Mosquitoes

Drawing 

Step 3: sketching composition on the copper plate then I used an etching needle to incise the lines that will hold the ink and thereby exposing the metal beneath.

Etching

Step 4: Once the entire design has been drawn the plate is dipped in acid. (The acid eats into the metal only in the exposed areas creating recesses that can retain ink. The depth and width of these recesses is determined by the length of time the plate is exposed to the acid: a longer exposure will cause deeper and wider recesses, which hold more ink and will thus print darker lines on paper.)

Inking and printing 

Step 5: After the ground is removed, the plate is ready for inking. In an intaglio process, the ink is retained in the incised lines. A cloth ball, cardboard tab, or paper is used to gently spread ink across the whole face of the plate. The plate is further cleaned using a tarlatan rag (heavily starched cheesecloth).

Step 6: Once the surface of the plate is wiped clean to a satisfactory level, the plate is placed on the bed of a rolling printing press, with the ink side up. Before the plate is moved through the press, it is covered with a sheet of dampened paper and then printing blankets, often made of felt, to soften the pressure on the metal plate.

Reflections

Once printed onto its paper support design appears in reverse of the original on the plate. Plus pressure of the press not only forces the ink onto the damp paper, but also produces an outline of the outer edges of the metal plate in the paper, known as a plate mark.