Gently lift the plate and paper and burnish the tape to the back of the plate. Supporting the large portion of the folded paper, slide the plate into the crease. Apply masking tape tabs to the bottom edge of the paper fold. Hinge the paper to the plate by initially folding a crease an inch or so from the long edge of the paper. Using a rough textured paper creates coarse lines. Using a fine grained paper gives fine lines. The quality of paper used between the plate and the drawing tool when has a definite impact on the soft ground image. Soft pencil or crayon-like lines can be created by placing paper over the surface of the soft-ground plate, then drawing on the paper. Brayers with the roller surface up and the lid on the tin of soft ground will prevent debris from attaching to the soft ground and creating marks when applying the ground to your plate. Store the soft ground tools so as to keep them clean. Temporarily set the plate on the concrete floor to facilitate cooling prior to working on the surface. Grasp the newspaper on diagonal corners and lift the copper plate from the hot plate. Once the ground is even, set the brayer with the roller facing up back in the drawer. Gradually lightening pressure on the brayer will spread the ground, reducing roller marks and pinholes. Avoid hitting the newspaper as you approach and leave the plate to prevent loosing ground of the roller and creating streaks in the ground on the plate.Ĭontinue to spread the ground with the brayer with goal of achieving an even coat-sans pinholes. Rolling the brayer/ground in one direction initially to spread. Once the plate is warmed, use the brayer dedicated for soft ground to spread the ground over the warmed plate. Take a piece of card and scoop a bit of soft ground from the soft ground tin. In the event that you don't have access to a hot-plate, you can warm the copper using a propane torch.
Place a piece of newspaper on the hot-plate to keep soft ground off the surface of the hot-plate, and to facilitate your ability to remove your copper plate easily.
If the ground and roller slide creating pinholes and and uneven application, the plate is overheated. Turn the hot-plate on with the temperature set at 135 degrees. The longer the soft ground plate is exposed to the acid, the deeper and wider the line becomes.
Anything pressed into the soft, waxy ground- with a texture such as lace or fingerprints-will cause the ground to yield under pressure, removing the ground and revealing the plate for etching. A soft ground line has the character of a pencil or crayon drawing. The addition of tallow keeps the ground from drying to a hard surface. Soft ground, is an acid resistant coating made of asphaltum, rosin, beeswax, and tallow. A ground is a coating applied to a plates to protect it from the action of the mordant used in etching.
0 kommentar(er)
