from photo

to copperplate, deep etched

to print

Recently I was rummaging through some of my old etched copperplates and came across this old favourite (centre image). That sent me looking for the few remaining prints that I still have from the edition. I had neglected to document it in my book as it was one of those small prints I would very occasionally make for print sales and for gifts so I had to search in old sketchbooks to recall when I’d made these. It was in the late 90’s during the period I was working on the Paths series.

This sent me on another path to the photo album of our trip to Italy in the fall of 1993 to find the original photo from which the image was created. It was taken on the grounds of an interesting and inspiring Etruscan castle we came across quite serendipitously, San Severa on the west coast north of Rome.

So, I thought some of my curious dear readers might enjoy seeing how a photograph ended up as an etching. If you are interested in a bit more technical information on the process of transferring the image to the plate, please visit this note. When the plate was ready, I inked it in the intaglio and relief method. The dark red-brown ink was rubbed into the deeply etched areas and top face or relief was wiped clean. Then with a hard roller the blue-green colour was rolled on the relief areas. Finally it was hand printed on an etching press onto paper.