Etching and aquatint (Zea Mays Acrylic Aquatint and Stop Out) 

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   www.zeamaysprintmaking.com

    Aquatint Alternatives

Using an Airbrush

For smooth coatings and best results airbrushing is typically done in a zigzag pattern. The atomized spray droplets are evenly applied to a clean surface in regular passes. Multiple passes are overlaid at 90 degree angles to achieve the desired thickness. 

Airbrush compressors come in two types: silent compressors for hobby and artist use, and much more powerful piston compressors for industrial and automotive applications (the noisy kind). Both types work best when fitted with an air reservoir tank, as this allows for a steady supply of air pressure.

a typical zigzag spray pattern | a silent airbrush compressor with reservoir tank | a spray gun

Can acrylics be hazardous? The answer is : Y E S   read more here:

   Acrylics, Polymer Paints and Polymerization: 

       Toxicity and Safety Considerations

Throughout the 20th century artists used alternative methods for

obtaining aquatint-like tonal qualities without the expense of 

larger equipment such as a rosin box, or more recently,

an airbrush compressor. 

The most commonly mentioned method

involves using sandpaper that is imprinted in an etching

ground in successive passes on an etching press, 

resulting in pitted areas and

printing as tonal areas, once etched.

From the 1980s artists sometimes used cans of

spray paint as an improvised aquating medium,

and the results are on a par with rosin

aquatint, as well as very acid resistant.

(use respirator and ventilation).

     sample:

https://www.freewebs.com/friedhardkiekeben/FUSION%20&%20B&W/DAVID-Hi-690.jpg

Cedric Green developed a different approach 

which is outlined below:

FRACTINT, 

SALT AQUATINT 

AND SUGAR LIFT 

TINT 

by Cedric Green

note: the salt tint, and sugar lift tint approaches outlined 

here are a professional form of aquatint that is 

usable in any form of intaglio etching, 

not just in electro-etching

tinting methods with ink ground  

The most commonly used traditional method for applying an even grain over a etching plate intented to print an even tone, is rosin aquatint. But there are many people who are allergic to the very fine rosin dust and who cannot afford the expense of a high quality sealed aquatint box. 

In addition the process of melting the grains of rosin on the plate will produce fumes that are very dangerous and carcinogenic. Another method of producing an aquatint texture is with asphaltum powder which has to be melted and which also produces carcinogenic fumes. 

I have developed 3 alternatives to rosin or asphaltum aquatint, the first of which which I call 'fractint' because of the textures produced sometimes can resemble some computer generated fractal patterns. It relates closely to ink ground in that it uses linseed oil-based relief printing ink which functions as an resistant layer which is not soluble in water. 

The other two methods must also be used with an ink ground, and are salt aquatint, and sugarlift tinting.

fractint

After applying a thin even coat of stiff ink to the plate with a soft roller (treothene or similar), and before it is dry, it is placed face-down against a flat smooth non-absorbent surface like a polished metal plate or a rigid smooth plastic sheet, and then put through an etching press taking care not to let it slip against the surface. 

This can be done by laying strips of card slightly thicker than the plate on either side, projecting towards the roller to lift it to the level of the plate edge. Then the plate is pulled carefully off the surface, and the ink will be found to have formed a fine complex branching organic pattern which fills the spaces between any previous lines or lowered areas.

"Casse noix" - etching and fractint using ink ground - 

zinc plate printed in intaglio and relief - 25 cms square

The ink in fact is 'pulled' into tiny ridges and valleys by suction between the surfaces, and the scale of the pattern is dependent on the viscosity of the ink and on the fine structure of the smooth surfaces. A slightly matte surface generally gives a finer pattern. A thick viscous ink, but rolled down on the inking slab to a thin layer gives the best results. 

Black ink gives finer results in general, but white ink leaves the underlying design easier to see. 

