Art Etching

Art Etching

Glass Art Etching With Acid

Have you seen how beautiful is the treated and carved glass? They look like jewels crafted by modern artists and they're as simple as a figurine or an

exhibit piece. Glass art first appeared in the 15th Century Before Christ in Egypt. The Pharaohs seemed to have an affinity for this kind of objects. To

create glass items artist needed to posses some particular skills and to know some crafting techniques. One of these techniques is the acid glass etching.

The beginning of acid glass-etching

Etching was not used only for glass materials. Knights and aristocrats used it as a distinction for their armors and swards. Etching became so popular that

people used it to decorate their plates and goblets.

Etching continued to be used during the Victorian time. Artist used glass ass a material for expressing it. This art became so famous, that it received its

own name: Acid glass-etching. However its popularity started to fall when it was discovered that the Hydrofluoric acid used for etching was damaging for the

health of the manufacturers.

This acid was actually like a poison for those who come into contact with it. Some artisans even lost their fingers because their skin merely touched the

toxic acid. This is why acid glass-etching lost its fame and shine and only a few people continued to use it.

Modern Day Acid Glass-etching

Artisans stopped using the poisoning Hydrofluoric acid. However researchers discovered some substances that are safe enough to be used by manufacturers.

Today artisans use an etching crème which is both safe and very easy to apply for any kind of glass ornaments. It became so popular that people started to

use it for souvenirs, decors and even building materials.

This technique was found its place in the automotive industry also. This technique allows the car producers to etch the owner's driver license number on the

windshield of the car so, any owner can easily recognize its car if it was stolen.

Modern acid glass-etching techniques

Today, thanks to the safety of the substances used in glass etching, many people can use this technique as a hobby or as a small business. For regular shaped

items crème can be smoothed wit a squeegee. Wax paper carriers can be used as patterns for cutting a unique design. However pre-cut patterns can also be

acquired by artisans.

For those who want to use those old and dangerous glass-etching substances there are also some tools that can help them such as the swiveling or picking

knives. For irregular object there are some liquid solutions that are very practical. The artisan must dip the object into the liquid solution for a couple

of minutes and it will come back with a decorative aspect. Acid glass-etching is a very well known and popular technique same like glass staining, glass

fusion or glass-blowing.

About the Author

Steve Weber has more information about stain glass supplies on his site.

What is "etching" in terms of art?

i am doing an art project and i have to explain what "medium" is used in a picture i looked at in an art gllery, but the picture i looked at looked like it was just drawn with pencil, but it said it was an "etching"...im really confused any help?

Etching typically refers to a type of printmaking (sometimes known as intaglio). Basically what happens is this:

The artist has a copper (or other metal) plate. The plate is cleaned very well using something that will remove all of the grease (Clorox, etc.).

Once the plate has been cleaned, a ground (wax) is applied to it. This is done by heating the plate up on a hot plate or similar, and then rolling the ground over it to create an even coat. The ground is acid-resistant, and this is extremely important.

After applying the ground, the artist can then scratch into it using an scribe. The images are drawn mirrored to what they will be when they are printed. The plate is then put into acid for a certain amount of time, which depends on how dark the artist wants the lines to be. If some lines are to be lighter than others, then a stop-out varnish must be applied to the light areas and the plate replaced in the acid to darken the rest.

This process is wrapped up, and the plate is cleaned entirely, removing all grease and ground. The edges of the plate are ground down to an angle to make sure that they don't cut the paper.

Any paper used must be soaked for about 30 minutes before use. The plate is inked, placed face up on the press, paper applied over top, and it is rolled through. The paper is then left to dry, and can be flattened in a flat iron later on. The artist can make as many copies as s/he would like, but the plates eventually wear out and the prints are not as clear.

There are other techniques to get different effects, too. Aquatint, dry point, etc.

It might look like it was drawn with pencil because of the way that the artist created the lines, the amount of time that the plate was in the acid, and the colour of ink used.

Coffee Art: An Introduction to Etching