This past spring I took a most excellent etching and aquatint class at Cabrillo College. Now I’m finally getting around to scanning and framing some of the work I did. Here’s the first scan:
This is “Bob”, with our feline friend Bob posing on his favorite perch in the back yard. It is an etching with chine collé, a process where a decorative paper is embossed into the base paper during the printing process.
I learned a lot during the class, both technical information and new ways of looking at printmaking. I jumped into making prints feet first after returning from the Camino de Santiago, picking up some linoleum and cutting tools and just going at it, trial and error. I learned a lot that way too, and have fallen in love with the whole idea of multiples. The main difference I have found between my way of printing block prints (inking with a brayer and using a small press) and making etchings and aquatints is the freedom and innovation of playing on the press itself. That is, once the print has been etched, there is SO MUCH you can do to it after that. You can just do a basic print, or wipe the ink creatively, or apply the ink to specific areas, or do chine collé, or, or, or… it seems like an infinite realm of possibilities. (And yes, I’m planning on applying some of these ideas to block prints, too.)
This is one of the prints I’ll be showing at Creative Framing and Gallery in Oakland during the month of August. I’ll be hanging the show on Monday, and the reception will be at the end of its run, on August 28. Come by and visit!
By the way, here’s Bob in real life.
He’s a handsome fellow, isn’t he?
Nice chine colle. Bob is a handsome fellow.
Thanks! And yes, we’re quite fond of the Bob.