When the ink has dried, it can be treated like an aquatint, progressively stopped with ethanol/shellac varnish, and etched in stages. Fractint is generally more suitable on a plate with etched lines than on a plain plate, although it can be used as a pure tone method. Fractint is very sensitive to specks of dirt, hairs, and bits of skin in the ink and produces patterns around any 'impurities' on the plate or plastic sheet. 

Often these are interesting and can be incorporated, but to avoid them, the ink must be very smooth, without lumps, and the plate, plastic sheet, inking slab, and rollers should be wiped clean before starting.

Magnified fractint texture - from proof pulled from a copper plate. 

Note vertical line to the right which was a slight scratch on the plate, 

showing how sensitive fractint is to fine lines on the platesalt aquatint

The second method using ink ground, is an adaptation of salt tint, which has been used before with traditional grounds, but which, when used with an ink ground, has the advantage over fractint of very closely resembling resin aquatint The grain produced can be much finer than with fractint. 

But this use of it also has the advantage of not requiring an expensive aquatint box or needing to be heated to melt it onto the plate (the fumes from heated resin are as damaging as turpentine fumes).

Equipment needed for salt tint – ink grounded plate 

on card, sieve, pestle and mortar, salt

First the plate is grounded with ink as for needling or as for fractint, but without cobalt dryers. The ink ground should be as even and thin as possible. Then the plate is laid face up onto a sheet of paper or card larger than the plate. While the ink is still wet, a layer of fine salt is sieved all over the plate, until it is even all over. It does not matter if it ends up quite thick. 

The salt may need to be ground in a pestle and mortar if comes out of the packet too coarse. You may have to make a special sieve (as illustrated) with a finer mesh than the average domestic sieve.

magnified photograph of copper plate with reticulated black ink 

ground after salt tint has been dissolved

Lift the plate and card carefully and transfer it onto the bed of the etching press. Lay another sheet of thick paper over it all. Back the sandwich with a thick felt blanket, and roll it through the press. The salt lying on the ink ground will be pressed through to the bare plate, displacing the ink and forming a finely reticulated pattern which closely resembles a resin aquatint. 

How fine the texture is depends on how finely the salt is ground and the mesh of the sieve used to apply the salt to the inked plate. 

After the ink has completely dried, perhaps accelerated by putting it in the sun, or on a hot plate, shake off the excess salt, and lay it in a tray of warm water to dissolve the salt. 

The plate can then be stopped out exactly as if it is a resin aquatint, and galv-etched or if it is a zinc, aluminium or steel plate, etched in Bordeaux etch.

Small print from needled, salt tinted and galv-etched copper plate

sugar lift tint

Traditionally, sugar lift has to be given a grain by aquatinting it so that it prints dark in intaglio. But the combination of ink ground with sugar lift can be used to advantage to produce a texture without the separate step of aquatint, and will provide a 'tooth' to hold the ink within the sugar lift area, in a one step process. 

Sugar lift is used because it is a positive process - that is, if the plate is to be proofed in itaglio, what you see is what you get. But with an ink ground rolled over the dried sugar, the ink is forced through the cracks in the sugar to form small lines and dots which reveal the brushstrokes and different thicknesses of the sugar..

Small copper test plate after sugar lift tinting and stopping 

in 7 vertical steps of about 15 minutes at 1 volt.

The way that this is done is as follows: 

1 Prepare a saturated solution of sugar dissolved in distilled or demineralised water, add a few drops of black Indian Ink to colour it, and a drop of washing up liquid or liquid soap to help it to stick to the plate. 

2 Apply the sugar lift solution thinly to a well degreased plate with a brush, as evenly as possible, to those areas to print as a tone. 

3 Allow it to dry a little, hastening it if required with a hair dryer, until it is tacky. 

4 Then carefully blot the whole plate or the areas you want to print with a tone with a sheet of tissue paper. Smooth the tissue paper down gently over the areas of sugar lift until you can see the sugar lift through the tissue paper. Areas of sugar lift that have been applied very thinly showing the brush strokes can be allowed to dry and do not need blotting.