Artistic Explorations: Intaglio Printmaking (5)

The short course exhibition looks wonderful and if you're in the area do have a look. Such a wide variety of works and of a high standard according to some of the visitors who I spoke today during the opening. I have to come back again this week because it was very busy and you chat more with fellow students than actually take time and space to take it all in.

I promised to show some of the prints I have been working on over the last few months during the Printmaking course. Each print is a combination of two layered prints. The first layer is from a copperplate that was etched with the use of hard ground (made from wax) and an etching tool. The second layer is from a copperplate that was etched by imprinting textures like fabrics and wallpaper in soft ground.

Both plates are sized 50 x 20 cm.
The hard ground was first put on a hot copperplate and then smoked. Once cooled off I drew my design by scraping away the hardened wax. The areas exposed were then bitten by the acid, creating an indentation in the plate.

Drawing on hardground plate with initial sketch in pencil above
©Fenfolio2016

Drawing on hardground plate ©Fenfolio2016

Detail of drawing on hardground plate with etching tool ©Fenfolio2016

For the other plate I put on a layer of soft ground wax and placed several fabrics like scrim, hessian and lace + scraps of old wallpaper on it. Then I ran it through the press, making an imprint in the wax. After I took off all the pieces of textures I placed the plate in the acid bath, checking every 10 minutes or so to make sure it wouldn't overdo it.
The images below show the result after it has been etched by the acid.

Etched softground copperplate ©Fenfolio2016

Detail of etched softground copperplate ©Fenfolio2016

And then it was time to start printing. First I tested the hard ground plate with sepia ink.

"Glen Dye hardground proof" ©Fenfolio2016

I also made a few proofs for the soft ground plate, inking up a la poupee. It was good to test each plate individually but I had to do both in one print to actually see whether they would complement eachother. Below is my first attempt. I was not happy because the textures were too much dominating, pushing the hard ground layer (sepia colour) to the background!

"Glen Dye Artist Proof" ©Fenfolio2016

My tutor was a great help and adviced me to add more extender to the ink, making it more dilute. I was also not happy with the harsh areas in the mountain (centre and right hand side). I used a scraper/burnishing tool (see first image on top) to level out the etched lines on the plate.

After spending many, many, many hours trying to get the inking right I think I have cracked it. Below are the few prints I'm happy with and the first one is now shown at the exhibition. All have chine collé added in the form of handwritten text dated appr. 1910 taken out of a notebook I received from my father who got it from his mother. I think it was written by a friend of one of our ancestors.

"Glen Dye I" ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye I ", close-up ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye I ", close-up ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye II"  ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye III" ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye IV" ©Fenfolio2016

"Glen Dye V" ©Fenfolio2016

The coming months I will continue working with these plates as I would like to experiment more with other colour schemes and printmaking papers. Hopefully I will then have a few good prints I can show during my upcoming exhibitions later this year at Art Aboyne and North East Open Studios.

Artistic Explorations: Intaglio Printmaking (1)

The direct opposite of a relief print which I wrote about in my previous article is an intaglio print. Intaglio printmaking is a technique where the image is incised into a surface (copper, zinc, wood or perspex) and the incised line or sunken area holds the ink. Examples are etching, engraving, drypoint, mezzotint, aquatint and collagraphy. In this article I will show you a drypoint print and a few etching prints.

Fot my drypoint I used an etching needle tool and an A4 perspex plate.A picture of a song thrush I saw in RSPB's magazine was my inspiration for the design.

Drawing on perspex plate with etching tool ©Fenfolio2014

Once I finished the design, the plate was then inked up with sepia oil-based ink by using a squeegee or old credit card to get the ink in the incised lines and taking off excess ink.

Inking up plate with card or squeegee © http://atelier28.blogspot.co.uk

The plate was then wiped off with scrim, or a muslin cloth, to take off more ink from the plate.

The scrim © http://katiesillustration.blogspot.co.uk

Finally the plate was buffed up with some newspaper. As I wanted to leave a bit of texture of the scrim (circular movements) I only buffed it up very lightly. After I run it through an etching press this was the result!

