ARE - The New Order

This past week, Susan and I attended a workshop put on by Lascaux Products - a workshop on A.R.E. (Acrylic Resist Etching). As many of you know, we have added a number of the Lascaux products to our line, so it was time to go learn about them!

The workshop was run by Robert Adam and Carol Robertson, two artists from Scotland, who are dedicated to healthy studios, and healthy artists. With the help of Lascaux, they developed a system of acrylic resists and washes that are really impressive.

Those of you who have seen my artistic ability would be amazed at the ease with which I was able to prepare a soft ground and aquatint plate, add a hard ground to an area and do a traditional line etch, in a matter of 30-45 minutes. Well, most of you would correctly suspect that Susan actually did the artwork, but I supervised a little. Everything about the project was acrylic - washed up with soap and water, from the plate backing solution to the degreasing.

While I will stipulate that it's not great art - she did a good job considering my supervision. (Some would call it second guessing, but not me!).

In the top photo you are seeing the application of the Stop Out Resist, after a Soft Ground has been applied and the leaf and feather (left side) were run through the press. Next an Aquatint Resist was applied, and then finally the Hard Ground Resist was added to the right side of the plate.

One of the best things about this system is that you can with relative ease have a truly Transparent Hard Ground, A Black Hard Ground, or a White Hard Ground in a matter of minutes. With the number of artists that are interested in White Grounds this is going to be an important addition to the line.

The Aquatint Spray was such a kick to apply, that we are researching air brushes in order to provide them for the beginner who wants an easy way to apply this resist. Robert and Carol have done a great job in presenting easy ways to do some great things without risking one's health.