Heads and Tails (Stage Proof)

This artwork is a stage proof (SP) for the final etching "Heads and Tails". Using the same plate as the final etching, stage proofs tested different colours and paper. This stage proof is signed and numbered.

To listen to Ann discuss the HARBOUR series, please click here. 

Etching is an intaglio process. A metal plate is covered with a wax ground. The artist then draws the image in the wax with a stylus, exposing the metal. The plate is then placed in an acid bath – the acid etches the metal where ever it is exposed. Ink is then applied and the image appears from where the ink is trapped where the artist incised.

Intaglio is a collective name for the process of printing from an image incised into a plate. In the intaglio process, the entire plate is covered with colour (usually ink) and then wiped clean however the ink remains in the incisions. The plate is then pressed against paper with great pressure and the image is printed where ever the incisions have trapped the ink.