Like the Wine Grow Mellower with Every Passing Year

This original print is a very deeply etched zinc plate, bathed in acid for roughly 8-12 hours for some parts of the plate.  Printing is done in one pass through the press.  This original print is a very deeply etched zinc plate, bathed in acid for roughly 8-12 hours for some parts of the plate.  Printing is done in one pass through the press.  

Three colors are applied. The first is applied by wiping in the usual intaglio manner, in this case, with red.  The second color is a very oily blue and is applied with a hard roller, so that the roller only places ink on the highest surface of the plate.  The final color, a dry or tacky yellow ink, is applied with a very soft roller that sinks deep into the plate.  The dry yellow ink skips over the oilier blue and red, and sticks to the plate only where there is not already an oily film of ink present. The technique is called viscosity printing because the outcome of the placement of the ink on the plate depends on the relative oiliness (or viscosity) of the 3 inks.