KRЯRL DЯAWINGS: Sugar Lift

Mary Teichman, the workshop instructor, writes:

The point of sugar lift is to create a more painterly, spontaneous look. There are as many sugar-lift recipes as there are printmakers—but usually they have some sweet component—sugar, or honey. You can find recipes in printmaking books—and I’m sure you can find them on-line. Some people use India ink or poster paint (water based) without adding anything to it.

1. Start with a clean, grease-free plate.

2. Paint or draw your image using sugar-lift on the bare (un-grounded) plate. (In our class, Mary used a dip-pen to draw her image) You can use a brush to paint on the sugar-lift also.

3. Let the lift=ground dry thoroughly, over-night is a good idea.

4. After the lift-ground is completely dry, coat the entire surface (covering the lift ground) with a thin layer of hard-ground. (in the class, we used Charbonnel hard-ground) (I doubt that “BIG” would work, as it is too thick, and is also very difficult to remove...)

5. After the hard ground has dried completely on the plate—immerse the plate in a bath of warm/hot water. The areas that were painted or drawn on the plate with the sugar lift will come off— exposing the bare metal in those areas.(sometimes the lift ground areas need to be encouraged to lift by gently rubbing with your fingers) Since Mary drew her image with a pen, the exposed areas she created were very fine (like a pen line), so the plate could be immediately immersed in the acid bath to etch, without applying an aquatint to the plate. If her sugar lift image had been created using a brush, and the exposed plate areas had been wider than a pen-line, she would have needed to aquatint the plate before putting it in the acid.

6. After the plate has been etched, remove the grounds and print.

Mary, the workshop student, used the Sugar Life process to start her etching.

Mary draws on the copper plate,

with a dip pen,

using a special sugar lift ink preparation --

C6 Speedball pen nib works best

The drawn image,

with the sugar lift ink

I assume that one then coats the plate with hard ground,

and then submerges the plate in (water? 110 degrees?),

and agitates,

until the underlying sugar lift ink takes the ground off

Ready for etching,

as the drawn lines peek through the hard ground

Mary applies some "stop out" resist,

before etching,

but this did not end happily

Mary also aquatinted the plate, then painted spit bite on it. Ultimately she used two plates to print her final etching, after using the "Trap and Switch" method.

Final masterpiece print (right)

Handout from Mary Teichman's class at the University of Hartford:

SUGAR LIFT OR LIFT GROUND TECHNIQUE

Use this method when you want to create an image that has the spontaneity of a brush drawing.

1. To begin, bevel the sides of the plate with a metal file, and sand and polish the plate to remove any scratches,and wash the plate with Bar-keeper's friend to degrease it. Make sure the plate is grease free and completely dry.

2. Draw your image on the plate using poster paint (the blue paint works well) or pre- made sugar lift ground with a brush or dip pen. To create a splatter effect, you can use an old tooth brush. Make sure there is a good coating of paint or sugar lift on the areas that you have drawn. These are the areas that will be etched.

3.After the drawing is completed, let the lift ground dry thoroughly. The ground should feel hard. Avoid touching the other parts of the plate.

4. After the lift ground has thoroughly dried, coat the entire plate with a thin layer of hard ground (asphaltum), gently using a soft brush. Let the plate dry thoroughly, usually overnight.

5. When the hard ground coating has completely dried, immerse the plate in a tray of very hot (but not boiling) water. You will need to let the plate sit for a few minutes. Soon the areas where you painted the lift ground should lift off through the hard ground and expose the metal in those areas. You can rub the lift ground areas with your finger or use a brush to encourage it to lift.

6. After the ground has lifted completely, dry the plate, and apply a rosin or spray paint aquatint to the plate.

7. Proceed to etch the plate as you would for an aquatinted plate.

UPDATE (Dec 30): Eric bought this Japanese nib, from John Neal Bookseller, to draw with the sugarlift ink on the copper plate: