Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A ground is waxy material applied to the surface of a metal etching plate. A metal etching plate is a piece of sheet metal, usually copper, zinc, steel, or aluminium.The ground resists the acid or mordant which is used for etching, protecting areas of the metal plate.
Soft-ground etching uses a special softer ground. The artist places a piece of paper (or cloth etc. in modern uses) over the ground and draws on it. The print resembles a drawing. Soft ground can also be used to capture the texture or pattern of fabrics or furs pressed into the soft surface.
The artist applies a ground that will resist acid. Ground is applied by dissolving powdered resin in spirits, by applying the powder directly to the surface of the plate, or by using a liquid acrylic resist. In all forms of etching the acid resist is commonly referred to as "the ground." An aquatint box is used to apply resin powder.
Maurice R. Bebb (1891–1986) (or M. R. Bebb as he signed his work) was a notable etcher and printmaker of the American Midwest, whose best-known subjects were birds native to Oklahoma and Minnesota, where he spent his time.
Ropsenfosse used several different soft-ground formulas and was likely the first soft-ground method used to produce color prints with two or more plates. [ 6 ] [ 23 ] [ 36 ] His etchings were popular and many of the progressive writers, poets, and publishers of late 19th-century literature sought out his talents for their publications.
His soft-ground etchings complimented his brother's animal paintings, and sales of the popular prints (retailing for between 3 and 10 guineas) contributed to his brother's fame and fortune. He assisted his brother with giving art lessons to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert .
Felicien Rops had been an early adopter of soft ground etching, using several types of paper in a single plate. Rassenfosse worked with him to develop a special soft ground mixture for reworking intaglio plates to which crayon drawings had been transferred photomechanically. The formula, which they called "Ropsenfosse", was finalized in 1892.
"For Joseph Holston--in every way the embodiment of the contemporary painter-engraver--etching is as integral to his creative output as is painting." [ 6 ] Holston incorporates an array of visual effects in his etchings, through the use of hard ground, soft ground and aquatint, as in Woman with Pipe (1974), one of his first prints, now included ...