multiple plate etching process and Italian sunflowers

Inspired by a trip I took to Italy 5 years ago, I decided to take an old painting and make it into a line etching. I transformed the landscape a bit, by adding a windmill and some rolling hills. I really liked how the sunflowers were more defined in the front, and lost their detail in the background. I tried to give the impression of a vast landscape of sunflowers.

This is the first step in the three color line etching with aquatint process. This is the line etching, and the next step will be to transfer this image onto the other two plates. I will then aquatint (melt dust) onto the other two plates, and begin doing timed bitings into acid to get different values. Each plate has it's own color, so that when you print them all together the colors layer on top of each other and mix to get different colors.

Here is a color study I did on top of my line etching. This will give me a better idea of what colors and values I want to use when I aquatint the other plates.

If you want to find out more about my art and my process. Sign up for my weekly newsletter here:

   

Get China's art newsletter

   
   

   

   

Soft ground line etching

It's the end of the semester and I managed to churn out one more art print. I only had a couple of sessions left, so I went with a 4x6 soft ground line etching on a zinc plate. I finished it on time, and even had time to make a few revisions. My only complaint is that the values are a little too close together. I lightened the background to make the ducks pop out more.

Thats it for now, i'm taking a brief hiatus from printmaking this summer, I will be teaching art to kids though so that should be a nice change of pace. I plan on making some more prints this fall, and in the mean time I will keep posting other art projects I am working on.

Heres the latest print:

This is the edited version, after the burnishing.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!