Moth Etching on a Copper Printing Plate

An etcher never cuts straight into the copper. The plate is first coated in a waxy ground. The needle scratches the drawing through that coating, then an acid bath bites the bare lines into the metal. To print it, ink is pushed into the grooves, the surface is wiped clean and damp paper goes through a press on top. The print always comes out reversed, so any lettering has to be drawn backward. A moth with open wings fills this plate on an ink-stained bench, beside the needle that drew it, in a moth etching jigsaw puzzle of fine dark lines.