I usually use paint for black in my design, but wanted to see if I could get a good “black” through chemical reaction. I used an image of a humpback whale to make the copper plate.
I found a good black and white photo of a humpback whale, and made relatively short work of making a stencil design. The body of the whale will have 3 shades, plus the background. I decided to keep a ring around the perimeter of the whale to later have a sharp contrast between the whale and the background.
I cut out the design on my machine and weeded the dark colour first. Instead of paint, I will try using chemicals to darken the image. My aim is to have an even coverage in the exposed areas.
The experiment worked well; the coverage is even, the slight spots make it look more like an organic texture, and the “black” ended up with a little navy blue colour in it, making it look more like a natural humpback. I clear coat the image and let it dry.
I decide to try and colour the brown parts next. I weed the stencil, apply chemicals, and put in the chamber. When the brown came out so well, I decided to save a layer of clear coat and curing time by immediately removing the bare copper parts of the stencil first, then applying the clear coat. After it dries, I remove the stencil for the background.
Last, it’s time to remove the “aura” around the whale. It was necessary to have an aura around the whale to make sure the whale is not lost in the background. If the background were dark, the top would blend in, and if the background were light, the copper would blend, so the aura just ensures that I have a buffer around the image to ensure that the shape of the whale does not get muddled if you look at it from a distance.
I apply chemicals to the ring around the whale leave it out in the air to react. After a while, the “aura” has advanced into the background, so I rinse the plate, let it dry, and apply clear coat to seal it.
I think this stencil design worked out very well – not too many tiny pieces and 3 shades for the body. The experiment to etch a colour in the dark areas worked out well over using paint, too. I could apply the colours in any order if I choose to go this route again.. The “aura” around the perimeter of the image is a good plan to keep using, too. I could always remove it along with the background if I do not want to have it appear in the final image, and it helps to maintain some cut lines for my cutting machine software. I’m sure I’ll be returning to the humpback whale design in the future.