Etching

The graphic process of etching has come a long way over the years. A process which once used dangerous, toxic chemicals and solvents is now non-toxic and environmentally safe. A copper plate is covered with a coat of hard-ground through which the artist draws with a steel etching needle to expose the copper, without actually cutting into the metal itself. Once the image has been drawn onto the plate, it is immersed into an etching tank of Ferric chloride, which etches the bare metal lines drawn by the artist. The result is a line etching of the image. The hard-ground is cleaned off and a proof of the line etch is printed. To add various tones to the line etched image, an aquatint procedure is performed. Resist is painted onto the areas the artist does not want etched, then a fine mist of hard-ground is sprayed onto the entire surface with an air brush. The plate is placed into the etchant, which will etch in between the fine dots of the spray. This process is repeated over and over again, always stopping out areas the artist no longer wants etched, until the darkest tones are reached. In between each aquatint, a proof of the image is pulled to see what areas need further work. The inked plate is placed onto a printing press and a dampened piece of paper is placed on top, then under tremendous pressure, all is run between the steel roller of the press. The moistened paper is pressed into the ink filled surface of the copper plate. This procedure is repeated so that a set of prints are pulled, which the artist signs and numbers, producing a true limited edition of prints.

             Etched copper plate prior to inking and printing image

               Image after printing.