5/14/2008

Christina in a Chinese Jacket


Drypoint Etching printed on Archival
Printmaking Paper, image 5" x 7" $85.00 Go Here

I didn't have a chance to paint today, so I am
posting this drypoint of my daughter's friend,
Christina.

I drew it with a diamond point on a plastic
plate, which has several drawbacks. First
of all, you cannot correct any mistakes, so
every mark you make must be correct or
pretty correct, anyway. Also, it doesn't
tend to have the beautiful plate tone that
copper or zinc have because it is totally
non-porous.

One thing it does do well though is take marks
from roulette wheels. Those are tools used by
printmakers to create texture. They are literally
small barrels attached to handles that have different
types of texture on them, like lines, dots, sharp
points for roughing up the plate, etc.. The texture
that you see in the background of this print was
mostly made with roulettes. Everything else was
drawn by hand with my diamond scriber.

Once I finish my drawing, I ink it up with
etching ink, and run it through my press with a
piece of dampened printmaking paper.

I love drypoint! You can't get big editions,
as you can with etching, but what you can get
is unique and beautiful.

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