Students of Environmental Monitoring Faculty of ISEI BSU visited the international exhibition «Mezzo-tinto world» in the National Center of Modern Arts (Nezavisimosti ave., 47).
The exhibition collected more than 90 works created by the artists from Japan, China, the Check Republic, Russia, Belarus, and Spain in rare printed graphics technique – mezzo-tinto. It is also called «black manner». Engravings in this technique were presented by Sudlenkov Oleg and other authors.
Mezzo-tinto is the most labour-intensive metal engraving technique. It can take several months to create one painting with all the work performed manually. An artist uses specially prepared uneven metal plate to make the print a deep black background on paper. On such a plate, the artist transfers the sketch in a mirror image, gradually polishing it with special tools (scraper and smoothing tool) in areas that should be printed lighter. The imprints on the paper are printed off the plate when everything is ready.
As if the artist takes out the image from darkness (deep velvet and black background mezzo-tinto) hence the name «black manner». At the same time mezzo-tinto allows achieving such accuracy and realism of the image that sometimes engravings created look like old photos. Technique mezzo-tinto was invented in the first half of XVII to copy paintings. At present the artists use it to create masterpieces that often surreal, fascinating with a very special «magic» black and halftone play.
The guys liked the educational excursion where they discovered a completely unknown form of art, broadened their horizons and got pleasure.
