The Artistic Process

           Employing the technique of etching, she achieves the finest of lines by drawing with special sharp tools through a thin and even waxy ground that she has placed on a metal plate of copper or zinc.  Varying the size of the tools produces divergent lines interacting so well that she captures the most intricate feathering within each bird or the subtle nuances in the most delicate flower.  The plate is then immersed in a nitric acid bath that etches the line drawn into the waxy ground, thus producing an etched or intaglio plate.  These etched lines will hold ink in the printing process. Throughout this process, the plate is lifted out of the acid bath many times, and areas that have been deemed sufficiently etched are covered with a stop-out varnish.  The amount of ink these etched lines hold is determined by the various timings in the acid, the deepest line being allowed to remain unprotected in the bath for the longesttiming.  This overall process may be repeated numerous times before the plate has been sufficiently etched to the effect planned by the artist. 

           Along with the line etch, she employs the process of aquatint.  In this process, a fine rosin powder is sprinkled evenly on the plate.  This rosin sticks to the metal when the plate is heated quickly at extreme heat.  When the plate is once again immersed in an acid bath, the acid bites the areas of metal plate that are not protected by the particles of rosin. Leaving various areas exposed to the acid for different lengths of time produces distinct graduations of tone. This process is repeated numerous times, once again using the protection of the varnish to achieve the tonal variations. 

           This artist makes several plates for each colour etching.  She often combines the line etch, aquatint, and other processes on each plate, usually inking each plate in several different colours.  Varying these colours with careful application and creating each plate in exact register with the other plates requires a mastery of the technique for which Judith Hall is recognized. 

           Once this process is completed to this artist’s discerning eye, each plate is inked by hand with professional quality etchings inks.  The areas that were protected and not etched by the acid are carefully wiped to ensure no ink remains.   When the plate is pulled by hand through her etching press under tremendous pressure, the ink is transferred from the etched lines and tonal areas onto the dampened surface of a special handmade archival rag paper.  The great pressure required to pick up this ink leaves a visible plate mark within the margin of the uncompressed paper.  Each plate must be completely hand-inked and hand-wiped once again in every printing of each etching. 

           There is occasional hand-colouring within her etchings, for there are times that she finds certain areas within the image to be better translated with a few extra touches of the paintbrush, such as the iridescence of her hummingbirds. 

           The process of embossing, that involves yet another technique in original graphics of cutting relief areas and lines into a plate to create various depths of the embossed areas, is combined with the meticulous process of etching.  The result of the expressive visual qualities of two great mediums coming together as one.