Chris Christodoulou: Southwark One Day, Drypoint
FEATURE
Drypoint
Using a sharp pointed tool like an etching needle, an image is scratched into a flat polished sheet of metal such as copper or aluminium. Plastic or card can also be used.
TECHNIQUE
Drypoint
Using a sharp pointed tool like an etching needle, an image is scratched into a flat polished sheet of metal such as copper or aluminium. Plastic or card can also be used.
Ink is worked into the image and excess ink wiped away.
Paper is placed on top of the plate and printed using an etching press. Drypoint lines are often described as blurry, with a velvety feel.
more printmaking techniques
Etching
Etching was originally invented as a method for adding decoration to armour during the Middle Ages. Artists began to use metal plates for printing in the 15th century, when Albrecht Durer made work on iron plates. Later artists such as Andrea Mantegna in Italy and Rembrandt in Holland went on to make etchings on copper.
More Features
All featuresLizzie Latham
Lizzie Latham is an artist living and teaching in London. She graduated in 2025 from an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts.
Lizzie is the recipient of the HAUSPRINT Graduate Studio Prize 2026.
On Siss / Phuss: Ziqi Xu in conversation with Livia Wang
“It’s all because I want to see myself, I want to see those unnoticed moments, how they pass by, what is really happening. So that makes the work very personal.”
“If I’m not sketching, then I’m not alive. It’s kind of a bloodline.”
In this conversation between artists Chris Christodoulou and Michelle Avison recorded during the COVID-19 2020 lockdown, Chris discusses his obsessive sketching practice and how drawing is fundamental to his life.


