Non toxic etching with the Printmaking Sisters

The second workshop we did with the sisters was Aluminium etching - instead of using traditional noxious etching substances, they showed us how to achieve good effects using non toxic solutions
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This workshop was a bit more  prone to errors as the etching process itself is more complex.
These are the etchings I did... more or less exploring the different effects that could be obtained.

This one below has line work and tone in the waves

This one below uses 2 plates and chin colle.. pity about the yuk colour ink

 This uses line work and tone and chin colle

 This has several depths of tonal etch

Photopolymer printmaking

The third kind of printmaking we explored with the Printmaking Sisters, Robin and Annie Day, was photopolymer.

Essentially a sensitised plate is exposed to the sun with an image on it... and the UV etches the image onto the plate. Sounds simple... well there is a lot in the process and timing to contend with. The sisters were great in guiding us every step of the way, and I was pleased with these experiments. Again, I was looking at different subjects to see what effects I could get.

 Below, the top image is what was held against the sensitised plate - a combination of drawing and paper stuck onto the translucent paper

And below is a print from the plate that was made