Monday, 19 October 2009

Photo Etching

Photo etching is the process of putting an image on to a copper plate, then etching in to it by putting it in to a chemical bath. I chose not to etch in to the plate, as you have to pay for the plate if you do so and mine was fairly large, and therefore quite expensive. However I still printed with the photo after it had been put on to the plate, and produced some nice outcomes.




Below are the three prints I got from my copper plate. I attempted printing the inked up green plate twice to see what it would look like, but it's not like letter pressing; the faded appearance of the print loses too much detail. However I am pleased with the red print as it gives the image a vintage feel to it. I probably wouldn't use this form of printing again as it is very time consuming and not that suitable for the kind of illustration I hope to print in the future. It can also be an expensive process.



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