Etching
Eat my Shorts.
16th October 2014
Etching, Aquatints and Drypoint were unknown processes to me - techniques which I had been exposed to briefly a lifetime ago when an art student. The word 'Alchemy' sprang to mind and the terms Ferric Chloride, Acid resist and Bitumen resin hung heavy in the air like the smell of the printing ink. Dave Sully assisted by Isaac gave an informative but gentle introduction to this precise and rather meticulous process.
A Copper plate (once de-greased) is covered in a Bitumen and Bees Wax ground and rolled flat. Onto this smooth marmite-esque surface heat is applied in the form of a candle to bond 'Air Soot' onto the plate. The soot covering the acid resistant layer allows you to see more clearly the fine copper line you create when drawing your image onto the plate.
It is important to remember that the printed image created is the mirror image therefore text must be reversed out.
I attempted to recreate the flowing lines of my life drawings but I found my normally loose drawing style very difficult to replicate. This was frustrating and working into the smooth shiny metal with a sharp, tooth-like needlepoint was like scratching my fingers down a blackboard - curves were clunky to achieve and unlike the fluid freedom that pen, brush and even lino cutting tools gave me, I found I was very disappointed with the results.
After scratching and scraping the coppery surface the plate is placed in an acid bath (Ferric Chloride is used as it 'bites' harder into the metal and gives more control, which in turn allows for finer drawing). The acid eats away at the metal leaving the areas covered with black ground undisturbed. The time spent in the acid is dependant on the lightness or heaviness of line required. An hour or so was the specified time for my acidy design.
My disappointment spilled over into my experimental 'Drypoint' test images. The Drypoint process is similar but omit the acid bath and any biting occured was me masticating my way through chocolate fingers and shortbread left over from last weeks 'Welcome 1st years' party.
Dave, like a much younger and beard free Dumbledore, was magic - on hand with advice and kind words, praising my efforts despite my design having the look of an hermaphrodite carrying a set of golf clubs.
However, I intend to work on my etching technique but perhaps try a more sympathetic media for my future ideas. I realise I prefer more fluid and immediate results. Silkscreen and Relief printing may be the way forward with a combination of textural experiments. The theme of 'Texture' is an avenue to explore further.
My friend, the artist Peter McGrath has the hand of an alchemist. His photographic studies and paintings are descriptive observations of the human condition both fragile and powerful. Beautiful textural photographic work and an eclectic range of tactile organic oil paintings combine the figurative with the abstract. http://www.petermcgrath.co.uk/
I also look to the work of Jonathan Borofsky who produces images which are figurative but also contain large, flat expanses of bold colour. His Five large paintings from the 'Human Structures' series (2009) is particularly impressive.
'In this series...Borofsky continues to express the most integral theme in all of his work - that everything is connected, and All is One'.
Bite me.
Etching, Aquatints and Drypoint were unknown processes to me - techniques which I had been exposed to briefly a lifetime ago when an art student. The word 'Alchemy' sprang to mind and the terms Ferric Chloride, Acid resist and Bitumen resin hung heavy in the air like the smell of the printing ink. Dave Sully assisted by Isaac gave an informative but gentle introduction to this precise and rather meticulous process.
A Copper plate (once de-greased) is covered in a Bitumen and Bees Wax ground and rolled flat. Onto this smooth marmite-esque surface heat is applied in the form of a candle to bond 'Air Soot' onto the plate. The soot covering the acid resistant layer allows you to see more clearly the fine copper line you create when drawing your image onto the plate.
It is important to remember that the printed image created is the mirror image therefore text must be reversed out.
I attempted to recreate the flowing lines of my life drawings but I found my normally loose drawing style very difficult to replicate. This was frustrating and working into the smooth shiny metal with a sharp, tooth-like needlepoint was like scratching my fingers down a blackboard - curves were clunky to achieve and unlike the fluid freedom that pen, brush and even lino cutting tools gave me, I found I was very disappointed with the results.
After scratching and scraping the coppery surface the plate is placed in an acid bath (Ferric Chloride is used as it 'bites' harder into the metal and gives more control, which in turn allows for finer drawing). The acid eats away at the metal leaving the areas covered with black ground undisturbed. The time spent in the acid is dependant on the lightness or heaviness of line required. An hour or so was the specified time for my acidy design.
Once the initial design has been revealed by the greedy acid monster, in order to prepare the plate for printing, the sooty cloying resinous surface has to be carefully removed with solvent cleaner and gooey black ink is then applied with what looks like a miniature 'boxing glove' or large bingo dibber, to secrete ink into every available nook and cranny. Then any residual ink rubbed away using 'Scrim' (I intend to insert this word into my everyday vocabulary). The plate is then placed onto the press bed and pre-soaked paper placed on the top, followed by a piece of tissue, then the felt blanket covers it and you're ready to roll.
My disappointment spilled over into my experimental 'Drypoint' test images. The Drypoint process is similar but omit the acid bath and any biting occured was me masticating my way through chocolate fingers and shortbread left over from last weeks 'Welcome 1st years' party.
Dave, like a much younger and beard free Dumbledore, was magic - on hand with advice and kind words, praising my efforts despite my design having the look of an hermaphrodite carrying a set of golf clubs.
However, I intend to work on my etching technique but perhaps try a more sympathetic media for my future ideas. I realise I prefer more fluid and immediate results. Silkscreen and Relief printing may be the way forward with a combination of textural experiments. The theme of 'Texture' is an avenue to explore further.
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| Peter McGrath |
I also look to the work of Jonathan Borofsky who produces images which are figurative but also contain large, flat expanses of bold colour. His Five large paintings from the 'Human Structures' series (2009) is particularly impressive.
Bite me.
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