Sugar Lift Aquatint

sugar lift aquatint

sugar lift aquatint

Sugar lift aquatint is a technique which imparts soft brush stroke textures to an intaglio plate. Picasso often employed sugar lift in his image making. A mixture of sugar and water is brushed onto the desired areas of a plate following a rosin aquatint. When the sugar lift solution has dried, a layer of acid resistant hard ground or varnish is applied to the entire surface of the plate and left to dry. The plate is then immersed in a warm water bath and rubbed gently until the sugar mixture "lifts off" taking with it the corresponding hard ground. The plate is then placed into an acid bath to etch the open areas of the plate revealing the brush strokes - hopefully...

Rosin Dust Storm

rosin box

rosin box

One of the most mysterious, magical and hazardous forms of aquatint is achieved by using rosin dust. Rosin is essentially pine tree pitch. It is ground into a fine dust and applied to a copper intaglio plate using either a rosin box or rosin bag. When using a rosin box, the plate is placed on a grid inside the box and the handle is turned over and over again to create a dust storm of rosin within the box. The result is a fine cover of rosin that is distributed evenly onto the surface of the plate. The plate is then warmed to melt the rosin which will eventually harden to create a resist. The final step is to pop the plate into an acid bath which will etch or "bite" the open areas of the plate.

This concludes this weeks installment of "Adventures in Printmaking". (:

Spit-bite Aquatint without the Spit

spit-bite aquatint

spit-bite aquatint

Spit-bite aquatint is a method of etching the open areas of a copper intaglio plate to create small pits for holding ink and adding tone to these areas. Traditionally, spit-bite was a concoction of three parts acid to one part spit. The spit changes the viscosity of the acid making it easier to brush onto the plate. The formula I use is three parts acid to one part gum arabic. It may not be traditional but I am really okay with that - really okay.

Monotype Workshop

my monochrome monotype

my monochrome monotype

I had great fun this past weekend acting as a teaching assistant for Mary Leikvold for her monotype workshop at MCAD.  I know very little about monotypes but I know enough about ink, plate oil, damp paper, etching presses, mineral spirits and the like to have made myself moderately helpful as an assistant.

During the workshop I had a chance to work on some of my own images. Naturally, I favored a primarily monochromatic palette. The plexiglass plate that I used was quite thick and made the most wonderfully deep plate mark. I wish I could afford to buy copper in that same thickness for intaglio - now that would be something…

A Long Three Months

takach press - mcad printmaking studio

takach press - mcad printmaking studio

Tomorrow I resume my printmaking studies. It has been a long three months and I am anxious to get back in the studio. I will post some images when I feel they are worthy to share.

3:47 p.m.

in
3:47 p.m.

3:47 p.m.

            There is a certain kind of light
                            at a certain time of day
                                      that makes me stop whatever I am doing
            to witness it's transit across my personal latitude and longitude.

Porcelain

morning porcelain

morning porcelain

This approximates my vision without correction. It is dreamy and soft and a bit unsettling.