Today in specialized stores you can find a lot of different sets for children's creativity: educational, educational, and simply entertaining. Such toy products attract the attention of children, but it is much more interesting to create something similar with their parents, thereby learning all the secrets of the creative process.
And in fact, many children's creative sets are not anything complicated that cannot be reproduced independently at home. For example, engravings familiar to many can be made with your own hands in just half an hour. How? Let's find out.
To create a color engraving you will need:
- white cardboard (not glossy);
- wax pencils of different colors (you can also use oil pastels);
- black gouache (you can take another dark color);
- liquid soap;
- brush;
- orange stick (or other thin and sharp object for engraving).
Aquatint
Aquatint is one of the etching techniques (Acquaforte - etching and tinto - tinted), which allows you to get a more picturesque engraving with more tones, similar to watercolors.
Before working, the engraver heats the prepared metal plate and evenly coats it with acid-resistant resin powder. After melting the powder, a mesh is formed on the plate, in which the smallest gaps not covered by resin are subsequently etched with acid. The plate becomes grainy. After this, a drawing is applied to it and more thorough etching begins in several stages. The tone and texture of the image depend on the size of the resin granules and the time of its heating.
Preparation of resin powder for plate processing.
Distinctive features of engraving using the aquatint method:
- when enlarging the engraving, white dots of different sizes can be distinguished;
- the number of tones is limited and depends on the number of etchings, and the transitions between tones are abrupt.
THEIR. Mair. Portrait of I.P. Elagina. Aquatint. After 1793
Lavis
Lavis (French Lavis - wash) is an engraving technique in which the design is immediately etched with a brush moistened with a special liquid.
During the process, the engraver applies an image to a metal plate using a fiberglass brush and an etching fluid (often a nitric acid solution). Since the metal has a heterogeneous composition, etching produces a rough surface that retains paint well. This results in a tonally rich image when printed (similar to that produced by aquatint).
Distinctive features of engraving using the Lavis method:
- with significant magnification, irregularly shaped dots are visible;
- each tone differs from the other by sharp boundaries, and the spots of tone resemble watercolor strokes.
Paul Gauguin. Engraving "Woman with Figs". Lavis. 1894
Registration of work
Designing a work is no less an art than creating it. An incorrectly selected frame can ruin the impression of even a masterpiece. It should not be too bulky or distract attention. The frame is just an elegant addition to the picture, matching the mood, color scheme and tonal execution of the image.
A successful solution would be a seamless mat. This is a frame made of white or tinted cardboard (thick paper). Its width can start from three centimeters, depending on the size of the painting. The main rule when creating a passe-partout is no seams. It is made from a single sheet of paper and pasted onto the back of the image. The top and sides are the same width, while the bottom is slightly wider. For example, if three stripes are equal to three centimeters, then the bottom one will be equal to five. Despite its simplicity, this design often looks much neater than a full-fledged frame.
The work, framed in a passe-partout, can be covered with plexiglass, the size of which is selected in accordance with the outer boundaries of the frame. It protects the image from dust and dirt, and also makes it neat when hanging on the wall. If you want to do without it, the picture should be coated with a special varnish, selected taking into account the paint used.
If the engraving was done with oil paint, then you should not immediately draw up the work. Even if the top layer of oil seems dry, this impression is deceptive. This paint can dry from six months to several years, depending on the thickness of the layer. The drying process will speed up if you cover the finished work with a thin layer of retouch varnish. Otherwise, when preparing a raw engraving in a mat, there is a chance of seeing oil stains on it, which will not add aesthetic value to the work.
Etching
The name of this technique comes from the French word eau-forte, which translates as strong vodka (in the old days this was the name for nitric acid). It was nitric acid that was originally the main substance for creating etching.
With this technology, a metal plate is coated with an acid-resistant varnish. Then the design is applied and scratched with needles. After this, the master immerses the plate in a container with acid, which leads to etching of the pattern not covered with varnish. After washing and drying, the procedure is repeated several times, achieving deeper etching in individual areas. At the last stage, the protective varnish is removed with kerosene. The resulting printing form is filled with paint.
Etching the prepared drawing in acid.
The main features of engraving using the etching technique:
- the lines are free and of equal thickness throughout, with slightly jagged edges;
- the dots are always round or oval;
- strokes have blunt ends;
- There may be spots and other defects due to damage to the varnish by acid (if the technician did not remove them).
A. Durer. Engraving "Landscape with a cannon". Etching on copper. 1518
I. Shishkin . Engraving "Forest". Etching. Around 1890
Dotted style
This technique involves applying a system of dots of different shapes and sizes to the engraving plate.
In the process of work, the master can use punches with ends of different sharpness and shape (in the form of a triangle, square, etc.), matuar and an engraving hammer. Using tools of different shapes, as well as different degrees of pressure, the engraver builds a whole system of various points. If necessary, it thickens or thins out the points, creating the effect of shadow or light. The result is an image with soft transitions. To make the contours of the design smoother, the artist can punch dots through the varnish.
Tools for dotted line engraving: engraving hammer, matoir and punches.
Distinctive features of the dotted technique:
- When examining the image, dots of different shapes are visible.
- In dark areas of the picture, the dots are larger in size.
A. Afanasyev. Portrait of D.V. Davydova. Dotted style. After 1812
