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InPrint Article
Read this article, or see other newsletter articles. March, 2004 MLA, Johns Hopkins University, President of Maryland Printmakers The Contemporary Printmaker, Intaglio-Type & Acrylic Resist Etching By Keith Howard, 2003, Published by Write-Cross Press eMail: KeithHoward@KeithHoward.org Web: www.KeithHoward.org Once again Keith Howard - researcher, educator, and printmaker - takes us on a journey of technological exploration in the realm of non-toxic printmaking in his latest book, The Contemporary Printmaker – Intaglio-Type and Acrylic Resist Etching. Howard's book, superior in many ways to his last book, is actually an entire library of subjects. It is a book on the history of non-toxic printmaking; a text on using DuPont's ImagOn Ultra photopolymer film; a how-to book on acrylic resist etchings and on using your computer to create halftones; a tome of beautiful full color and black and white prints; a dictionary of etches, printmaking terms, and short glimpses into corrosive metal salt. The author pulls it all off well. The writing is clear with "Quick Look" sections for most chapters and a "Troubleshooting" guide at the end of each chapter. There are hundreds of first-rate black & white and color photographs and illustrations taken by the Keith Howard. This is one of the most comprehensive texts dealing with current, non-toxic printmaking methods. The Contemporary Printmaker belongs in every printmaker's studio and should be required reading for students and instructors of the medium. Keith Howard makes many smart moves in the layout of this book. He places a dictionary of new terms at the very beginning of the book, giving all printmakers - no matter your expertise - a common language. It is also worth the reader's time to read the Forward, written by Friedhard Kiekeben, and the Author's Introduction, which gives an interesting "history" of contemporary non-toxic intaglio methods. One is impressed with the global cooperation that has taken place in printmaking. This book gives us a much better introduction into intaglio-type using photopolymer film than previous efforts. It is clear and concise. Howard takes us from setting up a non-toxic studio to the selection of plates (even tree bark can be used; see Illus.#1) and every step toward producing an image. The reader can learn to laminate a plate, expose a plate, develop a plate, ink a plate, and print a plate. Howard's advice on exposing plates is very important—you must have a good exposure unit. It is as important a piece of equipment as the etching press. And you must take the time and effort to do all the preliminary testing (exposure strips) and record what you are doing. No matter what your printmaking experience, there might be several tries to get a first good plate. Once you your exposure is correct, it becomes routine and you'll want to try all the techniques. Experimenting with the other techniques is like entering a candy store. Whether using a toner wash or pastels to produce drawn or painterly effects, or implementing the Spit-bite technique—which offers subtle watercolor type washes—with careful reading of the directions, the creative challenges are endless. Other methods include the mezzo-type techniques using paint speedball screen filler; the stencil intaglio-type that incorporates several techniques. The artist can transfer a line drawing to the intaglio plate with the Line Intaglio-Type. There are wrinkled and etched intaglio-type techniques. One whole section of the book contains the digital halftone Intaglio-type and David Jay Reed's Process Color Intaglio-type. One unique non-exposure technique is the Crackle Intaglio-Type. After laminating the ImagOn to a plate you remove the Mylar layer, heat the plate, and paint a design with water onto the plate. Using Gum Arabic, paint or card the gum Arabic on the plate near the water design. The thicker the gum Arabic, the larger the crackle will be. You can then thin the Gum with water for finer crackles. When the plate dries, develop it for 8 minutes. Other techniques can be combined with the Crackle Intaglio-Type. At the end of the book, we are introduced to two more areas of printmaking offering non-toxic methods. Corrosive metal salt etches (The Edinburgh Etch and the Salt Sulphate Etch) and Acrylic Soft/Hard Groundresist etching. The metal salt etches, developed by Friedhard Kiekeben, are fully described and illustrated. These methods are faster yet as accurate as traditional etches and can be used on zinc, copper, brass, and steel. There is also a reduction in toxic fumes, another positive environmental impact. The acrylic soft-ground is an etch technique where a metal plate is covered with a modified ink ground and textures are pressed into the wet ink surface. The plate is then dried, etched and printed. The acrylic-hard-ground technique uses an Orno hard-ground plate with etching needles. This technique involves a metal plate covered with either Future (Klear) acrylic floor finish or a modified ink-ground (Orno-ground). After the ground has dried, lines or wash-like marks are drawn through to reveal the metal plate. Then it is backed with plastic packing tape, etched and printed. The Acrylic Aquatint is useful to the printmaker who wants to develop an image with tonality rather than line. A copper plate is airbrushed with liquid acrylic. Each particle of the acrylic acts as a resist to the Edinburgh or ferric chloride etchant. Unfortunately, there was not enough room in the book to elaborate on all the techniques; but it is worth trying these techniques and experimenting. These last chapters in The Contemporary Printmaker challenge us to keep trying new things and to explore and develop our own unique style. Keith Howard continues to give us amazing opportunities to stretch the printmaking boundaries. |
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