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PICASSO'S APPROACHES TO PRINTMAKING
In the early summer of 1963, when Piero Crommelynck set up a small printmakers workshop in Mougins, Picasso was 82 years old and experiencing a burst of intense creativity that had begun in the mid-1950s. Their collaboration launched a fruitful partnership (1963-72) that enabled Picasso to work more intensively than ever before and produce some 750 intaglio plates, work which entailed an astonishing 50,000 signed proofs. Later Crommelynck recalled: 'Picasso never had a preparatory drawing. He invented directly onto the plate.'
Picasso's favoured technique was etching but his technical mastery allowed him to try out new combinations of techniques on the same plate. Piero confirmed: 'Not only was Picasso perfectly conversant with the techniques at his disposal, but he was always trying new things, combining them and putting them to new uses.' His sheer inventiveness now put him in the tradition of the greatest practitioners in the medium, Rembrandt and Goya.
Etching: The surface of a print plate is covered with acid-resistant coating. The artist scratches into it with various tools to create the line. The plate is then immersed in acid, which 'bites' in the lines where the protective ground has been scratched away.
Aquatint: Tiny particles of resin are spread onto the plate to produce a continuous area of tone. Varnish is used to protect the surface from the acid bath or the grains of resin. Picasso used both liquid and stick varnish to create white forms against a dark ground.
Drypoint: A sharp needle is pulled across the plate leaving a ridge of metal scrapings on either side of the incised line. Ink is caught in these ridges, called the burr, giving a velvety quality to the printed line.
Linocut: Using a gouging instrument to cut away the linoleum, the artist removes everything from the block except for the areas to be printed. Picasso used the same block for printing all the colours, resulting in its eventual destruction.
Lithograph: The image is drawn on limestone or zinc plate with a greasy crayon or a liquid called tusche. The stone or plate is wet down with water. When printing ink is applied to the surface it is repelled by the water and only adheres to the areas drawn with the greasy medium.
Sugar-lift Aquatint: The artist paints the plate with a mixture of sugar and ink, and immerses it in water so the sugar melts and lifts off the varnish. The plate is grained and bitten where the varnish has been stripped. When inked, the sugar-painted areas print a rich black tone. | 
