Not to Scale

1" x 4" etching and aquatint on Magnani etching paper.

I'm attending the Wednesday night sessions/open studio at Il Bisonte, one of many historic graphic arts/print studios in Florence.  There's a small group of us and once a week, after dinner we have access to the nuts-and-bolts materials and tools of a well-equipped printmaking studio. There are acid baths for zinc and copper, an aquatint box and hot plate,  a guillotine cutter for metal plates, many presses and a professional printer helping and supervising those who need assistance in making plates and prints.
I have several small works in process and I'm trying to meet the deadline for a miniature print competition so I'll decide soon what's good enough to push to finish and send.

These were done in my first few days--as I was trying to refamiliarize myself with drypoint and etched lines. At the top is a two-plate etching and aquatint. While below, is a print made from a drypoint zinc plate, printed on a student-grade, Japanese paper. Drypoint means I used a sharp scribe to scratch directly into the metal. It raises a burr and prints with an easily recognizable hazy line.  As with lots of my work, it's based on small, scribbled doodles--these of scientific and measuring devices--rulers, protractors, beakers, etc.  These are all hand drawn and I like the play of the obvious "wrong-ness" of the drawing. The inexact spacing and wandering line that negates the purpose of these objects in the real world.   I've only printed these copies but I hope to make some time and print some clean ones on good paper.