OHIOPYLE FALLS: a work in progress; State 2

Ohiopyle Falls, that great attraction in Southwestern Pennsylvania, is the subject of this etching. The current state of the plate shows some darkening of certain areas by adding some aquatinting. At the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts where I do my etching work, we use spray paint to achieve the aquatint effect. Last week when I sprayed my plate, I got a very splotchy spray and had to remove the paint and respray. In that process I also ended up removing some of my blocked out areas which were so painstakingly applied. Nonetheless, I managed to reblock out the areas and etched and printed the plate.

OHIOPYLE FALLS--A work in progress

Here's the first state proof of my new etching entitled "Ohiopyle Falls". I've tried several times to create an image of this popular spot in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and have often met with difficulties. However, this time I'm determined to end up with a finished image. My process so far has been to take a snapshot of the falls, then scan it, and print it out in black and white with my laser printer. I then transfer the image from my laser print to a zinc plate by rubbing the back of the print with acetone, thereby transferring the toner to the plate. The toner being an acid resist, the plate is then immersed in a tray of nitric acid for about an hour or so, might even be longer. Acid dilution is about 1 to 10. After etching, the plate is then cleaned with acetone to remove any toner residue, edges are bevelled and it is printed using the traditional intaglio method.

I'll be doing some scraping and burnishing, and probably adding some tones with aquatint. Check back over the coming weeks to see how this image progresses.