Ok, I know every artist who ever depicted a horse in any shape or form has a “bucking horse and cowboy” image to their credit. Yes, it’s been done and redone. Joe De Yong, Russell and Remington are just a few. BUT, I just couldn’t help myself. So here is my very soul, a deep passion for Western iconoclasm and possibly a little “bronc bustin’ ” bloodlines, thrown down on paper. Oh yea and I even explain how I did it.
STEP 1: Check on the Little One to make sure she is sleeping properly and will not disrupt the creative process for at least 30 minutes. As you can tell, I do most of this at night or when my husband is home to help me.
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Pencil Sketch used for Etching
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The plate is polished and the edges are beveled. The beveled edges enable the press to roll up and over the plate during printing.
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A liquid ground is applied to act as resist to the acid. It’s asphaltum which is the same stuff that is put on highways. It has a wax texture.
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Using a stylus I draw on to the ground to reveal the copper beneath.
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The plate is placed into a acid bath. The acid eats away at the copper as it chemically reacts with it. This reaction creates the textures and lines on the surface of the plate that will later hold ink.
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Here I’ve used a stopout resist to control which parts of the image will be etched longer. The longer the bite time in the acid the deeper the texture or line groove. The deeper the texture or line, the more ink it will hold. This is how I create a value scale.
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After the ground is removed I apply the ink. The ink is pushed into the lines etched into the plate.
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| Next I wipe the plate clean leaving only the ink embedded within the lines of the plate surface. This plate is now ready to print. |
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This is the proof pulled off the plate. Usually this is the most exciting time because I get to preview the results of all my labor. Notice the plate is the reverse of the plate. It takes a lot of pressure to transfer the ink to the paper. I have a etching press designed just for this method of printmaking. It applies about 5000 lbs. of pressure per square inch to the paper and plate. The plate and paper are rolled over instead of pressed down upon.
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My first proof ready for critique.
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There will be a few changes here and there with a burnisher and dry point tool after I analyze the proof day and night. I post everything on the fridge door where I can see it all day. When it’s perfect (to me), there’s a break in the toddler hurricane, and the Print Gods say it’s time….I sneak away and begin printing. This part of the process is NOT fun. It’s boring and it takes days to complete. One little mistake or a smudge on the paper disqualifies the print from making the edition. Why do I do what I do again?
It’s because I love the final product all framed up and hanging on my wall or someone else’s (please check back to see the finished product).With prints you can have more than one original, just like a bronze edition.
Now, you purist bronc riders out there…I realize the flank strap in on the wrong side. The image is reversed from when I first captured it. I liked the look of the horse and cowboy facing right better than my original sketch. This is a ranch rodeo bronc rider and not a professional deal either. The cowboy is showing off for his buddies that are so glad he volunteered to ride the bronc. Later, over a Coors Light, they will give him a pat on the back for the phenomenal “Hat Fan Job” he gave that “bucking son-of-a-gun”.
Hence the title I gave this etching, “President of the Fan Club”.
