miniature workshop with the University of East London students, means that one does not have to shell out for anything remotely as heavy-duty as, say, tannic acid. Rather, a simple board pin and utility knife is sufficient.
And now, as ever, for a concise step-by-step of the etching process taught by the UEL students:
1. Select an image to be traced. This can be almost anything but ideally select something that will not be overly convoluted, especially if this is your first time etching.
2. Trace the image. Using either tracing paper and/or a tracing light box is acceptable, but with either method ensure that the tracing paper is secure over the image to avoid displacing the lines of the image.
3. Transfer the drawing. Transfer the drawing onto the card by tracing the lines on the reverse side of the tracing paper to where the image was traced in Step 2. For best effects, draw with plenty of pressure.
4. Cut and scratch the drawing. Cut the lines using a utility knife, but for larger areas to be removed use a board pin. Just as in Step 3, apply plenty of pressure with this but not so much that you indent through the entire depth of the card - speaking from experience here!
5. Prepare the paper to be printed upon. Place a sheet of paper that the design will be printed on into water. This may sound daft, but this is actually to aid the transfer of ink from the indents in the silver to this paper.
6. Prepare the ink. The oil-based ink used for this method of etching initially has a very thick, solid consistency and it must be circulated (using a scraper or another similar tool) to make it thinner and appropriate to work with. Create a pool of ink to be used later.
7. Ink the silver. A piece of folded card should do the trick; dab it in the store of ink and pull the card downward across the entirety of the intaglio design. Additionally, at this point it would be appropriate to remove the printing paper from Step 5 and leave it to dry.
8. Tidy the ink. Spread chalk powder across the entire silver card and rub it using your fingers or a cloth in order to clear the excess ink on the surface first of all, and then create highlights in the indents themselves. At this point you can decide how detailed you wish to make your end print by the amount of ink removed from the indents. Once satisfied, remove the chalk powder itself to avoid it corrupting the print.
9. Build your printing sandwich. This needs to be composed of three layers: a piece of scrap paper forming the base, your silver card in the middle, and the printing paper on top.
10. Run the sandwich through the printing press. Swiftly roll the press away and then back towards yourself. Peel back to reveal the (hopefully) amazing results.
Remember that whilst the silver card is reusable for plenty more printing, the resultant continual pressure from the press will cause the indents in the card to ultimately degrade. Of course, the card may be re-etched, but if it is being used so frequently that the card gets to such a state, metal plates, which are naturally more durable yet more expensive, would be a sensible option to invest in.
Though not my favourite form of printmaking (it's too time consuming in my opinion), the etching process taught me how to be painstakingly precise when using a utility knife or board pin. However, that is about as much that I can say about my execution of the technique being successful as the limited length of the workshop meant that, despite the etched Audi Quattro Concept having great potential, I did not even get the chance to print it! On that note, for every subsequent workshop I shall choose less convoluted designs whilst keeping a better track of time.
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