Couple
Mezzotint, 15x10 cm
on white Hahnemuehle paper, 26x34 cm
edition of 30
( price includes postage)
Mezzotint is my favourite printmaking technique these days, as it allows me to work in a purely tonal way. It's also labour intensive and each print takes many hours of work. I work on a copper plate which is prepared with a special tool ( a rocker) that pokes the surface with thousands of small holes and makes it rough like sandpaper. I transfer the drawing ( often from one of my paintings) onto the plate and start scraping out with a blade what will turn out to be the lightest parts. Working from dark to light, the image slowly appears.
Once I am satisfied with the plate, I edition it on my printing press. I only produce small editions.
This is the first time I looked at red wine bottles as a subject, and they since have appeared in one of my paintings as well. Aside from being a signifier for my Tuscan roots I am fascinated by their opaque and impenetrable nature.