Drypoint Etching of Bassoonists

NFS
I did this drypoint as a commission for a man who collected musical instruments.

Because in drypoint you are drawing with a diamond point, the only way to create

tone is to build up layers of lines. It took me eight hours just to draw the large

bassoon in the front of the image.

Some people have asked me if I copied this from Degas, because it is reminiscent

of some of his concert paintings. I did not. I used various photo references of

musicians and made the rest up.

The man who commissioned it asked for an edition of twenty prints. I printed all

of them, which isn't easy with a zinc drypoint plate - the burr that creates the

image tends to wear down.

The man didn't buy a single copy. That's the life of an artist for you. But, I don't

care, because after all this time, this is still one of my favorite pieces.

Thanks for visiting today.

Drypoint Etching of "L'Artiste"

NFS
This image was drawn, like my last post, on a piece of zinc, with
a diamond point. It was drawn from a book about the history of the
circus, and I know I should have more information than that,
but there was no photographic credit for this photo, and I was so
captivated by it , particularly the face, that I just went ahead and
drew it. As a matter of fact, I drew the face three times on three
separate plates! It is just a tiny collection of marks.

One wouldn't think it would cause such a problem - but I wanted
it to be perfect -- and finally, I felt it was. I just love the line
variation in dry point etching - for instance, in the side of
the ball, or the curve of her raised leg. It is not like anything
else. Sadly, I have never printed an edition of this

Thanks for visiting today.

Andy No. 2, 7/7

Drypoint Etching, 2" x 3 $55.00 Bid Here

This is an image that I have gone back to several

times - which seems to be a habit that I have. If

I didn't know that it was/is common among other

artists, I'd worry about it. But some images just

sort of grab you and don't let go. This guy was

a model for my classes for a while. He was unusal,

and that is all I'll say about him. But his face in this

image has something transcendent about it, and I

was happy with the way that I caught that. I also

like the burr in his hair.

For those of you who are not that familiar with drypoint,

it is a demanding medium, that differs from etching, in that

you draw directly on the bare plate with a diamond or

carbide steel point. There is never any acid involved. Any

tone, line variation, texture, etc., all that has to be produced

with the point of your instrument. It takes a lot of practice. I have

taught many people to do it, and have found that some people are

naturally skilled in it, yet for others, it is a struggle they eventually

master if they keep at it.

People who do a lot of graphite drawing find drypoint etching

rather natural, so if you think you might be interested in doing

this, that's what you should be doing to prepare for it. Or course

you need an etching press , and printmaking paper, and ink to print

the plate. Editions from drypoint plates are not large, because the

burr (the piece of metal that is kicked up along side of the line that

you draw through the metal surface - that would be cut off by an engraver,

for instance) wears down a bit with the pressure of every printing.

Twenty prints is a large edition for drypoints!

Christina

Drypoint Etching , 4" x 5" $50.00
Click Here to Bid

This is a drypoint drawn on a metal plate

of my daughter's friend Christina. It is

wiped clean with no plate tone, because I

liked the lines, and tone clustered around

her head.

Tiny Figure

Drypoint Etching, 3" x 4"
SOLD
This really is a tiny figure. I had it
in mind to do a series of these. This
is the first one. It is based on a photo
that I took of woman who used to model
for my classes who was fabulous.
Unfortunatetly, she doesn't model
anymore. She was tall and stately,
and really fun to do gesture drawings
of, because she had really long legs
and expressive hands, and she always
had her hair up, but it was always
falling down into these great shapes.

This was drawn on a zinc plate, and printed
on French Rives BFK printmaking paper.
I only printed a couple of prints today, and I
think I'll probably only get about eight good
ones out of the edition, because the lines are
so delicate. But, I am very happy with the
image.

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.