The lines are then drawn with a sharp needle which exposes the metal. Then the plate is put into an acid bath. In printing, the ink settles in the etched lines and the plate is wiped clean. The sunken lines are produced directly by diamond-hard tools pulled across the plate. This produces a ridge along the incisions, which gives drypoint a soft, velvety appearance absent in the clean-edged lines of an etching.
Aquatint is used to print areas of color.
The plate is covered with a rosin powder and heated so the rosin will melt and harden onto the plate and leave a porous ground. The plate is then repeatedly put into an acid bath where it is etched to different depths. The final effect is an image on a fine, pebbled background. Kavaler mixes her own inks from dry pigment and plate oil and does her own printing. If the colors are separated in the design, more than one color may be used on each plate.