Etch in Progress

I just had to show you my etch in progress from today's class. I am so ridiculously proud of it!

First I applied an aquatint (which is why the dark areas are so uniformly dark), then painted all the highlights in with white ground and paint brushes, then left it in the acid it for seven minutes and hoped for a semi-good result. I'm totally in love!!

I still want to make a few changes (like tone down that cheek highlight a bit), but nothing major. And then she'll be printed on good paper (this is newsprint for a proof) and framed for one of the shows.

There's more to share with you, but that'll have to wait until tomorrow!

I hope you are all doing wonderfully!!

P.S. It sounds kind of silly to be so happy about this, but it's simply because this etching process is in some ways so unforgiving. This was a one-step etch and it is almost finished - that's like a miracle to me! :) When I paint, it's so different because I can paint over something or wipe it away if it doesn't look good. Not here - once it has been in the acid, it's etched in metal. So, this is a great success!!