Portraits/Commemoratives

Woodcuts are relief prints, which means that the lines and surfaces standing proud on the printing block constitute the image, while all blank areas have to be carved down. For engravings, the opposite is true: they are intaglio  prints, which means that the image is created by grooves cut into the metal plate, while the surface remains blank. Etchings, aquatints and drypoints all belong to the latter category. Etchings and aquatints are made by using acid to bite the recesses into the plate, while lines are scratched directly into the plate to create a drypoint.