Ullswater Rocks 2
9.5cm x 9.5cm
Hard ground, soft ground and pepperpot aquatint etching on a single plate
(2025)
The second of the water and rocks prints. I was so keen to recreate the effect of seeing the rocks and stones through the shallow rippling water of the stream. After drawing some quick studies of the rocks and watching them for a day I felt I had a good grasp of how the ripples play with the light and distort the shoes in the shallows. I decided to repeat the process used on the first print, starting with a hard ground layer of the rock outlines (pic 4) and then adding a soft ground layer (pic 5) on top to create the ripples and shading. Strangely I couldn't get the soft ground to bite much on the plate so I ended up adding an aquatint layer which I was worried would overload the plate but it also came out faint. Overall though I love how light and dappled the shading turned out - it gives quite a mystical and calming feel to the piece. Definitely would like to recreate this effect again but also figure out how to reliably do soft ground over hard ground etchings.
#printmaking #softground #aquatint #hardground #etching
Ullswater Rocks
9.5cm x 24.5cm
Soft ground and hard ground etching
(2025)
@samsampetherbridge and I went to the Lake District for 10 days early last April. We spent half the time walking, and spent the other half making prints in a wonderful print studio in Cockermouth called @marketplaceprintstudio . The owners, Jack and Emily were so welcoming and generous with their time, knowledge and resources (more on them and the studio in a later post).
It was such a perfect way to start Spring, although I did have a meltdown on day two because I couldn't figure out what to make a print of and I felt I needed to create something with narrative. I eventually decided to create a print of a water flowing around rocks based on studies I'd done (apologies for the crappy photos) of a stream near Ullswater which Sam and I found we were particularly drawn to. Drawing flowing water was complicated enough without adding the complexity of a narrative... I used this as an opportunity to use collage to create a composition, combining multiple studies of rocks and different points of the stream to create a single print. I drew several rocks and cut them out and arranged them within the dimensions of my etching plate. When I was happy with the layout I stuck them down and drew in the water flowing around them, working mainly from imagination but also checking with studies I'd done and pictures I'd taken to make sure I was making the water behave naturally.
To etch the artwork onto the plate I used hard ground for the outlines of the rocks and soft ground for the shading and the water. Instead of doing these on different plates and did them on the same plate which I hadn't tried before. It worked really well, although the hard ground lines cut deeper and wider when submerged in acid for the soft ground etch. Still, I think it turned out so well and I love the flow of the water. It's such a calming print to look at. Subsequent attempts to recreate this effect by doing soft and hard ground on a single plate haven't yet worked, but I'm determined to figure out a reliable method.
#printmaking #etching #ullswater #softground #lakedistrict
Man Leaping (v.2)
10cm x 19cm
Soft ground and aquatint etching
(2023)
A different colourway of the same Man Leaping print. I prefer this version because the magenta, blue and yellow mixed in such beautiful and unexpected ways, creating a lush green colour. This print was made of three different plates: a soft ground line work plate, a plane aquatint background plate, and an aquatint shading plate. The blue was used on the shading aquatint plate but as you can see the aquatint didn't etch properly and although the plate looked shading was clear on the plate the only bit of blue ink that is clear in the print is on the cloak. A bit disappointing but a good lesson in the difficulties of aquatinting, and I like how the print turned out all the same.
#etching #print #aquatint #softground #printmaking
Flower Delivery!
Linocut
15cm x 20cm
2024 (maybe)
Just a little test with lino to try out a more illustrative, blocky style rather than something more realistic. Also played around with geometric shapes overlapping the figures and flipping the colours within the shapes' boundaries. Quite fun. And you get a good sense of motion with the movement of the figure split into three stages. There are elements in this print that I definitely see reflected in the tiles I am making now, so I guess this was the start point of the ceramics work I've been doing this past year and a half - more to come on that later..
#linocut #linoprint #printwork #print #flowers
Man Leaping (2023)
Soft ground and aquatint etching
10cm x 22cm
Made in yet another cold winter, this time at the end of 2023. The print depicts a man leaping in the air with bells on his hand and feet, free from life's worries. Think I was having a bad time in my job at the time of making it!
The print is made up of a soft ground line work layer, an aquatint shading layer, and an aquatint background layer. The aquatint background layer unfortunately didn't work for some reason so is barely visible, especially with this colour scheme. This was my first time attempting soft ground which I found pretty fun. It works well if you want to capture gestural marks but I feel the dynamism of the pose became slightly lost during the process. With soft ground there's a lot of tracing or transferring of a design before it gets etched so the image can change a little by the time it is put in the acid.
#softground #aquatint #etching #print #printmaking
Going Through a Damp Patch (2023)
Hard ground & aquatint etching.
14.5cm x 10.5cm
Made just after the On Warmer Tides print, this piece explores similar themes by imagining what it would be like as a regular sized human on the beach to watch a giant who has just been bathing in the sea to stand up and start walking alongside the cliffs and step over the top of you.... niche! Best to bring an umbrella I'd say. The perspective was fun on this one and the aquatint was pretty hard to work out, as it often is due to having to shade back to front when dipping the plate in acid. The whole thing was a bit of an experiment but turned out alright in the end.
Ten points to whoever guesses first who the model is ;)
#etching #printmaking #dorset #aquatint #print
On Warmer Tides
Hard ground & aquatint on paper
10.5cm x 14.5cm
2023
This was my first ever hard ground and aquatint etching and I immediately fell in love with the process. It was made during the particularly cold winter at the beginning of 2023 when I was yearning for warmer weather and the Dorset countryside. The print shows me as a giant bathing in the water at Man o' War beach, one of my favourite beaches in Dorset, the other side of Durdle Door (see top right of print). The fallen stacks just out from the beach create a barrier that protects the water in the bay from rough waves meaning the water often calmer and warmer than the rest of the sea. Been thinking about that quite a bit in the recent cold weather...
#printmaking #etching #aquatint #dorset #durdledoor
Spent a beautiful time in the Lake District with my partner @tim_boxall . We drew and printed portraits of each other using both soft and hard ground techniques as a practice, here’s a look at the results!
#printmakingart #LakeDistrictArt
Tim and I recently took a trip to the Lake District, both craving long walks, time to draw, and space to print. We were lucky to come across the incredible @marketplaceprintstudio studio, run by Jack @jackfawdrytatham and Emily @emilyfairliebaker in Cockermouth.
We wandered up and down gorges, discovered caves in the slate hills, and walked among towering trees, some fallen, their massive roots exposed. It felt like a mini residency and an adventure all in one, fuelled by many boiled eggs and homemade sandwiches.
In the studio, we learned new printmaking techniques with Jack, like pepper pot aquatint, and fiddly ways to adjust our plates. The space welcomes locals to pop in, watch, and learn a little about printmaking, everything I ever hoped a studio could be. It’s deeply inspired me to one day hold a space like that myself.
If you’re ever looking for a creative getaway, a place to learn printmaking or continue your own practice, I couldn’t recommend this spot more.
There’s still so much from this trip I haven’t shared like drawings, lakes, prints, so stay tuned. I’ll also be selling a few prints from this adventure. If this little glimpse has caught your eye, feel free to message me (framed and unframed). A more formal post about that coming soon!
#printmaking #lakedistrict
