soft groundn.
/ˌsɒft ˈɡraʊnd/, U.S. /ˈsɔft ˈɡraʊnd/, /ˈsɑft ˈɡraʊnd/ A sticky covering of wax mixed with grease for an etching plate; a print produced by the process that makes use of this covering (see soft-ground etching n. at Compounds).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > etching > ground
soft ground1662
etching-ground1728
stop-ground1809
stopping mixture1815
stopping-ground1837
1662 W. Faithorne Art of Graveing & Etching 28 The manner of laying your soft Ground or varnish upon the plate.
1735 J. Barrow Dict. Polygraphicum I. at Etching There are..two kinds of acqua fortis, the one white, which is only us'd with the soft ground..; and the other green.
1792 W. Gilpin Ess. Prints (ed. 4) ii. 35 Before I conclude the subject of etching, I should mention an excellent mode of practising it on a soft ground; which has been lately brought into use.
1840 S. Fuller Let. 31 Jan. in N. N. Solly Mem. Life David Cox (1873) iv. 57 We propose to republish... The plates have been proved, and found to be in good condition, particularly the soft ground, which I consider as good as ever.
1925 E. S. Lumsden Art of Etching xiii. 113 Soft-ground (vernis mou) is nearly allied to etching proper.
1965 C. Zigrosser & C. M. Gaehde Guide to Collecting Orig. Prints iv. 56 Both linear and textured or tonal effects can be created by soft ground.
2009 R. Baynton-Williams Art of Printmaker 1500–1860 192/1 Paper is laid over a soft ground and the image is drawn onto the paper with a soft pencil.
Compounds
soft-ground etching n. a process of printmaking using plates covered with a soft ground, producing prints with softened lines resembling chalk or pencil drawings; (also) a print produced by this process.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > etching > types of, etching
stone-etching1807
soft-ground etching1809
1809 London Rev. Nov. 356 The present work of Mr. Green is simply a book of soft-ground etchings.
1868 P. G. Hamerton Etching & Etchers v. xi. 340 In some books on engraving, ordinary etching is called soft-ground etching, to distinguish it from etching done in a hard ground, by the old masters.
1914 G. T. Plowman Etching & Other Graphic Arts xiii. 111 For soft ground etching melt together lard or tallow and an equal amount of etching ground.
1976 G. N. Ray Illustrator & Bk. in Eng. from 1790 to 1914 49/1 These soft-ground etchings were executed for the most part between 1805 and 1814.
2003 Woman's Art Jrnl. 24 5/1 Hayter had revived interest in line engraving and soft-ground etching.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1662