A big print getting nearing to completion

Following the progress of this print which took a long time to get anywhere near resolved...

A lot of stopping out allows details to be created with an open bite, gradually less and less metal is left uncovered. This part of the process takes a long time; the stopping out takes its own time and then theres the waiting for the varnish to dry. A full day's work, hopefully rewarded when the plate comes out of the ferric.

The bite at this stage was quite light (not quite so rewarding! but that's printmaking...) and revealed that some of the underlying textures were too strong. A bit of strong scraping/burnishing helped to put the balance right.

The proof from the next stage shows how the structure has overlaid the organic sugar lift marks, hopefully bringing the focus onto the shape of the lane.

Another layer of open bite textures provides better contrast of light and dark, distance and focal points. But is it there yet?

Time to stand back and think.

Squaring up

I enjoyed the size and the square format for my 20:20 print so much I decided to cut down a plate destined for another project and started work on another square, 20 x 20 cm .
The sketch for this was made in the summer back at Westonbirt Arboretum

sketchbook page

This was drawn on a lovely sunny day,sat on the clover dappled grass with loads of butterflies about. 

This path is a quiet spot; the view to the tree trunks is towards one of the main paths.

Free drawn stop out wash, open bite

Some good shapes on the ground and a good starting point in the trees but the focal distance area is a bit of a weird figure like blob which needs bringing under control - softening or obliterating.

Hard ground line

The hard ground line gives me more of an idea about what needs doing in the background, but just like the last print I've been a bit sparse with my line drawing - another hard ground on the way...

20:20 print 2014

A couple of posts ago I put up my print which i'd made for the 20:20 print exchange and the lovely comments mentioned how spontaneous the image looked. Knowing my print was anything but spontaneous, but having worked hard to try and get that 'sketchbook fresh' feel I decided to post the how I got there sequence.

It starts with the sketchbook

Then some free drawn open bite

Next a hard ground line

Oh too spindly, not enough line, so more hard ground line

Now I need more tone - a nice rich spit bite aquatint

And to give more light and shade - some judicious burnishing

And there you have it - 6 steps to achieving sketchbook freshness and movement in a little etching

When I'm reading other blogs I'm most fascinated by the process shots of art work developing so I'll try and do more of this myself...

Etching progress

Progress feels a little slow at the moment, time is in short supply as I'm trying to squeeze in some Impress festival stuff, but what I am getting done is fairly good progress.

Here's the starting point for a new print based on the 'Puddled Path' drawing from earlier this year:

the drawing

painting in the stop out

first proof - after the first open bite

I'm pleased with the tree branches, and some of the shaping around the puddles. There's a nice bit of standing grass shaping on the right, but the branches are a bit thin in places and the texture of the ground is still too open. The overall feel is close to the drawing - a solid framework to work into.

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!