I continue to do the Mezzotint process because it is fascinating to me and satisfying in it's end result.  Only a handful of people continue in this technique because it is so very labor intensive, and the required repetitive motion of "rocking the plate" simply invites carpal tunnel syndrome and other maladies. A curved sharpened blade with terminating fluted lines along the edge is "rocked" across the entire surface of the plate in 18 different directions, thus laying down a homogenous matrix of dots, not unlike pixels on a monitor.  Sometimes more than a million of them!  Then the image is achieved by scraping, cutting, and burnishing those dots to create values ranging from pure white  through infinite gray vaIues to purest black.  Almost looks like a photograph in some instances.  Then, after all that work, the result is maybe 12 to 20 prints before the plate becomes exhausted and unusable. 

Talk about "being off one's rocker"! 

I will post a primer in Mezzotint somewhere on this site in the near future simply to give you an appreciation of the physical investment.