TheArtistApril2016__

20 artistApril 2016 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

‘I trace a drawing and gently transfer it onto the plate using

Conté chalk. For a rough design, soft oil pastels are quite

handy on the black ground. Mistakes can be corrected with

liquid ground, but it’s best not to make more than a few or it

becomes a mess. Even the small amount of scraping and

burnishing for corrections, which I do on virtually every

plate, I find very tedious.’

Roger does a one-touch drawing using a single line but he

knows several excellent etchers who draw a multiple line

exactly as if drawing on paper. ‘Patience is important, as is

stoicism when it all goes wrong yet again – but inspiration is

even more important because throughout most of the

process the picture still only really exists in your head; you

can't see properly what you have done until you print it.’

The plate is immersed in a nitric acid bath; where the

Purple Gromwell,etching, aquatint and watercolour, 6 33 ⁄ 4 in

(159.5cm).

This plant grows abundantly on the coast path near my home.

The ivy behind it wasn't really so yellow, but I wanted the green

gromwell leaves to stand out

Looking Back at Beer,etching, aquatint and watercolour, 811in

(2028cm).

I draw with chalk quite a lot, and try to think as much about what I

leave out as I do about what I include, otherwise it gets too grey

Zinc plate in the acid bath

Here I am momentarily putting my hands into

the acid before plunging both hands and

plate into cold water. I find this better than

wearing gloves. The plate is brushed with a

feather to send away any bubbles that form

so the bite of the acid will be clean. The recipe

for nitric acid solution is four parts water to

one part for zinc, and two parts water to one

part concentrated nitric acid for copper

Using stopping out

varnish

The stopping out varnish is

a black lacquer, harder than

wax. It is used to protect

both the back of the plate

and the areas where

sufficient biting has taken

place, stopping further

attack from the acid

needle has exposed the metal, the acid bites into the plate,

creating fine grooves like those made by an engraver. The

acid needs to be handled and stored with care, away from

living spaces and the fume extraction system must also be

used very carefully.

Aquatint

A fan of aquatint, Roger achieves a clear series of juxtaposed

tones for each image. ‘For my aquatint resin I use a lump of

solid resin which I grind in an old electric coffee grinder, and

powder.’ A thin layer of powdered resin is settled on the

plate. The resin is highly carcinogenic so a good airtight dust

box is needed, plus a facemask. Heat transforms the resin

into a hard acid-resistant coating, full of tiny holes through

which the acid can attack the plate, resulting in a finely

pitted surface that will hold ink and print as a grey tone.

The plates are dipped in acid about ten times to achieve

the required variation of tone. ‘Some printmakers prefer

guesswork but I keep detailed notes on immersion times,

and these provide guidelines for subsequent plates. This is

partly because the acid weakens until you strengthen or

replace it. Notes on ink mixes and watercolours enable me

to retrieve the plate at a later date and produce another

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