Aquatinting with Zacryl Hardground

When I do etchings, I also like to put some nice tones on my plates so I aquatint them. But since it's been awhile (not too long!), I have been making some test plates so that I can adjust my airbrush just right to get the tones I want. It hasn't been easy! I'm now on my third try (or maybe fourth - I don't want to count!) I think my airbrush is just being persnickety! It couldn't be me. :)

Here are a few pictures to show a little bit of the aquatint process that I use:

There is my little air compressor (used for decorating cakes but is very handy for spraying plates to get aquatints). I fill the little bottle with Zacryl non-toxic acrylic hardground.

Then I set up my easel and put up my old drawing board and cover it with white paper. After that, I put tape on the back of my plate and attach it to the board. Sorry, no picture for that but I was in a hurry and forgot. It was starting to rain AND the light was fading! You see I have to do this outside.

Then I spray my plate with the aquatint solution. This time I tried for a finer spray and more of it!

After I removed my plate, I could see better how much I sprayed. It was definitely more than last time. We will see tomorow when I etch and print the plate! The etchant will bite around all the little dots I sprayed on the plate and will print as tone. Stay tuned!

(I hope this makes sense)

Plate gets attached to board. Forgot picture!

After spraying plate