The growing awareness of the damage caused to artists' health and the environment by the use of toxic art materials has led intaglio printmakers to search for safer ways of working. Lascaux, working in collaboration with the printmakers Robert Adam and Carol Robertson, have developed a complete range of safer modern materials which can be used to replace the traditional acid resists. These reliable new acrylic resists have been carefully designed to provide all the marks associated with traditional materials as well as relating closely to classical working methods. A innovatory vocabulary of painterly marks has also become possible due to the versatility of the new materials. The resists are water-soluble and are easily applied with artists' brushes and tools. They can be used on copper, brass, zinc, aluminium and mild steel. The prepared etching plates may be new or previously bitten. Lascaux resists can be used in combination with each other and are compatible with photopolymer resists such as Photec. They dry quickly and become powerful acid resists with the ability to sustain long etches in a range of mordants. After etching they can be easily, economically and safely removed from the plate with Mystrol. The etched plates can be inked up with water-based inks or oil-based inks. Some of the resists can also be used for intaglio collagraph methods.
