Copper plate fail 1

My first attempt at copper plate was a mild success! Until I turned it into a mild failure, but I learned some stuff and am extremely excited about the fineness of the lines I can achieve, and with the effects of blocking out and open biting.

My first copper plate proof shows the teeny tiny fine lines which your computer monitor won't render because monitors have bad resolution:



Yes it's a whale.

And this is what it looks like now.



I don't get what's going on in it either. The sky looks a million more times more turbulent than I wanted it (not to mention the horrible disregard and disrespect for the play between light and dark), but the texture is kind of interesting. I also totally wrecked the intricate lines on the flowers at the bottom left.

I've redrawn this image on a new plate entirely and will be etching it when I get back to the studio, which won't be til April, and will attempt to do it a lot more carefully and thoughtfully. Meanwhile I'm going away for two months starting from 26 January, so there will be no posts on this blog until we get back. Not that you've learned to expect frequent posts on this thing!

I have a travel blog which I share with Chris, but am not sure whether we'll post anything on it while we're away.

A pint of that red stuff

One of the problems with etching aluminium in copper sulfate is the buildup of Red Stuff (technical name unknown) that occurs in the etched lines. Feathering doesn't always relieve this. I've gone so far as to scrub the plate with one of those rough sponges you use when washing cookware in an attempt to remove it. This is not recommended because it may scratch the plate and doesn't totally work anyway. Definitely don't do it with the ground still on, because it will scratch your ground. The Red Stuff must be removed because it stops the ink from going into the lines and you end up with the Most Horrible Broken Lines Ever.

Here's a picture of the Red Stuff on the plate and a picture of the resulting proof, to show you how troublesome the Red Stuff can be.





Sometimes the only way to remove the Red Stuff is to go over the lines lightly with your etching needle to dig them out. This is a pain in the ass to do so if you've found alternative methods, let me know.

This is what the plate looks like after the Red stuff has been removed.



And the resulting print, lines intact. (Ignore the colour. I can't find a proof which I haven't already painted)



And to promote myself, here is what the actual artwork looks like as a whole. It is part of my Bahay Kubo series, which you may view on Etsy. Bataw is Hyacinth bean in English, and Lablab purpureus in Science :)



I won't be using aluminium for a while because I've just bought a nice big pile of copper plates (from Neil Wallace Printmaking Supplies, Melbourne) and am (temporarily?) switching to etching copper with ferric chloride. The next post will show you my semi-horrible first attempt at etching a copper plate.

Queenstown, Tasmania

Here's the finished version of the plate below.

Smoking the plate

Smoking the plate is an extra process you can add when preparing your plate for etching. You only do it when using hard ground, and can do it with aluminum, zinc, or copper plate.

What is "Smoking the plate"?
It is darkening the surface of the hard ground-covered-plate using smoke from a flame.

Why smoke the plate?
This isn't a necessary part of the etching process but it can help in two ways. (1) The much darker surface means you can very easily see the lines you have drawn into the ground, and (2) It can serve to cover up any small holes you have left in the ground, if for some reason you didn't roll it on very well.

And how?
After applying the hard ground, take a pair of pliers with which to hold onto the plate. You need this because it'll heat up and you'll burn your hands otherwise. Hold it upside down (hard ground side down) over a flame and move it around.



Be careful:
• NOT to hold it in any one spot for too long.
• NOT to scratch the plate with the pliers. If you take some ground off, just cover it with bitumen after you're finished drawing.

It tends to work better if you have lots of little candles (unlike what I have in the photo), and light a few of them to get a wider flame.

A smoked plate:


A drawing on a smoked plate:

Hard ground

The ingredients you need to make a hard ground is:

2 parts (8.5tbsp) lump/egyptian asphaltum
2 parts (5tbsp) beeswax (white is purer but yellow works too)
1 part (3tbsp) rosin

An ingredients list isn't quite enough to stir up a decent hard ground. You need to know how to make it, too. I have never actually tried this and am mainly posting this as a future reminder to myself. There appears to be a decent recipe/method for hard ground in Practical guide to etching and other intaglio printmaking techniques By Manly Banister, starting around page 11.

Do you have any tips?

Printmaking in Sydney

Here is a list of the printmaking classes in Sydney, Australia, which are not part of TAFE/university courses. If you know of any others, please post them in the comments box and I will add them to the list.

Warringah Printmakers Studio
• Offers an open access studio for members who have gone through a proficiency check
• Holds weekly classes in of intaglio, relief, woodblock, waterless lithography and more. Various days and times to choose from.
• Holds a few masterclasses throughout the year
• Has at least one annual exhibition for members, with opportunities for more
• Promotes safe printmaking techniques
• 1 term is 9 weeks. Cost varies according to classes taken.
www.printstudio.org.au
343 Condamine Street, Manly Vale. Tel: (02) 9949 2325

Hazelhurst Gallery
• Holds 2 weekly printmaking classes
• One or two masterclasses during the year
• 1 term is 10 weeks, $236
www.hazelhurst.com.au/ssc/hazel.nsf/
782 Kingsway St, Gymea. Tel: (02) 8536 5700

Waverly Woolahra Art School
• Various types of intaglio and relief printmaking
• 1 term is 9 weeks, $272
www.wwac.org.au/index.php
138 Bondi Road, Bondi. Tel: (02) 9387 2461

Pine Street Creative Arts Centre
• Weekly classes, from beginners to advanced
• 1 term is 9 weeks, $235
www.pinestreet.com.au
64 Pine Street, Chippendale Tel: (02) 9245 1503

College of Fine Arts
• Excellent facilities and teachers
• Probably won't run any short courses during 2010 and early 2011 because they are undergoing major refurbishment
http://www.cofa.unsw.edu.au
Corner of Oxford Street and Greens Road, Paddington

Info is correct as of April 2010.

Bahay Kubo series: part 1

At the beginning of the year I started making what is to be 18 plates, each depicting a vegetable from the traditional Filipino song Bahay Kubo. I have not done any research into existing artwork based on this and fully accept that such inspiration could potentially already be overused, however I persisted with the idea thinking that since I was relatively new to aluminum etching, it would act as a good crash course wherein I could make lots of plates, lots of prints, lots of mistakes, and hopefully gain some level of proficiency.

***

UPDATE:
This series is now finished.