The empty board
Unframed drypoint engraving on paper
Year created: 2016
Edition: 5
Series: SHADOWING TOM – A suite of ten drypoint engravings about the shearing shed at “Newstead”, near Inverell NSW, where Tom Roberts painted ‘The Golden Fleece’ 120 years ago. First exhibited as part of a large installation that described the impact of time on Australian’s understanding and relationship with of the wool industry since the painting of Tom Roberts’ iconic work. This etching was of a sketch drawn in the exact spot Tom Roberts stood to paint ‘The Golden Fleece’.
Size: 13.8 x9.3 cm
Paper: 300gsm cream Hahnemuller paper, 18.5 x 14.5cm
Printed: by the artist by hand, in her studio in Lismore
Availability: all the prints from this edition have sold.
Description
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
The artwork genre of printmaking describes original, handmade artworks usually created in multiples. Even though they share the same name as commercially produced prints, these are not giclée prints. Each print is created, inked and printed by hand, by the artist. Drypoint printing, or engraving, is the simplest form of printmaking. Using a sharp tool, the image is scratched onto a thin piece of metal or plastic. For the Shadowing Tom suite: 3mm perspex was the matrix, with sandblasting used to create areas of tone. The plate is then inked and wiped by hand, before it’s passed though a hand turned etching press. The press, which acts like an old fashioned mangle, squeezes the ink from the scratches onto a piece of damp paper. The process of inking and printing is repeated for each individual print. This suite of etching utilizes the wiping technique known as “plate tone” where a thin film of ink is left on the plate. Consequently there are minor wiping variations within each edition. An edition is a group of prints, all the same or similar to each other, printed from the same plate. Each individual print is signed and numbered by the artist, indicating how many prints are in the edition and which print this is. Sometimes an artist will sell or exhibit his or her artist proofs, or other proofs from the developmental stage of the artworks’ creation.
