A video for this activity is coming soon. If you would like to see your video here please upload it to YouTube and then send us a link via our contact form.

Etching is the artistic process of creating a design on glass or metal. A design is drawn onto a wax covered sheet of glass or metal, which is then dipped into acid, cutting the design into the exposed metal, but leaving the wax portions untouched.

Popularity
Etching was particularly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a commercial way of reproducing pictorial works. Since the invention of electrical copying, etching has become almost entirely an activity of hobby status.

Location
Etchings may be created in any home, studio workshop or printing works.

Age
There are no official age restrictions on creating etchings, however on safety grounds it must be remembered that potentially dangerous chemicals are involved. (both corrosive and capable of burning). Etching is best suited as an adult activity.

Ability
Etching demands all of the normal skills and abilities of the artist, plus chemical skills to create clean fine works that can only be obtained by much practise, experimentation and experiance. There are no short cuts or substitutes.

Description
When etching, a sheet of metal or glass plate is covered with a waxy compound which is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the compound with a pointed etching needle, where the artist wants a line to appear in the finished piece, so exposing the bare metal. An échoppe, a wider tool with a slanted oval section is also used for "broadening" lines. The plate is then dipped in a bath of acid. The acid "eats" into the metal, where it is exposed, leaving behind lines sunk into the plate.

Dedication
Prints may be taken from an etching. This requires much forethought and practise, as to do this, the design must be drawn in reverse.
Printing the plate is done by covering the plate surface with ink, then rubbing the ink off the surface with a cloth or newsprint, leaving ink only in the roughened areas and lines. Damp paper is then placed on the plate, and both are pressed together; the pressure forces the paper into contact with the ink, transferring the image, and re-reversing the image.

Potential
As with any artistic activity, the potential is to create something pleasing to the eye. Etching has the added advantage of being an indelible image that may be reproduced many times over, by printing.

Closely Related Activities
Engraving 840, Carving 109, Drawing 18, Brass Rubbing 803,

Cost
At hobby level, plates, chemicals and tools can all be obtained for a few pounds each.

Level of Demand
The table below shows the maximum levels of demand that this activity requires. NOTE: These are not entry levels or levels of requirement and has nothing to do with ability.

Energy

Arms

Legs

Sight

Hearing

Speech

Learning

Please be advised that this record has not necessarily been reviewed by people with the expertise required to provide you with complete, accurate or reliable information. The information and images for this activity are supplied by the general public, Please contact us if there is a breach of copyright or you wish to improve the data.