More from the Hepworth Etchings

The two little Hepworth inspired etchings had a lovely deep open bite to them which suggested the potential to take colour really well. I wasn't happy with the grey/lilac from the previous post about these plates, and have since experimented with some other colour schemes... not always worth blog space!

Here's the most successful...

and a flirtation with viscosity inking...

Its fun to have some plates to play around with, 'no pressure' plates.

A charcoal revelation

The lovely people at Pegasus Arts showed me this fantastic 'new' product - compressed charcoal made by Nitram.
I've given it a go and it works brilliantly. This is starting to sound like an advert, sorry, its not intended to be! I was just so taken with the revelatory performance that I felt it was right to share.

 

Its easy to work on a large scale, marks are quick to lay down and build up. the charcoal rubs out successfully with plastic and putty rubbers, and achieves a good range of marks and tones.

 



The best thing about this charcoal is the lack of dust and mess, even your hands stay relatively clean.
I also loved the fine points I was able to get and the way that the rubber could cut through the blacks.
The draw back is the cost - prepare yourselves, but it does last very well, I've barely touched the large stick.

 

Could this be the start of a series of charcoal drawings... I've got so many ideas on the go, I think I will have to stand back and take stock, and not try any more new products!

Etching Hepworth

Since finishing the MA at UWE I've been without the facilities to etch copper - its been like losing a chunk of my character, etching had become part of who I was in quite a significant way during those 3 years. But all is now rectified as I have joined a local print making co-operative. Its so exciting to making plates and printing again.

To start me off I used the back of an old plate cut into smaller pieces. This is a 'no pressure' way of getting going because the copper isn't precious, and sometimes there are some juicy marks already on the plate that add to the new image.

First stages of small prints based on the sketch book drawings from my last post, 'Inspirational Hepworth'. The shapes are wonderful to work with.
There is a beautiful surface to Barbara Hepworth's sculptures and the subtle colour varies depending on the material she uses. Whilst colour is usually a scary prospect for me I decided to try some top rolls of (subtle) colour.

I'm not sure the grey/lilac works, but it was exciting to see the white flashes that appeared where my open bite had etched really deeply.
They could stay like this... but I'm going to try some other colour ways, and maybe a burnished aquatint in the background.
I'll keep you posted.

Its great to be etching again!