etched an enamelled samples

I haven't done any enamelling since the summer and I've missed it so much!!! With these samples I wanted to get better transferring photocopied images onto copper for etching with ferric acid, with the hope of playing with rubbing enamel back and blacking with Liver of Sulphur etc. I thought It would be therapeutic process where there'd be a satisfying feeling of peeling back the acetate like a temporary tattoo to reveal an immaculately transferred image onto copper. Instead I accidentally murdered the laminater and had to perform surgery to get it working again and the spring-back steel components weren't springing back and the tutor leant over it and subsequently dipped his hair in the safety pickle. 8 hours later in the ferric acid (with very little etch) I had some lovely imagery of telephone pylons and these are what I ended up with :

Sifted grey and black enamel (the grey turned green but I like that), rubbed back to reveal etch and  dipped in Liver of Sulphur. I prefer the section on the far left where it is more detailed and not a geometric.

 Flux, buffed back, wire wool, re-fired, Liver of Sulphur. Good to know I can have a glossy background and matt detailing if I wanted.

OK so this is what a sample looks like before I buff the enamel back. Both colours are in fact grey unleaded enamel. The green is a result of multiple firings and the white is after 1 firing. I could have wet plied the enamel which would have given more specific coverage and less mess but there is more of a likelyhood of wet enamel getting contaminated in the workshop than dry for some reason....

.....And this is After!! Still deciding on whether to make it black or not, I think it may suit the white more than the copper. I should really try more colours.....

Summer Sqiggles

What better way to spend a rainy Saturday in Cumbria than to play with inks!! It's like a mini surprise looking through my coursework sketchbook and finding these because It reminds me of the week I spent  with my boyfriend and his mum over the summer. As I go home now and battle with 11p noodles I will remember the fish pie and the pork I scoffed my greedy little face with. 

Sketchbook

More pages will be uploaded soon.