hi , i have just started doing printmaking and am having a tough time :)after biting the plate in acid , when i apply ink and then vipe it , i dont really get it right ever sometimes its too dark sometimes very light, how do you get to know about right amount of inking for the zinc plate, also i have no understanding of creating light and dark , how can you get an intense variation of tones through aquatint,.........awaiting a reply , any information in this regard would be helpful

i think i can help yu but i hope to understand right your problem :if yu want to get some variations of darkness & light with aquatinte there is two way to reach that:the first is a chemical mode using successives etching on your plate for this you need use some varnish special engraver or hard ground protecting the metal,yu protect first the whites of your design & yu etch for example 3 minutes then you get out the bath the pate & then yu protect with this varnish the light greys you etchen again 3 minutes and so on until the blacks
the second way is mechanics yu do only one chemical etching in the acid bath so you obtain a grey depending the time and others factors(concentrations)If you print this plate yu got a picture without ligt & relief so to obtain these graduations yu can use the classics tools of etching (abrasive,grattoir,ebarboir) sorry for thise kast words in ffrench but i don't know the exact translation of these tools