This week we were asked to take a risk and try something new, something that might not work. It was brilliant timing as I had exactly that planned! I've been researching and collecting the materials so I can try non-toxic etching at home, without the nasty chemicals usually needed.
Here's what I need:
My instruction manual has been 'Non-Toxic Printmaking' by Mark Graver. He acknowledges that some of the chemicals needed are not exactly non-toxic but compared to traditional etching this is definitely an improvement.
I bought a small zinc plate (an offcut, sold by Intaglio) and prepared the plate by first filing the edges, then sanding the plate and finally degreasing with soy sauce. From this point it was important not to touch the plate as any grease from my hands could stop the ground from staying put. I used the Lascaux ground, half the plate (and the back and edges) was painted in one coat of hard ground and the other half in soft ground. I then used a needle tool to scratch into the hard ground, varying the pressure and angle of the tool to see what sort of marks were possible. For the soft ground I followed the book's suggestion and placed a sheet of thin (printer) paper over the plate and drew onto the paper with a pencil, this produced a much fuzzier, more haphazard line than the needle.
Then I prepared a solution of equal quantities of copper sulphate and salt dissolved in water, 10ml of liquid for every 1g of solid. I popped the plate in and let it etch for 20 minutes.
The grounds were dissolved in Mystrol general purpose cleaning fluid, the plate needed a little rubbing to thoroughly remove them. The etching solution was sieved to remove the brown solids released from the etch and stored in a glass jam jar (until the solution is clear it must not be disposed of into the mains water system due to the copper content). I soaked some 300gsm white Somerset satin paper, laid out blotting paper to soak the excess water from the Somerset paper and prepared the press.
This is the moment of truth... the first peel of the first print. It's my most favourite moment in printmaking!
I took four impressions from the plate using Cranfield caligo safe wash etching ink in sepia. The left-hand side is the soft ground and the right-hand side is the hard ground. The squiggly line down the middle was made with the etching needle used slightly on its side.
I used a small piece of mount board to push the ink into the plate, and tissue paper to do the final polish but two different types of scrim; a more coarse type for impressions 1 and 4 and a much softer type for prints 2 and 3. It was interesting how much more of the ink was removed from the etched areas with the softer scrim. I was trying to see whether I could get the plate clean enough to print white areas but concluded that the sandpaper was just a little too rough. I need to buy a finer grain for polishing the plate so that there is enough tooth to hold the ground but not so much that it holds too much ink. I also want to experiment with not sanding an area of the plate to see what effect this creates and whether the ground will hold here.
The different marks I made are fascinating. Very fine detail seems possible using the very tip of the needle with a hard ground, but the needle slightly on its side creates a thicker, bolder mark. The soft ground with thin paper over it which is then drawn on seems to create a slightly haphazard result which I find very pleasing. The squiggles in the sky in the soft ground seem not to have taken and the effect on the trees is very variable but I like it. The soft ground can be left to harden then used as a hard ground so in theory it should be possible to use both techniques at once.
Further experimentation needs to be done using lard in a lift technique and experimenting with different lengths of time in the etching solution.
I have ordered some more zinc plates, both smooth and satin finished, and plan to experiment further with the aim of making an edition featuring Swinley Forest imagery. I would like to make a complimentary collagraph plate using both intaglio and relief textures to compare the type of imagery and line possible with the two techniques.
Overall I am really pleased with the results I achieved from this first attempt. I have started a new A3 sketchbook to document my experiments.