MATERIALS Products and equipment needed for standard soft ground application:- prepared metal plate
- BASE: graphic chemical waterbased relief ink, No 1659 black or No 1661 crimson red for maximum definition
- BINDER: Golden GAC 200 or Lascaux clear gloss varnish No 2060 or Johnson's Future floor varnish
- THICKENER: W/B Silkscreen Printing Medium/Paste
- medium or hard ink roller, preferably larger than the width of the plate (nitrile surface is best)
- spatula
- glass or Perspex slab
- concentrated detergent
- bowl containing detergent, water and sponge
METHOD
Apply a standard soft ground as follows:- Dispense three parts of the ink onto the slab with a spatula. Now work 25-50% Lascaux No. 2060 varnish into the mix. This enhances the resist, improves rolling and imprinting properties and reduces drying time. The more varnish added, the quicker the ink dries but the more resistance it attains. If using acrylic floor varnish as a cheaper and slightly weaker modifier, bear in mind that the mix should not get too runny for rolling.
- Now roll out the fortified ink from various directions until the plane looks evenly covered. A well mixed soft ground ink should make a distinct rolling sound similar to rolled out relief printing ink.
- Roll out a second plane of ink next to the first by repeatedly collecting a thin deposit from the first plane. Do not add extra ink.
- Once the second plane is sufficiently rolled out transfer ink from it onto the surface of the prepared metal plate; repeatedly rolling over the surface by alternating vertical then horizontal strokes. Rolling is complete once the plate is fairly thinly and evenly covered. Remember that a thin ground has the best sensitivity but that zinc and steel plates will need a slightly thicker coating for best resistance.
- The ground is now ready to use and the plate should be handled very carefully as anything coming into contact with it will register on the image. You can assess the ground using the finger print test - when you press your finger into the surface it should leave behind a perfect imprint, thus exposing the metal.
- The working time for transfer methods ranges from 20 minutes to several hours depending on the amount of binder that was added to the slow drying relief ink.
- Before proceeding further with your soft ground remember to soak the roller in neat detergent to keep it from drying out before it is properly cleaned. At the end of a soft ground session the ink slab and tools are easily cleaned with a sponge and detergent; any dried ink deposits can be removed with Ajax.
Many workshops make up batches of Orono Ground and keep them in sealed containers, ready for use.
Soft Ground DrawingSoft ground etching or
vernis mou was devised by French etchers as a means to extend the vocabulary of etching to include marks of the soft quality of pencil and crayon work. Here the ground is not shaped directly by the implement used but by a simple transfer process similar to the old-fashioned carbon paper method of making copies. Even though the lines and marks created by this method have the fuzzy, granular appearance typically produced by soft drawing utensils it is not actually those utensils that determine the character of the mark but the texture of the paper used for the transfer process. So choosing the right texture of paper in soft ground etching is equivalent to selecting an appropriate pencil or crayon in drawing.
The technique can of course also be used to trace existing drawings or images onto the plate.
MATERIALS Products and equipment needed for soft ground drawing:- metal plate with soft ground freshly applied to it
- sheet of tissue paper, larger than the plate
- sheet of water repellent paper (greaseproof or similar)
- various drawing utensils of different widths capable of exerting pressure e.g. pencils (not too soft), biro pens etc.
- masking tape
METHOD
Soft ground transfer drawing works as follows:- Lay the soft ground plate on a hard surface and cover it with the tissue paper. Tissue paper has a matt absorbent side and a shiny side which is less absorbent - make sure that the matt side is face down in contact with the plate.
- Cover the tissue paper with a sheet of textured paper of your choice and attach it to the work surface with pieces of masking tape. NOTE: If you are using the process to transfer an existing drawing this drawing should be used as the top sheet.
- Mark the outline of the plate by drawing registration marks onto the top sheet. You can now begin to draw onto the surface. The drawing utensils should be held upright.
- When the drawing is completed, remove the top sheet and the tissue paper from the plate. You can easily tell whether your soft ground drawing has been successful by the simple fact that all drawn marks should have offset from the plate onto the tissue paper, thus revealing the metal.
- If the metal has not been exposed, investigate the following possible causes:
- not enough pressure exerted during drawing
- soft ground rolled on too thickly
- top sheet too thick
Before etching, the plate needs sufficient time to dry; about 2-4 hours by itself or half that time in a drying cupboard.
Typical biting times for a copper plate would range between 40-60 minutes.
The soft ground can also be etched and stopped out in successive stages to achieve a varied depth of intaglio mark.
Other kinds of mark can be easily added to the transferred soft ground. Crisp lines can be drawn straight on the ground using a drypoint needle; reticulated washes can be incorporated simply by adding water; and textures can be pressed into the ground using various objects.
For more information on Soft Ground click on the following link:
Hard and Soft Ground