Category Etchings
Lichen
This is an etching I began back in 2012 that never looked quite right to me. I struggled for years to figure out how to achieve evenly aquatinted tones, and just when I seemed to be getting it right, it appeared that this plate had been lost. I’ll spare you the details of the vermin […]
Cambria orchid
I’m taking a break from my 365 monotype challenge to wrap up work on etchings for an art opening next week. As soon as I file the edges of this plate, it’ll be ready to edition…it may even be dry before I mat and frame it! The marks on the flowers were made using a […]
Phalaenopsis etching
Nowadays, when drawing flowers from life, I’m careful to take documentary photographs, as an etching is never completed while the plant is still in bloom. No photos were taken while making the preliminary drawing, which made it difficult to complete the etching. After about two years of aquatinting, scraping, burnishing and re-aquatinting, I decided that […]
Zinc plates
Zinc plates are an economical alternative to the copper plates traditionally used for etchings. Zinc and copper are etched with different chemicals, and I no longer have access to the nitric acid used for zinc plates. I have a few of these plates left over from my college printmaking classes, and have decided to get […]
Comparing different papers
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 […]
Buried Treasure
In the past few years, my printing techniques have evolved and improved, and I’ve decided to give second chances to old etched plates. This etching began as a 9″ x 12″ plate. At the time, I was convinced that it was the single worst piece of art I had ever created. It occurred to me […]
Proofing a two plate etching
I had an odd scrap of copper that lent itself to this unusual composition. I’d promised myself that I would take a break from color printing and return to black ink, but the first proof cried out for color. I cut a second plate as close to the size of the original as possible, and […]
Oncidium Press 