Thursday, August 15, 2013

The Good, The Bad and the Downright Odd...


Well my new studio has been up and running for about six weeks now and it's finally beginning to feel like a real creative space...yep, despite having all that storage space - it's a mess! I am trying to be good though and tidy up a bit more but it's such a luxury to have so much space to work in that I can't help flexing my creative muscles and spreading out all over the place.

 Aside from the space, the biggest joy is that the studio has a dedicated water supply (rather than the bathroom I was using and wrecking before) which means that I can now get down to some of the things that were just impractical before.

Back in October of last year I went on an etching course and last week I finally got my kit set up and spent many hours playing to my hearts content. The picture above is some of my pieces floating in their etch bath attached to pieces of packing foam - one of the tips picked up on the course and a great idea as the floats double up as handles too.

I decided the best way to get my hand back in was to just go over what I'd learnt in October and I started off with one of the easiest resists - craft outline stickers...


These are cheap and so simple to use and they produced really strong well defined edges. These were etched for just 45 minutes although I didn't stick the top one on its float properly and it fell off, but even so it produced a pretty good etch sitting on the bottom of the bath.


The only  down side to these is that there is a limited subject matter available - for me anyway but this is not really a problem when you have a die cutting machine just waiting to be put to work making your own vinyl stickers...next on the list and another post I'm sure.

After that I moved onto PNP (Press and Peel) photo transfer paper as my resist. With this you photocopy your designs onto the blue paper or film and then press it on to your metal using an iron.


There is a bit more guess work with this in getting the timing and heat right and making sure you don't get lint or bubbles between the two. If you can get that right though you can also get some really good clean etches...

Original French Art Deco design

One of the things I like about PNP is that you can etch very intricate and pictorial designs and I've been collecting images for this ever since the course and couldn't wait to use them but, this is where I learnt some new lessons. While I was merrily photocopying my images it completely escaped me that when they were transferred from the PNP they would be reversed and that when the copper was etched  would be negatives of the original image - doh!

That's not necessarily a disaster though as with this piece for example... although the original black and white image is very strong I still like the way it has come out in reverse and for a jewellery piece I think it works well - I love the fine detailing.
Original French Art Deco design

I've also used alcohol ink in my work for the first time on these pieces. I wanted there to be a differentiation between this and my bronze clay work and I like the subtlety of the finish the inks give.

On this next piece - an illustration by Aubrey Beardsley (not the Lone Ranger...) the negative image had a more, shall we say interesting effect...

 It's rather odd and this 'oddness' has been exacerbated by the fact that I decided to go for broke and see what it looked liked domed. The reflection in the photograph has given is a three dimensional effect and while it's rather strange there is something about it that draws me to it and who knows...it may well generate ideas of it's own in the future.

And then of course there are some images that just don't work like this lovely image of a group of mermaids (apologies for poor quality) which is just too detailed to see clearly in the negative.



However, even this has a silver lining and since the etch is clean and deep I am hoping that I can use it as a texture plate with metal clay - much as old illustrations were made from etched plates.

Fortunately for me photo editing software allows me to flip images and invert them to negatives before I transfer them so in future, I can choose how I want them to be - note to self to do just that!

So all in all I had great fun with this, learnt a few lessons and continue to broaden my knowledge and skills base. There may even been a little collaboration between myself and another AJE colleague coming out of this but you'll just have to wait and see what that is.

I hope you found this interesting and if anyone has any etching tips they'd like to share, as always they will be gratefully accepted.

Lesley
The Gossiping Goddess







14 comments :

  1. Such great stuff, so many ideas! I have PnP on hand, ready to try when time allows. I don't have water in My studio so I do infrequent batches of etching. Makes me uncomfortable to have the ferric chloride in the kitchen.

    I think the mermaids image would be readable if it was printed as a mirror image. Then the bright copper will be their skin....I did the same thing when I first etched- an old etching of a Druid that looked odd indeed.

    Have fun etching more!

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  2. Thanks for contributing to the trial-and-error "course" I'm on! Great examples of the various possibilities...and looks like you're having great fun creating them.

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  3. I really enjoyed this post. Your etchings are wonderful, I love the butterflies. I'm not sure about where you live, but over here there are literally thousands of designs of peel-offs (the stickers) available. I'd love to give this a go, what kind of etching solution do you use?

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    1. Wendy I see you are in Nottingham - if you know of any online sources for outline stickers please let me know...Many thanks :)

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    2. Hi Wendy - I'm in the UK and there are a lot of stickers here but not so many of the outline ones in the right size.

      I'm using Edinburgh Etch solution which is a mix of Ferric Chloride and Citric Acid - a relatively safe and effective method. You can find a recipe for it here...
      http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/safe-etching.htm

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  4. Super post, Lesley! You can also print B&W images onto glossy paper torn out of magazines and iron them onto your metal - much cheaper than the PnP, and I've gotten really good, deep etches with them. You need a toner-based printer for this to work, though, or you can print your designs on regular paper and take them to a local print shop to make toner copies.

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    1. Thanks Francesca I didn't know that and I've literally just bough a cheap laser printer :0)

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  5. Loved your etching fun process, I really like the mermaid piece. Think if you didn't mention what it was it would just be an interesting piece and one wouldn't look for the mermaid. I've been wanting to play with some etching myself but always so many new things I want to try so that is still on the back burner.

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  6. I love etched pieces and have taken many classes, bought lots of supplies, own the E3 electro etching system (much less toxic) but never have this sort of luck. Maybe I am not patient enough, or the metal I am using is too thin. I don't know. Your images are great! I love that art nouveau flower. So lovely! I am trying to figure out making my own designs for my clay, etching might work, but I need more time to think. So happy that your studio is allowing you to flourish! Enjoy the day. Erin

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  7. How beautiful! I am drawn to the art deco design... and I sooooo need to give etching a try! :)

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  8. Great post, Lesley! I have some PNP laying around here that I've been wanting to try, but never got to it. I love seeing your results and can hardly wait to see more!

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  9. Beautiful! The art deco design is my fav. Great pieces!

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  10. Brilliant idea to use the stickers! I'm itching to try etching lol....what gauge of metal do you find works best for a nice, deep etch?

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    1. I've used 22 and 20 gauge copper and both seem to get a good etch. I plan to try some 24 gauge for attaching to leather cuffs so I'll report back on that.

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