KRЯRL DЯAWINGS: Soft Ground

With the soft ground, one needs to lay a sheet of tracing paper -- or newsprint -- on top of the copper plate, sticky with soft grounds. Then he draws directly on the paper. The harder one presses on the pencil, the darker the lines. Be careful not to press your hand on the paper, as that could also leave an impression on the final soft etch masterpiece.

One minute video

of the soft ground process

TRADITIONAL SOFT GROUND

The soft ground preparation is much like the hard ground preparation. The ink is rolled out on the copper surface resting on a hot plate, and cooled.

Martin Weber Soft Etching Ground in a jar

Lay some soft ground onto the copper plate;

make sure the newsprint is below,

to protect the contact paper on the bottom of the copper plate

Brayer the ground into a thin layer on the copper plate

Cool the copper

off the hot plate

Once the copper plate is cooled, the artist is ready to draw!

Tape the plate down,

and also tape down

the piece of paper that will cover it

Draw on the paper

(done here with a dull lead holder,

probably 4B lead)

Karl's soft ground print

(etched 15 minutes)

To see more of the process, check out the blog entry on Karl's soft ground etching print.

TEXTURE TRANSFER

With the soft grounds, one can directly transfer a pattern to the plate -- by running a piece of burlap, lace, leafs, or other thin objects through the press -- directly on top of the copper plate coated with soft grounds. A PIECE OF CARDBOARD is placed directly over the fabric and copper plate (before putting the press blankets over it), to more evenly distribute the pressure while rolling the press.

CARDBOARD

on burlap

on the copper plate

coated with soft grounds

After running the sandwich through the press,

the burlap also left an embossing in the cardboard sheet

The pattern left

will etch into the copper plate

The pattern can be altered after etching, by sanding parts of it down or otherwise, to further tweak the texture.

BIG SOFT GROUNDS

According to the video below, if one does not heat the BIG grounds in a stove or hot plate, it serves as a soft ground.

Apply with a brayer,

and BIG serves as a soft ground,

without heating the plate

No one we know has tried the BIG ground as a soft ground yet.

THOUGHTS

With the soft ground, one could easily make their own etching tools from practically anything. I would like to make some "rakes," which would pull 3 or more lines through the soft grounds, creating patterns on the etched plate. I bet I could make such a rake with a painter's palette knife, if I could cut teeth into the blade.