Ruined Buildings near a River Bank, plate 9 from Quatrieme suite de paysages dessinés et grave a l’eau-forte par Moreau (Fourth Series of Landscapes Drawn and Etched by Moreau)

Many artists saw etching as a counterpart to drawing that would allow them to strengthen their draftsmanship. To create an etching, a metal plate is covered with wax. The artist draws through the wax with a sharp metal tool to expose the plate before submerging it in acid, which removes the metal. The artist then fills the recessed lines with ink and transfers the image to paper.
Because the etching process is more involved than drawing directly on paper, it forces artists to slow down and embrace a distinctly different visual language. Louis Gabriel Moreau, for instance, is well known for his romantic landscapes in gouache and watercolor. He also produced 69 etchings in his career. He executed these intimate scenes in a direct style, embodying a realism not present in his other work.