These are the first etchings I have done since printmaking at Edinburgh College of Art in 1984-88 where I did a lot of mixed media using silkscreen printing with etching. They are solar plate intaglio and relief etchings. It’s a technique which allows you to transfer a black ink drawing made on acetate onto a plate, using the sun to etch the plate, by exposing it to the sun for as little as 3-4 minutes, rather than using toxic chemicals. These are my first attempts.
It is also possible to transfer a sketch onto a plate by copying it onto acetate, which enables you to reproduce the freshness of a sketch in whatever size and colour you like.
These prints are all one-off monoprints, printed on my handmade paper. They are all unique although I sometimes use the same plate in different ways. I make a watercolour first and then print the plate on top of the watercolour. Either this or I make a collage (chine-collé) such as The View From My Studio (below), with my coloured, textured, handmade paper before printing.
I have never used coloured inks before, achieving colour by collage or silkscreening blocks of colour before printing the etching. It has been great to experiment with inking up the plate in more than one colour and printing one plate on top of another.
If I can remember what I’ve done once I achieve a result I like, I can repeat the process and make a small edition, but because the watercolour and handmade paper is always unique I think it would have to be called a series rather than an edition.
Annabel Keatley / The Rowley Gallery
Read more about Annabel’s prints here
Annabel
This is a lovely blog. I wondered how the prints were made, I like the directness and freedom you can achieve printing this way. In my prints I enjoy black and white, although I have seen Howard Phipps’ colour engravings. Seeing what you have achieved is encouraging me to have a try myself.
Thank you for your comment Paul.I made these prints at a Printmakers workshop near Granada. I was taught the solar plate etching process by Maureen Booth who runs the classes and also provides accommodation there for people wanting an intensive printmaking ‘holiday’,and has artists coming there from all over the world. http://www.printmakingcoursesinspain.com.