Egg Shells: Aquatint

Aquatint briefly explained is the use of resin and acid to etch a metal "plaque".    In our case at EMAP ("ecole municipal d'art plastics) we have a cabinet that disperses resin onto the plaque when we activate a bellows system.  Some artists apply resin by hand with a net of cheesecloth or tarlatan. 

After 10 minutes in the cabinet, the engraver "fixes" the resin with a heat gun held under the plate and then covers the lightest area with varnish so it won't be affected by acid. 

 Then the artist places an adhesive on the back of the plate.  This adhesive prevents the back of the plate from being affected which would unduly dirty the acid bath.   I use the rolls with sticky backing that one buys to put in kitchen drawers.  It works a dream as the heat gun doesn't destroy it. 

 It usually takes "siccatif" varnish about 10 minutes to dry so I always have several projects going at the same time. 

First comes the idea.  My idea of egg shells was furthered by a a photo I took using our old mango wood table .    I made sure I had some shadows because that was what I was going for....that and the grain of the wood.

Photo by mary m payne

Next I drew up an idea of the design and transferred it onto a cleaned, decreased copper plate that I had covered in a wax like varnish  ("vernis ultra flex" by Charbonel ).  The plate had already had all of the edges beveled to prevent cutting the blankets.  A good blanket( and there are three).... can cost $100. 

  Then with a stylus I faintly drew the design onto the "plaque".

   I consequently was ready to place the plate into the acid to etch the outline of the egg shells.   When it came out, I cleaned off all the varnish and degreased the plate again to get it ready for the resin cabinet.  There was a faint line already etched on the plate delineating my design. 

Here is a look at my "bite" times for the different values after the resin was applied.  On the sketch I put a #1 where I wanted pure white.  After the resin, the # 1 area was covered with fast drying varnish to prevent any bite in this area.   I put a #2 for the lightest gray which I left in the acid for two minutes before I removed the plate and covered the #2 area with varnish.   In this design I have 6 different values that I will execute in the same way.  That is 50-60 minutes of drying time for the stop-out varnish alone. 

Photo by Mary M Payne

The black area of the etching received 22 minutes of acid.  I continually needed to check the bite to see if the "tooth" was still there.  I did this with the aid of a magnifying "loop". Too much time in the acid could mean destroying the resin and having to start again with that step.

After the process of biting each value, I cleaned the plate with white spirit and a mixture of 90 percent ethanol and 5 percent methanol ( added so it can't be used to drink) which in France is used as a cleaning aid and is marketed as "Alcool a ménager". The latter alcohol cleans off the resin, the white spirit removes the varnish 

Then I was finally ready to print my first "triage". Patience, Mary. 

  Here is the finished print.   Tilt your screen a bit if you want to see the different values.

 Before it was finished, I had to burnish out a few areas that were too dark and redo some areas that were too light. 

 I suppose the delight of this process is that each print pulled is different according to how one wipes the plate and that there is usually another step to make the print better. 

 I say usually.  Sometimes I just don't like the concept after all after I see it realized .  But that's what makes a good print a singular, "happy making" experience.

I have found out also, that the last effort is usually the favorite.   Now why is that?

  

Original Aquatint by Mary M Payne