Dry point

Etching was a process I was very aware of, it's history is embedded in illustration, I decided to keep my image relatively simple. There was very little in the way of tone and I broke down much of the image to bare lines, I hoped this would increase the likelihood of this process working for me. Unfortunately it was not be. The process was incredibly simple, normally with etching a copper plate is used and carved with a sharp point, acid and other chemicals help print the image, We were using a simpler much quicker process. Dry point, scratching a piece of acetate with a needle to create a burr, and then rubbing ink into the crevices would mean our image could be printed several times, a damp piece of paper is placed with the inked acetate and then passed through a press. I was keen to make this process work. It seemed like a quick and easy way to print several identical images, after carving the image, inking the plate, pressing the plate and wet paper, I got nothing. One print was semi transferred, I tried the process four or five times with variations to the application of ink, the type of paper, how clean it was, how much pressure there was, and yet each time nothing. I hope to achieve slightly more the next time I try this process, I was incredibly disappointed with the final outcome and can only hope it doesn't happen the next time I use this process.

My house mate Abdul, 

An inked dry point 

The final image- I was rather disappointed