Adding Color To Etchings

Here's a photo I took several evenings ago. I'm sure there's another one similar further back, but I think it's so pretty with the warm light shining in the open doorway and a glimpse of the wonderful architecture that prevades Spanish Village and all of Balboa Park. It's a wonderful place to be. My one regret might be that I don't have time, or don't take time, to walk around the Park more. Certainly I should be making more of an effort to go to the museum more frequently.

Today I was here in the studio early this morning looking for a photograph I found in a magazine that I wanted to take to my printmaking class. It was a photo of a work of art, although I don't think it was an etching. Anyway, it gave me an idea. However, when I got to my studio I couldn't locate it. But I found several others on the internet that I was able to print copies of so I could show my professor. I want to add more color into some of my etchings by creating a second plate to print along with the first or by doing some hand coloring with watercolors.

I worked on a plate while I was here this morning and attempted to bite another in the etching solution. However, I think because I recently etched a brass plate in the same solution, it seems to no longer be affective for etching copper. I left it in the solution for almost two and a half hours and almost no etching occured. So I think I need to dump out what I have and begin again. Or actually, I might dump it in the other dish where I have the other solution in which I previously etched brass. I have to remember that I can't mix the two metals in the same bath of etching solution. However, I'm actually not planning to work with brass much anymore if ever. I prefer the copper.

I went to class this afternoon. I'm behind in that I haven't printed an edition this week. However, my goal is to print two next week. I have at least one new plate ready, and I have various old plates that I could print, ones I first created several years ago but didn't print editions of. I have three fish that are rather nice. I know there's one company that makes a pale blue etching paper. That could be very nice for a series of fish. I could print them in a dark brown or olive green on the blue paper. I might consider that.

The other thing I want to do is take some of my watercolors or watercolor ink and try putting some on the etchings that I printed as proofs, ones that I just printed to see how the plate looked. There are lots of those that I could work with. So that's my plan for part of the days ahead.