labor intensive method of preparing plates for picture-making became known as etching.
