Printmaking: Etching -" Mooring" (with poetry inspiration)

Printmaking: Etching - "Mooring" (with poetry inspiration)

 

"Mooring", etching with aquatint

 

Introduction/Background

 

I attend weekly printmaking workshops at the Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber. Each year there is an annual exhibition of works from the studio with an agreed theme.

 

This year we were given a poem to work from, Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins. The brief was to make a print which reflects the sentiments of the poem or part of it.

 

As I am interested in the relationship between human activity, industry and the natural world, I focused on the line:

 

"And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim."

 

Extract from “Pied Beauty”, Gerard Manley Hopkins,  (1877) 

 

I wanted to emphasise how a simple chain can not only have an important function, such as for mooring ships, but also how a day to day object can be a thing of beauty.

 

The Process

 

I thought that the chain required a good drawing to work from as its links were quite involved. I therefore took some time to do an accurate drawing, making sure that the links rested well on the quayside. There was also a rope fastened around the bollard and an old wooden post, which made interesting additional features.

 

 

Pencil drawing

 

I applied a soft ground to a piece of zinc and etched into it using the drawing as a guide. I then etched the zinc in nitric acid to create a linear print.

 

 

 

First proof (linear print)

 

I felt that although the linear drawing had worked quite well, the print needed some tonal qualities to add depth and atmosphere. I therefore applied an aquatint and gradually stopped out the tonal areas in three stages and etched the plate.

 

The outcome

 

 

Final print

 

The print has now got some good depth with the addition of tone, and the print was much improved with the application of the aquatint. The highlights on the metal chain work well and contrast with the softer textures of the wood and ripples of the water. There is also some dappled light shining on the dark wet quayside - which links in with the theme of the poem.

 

It is now in doubt whether the exhibition will go ahead due to the Corona Virus Pandemic, but the idea was well worth while. It gave me both food for thought and another angle to my work.