Dry Point Etching Inspired by Another Artwork

owlkayak

This is a four foot square canvas I painted a few years ago. It is the only one of the original six that I still have in its previous form. Others have sold or been donated, or covered over. I wanted to use just part of the owl and the boat behind it to be the subject for a dry point etching on plexiglass.

Here is the cropped image and the etching in progress.

Dry point etching of owl and boat with tool

Dry point etching of owl detail

I managed to pull eleven prints from the plate so far and will do more after I closely examine them to see if more etching is necessary.  It is the same size as the tree one done earlier, about 5 x 7 inches.

Owl etchings on line

Owl etching

The next one I will work on is the emu. I photographed him outside our classroom in Halls Gap last March. They have such beautiful big brown eyes. I altered my photograph to look more like the marks that need to be etched to get the flow of his feathers.

Dry point etching plate of emu

I only have the one tool that seems able to scratch the surface of the plexiglass. It is a simple one that I bought in Melbourne at a art supply store just off Flinders Street and a short walk from my hotel. The metal etching tool from undergraduate school days needs to be sharpened to be of much use to me so I will do that down at the shop or on my belt sander in the studio.

Maybe a kangaroo for the final plate this size. For now I am taking a few days off to spend with company and just playing in the studio.