Etching Printing

To start an etching print, you must begin with having the correct materials such as; a zinc metal plate, black-hard wax, hot plate (To heat your zinc, metal plate and hot wax.) polish, tracing paper, pencil, steel etching needle and oil-based or either water-based inks. You start by drawing a design onto your tracing paper, then once you have finished your design. You must then heat up the 'Hot Plate.' Which is a plate that heats up your zinc, metal plate. So you can spread the black-hard wax over your plate. To create a coat and which helps the plate, when you later put your plate into acid. Afterwards, you then trace your design onto your zinc, metal plate. By placing the tracing paper over the zinc, metal plate then going over your design again. After that, you then use the steel etching needle and begin to scratch the design you have created on your zinc, metal plate. Once you have scratched into your design, you must then wipe off the black-hard wax with polish. So then your plate will have a nice shine to it. Finally, when you have managed to clean off all the black-hard wax. You are then ready to start printing. By using either water-based or oil-based inks, which you will need gloves and a piny. To help not getting the ink onto your clothing and hands. You can have many colours as you wish onto your etching plate. When you have covered your plate, you need to make sure you have wiped off any useless ink off your plate. So that, when you place your plate onto the roller machine. Your print won't come out correctly, and you will have smudging on your print. Once you have wiped off any useless ink off your plate, you're then ready to place your plate under the roller machine. Before rolling your plate under the machine, you need to place a damp A4 sheet of paper on top of your plate. So the roller machine can create an etching print of your design. At the beginning, i did find etching quite easy. Because of how simple the method was for creating a etching print. But in my opinion it isn't as easy as you think. Because you had to wait for at least 30 minutes for the hot plate to heat up. Including, the black-hard wax you use to cover your plate. Secondly, you always need to remember to scratch letters backwards onto your plate. Because once you have rolled your plate out, on the roller machine. The letters will come out backwards on your print. Lastly, the acid was very weak and hasn't been changed in a while. So you then had to wait for 20 minutes at least. For the acid to remove the black-hard wax and your design will show up nicely once cleaned. For my first try at etching, i didn't leave my plate in long enough for the acid to remove the black-hard wax. Which also ment that my design wouldn't show up, when rolling out my design. Luckly, for my second try i'd managed to create at least two etching prints. The design i'd chosen was a basic and simple idea. Because with me not created an etching for a long time. Was two bike, tyre tracks going across either side. And the main title 'Le Tour de France 2014' at the bottom. Below, there are photographs i'd taken of the steps when creating an etching.