Back to Black

Drypoint. Soft Ground. Hard Ground. Aquatint. Words I’d heard of, but didn’t fully understand, before I’d met up with Rossen Daskalov.

Working on Thursday evenings in the basement of the Royal Drawing School, I’ve been learning the intricacies of the etching world. Working off Copper, Aluminium and Zinc plates, the processes I mentioned above have opened my eyes to the possibilities that exist in the creation of art through acid etching.

Starting with Dry point scratching onto zinc plates, soft grounds added texture and depth to the images that were printed. Copper plate and mark making into hard grounds showed how the delicacy of line could be achieved. Varnishes, acid etches and timings by the second, have become second nature. Its an incredible joy to see the prints emerge onto the hand cut Hahnemuhle papers.