Original artwork description:

This zinc etching is an observed study of a Blue Lias rock formation found in Watchet, Somerset. The rock was drawn on a zinc plate via hardground and bit using an Edinburgh Etch acid mixture, comprising of Ferric Chloride and Citric Acid. The print was pressed onto Rosapina Fabriano using black printing ink.

This print has been painted using tempera watercolour using the base colours of yellow, cyan and green. The use of colours transforms the original colour of the rock into a more heightened sense of green, giving the image a more Jade like look. The techniques used in this print/ painting follows: adding layers of colour, then removing each layer of colour, through washing and erasing in a tray of water, leaving to dry then adding the next layer of colour. The colours begin to cover, replace or combine with the etched lines, creating a variation of painting using a more alchemical technique.

This technique of painting allows for the various elements within the print to come forth, adding more of a three dimensional effect to the two dimensional image. The process is slowly worked, lifting up areas, whilst retaining some of the original colour, allowing the areas of etched printed marks to retain the colour, forming and adding to the depth of the image.

The rock is a study of time, both in itself through its formation from the jurassic era and the passage of time during its construction as a drawing/ etching, capturing the passage of time, via the movement of the sun.

The image has been signed on its reverse, allowing you to present the rock drawing at the particular angle you prefer.

Materials used:

zinc etching printing ink, unica fabriano, tempera

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