Brass 2

Some scratchy results from lengthy trials with trays of nitric acid, ever increasing in strength.
The brass needed the biggest guillotine I've seen and I cut a small strip for some experiments:

1)  etching in
2)  etching right through
3)  coating the back with varnish
4)  long time in weak acid vs short time in strong acid
5)  narrowness of line drawn with varnish
6)  thinning of the varnish for easier drawing
7)  drawing with varnish in a pipette
8)  best acid mixtures for zinc and brass respectively

There's still scope for exploring the textures resulting from different strengths of acid; methods of mounting the plates.

Inspired by historic pilgrim badges, I tried some linked up drawings, such as the face and the bell.  It's the watchbell on top of the Bargate in Southampton (visible from the printroom window), which is inscribed with "In God is my Hope R.B 1605".

I'm glad that I did this but it has taken up much of this week and I don't want to get bogged down in the process when I should be working on the images and their intellectual content.