Lo-fi Printmaking: Drypoint Etching with tetrapaks, using a pasta machine

Lo-fi Drypoint Etching - a lockdown tutorial for Medway Print Festival '20 by Xtina Lamb of Medway Fine Printmakers. Using tetrapaks and a pasta machine you can try drypoint etching at home.
You need a lot of pressure to print an etching plate successfully, and a pasta machine can do a surprisingly good job. If you don’t have one, ask your friends if they have a neglected pasta machine, we bet there’s one lurking at the back of a cupboard near you. This process is great for people who like drawing clear, hard lines.
No printing experience necessary to try out this technique.
Recommended for adults, and supervised children 8+ years.
What you will need:
Pasta machine
Empty tetrapak carton
Scissors
Embroidery needle / awl / compass point / safety pin etc.
Water tray
Thick paper (smooth cartridge is good)
Blotting paper (or more thick paper)
Etching ink, Charbonnel Aqua Wash or Caligo Safe Wash are good (from Intaglio Printmaker)
Muslin or loose weave cloth
T-shirt material or a piece of wool blanket / felt
Cereal packet cardboard / greyboard
Tissue paper
Cotton buds (optional)
Latex or plastic gloves (optional)
Medway Fine Printmakers, INTRA, Rochester, North Kent
medwayfineprintmakers.co.uk/mp...
@medwayfineprintmakers
/ medwayfineprintmakers
/ medwayfineprintmakers
Part of Medway Print Festival '20 Lockdown
www.medwayprintfestival.com/
#mpf20lockdown

[@Olhamo]

i too, am enjoying the wood pigeon accompaniment! And all the birdsong. Have been doing a lot of these low-fi prints, in my case, using the tetra liner of organic green tea sachets. I should not mention the name, but starts with an S, for anyone who reads this. The idea to use them as printing plates was a revelation to me, since I have saved these for “something”, thinking of them most often as a form of rough silver leaf... Anyone who saves things for artmaking without needing to know the particulars or the whence it will all reveal itself, will relate, I am sure. I think I have a pasta machine in storage, from my years of working with polyform. I never actually used it, hope I saved it! For the moment, in lockdown, again, I won’t be visiting the storage. But as you say, maybe someone has an unused one... In any case, a good hand- or spoon burnish is also fine. And my inner voice keeps whispering, go out and find a good stone that wants to come home with you. I used to have many, but had to give them back to the earth when I seriously downsized. I love you approach, and Enjoyed this low key “visit.” Hello from Ontario, Canada. 🌷

[@g-r-a-e-m-e-]

Thanks!

[@harlem4039]

wouuu very well I really liked this video I greet you from this Dominican Republic 🖐

[@juliamckechnie256]

Thanks for this easy-to-understand video, it has been very helpful.

[@danieladente9442]

immensamente grata, cercavo un video tutorial per poter fare questi esperimenti, grazie della tua generosità nel condividere il tuo sapere. Un video prezioso. Un saluto dall'Italia

[@medwayfineprintmakers9477]

You're very welcome

[@sonyaj66]

Wow - I love the idea of using a pasta machine to do small prints! I've actually got one, which I think I've used all of 2x for pasta. I have seen several videos using a Sizzex embossing machine to do intaglio and collagraph or other relief printing as a cost-effective way to print small sizes. Thanks for your detailed tutorial on this, and I think I'll have to give it a try, since I've already got all the other supplies.

[@de4edag]

Awesome, thanks for showing!

[@Gracielascreative]

Cool 😎🌻

[@Beerbeerosa]

Awesome vid ! Bravo +++

[@WRA1010]

Some "plastic" napkins are great for finishing the cleaning before the printing!

[@medwayfineprintmakers9477]

We really try to avoid plastic waste where possible. Most of the clean up stuff we use at the studio is donated rags or waste paper from other processes. I get excited when I find a use for something that stops it going to landfill. Do you mean those shiny paper napkins?

[@spau7942]

Thanks for the making this video, really appreciate it. What would you use to clean the tetrapack plate (traditional etching ink) and come back to pull another print tomorrow? Thanks!

[@downtime86stars17]

Depends on the kind of ink you use. Charbonnel Aqua Wash or Akua inks can be cleaned up with dishwashing liquid. Other printmaking inks have to be cleaned up with vegetable oils and/or solvents.

[@medwayfineprintmakers9477]

@@downtime86stars17 Yes you can just use a cheap vegetable oil, and get the last traces off with a natural solvent like Zest It for the last traces if you're being thorough.

[@markquinnmarine]

what width does it need to be to get the plate through and is there a max length ?

[@medwayfineprintmakers9477]

Hi, it really depends on the pasta maker you have on width, but I'd go about a cm in from the edges. If you have long enough blankets you could get a really long artwork through there. It's hard to get straight though so there's probably a practical limit on that too.

[@Gracielascreative]

Suscríber 120!!! ❤️🌺

[@fenellaross-elmer756]

Drypoint is not etching, its engraving...Nice video though.

[@pyrosketcher1490]

it's*