7/11/2017 - ETCHING PRINT

After the success of the launch and invigilating of the Balance exhibition on Friday and Monday I got in to finally print my etched plate on Tuesday. Jess had the plate ready, but also stopped to say it had taken her two attempts to actually succesfully etch the plate, and that sometimes any environmental factor such as dust or grease could just spoilt an etch. I was very greatful she had finished the plate for me, as I don't know if I would have had the patience to try another two times, however this further reaffirmed my thoughts that this process was far too unpredictable and risky to justify in terms of my practice. A total of 4 copper plates had now gone into the creation of a small paper butterfly, and it felt a little economically unjust.

I prepared my paper and Jess then briefly talked me through preparing to print with ink. Even the process of applying ink to my plate was both labour and resource intensive, and I used a great deal of white spirit, tissue paper, rags and ink even when just using a very simple range of colours. Had I wanted to go more indepth with my printing, I would have undoubtably used far more.

Initially I began with simple black ink, just to try and build up a rough idea of the right amount of ink needed for the perfect print. Jess also instructed me that after the first print with a new colour, it is then much easier to tell once all the tiny holes and etchings of the plate are filled with ink. Just as she had predicted, my first print was not quite dark enough, and I needed to reprint a second time just to ensure all of those areas were inked up.

One of the things I was already really liking about the etchings was the embossed effect produced around the edge of the printed area. This almost pre-mounts the work against the paper, providing definition between the design and the unprinted area surrounding. It makes the prints feel innately archival, or documentative, especially in comparison to the very much fast, free and layerable nature of screenprinting.

I then did a couple of prints with colours naturalistic to the Arctic Fritillary which I liked, although thought I would definitely need to go overtop with some fine detailling to really embellish the print. Finally I also tried using a colour gradient with the ink roller as another experimental skill. As the colour green I used was too dark in comparsion to the lighter yellow, this did come through very effectively, and had I wished to rectify this I would have needed to use even more white spirit, clean tissue, rags and ink to completely recoat the rolle with a new gradient.

Although I liked some of the characteristic features of the etched prints, the amount of resources and materials I was using just to achieve one small print of a butterfly, it really made me feel quite uncomfortable. Several plates of raw expensive copper and harmful and irritant substances in part.

What really gave me the right to use methods such as this when critiquing human excess and consumerism? Surely in believing my work is deserving of such wasteful processes (when other perfectly useful, less harmful options are available) is exactly kind of the misguided self-appointed superiority which has been so problematic of our species already. I also found it really difficult to line the paper and print up evenly so that the print was exactly central, as every time I got it just right either the protective felt or the soaked paper would buckle and bend in some way I hadn't predicted.

Finally I embellished further details ontop of the best examples of the etching, cut around each and stuck one to another back to back. This strengthened the structure of the butterfly and allowed it to hold it's folded form more easily. Having two tones in this piece also gave a much more naturalistic effect, with the bright orange on the upper side of the wings and darker dusky brown underneath.

I also thought it might be a good idea for me to  just take a quick look in the library at the spaces we were given for the installation, and I was glad I had done as they were a lot shallower than expected. I did think my jar would actually be the perfect size to fit though, when laid flat, although this definitely wasnt the 15cm the brief had suggested we would have.