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.

Oak shadow

Westonbirt Arboretum remains a very strong inspiration as the year progresses. I have loved studying, sketching and photographing the trees while their branches are bare. I now have hundreds of photos and a fair few sketches to keep me going as the buds burst and the leaves start to appear.
These are the development stages of a new print which has been keeping me busy while the bigger projects get going.

The first layer of resist is splashed
across the surface of the plate

Sugar lift and dry brushed stop out
gives the shape of the trees

A thinned application of stop out
creates some shadows and depth

Burnishing creates more contrast and provides
a lighter toned 'pathway' leading through the image

'Oak shadow' 20 x 10cm
The shadow has been reworked to create a softer shape
and this etching is, I think, finished

I used to hate the idea of burnishing, but now I love the flexibility it gives.