Our best soft ground prospects
would not etch after a long time in ferric chloride
NOTE: Ultimately only one of the BIG soft ground plates etched, and that was after a second time in hot ferric chloride. Even though the copper was exposed, where the pencil pressure pulled the BIG grounds onto the newsprint paper, none but one of the plates would etch at all. It seems like the BIG left a thin residue of grease that the ferric chloride could not break through.
***
Since Mary Teichman's workshop last December 2017, at Argos Studio/Gallery in Santa Fe, I have been working on making a soft grounds etching.
Since then, I have been experimenting by drawing directly from a live model, onto a copper plate prepared with BIG soft grounds -- Baldwin Intaglio Ground. The most successful print came when I coated the copper plate with a thin layer of wet BIG soft grounds.
I FIRST brayered a piece of newsprint paper with BIG grounds -- and then placed the wet side of that newsprint onto the copper plate, to coat the copper plate. This way I coated the plate with a "thin" layer of grounds. Thin apparently is very important.
BIG grounds,
brayer,
newsprint paper
FIRST I brayered the BIG grounds
onto the newsprint paper
I placed the wet side of the newsprint paper on the copper plate,and then brayered the dry side. This waY the wet BIG grounds transferred to the copper plate, while I cleaned the residue BIG grounds from the brayer.
Brayering the dry side of the newsprint paper,
so that the BIG ground would transfer to the wet side
The transfer leaves an uneven "salty" layer of BIG grounds on the copper plate.
"Salty" transfer
However, I can now even out the wet BIG grounds with the dry "cleaned" brayer.
Brayering directly onto the copper plate
makes an even THIN coating of soft ground
FIGURE DRAWING
ETCHING
After the drawing is done, I remove the newsprint paper from the copper plate, and place it in a covered plastic box in the New Mexico sun. The BIG soft grounds has to harden (at least to the touch) before it can be etched in ferric chloride. The plastic box provides a mini-greehouse, as well as protecting the wet ground from dust.
Letting the BIG ground harden
in a mini-greenhouse
under the New Mexico sun
In the video, Mr Baldwin recommends baking the plate for 6 minutes at 275 degrees Farenheit (135 degrees Centigrade), to harden the BIG grounds, before etching the plate.
NOTE: After the BIG grounds harden, one can work the image with a stylus before etching, as it is now a "hard grounds" plate.
Before etching, the back side of the copper plate has to be covered to protect it from being etched by ferric chloride. At Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque, they cover the back with contact paper. However at Horned Toad Prints in El Paso, they just spray paint the back of the plate.
Spray painting the back of the copper plate
to keep it from etching in ferric chloride
Vertical etching in ferric chloride
The BIG ground is hard to clean off the copper plate -- however with "Safest Stripper" from ACE Hardware, or "EZ Strip" from Home Depot, the BIG grounds come off easily. Just cover the plate, wait a bit, and scrub it off under water.
The two paint strippers above claim to be safe, low VOC, paint removers. I think the key here is the gel, which holds the solvent onto the plate, making the solvent more functional.
The 2 attempts below came from when I used the above newsprint method, to apply a "thin" coat of BIG grounds. The images are of the reverse side of the drawing, where the newsprint paper picked up the BIG ground everywhere I applied pressure with my pencil. These "clean" images promise to etch well.
ULTIMATELY -- even the most promising plates did not etch! After about an hour in the acid in El Paso, the above two plates did not etch. It was colder in December than it was with a semi-successful etch in November. However something should have happened.
Plates cleaned after being etched for about an hour
There seemed to be exposed copper where the pencil marks picked up the ground on the newsprint. However apparently there is a thin transparent residue that still prevents the copper from being etched in ferric chloride.
LESS PROMISING PLATES
The following 3 attempts are less promising, as I brayered the BIG grounds directly onto the copper plate. I believe that the wet BIG grounds were too thick, and made for a muddy impression, on the reverse side of the drawing of course.
When we etched the above plate while the BIG soft grounds was still wet, the BIG ground was lifted by the ferric chloride, and did not make a usable etch:
Another mishap, when I did not tape the paper down well, and the loose newsprint paper rubbed off the top part of the BIG grounds.
OTHER ETCHING EXPERIMENTS
Laser Cutter
Hard Ground with BIG
OTHER ETCHING DISASTERS
Relief Etching
I attempted to draw directly onto the copper plate with a grease pencil, in this case a litho crayon, and etch the plate afterwards. The idea was to print in relief, like Jose Guadalupe Posada did. However the ink rolled on too thick. Perhaps if I used Van Son rubber based letterpress ink, the process would have worked. Relief Etching
Electro-etch
We also tried eletro-etching twice at Quelab hackerspace, and have not yet gotten good results.
I followed THE INSTRUCTIONS that I researched and blogged about.
All of this print frenzy is motivated by the Ambos Lados International Print Exchange!
Like, how can you not pay attention to this guy below?
nice
ReplyDeleteHello guys, Hope you enjoy his/her post on Ferric Chloride. You may have some questions on What Happens When Ferric Chloride Is Mixed With Water? Do you have?? and also, the common question that is Is Ferric Chloride Effective for Photo Etching?
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