Behind the Scenes - Two Dragonflies

I love the look of the plates in progress almost as much as I love the finished prints. I offer a bit of explanation, from my own limited and evolving knowledge of the process. This is in no way a set of instructions!

First line drawing

I drew these two dragonflies from specimens borrowed from a biology lab. I then did a simple line etching of them. This involved scratching the design into a hard ground painted over a zinc plate. The plate is then put in an acid bath to etch the exposed lines. I fixed tiny mistakes with a blue paint pen, another material that resists acid.

Adding the background with soft ground

I then covered the plate with a soft ground and pressed grasses and plants into the plate (using the printing press) to make an impression. I etched these for a short period of time, creating the vegetative background. I used plants from the insects’ natural habitat.

Final Step - Aquatint

Finally, I applied an aquatint to all areas except most of the dragonflies.