The artist's imagery mainly consists of carrousel horses and reptiles. The only thing that relates the images of the reptiles and the carrousel horses in the artist's work is the fact that she finds both images fascinating and intriguing, but at the same time, finds both of these images some what repulsive and frightening. As a child, the artist developed a fascination for carrousel horses and reptiles. At this time these images mainly inspired feelings of fear in the artist. In the artist's opinion, carrousel horses seem to be frantic and frenzied. The artist feels that this aspect of carrousel horses makes them an image with expressive possibilities and she attempts to capture feelings of fear, curiosity and fascination in her prints. The artist is amazed at the variety of colors and textures found on reptiles. She finds them interesting images because although most reptiles are menacing creatures, they are also beautiful and exotic. The artist feels that this aspect of the reptile makes it an intriguing subject matter to work with.Intaglio is a form of printmaking in which a metal plate, traditionally copper or zinc, is manipulated by certain techniques such as: line etch (where a dry-point needle is used to scratch the surface of the plate onto which hard ground [an acid resistant, waxy substance] has been applied and the plate is etched in acid to incise the lines and form a line drawing); and aquatint (a technique to achieve a wide range of tones in an intaglio print). Aquatint has an appearance similar to that of a water color wash. To create the aquatint tonal areas, powdered rosin is sprinkled evenly over the plate and the plate is then heated until the rosin melts and adheres to the plate. The areas that are to remain white are covered with a hard ground "block out." The plate is etched in acid for a period of time to be determined by the artist and is then taken out and rinsed with water to stop the acid from etching the plate any further. This process is repeated until a desired range of tones are created. Another technique usually used is a hybrid combination of burnishing and scraping using a burnisher or scraper. A burnisher and a scraper are patented tools that are used to polish (burnish) and scrape (that is, cut/remove metal from the plate) the surface of the plate to create highlights, lighten an area, or to totally erase an incised area of the plate. Embossing is another form of intaglio printmaking in which three layers of illustration board are cut to form a positive image on a piece of dampened arches paper that is pressed into the carved image by means of a printing press. The deeper the embossment, the more elevated the image will be on the paper. Pressing the paper down into the layers of illustration board forms an embossed image. No ink is used to create the image. Thus, this form of intaglio printmaking is known as "blind" printing, that is printing without ink.In the artist's work, all of the intaglio techniques discussed are used in combination with each other on the same plate to create a rich image. Researching different techniques has allowed the artist to have a better understanding and appreciation for the intaglio prints of historically renowned artists, who were printmakers before the artist. / Department of Art
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/184001 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Sanders, Joan |
| Contributors | Ball State University. Dept. of Art., Johnson, Sarojini Jha |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 45, [1] leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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