How I do my prints: etching.

This is an example of how I produce my prints, in this case this etching with chine-collée “Leaving the temple” (2020).

I usually start from a photograph: in this case a photo that I took in Kyoto in 2019.

Etching is a technique using metal plates which are covered with a wax resist ( a ground) and then etched in acid. I drew freehand from the image on to the hard ground on the plate as the effect is freer and I can alter elements. This is a print from the plate at this stage. You can see I didn’t reverse the image so the print is a mirror of the plate.

I then added a texture by putting a soft ground on the plate and pressing textures into it ( using the etching press) before etching in acid as usual. The tree is a rubber glove and the roofing a dishcloth. I have also used bubble wrap and onion and orange bags in my prints.

I then added an aquatint. Aquatints allow tone to be added to a print by progressively blocking out areas that you wish to stay lighter. I use various tools to block out which allows more texture to be added. This is the print at this stage.

At this stage, I was happy with the plate and haven’t made any more changes to it.

But I still wanted to experiment with the printing. The final print ( at the beginning of the section) uses a variety of coloured inks rubbed into different parts of the plate and a technique called chine-collée on the kimonos. Japanese chiyogami paper was pasted, placed on the kimonos and when the plate went through the press it adheres to the printing paper.