Having
scraped and burnished the body and wings I first tried soft ground etching to
give the detail but after 5 minutes in the copper sulphate it had only bitten
in odd spots. I think there was too much residual grease from the ground on the
plate. It did however break up the too even polished surface of the wings.
So I decided
to degrease thoroughly and try with a hard ground. Much better bite.
Then a
repeat print in the same ink (a mix of Prussian blue and burnt sienna - it
gives a lovely steely grey) with a rollover of white mixed with a trace of
burnt sienna. They are only slightly different but the rollover has warmed the
butterfly.
I’m not
completely happy, I should have burnished back the antenna to make them white
rather than etching them, they are rather lost against the background, but I
think it’s time to try out what I’ve learned on a new image.
On a
different note it’s panto time again (oh no it isn’t, etc, etc)
Trying to be
organised this year I decided to try and get the publicity artwork done early.
This is the painting for the 4 foot banner that will go outside the hall to (hopefully)
drum up an audience.
Not the most thrilling image but it does have
to incorporate a lot of text and be readable from passing cars.
