Drypoint is a printmaking technique that produces a softer line than etching. The artist scratches an image into a Plexiglass plate with a stylus, forming raised burrs of plexiglass. These burrs hold ink well initially but flatten with each pass through the printing press, limiting the number of high-quality prints that can be pulled from the plate. The document provides instructions for creating drypoint prints, including preparing the plate by drawing on Plexiglass, inking and printing the plate, and properly labeling proofs and editions.

3. Dry Point prints a softer line than an
etching, so you really have to dig and do so at an angle - to kick up a
burr in the plexiglass.
It will give more
of a curb for the
ink to hold
on to.

4. Laying etching ink on the plate with a scraper. Each ink
application, and each trip through the press squashes
the tooth of the line work flat, so it holds less and less
ink, and prints really
light after a handful
of impressions.
Dry points are usually
printed in smaller
editions than other type
of etchings as a result.

5. Etching lines
Drypoint lines

6.  Clear Plexiglass
 Your drawing
 Nails or Stylus (a sharp metal point)
 Water-based Ink
 Printing Paper
 Towels
 Felt
 Small pieces of mat board or cardboard
 Tape

7.  Proof
 “Pulling a proof”
 Edition
 Drypoint
 Stylus/Scribe
 Burrs
 Plate
 “Inking the plate”

8.  Create a drawing that is the same size of your piece of
plexiglass
 Make sure your drawing uses only lines
 To create value build up lines using hatching or
crosshatching.
 NOTE: Your print will be a mirror image of your
drawing so make sure to flip any words so they will
print correctly

9.  Tape your drawing to the underside of your piece of
plexiglass
 Use a scratching tool (scribe/stylus) to reproduce the
drawing on the plastic

10.  Apply in in a figure eight motion to make sure it fills
all the lines.
 To remove ink from the plate’s surface use a towel or
gauze. Be sure to wipe in a circular motion to not
remove the ink from the burrs
 Don’t worry if you leave some ink on the surface. It
will create interest.

11.  Soak your paper to get it completely wet.
 Place your paper between two flat towels and apply
pressure to the top to remove excess water. You need
your paper to be damp and not soaked.

12.  Place your plate on a piece of felt
 Place a piece of damp paper on the plate




and cover it with another piece of felt.
Rub the entire felt, applying firm
pressure.
Take a look at your proof. Does your
plate need more lines? Deeper lines?
Did you get the ink off well enough?
Does the plate need more detail?
Sign , date, and label your proof
Make revisions to your plate

13.  After revising your plate you may print again.



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*you may need to make several proofs before you are
satisfied with your plate.
You may make prints until you plate wears down and you
lose detail.
Label directly under each print in the following format:
Proofs- Write the title on the left. Write AP (Artists Proof)
in the center. Sign the right.
Prints- Write the title on the left. Write the edition in the
center. The first print will be the first edition, label it “1”.
Do the same with subsequent prints. Sign the right.

17. The Three
Crosses
Rembrandt
1653
Drypoint

19. St.Jerome beside a
Pollard Willow
Rembrandt

21. Mary Cassatt
United States
(1845-1926)
En Deshabillé
(alternatively titled
Italian Girl), ca. 1889
Drypoint