Nikki and I met at the studio for a fast test run. She got to try out her lesson plan, and I got to try the process. To my delight, vitreography was fast, non-toxic, and easy to learn! I don’t mean “easy” in the way that my first print was a masterpiece, but vitreography was far more beginner friendly for me than drypoint, woodcuts, and traditional etching. It was easier to see what I was doing, and since I was able to apply the etching paste with a soft brush, I felt more comfortable with the types of marks I was able to make.
The first test plate: the dremel tool
It was easy to make marks in my thick glass plate using a diamond tipped scribe, and a dremel tool. For the dremel, Nikki had me submerge the plate in water so I didn’t send glass dust into the air. I made a few random experimental marks with the dremel, just to see what stuff would like like.
[caption id=”attachment_13939″ align=”aligncenter” width=”600 Wet plate from water bath, after dremel marks
etching paste applied to some areas
After being so worried I wouldn’t wait long enough for the paste to etch the glass, turns out I waited too long. It only needed 2 minutes!
[caption id=”attachment_13944″ align=”aligncenter” width=”600 First etching print experiment, with cheap paper
The first print ended up being too dark, but I liked the stippled grey and felt confident I could make a better plate without much effort. I loved the brush strokes on the vase.
Changing a figure’s surrounding transforms its mood and meaning. In “Drawing into Painting: Reconfiguring the Figure,” an online class at Seattle Artist League, Fran O’Neill led students in rethinking figure placement through drawing, collage, and painting. Using historical artworks, Zoom models, and personal photos, students reworked compositions, developed drawings into paintings, and examined how shifts …
My silence these past few days has not been intentional. I lost my mojo. Art classes are on break, human contact is absent, the news that I thought was bad, got worse. I was at a loss for what to send you. Black artists. Black artists. More black artists. The last time there was racial …
[image_with_animation image_url=”7935″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] In January we did a series of creative challenges. January 15 was “Strange Mail” an invitation to “let standardized paper and implements be darned. Mail us something strange.” And you did! Here is our postman, posing with one of Strange Mail pieces (he had previously shoved it under the door …
Pop Quiz: Can you identify the painting above? [image_with_animation image_url=”2941″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” delay=”6000 Answer: It’s the lower portion of Susan Rothenberg’s “Butterfly” (1976). Seattle Artist League: art school, art classes, painting classes, figure drawing.
Vitreography test prints
Nikki and I met at the studio for a fast test run. She got to try out her lesson plan, and I got to try the process. To my delight, vitreography was fast, non-toxic, and easy to learn! I don’t mean “easy” in the way that my first print was a masterpiece, but vitreography was far more beginner friendly for me than drypoint, woodcuts, and traditional etching. It was easier to see what I was doing, and since I was able to apply the etching paste with a soft brush, I felt more comfortable with the types of marks I was able to make.
The first test plate: the dremel tool
It was easy to make marks in my thick glass plate using a diamond tipped scribe, and a dremel tool. For the dremel, Nikki had me submerge the plate in water so I didn’t send glass dust into the air. I made a few random experimental marks with the dremel, just to see what stuff would like like.
[caption id=”attachment_13939″ align=”aligncenter” width=”600
Wet plate from water bath, after dremel marks
etching paste applied to some areas
After being so worried I wouldn’t wait long enough for the paste to etch the glass, turns out I waited too long. It only needed 2 minutes!
[caption id=”attachment_13944″ align=”aligncenter” width=”600
First etching print experiment, with cheap paper
The first print ended up being too dark, but I liked the stippled grey and felt confident I could make a better plate without much effort. I loved the brush strokes on the vase.
Etching ghost print, with tiny areas of drypoint
I’m going to like Vitreography. We start Tuesday!
Related Posts
Reconfiguring the Figure: art from Fran O’Neill’s class
Changing a figure’s surrounding transforms its mood and meaning. In “Drawing into Painting: Reconfiguring the Figure,” an online class at Seattle Artist League, Fran O’Neill led students in rethinking figure placement through drawing, collage, and painting. Using historical artworks, Zoom models, and personal photos, students reworked compositions, developed drawings into paintings, and examined how shifts …
More Black Artists
My silence these past few days has not been intentional. I lost my mojo. Art classes are on break, human contact is absent, the news that I thought was bad, got worse. I was at a loss for what to send you. Black artists. Black artists. More black artists. The last time there was racial …
Strange Mail Received
[image_with_animation image_url=”7935″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] In January we did a series of creative challenges. January 15 was “Strange Mail” an invitation to “let standardized paper and implements be darned. Mail us something strange.” And you did! Here is our postman, posing with one of Strange Mail pieces (he had previously shoved it under the door …
Obama’s Art
Pop Quiz: Can you identify the painting above? [image_with_animation image_url=”2941″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” delay=”6000 Answer: It’s the lower portion of Susan Rothenberg’s “Butterfly” (1976). Seattle Artist League: art school, art classes, painting classes, figure drawing.