Winter Walk, Water of Leith, 2021

‘I have lived and worked as an artist in Scotland for almost 40 years. Although I work in several media my favorite is the artist print medium of etching. I like the mood and texture which I can get with the process: this is in landscapes or cityscapes. I am currently interested in etchings where I can explore how the medium can show light and mood. This may be the time of day or a season. I particularly like scenes which can be fully expressed in monotone. Winter scenes especially lend themselves to this where colour is often lost in the brightness of snow against the trees.

The traditional etching method is to draw through a wax layer on a metal plate which is then put into acid. The acid etches a line where a line has been drawn through the wax and so in this way the drawing is etched in metal. Once the wax is removed the plate has ink applied in the etched lines and paper placed over the plate and put through a press. As it is pressed down the paper picks up the ink from the groves and when peeled back shows the image on the paper.

The etched plate has the image in three dimensions where the etching has removed some of the metal and this gives the printed image its own unique texture. I always aspire to use this in the final image. For me etchings have a “punch” which the other print mediums cannot match and for this reason I return to it time and again.’
John Heywood