Dry Point Etching and Sketching

I have been hibernating this Winter. After a few months of not doing much art and taking a break, I was invited to a friend's house where he teaches his Mom, daughters and friends art on a Saturday afternoons. He just recently purchased a printing press on which he can print his dry point etchings. He was gracious enough to let me make my own etching. Choosing the subject wasn't too hard, I felt like sketching a tree - it's a lot less complicated than a person's face in my opinion. And, trees are good to use in this sort of medium. 

The etching above is the final one we printed in a burnt sienna ink. The first three etchings we printed in black. The one below is the first print which always is a test run because the ink has to react with the plate and to cut a long story short, the first is always not very good at all. Most times, one will have to go back to the drawing board to etch some more detail. I had to do this. I kept the first print anyway, and thought I would add some more detail to it with some ink. This is the one in black below. 

 

Monday came, and I was still feeling inspired. I thought, "Even though it's cold, and I don't feel like painting much, I can still be productive!" I found this image of fishermen in Sierra Leone and decided to sketch it.

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