Drypoint print of a song thrush on Fabriano paper ©Fenfolio2014

For the etching process we got a small copper plate which we covered in resin ground or chemical resistant wax material. The underside of the plate was then heated above a candle to make sure the resin would set and cover the whole plate. Once the resin had cooled down I drew a design in it with a blunt needle (you don't need a lot of pressure to make a mark). The plate was then dipped in a bath of acid for about an hour. The acid "bites" into the metal (it dissolves part of the metal) where it is exposed, leaving behind lines sunk into the plate. Halfway this process I applied aquatint (spray paint) to a small part of my design which I had completely left uncovered from resin. Aquatint is used to produce tone or shading as areas around the tiny beads of the spray paint (or waxy solution) will be eaten away. The longer the plate is exposed the deeper the bit and the more ink it will hold. Once I was happy with the incised lines I cleaned off the plate from the remaining resin.

Metal copper plate with my etched design ©Fenfolio2014

The plate was then inked all over (this time I used waterbased Caligo ink in the colours sepia and umber), wiped off again with scrim, leaving only the ink in the etched lines. It was then run through an etching press.

"Dandelion" etching print on Fabriano paper  ©Fenfolio2014

"Dandelion" etching print on my handmade paper  ©Fenfolio2014

This was not the first time I made an etching. About 35 years ago (!), when I considered going to art school in The Netherlands, I was doing an art course and made an etching on a zinc plate. Luckily I was able to retrieve both the plate and the print!

Zinc plate with etching of still life  made in 1989 ©Fenfolio2014

Still life etching print from 1989 ©Fenfolio2014

I really like the etching prints but I find the process very time consuming and I don't like to use chemicals. The drypoint technique on the other hand suits me much better so I think I will create a few more of these during my Printmaking course. Next time I will cover collagraphy which is my favourite printmaking technique!

Artistic explorations: Still Life (1)

Whenever I started with an art course, the first thing I was being confronted with was a set of different tools and/or things attentively placed in a certain composition on a table in the centre of the room. In 1989, when I first enrolled for a course, my instant reaction was when entering the classroom; "ohh no, not THIS, it's soooo boring, I don't like this at all, what am I doing here, etc.??" The same thing popped up in my head when I started my course last year at Aberdeen Art School.

The moment I put my pencil or brush on the paper, however, these thoughts seemed to become less prevalent. The longer I was working on a certain subject (e.g. bottles, cans, bowls, fruit, cloths, modern and medieval etc.), the more I started to appreciate this exercise. We were learning about how to interpret colour, tone, contrast, composition, perspective and proportion and how to eventually transfer this information as accurately as possible into artwork. Even though still life still doesn't thrill me, I can now see it's so helpful to further develop my creative skills in the areas I'm passionate about. As a matter of fact, I just signed up for the course Abstraction that will cover more of still life, so I'd better get used to it!

Here are some samples of still life drawings and paintings I did:

Still life Etching ©Fenfolio 1989

 

Still Life Drawing ©Fenfolio 2011

Still Life Collage ©Fenfolio 2011

Sometimes I had to take a photo of the composition so I could finish the exercise on time!

Still Life Painting ©Fenfolio 2011

Artistic explorations: Geometrical shapes (1)

Last year I shifted my focus from photography to painting and since then I have immersed myself in a new creative and personal journey of experimenting with various mediums like acrylics, ink, pen, pencils, crayons, collage, natural material and techniques to create certain effects. During my art course at Gray's School of Art this year, one of the requirements was to create a visual diary; notes about artists and artwork that inspires me, notes about exhibitions I have been to and reflections on my own artwork. Although this visual diary is in paper format, I'd like to share some of it with you here, in particular my own artistic inspirations and explorations.

My aim is to post articles within this theme on a regular basis. I will give every article a number because I expect certain subjects will return in my artwork. You can easily find all articles in this new theme by clicking "artistic explorations" in the Category box on the right.

Wassily Kandinsky (16 December 1866 - 13 December 1944)

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first introduction with Kandinsky's work was through a blank postcard I got for free via a gallery. I was a young teenager and thinking about going to art school in The Netherlands. Instantly I was a big fan of the Russian painter and art theorist, who is credited with painting the first modern abstract works.
During an art course I did in 1989 to prepare for my application, I learned about etching and played with  some geometrical shapes. These were first drawn and then cut into the unprotected parts of a metal plate with acid.

© Fenfolio 1989