Testing... Testing...

Still experiencing a steep learning curve in Photo Etching! We've been testing two different films~ Zacryl, which picks up more gray tones & Imagon HD, which is a higher contrast film. These were my recent tests... first the Imagon~

It mainly picks up the most contrasty areas, and the midtones fade away. The darker splotch on the left is where the film didn't adhere properly to the copper plate & the acid leaked under the film & etched away.

Next, the Zacryl~

The Zacryl picks up much more of the midtones, which I like, but it can translate those midtones a bit darker than intended. I'm learning that this can be adjusted a bit in photo shop, before the transparency is printed... but I'm still working on this. There are so many place to go "wrong," from first adjusting tones & contrast in photoshop before printing a transparency, to proper film application on the copper plate, to exposure times, proper development and removal of areas of film, and finally to the etching and aquatinting! I imagine it could take quite a while to really get consistent results!

Just for fun, the original image... me & the old VW... a long, long time ago~

Photo Etching~ Learning New Techniques: Assignment # 2

Our assignment last week was to play with text & image by using ink, toner, sharpie & so forth on frosted mylar... to see how those marks translate once we expose the plates, develop & etch them. Also just continuing on with working on applying film correctly to our plates, getting our exposure times times down and so forth. My results were far from earth shattering, let me tell you! But, I kinda felt that way in Print 1... when everything was new. And, this is a new technique with many directions you can go... so, I tell myself... "Patience... Grasshopper... Patience." :)

Basically, you just draw, write, ink up this mylar~ place it over your plate (plates shown here without film), expose it, develop it, etch it, clean the plate (takes forever!) and then, finally get to print it! I had to do 2 plates with text- neither of them worked well. I think it had to do with the translucency of the marker I was using. Aye Carumba... the learning curve strikes again!