COURSE
£216.00
4 in stock
Learn how to make a hard ground etching, including how to prepare the plate, understand etching times and how to build up line work with more than one ‘bite’ to achieve different tones and textures.
In the second and third weeks you will find out how to make corrections, additions and re-etch the plate, have the opportunity to explore the properties of different inks, and learn how wiping the plate correctly can improve the resulting image.
In the final week you will make a registration, learn how to file the edges of your plate and print a small series of your etching- your first edition!
You can follow this course with our Etching: Soft Ground and Etching: Aquatint courses to carry on your printmaking practice. Also, look at our HAUSPRINT Etching Year starting in September 2026.
Rob White is an artist printmaker who has over twenty years of experience working in the biggest print studios in London, firstly working at Thumbprint Editions on projects for Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Richard Deacon and many others.
Rob wanted to add to his skill set and moved to Paupers Press where he’s worked on projects for Grayson Perry, Tracey Emin, The Chapman Brothers, Peter Blake and others. Alongside this Rob has had a working relationship with Tom Hammick working on many print projects over the last twenty years. Rob works mainly in etching using many different techniques including sugar lift, spit bite, chine collé working with multiple plates and colours.
Please bring your sketchbook/ notebook, pencils etc. an apron, a pair of rubber gloves for cleaning, and any etching tools that you have.
Studio consumables and proofing paper are included, we have etching plate to buy, or you can bring your own.
Hard ground etching is particularly suitable for line work or cross-hatching to achieve tone, texture and pattern. Bring an image or images to work from that give you this sort of information, for example a pencil, charcoal or pen drawing or a black and white photograph.
Our south London printmaking studio in Stockwell has a small kitchen with a microwave and fridge, plates, cutlery and mugs. Tea and coffee will be provided.
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.
A traditional technique in etching. After degreasing the surface of the plate, hard ground is rolled over the surface.
We may take photographs or video in the studio whilst you are there, for our website, social media and other studio marketing. We will always make you aware of this activity. Let us know if you don’t wish you or your work to be photographed and/or identified.
The Jigsaw woodcut course will take you on a journey from the basics of jigsaw woodcut through to advanced prints using multiple layers of jigsaw blocks.
The year will focus on consolidating your etching knowledge, on developing ideas, and on ways to bring ideas and technique together. There will be group discussion, group crit and one-to-one tutorial opportunities which will focus on how to develop your work.
Learn how to mix white ground, ways of using the permeable ground, and how to etch and print your plates for great results. The class is suitable for you if you have done some etching before.
