After several rosin applications and a bit of tinkering with the aquatint process, this plate finally has a nice velvet black background.  The next step is to burnish the gray tones and improve the range of values.  Last night in the studio, I wondered if switching from my favorite gray Magnani pescia paper to the white pescia would help to bring out the lightest tones.  After sharing the results with friends, opinion is evenly divided over which paper produces more successful results.  For now, I’ll assume that the fault lies within the plate, and continue with the scraping and burnishing.

I’m very well stocked up on the gray paper, as the Magnani website no longer lists their colored printmaking papers, which makes  me question their future availability.  This is a scary thing to contemplate, as I’ve neglected to complete a dozen or so editions that were begun on gray paper.