Etching and aquatint with colour overlay
A trip to Oxford to a pub called the Fish inspired me. The walls of the pub are covered in stunning fish-inspired artworks of many different types, so I decided to make my next design a lobster.
What you can see here is the second incarnation. The first etching plate was stolen, but luckily I’d already printed a proof from it. I used this to start again with a new plate.
The rich, black background is achieved with aquatint. I’ve done this before and I love the way the design stands out. What was new for me, however, was the trick of rolling a second colour – with plenty of extender – over the ready-to-print plate. You have to clean the roller each time you print, so this is a pretty slow process. But I’m very happy with the result.