Monday, July 6, 2009

Etching: Sugar Lift Resist and Recipe

This is similiar to gouache resist if you have ever tried it. Instead of painting with white gouache onto paper, one paints with a mixture made from syrup, black poster paint and liquid detergent (recipe given below) onto a sheet of cleaned copper. Take an ordinary paint brush, dip into the syrup mixture, paint on copper, then wait for it to dry. Once dry, paint a thin layer of hard ground over the top. Wait for the hard ground to dry, then place the plate of copper in warm water. The sugar mixture (with the help of the detergent) should then "lift" off the plate, exposing the copper beneath it. You can rub the hard ground covered plate in the water gently with your fingers to help the lift along. Once all the sugar mixture has lifted off the plate, take the copper plate out the water, wait for it to dry. When dry you can then either put a layer of aquatint over the top of the exposed copper (for a sugar lift aquatint) and then place it in acid. Or you can place the plate directly into the copper. Some open biting wll occur, but this will add to the effect if you so wish.

Sugar Lift Recipe
10 parts syrup (1 part sugar to 5 parts water, boiled to a syrup)
3 parts black poster paint
3 parts liquid detergent
(gum arabic is optional)

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