Copper Etching Plate 1 after one bite (workshop day)

Print from first draft of the copper plate

I had a great day in the workshop (taught by Julie Abowitt: thank you Julie!) at Corvidae Press. And I finally got to try ferric chloride copper plate etching.

My very simple line drawing relied on texture, shading & color that does not translate directly to the scribing for this process: I will need to learn more techniques and also draw differently for etching purposes. So I do not like this plate yet, but it may improve with further work.

Also I am very bad about tracing drawings, and somehow I lost the overall shape of the figure in tracing and scribing the lines into the Pledge floorwax applied to the plate.

I really do not like the shape of head now, and the body/bandages just look wrong instead of ambiguous in this version. Oh well, it is a start!

I will strip off the wax, and get out the burnishing tool to soften some lines, then think about the next steps.