Athens Printmaking Centre K%X Pandolfini & Siaterli
The centre offers interested school groups the opportunity to attend an intensive four hour workshop accompanied by an introduction to etching and engraving through the work of important contemporary and traditional artists.
The technical process presented in the students’ first contact with etching and engraving at the workshop is etching, that is the main technique of intaglio (printing from the line which has been etched into the surface of the plate)
First step – Transfer of reversed design and etching.
The students transfer a simple design (which they have already prepared in consultation with their teacher) onto the metal plate using carbon paper. The etching plate has already been cleaned and polished before being covered with a hardground varnish. The students then use an etching needle or other sharp tool to draw their designs into the surface of the plate without much pressure but enough to remove the varnish.
Second step – The plate is placed in an acid bath
Firstly the back of the plate is covered with a stop out varnish to protect it from the acid. The longer the plate remains in the acid bath the greater the depth of the etched lines of the design will be. After the plate is removed from the acid bath it is washed thoroughly and the varnish is removed to reveal the etched design on the bare plate.
Third step – Inking up the plate
The etched lines are filled with thick oil based printing ink; a layer of ink is laid on the surface of the plate and subsequently wiped and polished so that the etched lines retain the ink.
Fourth step – Printing using the etching press
The inked etching plate is covered with dampened cotton printmaking paper and then passed through the two cylinders of the etching press. The great pressure of the cylinders forces the ink from the etched lines and transfers it onto the paper, thus creating the first print – an original etching.
A work of engraving or etching has the characteristic of being reproduced in a limited number as the prints result from one plate. When an artist makes a number of prints from one plate this is called a ‘series of original prints’ which are signed and numbered by the artist. For example 1/20
Psychiko College I. B. Visual Arts students visit to “The Athens Printmaking Centre”
The Athens Prinmaking Centre K%X Pandolfini & Siaterli
We also offer school groups two day seminar/workshops covering various printmaking techniques and artistic printing.
- Drypoint
- Sugar lift technique
- Soft ground etching
- Etching and aquatint
- Printing with Chine Colle
- Monoprints
- Many other techniques and combination of techniques
Please contact the centre to arrange for suitable dates and times of your visit. At the end of each workshop the students will take with them their etching plate and print.
All materials are included in the cost. The size of the plate is 14.3 x 23 cms. Paper size – 23 x 35 cms
Athens Printmaking Centre K%X Pandolfini & Siaterli
To arrange your visit please contact – 210 3303436 6945997052 6938786293
Email – [email protected]
78, Vafeioxoriou St, Polygono, Athens (terminus of trolley number 15 and bus number 224)