User:Simonevdw

Making is connecting

Simone van de Werken 0894623@hr.nl

Experiments

Etching

Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in the metal. I really wanted to try this method for a pretty long time, and i thought now was the perfect opportunity. It is a method of print making, but i feel like the copper plate itself is already very special. I love how the plates of old master pieces often still exist because the material will last very long.

History of the technique:

The process as applied to printmaking is believed to have been invented by Daniel Hopfer (circa 1470–1536) of Augsburg, Germany. Hopfer was a craftsman who decorated armour in this way, and applied the method to printmaking, using iron plates (many of which still exist). Apart from his prints, there are two proven examples of his work on armour: a shield from 1536 now in the Real Armeria of Madrid and a sword in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum of Nuremberg. An Augsburg horse armour in the German Historical Museum, Berlin, dating to between 1512 and 1515, is decorated with motifs from Hopfer's etchings and woodcuts, but this is no evidence that Hopfer himself worked on it, as his decorative prints were largely produced as patterns for other craftsmen in various media.

The switch to copper plates was probably made in Italy, and thereafter etching soon came to challenge engraving as the most popular medium for artists in printmaking. Its great advantage was that, unlike engraving where the difficult technique for using the burin requires special skill in metalworking, the basic technique for creating the image on the plate in etching is relatively easy to learn for an artist trained in drawing. On the other hand, the handling of the ground and acid need skill and experience, and are not without health and safety risks, as well as the risk of a ruined plate.

What i did:

Before i started i had to prepare my plate. I had to use fine steel wool and a piece of cloth and rub copper oil on to the plate till the surface was super shiny and smooth. With a hand file i beveled the edges of the plate. This is because otherwise the sharp edges can damage the paper when it goes trough the press. After that i degreased the plate. I did that with soy sauce and a piece of spunge. Then i washed the plate under running water, and put it in an oven for a few minutes to dry.

I first tried the basic method. I used wax to cover the plate, baked it in the oven and scratch that off. Then i had to soak the plate in acid so it was engraved because the parts that are not covered with wax will dissolve. I also used the dry needle / drypoint technique. This technique is closer to using a pencil than the other one is. The technique appears to have been invented by the Housebook Master, a south German 15th-century artist, all of whose prints are in drypoint only. Among the most famous artists of the old master print Albrecht Dürer produced 3 drypoints before abandoning the technique; Rembrandt used it frequently, but usually in conjunction with etching and engraving. Any sharp object can theoretically be used to make a drypoint, as long as it can be used to carve lines into metal. I just a nail that i attached to a piece of metal.

After this i off course printed my plate to see if i used the techniques in the right way. I covered the plate in ink and rubbed it in with a flat piece of newspaper. I placed damp paper on a cloth and took this trough the etching press.