Etching process - Weathered effects

Here we go... my biggest plate yet! From sketches made on the spot to the final print..

Some of the sketches used as reference -
sketches provide the feel and the memory as well as a record of details such as the pitch and tilt of this lane.

Photographic reference shows the location but was not very helpful in seeing the undulations of the weathered, worn away surface. My amateur photography can flatten a view and disguise the original interest in a place.

Proof stage 4

Successive layers of open bite sugar lift and stop out resist provide structure and shape.

Its good to see I could go bigger than this plate!

The following close-ups show details - the plate has had a few more dips in the ferric. Further stop out washes and some combination aquatint and spit bite aquatint dips. All in the name of definition. Aquatints have been kept to a minimum to maintain a crispness in the final image.

Layers of open bite textures give the ground its worn, trampled and rain channeled surface. The multiple layers aim to hint at years of exposure and time worn impact on the lane.

Proof stage 6 - the plate looks much richer

Weathered and worn etching 66 x 44 cm

The final print achieves much of what I was hoping for, I'm really pleased that the layers of sugar lift allow each mark to survive each bite, and build up a sense of time having passed on this lane's surface. The print is now on show at 'Alchemy', Museum in The Park, Stroud.

Charcoal drawing - Brook reflection

The final stages of  the brook have been all about detail in the water and tree branches, and balancing tone.

The distant hill line needs some fuzzy definition and the tree needs work to build up its shape.
At this point I felt that I needed to pay closer attention to the reality of the place, so on a sunny Saturday morning a managed a plein air sketch





Being back in 'the place' showed me that the bridge and the central tree were really dark, and detail was difficult to make out. Some adjustments to the charcoal drawing will be needed. Being there for a period of concentrated looking gives me so much more confidence when I'm back in the studio. I feel more able to get the essence of the place.

Better, the spindly branches coming in from the right are now framing the central tree

Time to get to grips with the fiddly reflection, and bring some definition into the foreground

I liked the circular ripples at the front of the image, until I realised that they attract the eye too strongly, and create another focal area beneath the rail - too distracting!

The final drawing

The balance is better throughout the image. I've darkened the bridge and lowered the arch slightly too, it now feels more like the real place. The ripples went, to be replaced by flowing shapes which continue the motion of the water rather than stopping it. Leaves in the bottom left corner create a more natural scene. Altogether a good feel of this familiar place. Done. I think!