What a week! On Tuesday, I learned the process of intaglio etching using copper plates at the San Francisco Center for the Book. John Sullivan of Logos Graphics, whose cozy print shop is nestled in the Mission district’s Project Artaud, guided me through the various steps.

First, I chose a photograph of the charming King Henry VIII from my Flickr stream. After creating a film positive, I exposed it onto a copper plate and then developed the plate in acidic solution before inking it with intaglio ink. I wiped the plate with fine cheesecloth and placed it onto an etching press with dampened cotton paper, a sheet of newsprint and three felt blankets on top. Finally, I rolled the stack through the press, which put pressure on the inked plate to transfer the image onto the cotton paper above it. Et voila! after lifting the blankets, the final print was complete.

I also was able to play with painting ink onto film (pictured above), which I sprayed with a vinegar solution to create splotches before drying and exposing the film onto copper plate for an alternative intaglio print. More pictures available in my Flickr set.