Student Etching Extension Weekend Resources

The information below:

• Resources from your first Etching workshop
• Paper
• Plate Preparation
• Burr remover
• Ink, Inking up & Clean up
• Etching Tools & Tarlatan
• Etching Grounds & Resists
• Chine-collé
• Other etching artists to check out
• Other reference
• The Colour Workshop

RESOURCES FROM YOUR FIRST ETCHING WORKSHOP

This link will take you to the Resources page for your first Etching workshop ?

I have repeated some information from that page here, but visit that page to see more information about that workshop – there will probably be things on that page that you missed or don’t remember.

PAPER

The paper we printed with over the weekend was:

• 200gsm acid free cartridge paper – for proofing
• Magnani Pescia Printmaking Paper 300gsm – the full sheets of paper
• Fabriano Rosaspina 285gsm – the smaller sheets

I buy paper from various sources and you can refer back to the Etching Resources page for links. Keep an eye out for paper sales. I will post into the Inky Fingers Facebook group when I know different suppliers are having sales.

PLATE PREPARATION – something new

After smoothing the edges of the metal plate with a file or deburring tool (below), we polished and degreased the plate with a combination of jif and soy sauce. This will remove more surface contamination than just using metho.

After the jif polish, wash any residue off the surface of the plate with water. Dry. Then cover the back of the plate with contact. Then a final metho polish before applying whatever resist you want to put onto the surface of the plate.

BURR REMOVER

Use a Bastard file to file the edges on your plate before etching. This will protect the paper and etching blankets.

And alternative to an etching file is a Burr Remover. Shop around online to get the best prices and specials. This is where I bought mine from:

Noga Deburr Handle Set from Trade Tools for approx $45.

INK, INKING & CLEAN UP

Etching ink is different to relief printing ink and different to acrylic paint – it is stiff and tacky, and needs to be to cover the plate surface, sit in the etching lines, and allow control over how much you wipe off the surface of the plate.

We used Charbonnel Aqua Wash inks for this workshop. A water wash-up oil-type ink.

Melbourne Etching Supplies is a good place to start to look at different inks options available, and from there you can do your own research if you want to try something different. Pricing ranges from approx $25 – $45 per tube depending on the colour.

Pricing for inks will vary between online art stores, so do some shopping around to find the best price options.

My personal preference for inks is an oil based ink, using my Sakura oil relief printing inks for intaglio printing. Note that even though this is a relief ink, it it tacky enough to work for intaglio printing. You can also use oil paints.

INKING UP

This is an example of the rubber kidney we used for inking up plates during the workshop. Shop around for the best pricing. They will range From $3-$9 each.

I encourage you to look at other intaglio printing printmakers online. Ever so often someone will share a process video showing how they ink their plates. There is a lot to learn from watching others – people will have their own approach and style and tips, including using alternative resources to help with inking and wiping back. Here are a few links to videos on Facebook:

• Bridgit Farmer on Facebook – demonstrating inking up a la poupee on Facebook
• Bridgit Farmer on YouTube – The Barn Owl – Inking Up And Printing A Drypoint Plate
• Demo by Art Prof Clara Lieu on You tube – INTAGLIO Printmaking: Inking & Wiping Techniques

CLEAN UP

• We used Citro Clean to clean the glass, press bed and inky fingers – but do NOT use this on your rollers – you risk damaging the roller surface.
• Turps has been traditionally used for cleaning up oil inks, but I avoid that as much as possible. I have a printing ink solvent that I use on occasion, when I have a build up of dried inks on my inking glass.

Oil ink clean up:

• Using a cheap vegetable oil or baby oil is how I clean up these inks. I use the oil to clean up my inking glass, rollers and palette knives. I apply the oil with a recycled baby wipe or soft cloth.
• When cleaning a roller with oil ink on it, use vegetable or baby oil to remove the inks, then a fresh baby wipe or damp cloth with a little detergent to wipe the vegetable oil from the roller.

ETCHING TOOLS & TARLATAN

The one-stop-shop for all things printmaking is Melbourne Etching Supplies.

There are many different mark-making tools you can use on etching plates. We used a basic etching needle. This link will take you to a variety of other tools used for creating marks on etching plates.

But remember that you can be creative. Aluminium is a soft metal – all sorts of tools can make a line or mark on the surface of the plate. This link will take you a page of hand-made etching tools, on France. So many beautiful tools!

We used Tarlatan to wipe excess ink off the plate, before wiping with the torn phone book pages. You can buy tarlatan from different sources. This is the link from Melbourne Etching Supplies –mes.net.au/products/tarlatan-coarse-per-metre

Tarlatan can be hard to source. As an alternative you can use a soft cloth, muslin, cheesecloth or even a sock.

ETCHING GROUNDS & RESISTS

If you want to buy liquid hard or ground, you can buy from The Art Shed Brisbane or Melbourne Etching Supplies. MES also stock acrylic resist grounds, which I’ve not used, so may worth further investigation.

BIG ground is a new product and offers all sorts of interesting possibilities not able to be achieved with more traditional etching groups. If you’re curious about that, check out Andrew Baldwin on YouTube where he demonstrates how to use this ground, and what it can do.

Liquid etching ground can not be send through the post. The Art Shed Brisbane can courier it for approx $20+ depending on your location.

You can also try Oxlades to ground. If the Sunshine Coast store doesn’t have it, they can probably get it in.

And don’t forget about all the non-traditional resist options you can work whit:

• Posca and paint pens
• Oil pastels and oil crayons
• Chinagraph pencils
• Litho pencils and litho crayons
• Adhesive vinyl stencil
• Sharpie pen
• Acrylic paint and inks
• Basically – anything that will resist dissolving in water, and easily clean off your plate with metho or turps.

Jackson’s Art Supplies in the UK are another good online source for buying ground. MANY options, many of which I’m not familiar with. One new ground on the market you can buy from Jackson’s is B.I.G. Etching Ground. I’ve not used it, but a student has. It offers options no other ground offers (ie image transfer). There is a lot of information online from the maker of the product, so check it out and see if its something youw ant to explore:

• B.I.G. – Baldwin’s Intaglio Ground
• Andrew Baldwin on You Tube

CHINE-COLLÉ

Experiment with different papers for adding chine-collé to your prints.

We used a rice paste glue to stick our chine-collé papers to the printmaking paper. I have found this to be the best glue for this process.

You can also make your own paste. There are a lot of online recipes – do some googling for an easy-to-follow recipe.

OTHER ETCHING ARTISTS TO CHECK OUT

• Jenny McCabe – www.jennymccabe.co.uk
• Bridget Farmer – www.bridgefarmer.com
• Marina Terauds – www.marinaterauds.com
• Tory Richards – www.toryrichardsart.com/etchingsprints
• Nicky Carey – nickycareyart.com
• Manitou Prints – www.instagram.com/kuomingtsu
• Kati Thamo – www.katithamo.com.au
• Joseph Austin – josephaustin.com.au
• Janet Ayliffe – www.janetayliffe.com.au

OTHER REFERENCE

I share some social media resource links on the previous workshop’s Resources page. Below is a link to my Intaglio Pinterest board. it is full of ideas and prints by other intaglio printmakers all over the world.

THE COLOUR WORKSHOP

Late 2021 I created an online text-based workshop looking at COLOUR. I offer it to all  students for free.

This link will take you to the page going into a little more detail about the course. Something that started as a simple blog post idea morphed into a 5 module workshop. In the workshop I talk through colour theory, different types of colour wheels (including making your own), warm vs cool colours, and how to make grey using primary colours.

If you would like access to this workshop, email me and I will create an account for my online learning portal and send your login details.