2. Diversity of lines (etching, dry point or burin) and surface patterns (aquatint, prints of objects). Extremely thin lines and minutely detailed patterns are possible as well as wild and irregular lines, reflecting the violence of the chemical attack. Paradox of ephemeral and fragile objects that are made lasting forever as a life print in a hard metal print thanks to the magic of soft ground etching techniques ("leaves skeleton?", "leaf prints?"). Art is the science of seeing. A mean approach of scientific artistry is only mean.

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William Kentridge: Making Prints: Selected Editions 1998–2021

From that time onward, printmaking’s legacy as a democratic art object and vehicle for satire and social change–from Callot to Hogarth to Goya–is as intrinsic to its own history as it is to Kentridge’s. Marking or inking, incision and refinement of line, duration and process—the temporal aspect of creating a body of work around layers of a subject—are aspects that allow him to return again and again to printmaking.