... photo intaglio etchings

I took a photo intaglio etching class at East London Printmakers, led by Victoria Browne. 

Photo etching involves a process which is similar to screen printing. A photosensitive emulsion is applied to a surface (in this case a zinc plate), which is then covered by a (positive) black and white photo printed onto transparent plastic foil, and exposed to light. The photosensitive emulsion adheres to those areas of the plate which are exposed to light, whereas those areas covered by the black ink of the photo are washed off. 

When the plate is submerged into acid at the next stage, the acid will only bite away at the zinc which is not covered by emulsion, i.e. the small dots previously covered by black ink will turn into tiny recesses that will hold printing ink.  

I used this very early photo of the moon. As the background is a very large homogenous surface (rather than small dots), which would not have held any ink, I applied an aquatint to this area. You put your zinc plate into a large box that contains a fine rosin dust; aggravate the dust and let it settle on the plate; then carefully remove the plate and harden the small particles of dust with heat (a bunsen burner), and submerge the plate into acid once more to create more recesses.

I love how etching involves so many different processes, and you have to experiment by trial and error, taking notes at each stage, to achieve the outcome you want. 

The top print is after the aquatint was applied, the bottom print was before the aquatint.