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PRINTMAKING - Picasso

Pablo Picasso, I don't have to write an into to who he was... come on,  I wanted to look at some of Picasso's prints. I did a report on his lino cuts last year that I fell in love with ( https://catrinaannbarquist.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/picasso-lino-cuts.html )


While looking through some of Picasso's prints I found myself really interested in a series of etchings he made (156) around 1970 at the age of 90.


Eau-forte 19 Février 1970 - Etching on paper.

So visually the first thing I notice is the strong contrast from light to dark, linear to tonal and obviously scale. My favorite bit it the shadow like allusion on the arms of the two figures to the left of the darker section.





I like it because of the crosshatching effect and how much has been etched in for the ink to take to create the shadow. Shadow in print making is something that I find really attractive. The image to me, seems very sexual the way the women are holding the bodies makes me think they are perhaps prostitutes.


Etching 3 - 1970. (L.10) Etching on aquatint paper.
WAIT. What is Aquatint??


A print resembling a watercolour, made by etching a copper plate with nitric acid and using resin and varnish to produce areas of tonal shading.

Etching 22 - 1971 (l.133) - Aquatint and drypoint on paper
Etching 11- 1970 (l.13) - Etching on paper.
What I find interesting about this series is I feel there is an air of theatre around it, and the fact he was 90 at the time of making these, I feel he was thinking of his mortality. Perhaps reflecting back or making comments.
Etching 1 - 1972 (L.155) - Etching, Drypoint and aquatint on paper


This I find absolutely amazing. It really stood out to me. Its not as overly sexual as the others even thought the woman to the right has an air of sexuality about her, it feels like it is being said in a different way, but that contrast in line is absolutely stunning. I think this image alone shows how Picasso had mastered many different techniques.


It also has a great sense of depth of field. It defiantly feels like the figure on the right is further away than the face to the left. Use of tone. Light = further away. Dark = Closer. I also noticed the dark figure being on the left also instantly pulls in attention to it first, making me read the work from left to right. Composition.


I know from trying etching last year, if I remember correctly, to get that deep a black you need to crosshatch into the plate ALOT very tightly making it very rough for the ink to attach to. The linier part again, is so fluid. Almost effortless, so confident in the line itself. I always find myself questioning my hand. Almost like I don't trust it to create the mark I need to express what I am saying. With etching I become even more untrusting because its so permanent. But its something I am working on. Seeing these makes me so excited to try etching again!



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