Soft Ground

an etching technique. The etching ground is usually mixed with tallow to make it softer and sticky enough to adhere to anything pressed into it. The plate is covered with grainy paper on which a drawing is made with a hard pencil. The pressure of the pencil causes particles of the ground to adhere to the paper along the lines of the drawing. When the paper is lifted, the wax underneath the lines comes away with it. The plate is then immersed in acid.

Soft-ground etchings are characterized by soft, painterly, grainy strokes. They render the specific qualities of a pencil or charcoal drawing. Soft-ground etching was first used in the 17th century. It was popular primarily among 19th- and 20th-century engravers (O. A. Kiprenskii, V. D. Falimov, E. S. Kruglikova in Russia; K. Kollwitz in Germany).