etching printting for the tour de rance.

Etching originates from the German word "Atzen"  which means to eat in. Before the image can become a print it must first be etched onto a copper or zinc plate, with the help of acid. This is a process that has been dated back more than 500 years ago.



I am going to attempt an etching print as part of my experimental prints. for this print I have decided to etch a landscape in the style of "Alister Colly" a Yorkshire print artist however to help me understand etching a little better I have chosen to look at printing artist "Matthäus Merian" as his prints are mostly based on landscape (with some exceptions).



From looking on the internet and previous experiences within college I have picked up a few facts about this printing method.
etching is mostly done on Zinc or Aluminium, and is usually placed in  Copper Sulfate. in the past as print makers have tried to adapt traditional printing methods to make them more effective and safe the only real change has been in acid. As the traditional acids used where Nitric or Sulfuric acid that presents obvious health and safety risks towards the etcher. this is why Copper Sulfate is a much better acid to use as his will not burn holes in the metal or etches cloths when being used.


Health and safety.

• When placing the etching plate into acid keep in mind that Copper sulfate is known to be an irritant. so always wear latex or rubber gloves when placing the plate into acid. (if the acid comes into contact with skin wash thoroughly with clean water and lots of soap)
• Do not put fingers near your mouth after touching the acid with gloves as Copper sulfate is poisonous and must not be swallowed
• Wear protective eye wear such as goggles and always avoid splashing the solution.

How I made my print

Firstly I cleaned my sheet of Zinc with normal hand soap and water before sealing the most scratched side up with parcel tape (bearing in mind duck tape can also be used) 

I then warmed it up on the heating block. Once it was warm enough I then placed "Hard ground" onto my Zinc plate and spread it out using a roller. this will protect the unscratched parts of your plate from the acid later on.

after it had cooled down and the hard ground had settled I then used a scratching tool. some places I scratched deeper than others and also scratched lines closer and further away to try to show light and dark patches like the work of my chosen artist.

This is my end result after I had scratched into my plate and placed it into acid. However I found out later one that the acid I used was weaker than I had expected. this meant that once I had cleaned the excess hard ground and begin printing it was only then I realized the acid was week, as my print didn't show. 

A few days down the line and I a still struggling with my etching I have gone over my scratched surface once again with hard ground and scratched into it again. This was rather hard as my scribe kept slipping into the previous scratches, after sticking with it I had finally finished and placed it into the acid once again.

I am sorry to say i forgot to take a photo of my zink after taking it out the acid however my plate had definitely been left in the acid long enough this time as it was accidentally left in the acid over the entire weekend which is what caused the edges of my plate to crumble and fall off.

The picture on the left is one of my first prints I did. i do like the outcome of this print however I used too much ink as I was having an impatient day after finding out my plate had been left in the acid. however you can still see the design i had scratched, which is why I like it.

On the right is a photo I took of my very first print from my etching. I do like this however there is too much ink on the plate as I didn't take my time to clear the excess ink off before printing. I found the ink was very stubborn to put on and take off the plate as it is so thick, this is one of the reasons I had too much ink on my print however i was also rushing a little as well.

This print is a little bit better however, This time there isn't enough ink on the plate as I ran it straight back through the printing bed as I wanted to see the effect I would get. I do like this effect, As I think it looks like an old fashioned photograph, I only wish I had printed this in black to make it look more like that. 

I am quit disappointed at this print. I tried printing this in two colours blue and green. However I completely for get when it came to wiping the excess ink off. As I was wiping the two colours merged together in places. There is lightly too much ink on however not as much as my first.

I found some parcel paper in the cupboard in the class room and decided to try printing on it. As it seems i cannot get the hang of having the right amount of ink on my plate.  

As a whole it is clear that i still need a lot more practice on etchings. I have done them before but that was last year and on a zinc plate the size of a credit card, which surprisingly makes it easier to get the right amount of ink on as it takes a lot less ink to put on in the first place. I began my etching print optimistic and confident.however as it didn't work out the first time when I placed it in the acid I started to second guess when I had to scratch back into it, And then of all things my plate gets left in the acid over the weekend which made me FREAK OUT! majorly. but I decided to give it ago since time was running out for my samples. As a whole I'm glad at the out comes of my prints as they tort me that just because something goes right the first time I try it doesn't mean it'll go right all the time. (This is one thing I would like others to keep in mind when they try any printing style)

That's all from my etching blog hope you'v enjoyed it. :)