12.10.10 - Printmaking (Peter Howson)

Today I started off by researching into an artist who i found interesting. As i was flicking through an artist resource book, i discovered, Peter Howson. He was born in 1958, he is a Scottish painter who specialises on portraits and was an officual war artist in 1993, the Bosnian Civil War and captures drunken and even physically deformed men and woman.
I particularly like his piece, "The Bodybuilder" -1998 because there is so much detail within the body builder's figure.
I then started to create a drypoint of "The Bodybuilder" onto a sheet of fine aluminum (below) The experience was interesting. I had never done etching before, and well... it was a very scratchy beginning.

My drypoint of "The Bodybuilder"

To create this image onto my fine sheet of aluminum, i used sharp tools to cut and basically draw onto my plate. The drawn cut image is the area that will print onto paper.

Whilst my paper is soaking in water, I started to ink my sheet. I used card to scrap the ink onto my sheet applying it into the cuts. Then, using a cloth, I whipped of the excess ink with a circular motion to apply in the cuts even more. A sheet of tracing paper is used in the same way. A clean cloth is then used to clean off the edges so no extra marks will be printed.

An etching press is needed to produce the print as heavy pressure forces the paper into the cut inked marks of the plate.