Hi, this is Leoni from SpineSenseBlinds and today we're going to make an etching using both hard and soft ground methods. A ground is a layer of material applied to the piece of copper or zinc you'll be etching. You can draw through the ground to expose areas on the plate before putting it into an etchant and the ground protects the metal from being eaten away. In the past I've used traditional grounds made from bitchum and wax in both liquid and ball form but these are really stinky and not that great to use health wise so I wanted to try out an acrylic ground by a brand called B. Usually I do all my etching before filing and burnishing the edges on my plate but the big ground needs to be rolled onto the surface so any edges need to be filed first so you don't cut or damage your braia. Also because I cut my copper into a circle using a metal guillotine I had some rough edges that needed finishing by hand. I've heard you can also cut circular copper plates with an angle grinder and I suspect you could also use a bandsaw. I file a beveled edge onto my plates with a cause and fine bastard file and finish any rough edges with a scraper before polishing it smooth with a burnisher. If you don't have a burnishing tool you can also do this with the back of a spoon. Having a polished edge makes it much easier to clean any excessing of your plate when it's time to print. I use a bit of old yoga mat under my plates to stop slippage. When your edges are finished you need to degress your plate so that the ground sticks to it properly. I do this by putting a little soy sauce on my plate and polishing it back with a rolled up piece of ball felt. Then I wipe everything back again with a clean cloth being careful not to touch the surface of the plate. When your plate is degreased roll out a little of the big ground onto your slab with a roller like you're rolling out ink for a line or cut print and then roll it evenly onto the plate in a few different directions. The ground cleaned up easily from my glass with a little vinegar and I used some citrus based art clean on my roller as I'd left it sitting a little longer and it had hardened a bit. At this stage the ground is ready to use as a soft ground which will give really nice tonal qualities. To do this place a piece of paper over the plate and apply pressure where you want the ground to lift off. I used cotton tips and a sharpened pencil for this. Alternatively you can place items with interesting textures onto your plate like leaves and fabrics and then run everything through an etching dress. The big ground needs to be hardened before you reach it even when you're using it as a soft ground or it will just dissolve when it gets the etchant. I baked mine for a few minutes in my little pre-baking oven. If you don't have another you could do this on a hot plate or with a hair dryer. This step transforms the ground into a hard ground and at this point I draw on my plate with an etching needle to gently scrape back the ground and add fine line work. With the traditional grounds you have to apply an etch-a-soft and hard ground separately and I think being able to do both on the plate simultaneously is a huge advantage of this type of ground. I don't have any footage from etching my plate but I taped up the underside and then put it into a bath of very chloride for about 20 minutes before removing the ground easily with a citrus based cleaner. Or something. This is an awkward time to prefer and out. Or something. My friends are unsure of what I'm trying to do. Oh, I still got your details in a little notebook. And I'll compromise a stupid conversation because I was still quite fond of you. Once the plane is etched and the ground removed the process is the same as printing on normal etching. This moon plate was originally used as part of a print exchange edition I did back in Australia and here I'm using it to print up a few bookmarks for myself on black paper. The paper I'm using is Somerset Velvet Black which I think has been sadly discontinued now. If you're looking for a good alternative try the Bel and Ash cover black. Printmaking paper is designed to be soaked in water for extended periods before printing so that the surface can pick up ink from the grooves in your plate. I soaked my paper for about 30 minutes putting it into the bath before I set up my President in an area. I'm printing this plate with Shabanel's over-exching ink and I like to use a square of screen printing squeegee rubber to apply the ink to my plate. You can also use some stiff card board or an eraser to do this. The next step is to wipe the ink with a balled-up piece of tile and pushing at the same time to really get the ink down into the grooves and then you can polish the surface back with a piece of paper. Phone book paper works really well for this. I also wipe around my bivle-dead with a rag and line up the plate on my press. At this point the water needs to be blotted off your paper with newsprint. I do this in two passes. The first one removes the bulk of the water and the second picks up any remaining water from the paper's surface. Line up your dirt paper on your template, lower the felts and run everything through the etching press. I'm super happy with how well the big acrylic ground worked for this plate. There were no nasty sense to deal with in either the application or the cleanup and it was a really easy versatile product to use. Next to where I bought all my supplies were in the doobly-doo-guelote. Spines and splines is all about being well-rounded while working on creative projects so we've made another video to pair with this one where you can do a simple full body workout based on the google search I did for the phrase moon exercises. Check it out. Please hit the like button and subscribe, share and comment if you liked this video and stay tuned to spines and splines for more creative projects and simple exercises you can do in your studio or workspace. Cheers!