Graphic Chemical has reformulated their water based relief ink. It is better than the old version because it has thinner viscosity and rolls up easier. It seems to be a little but smoother but still has some tack; however this doesn’t mean it is better for an etching ground. The same ingredients that people have been using to plasticize and disperse the old ground don’t work as well because of the new formulation. The fine ground colors are better for roll on hard ground peacock blue, crimson red, etc.
Place some ink on your roll up slab, 10 grams of graphic chemical water based ink that is a strip of ink an 6-inches long and 1.5 inches wide. Add 1 tsp or 5 mls of water based textile screen ink. This is enough ink to cover a 16x20 inch plate. Mix thoroughly together. There will be a change with the viscosity of the ink because of the textile screen ink. It will become smoother with enough tack to be rolled on. Roll onto a slab a smooth coat then onto your deoxidized plate, with a small brayer or larger brayer for bigger plates. Roll on a thin to medium coat; the thicker you roll on a coat, the more resistance your etching needle will have scratching through the surface of the ground. Thinner is better.
Place your plate onto a ventilated hot plate and heat at 350 degrees F or 177 degrees C for 5 minutes. I have a made a cover for the plate so that it looks like an oven. Bend up an old aluminum litho plate so that it has a ½ inch of clearance from the top of the plate. After 5 minutes remove the plate. Your plate is now ready to draw through and etch. A simple hot plate ventilation may be made by purchasing a hot plate griddle and placing behind the griddle a household kitchen stove ventilation unit. A hot plate griddle and a ventilation unit can be purchased for less that $100.00.
The prepared ink in slab will remain usable for up to 1 hour before it starts to dry out and must be removed from the slab. To strip the surface of the ground from the plate use a saturated solution of sodium carbonate and hot water. It takes 5-10 minutes in a tray for it to be removed, a small piece of decorator felt is an excellent scouring pad for the removing of the blue ground. A different way of stripping the ground is to use soluacryl resoluble acrylic medium. Add a saturated solution of H20 and sodium carbonate to the soluacryl or just add some ammonia. Leave on the plate for 2-3 minutes. Rub with a soft piece of felt and discard as solid waste into a plastic garbage bag. It is possible to also use dishwashing gel and adding a saturated solution of sodium carbonate and water. Never use ammonia with dishwashing gel since it may contain bleach.
The water based textile screen ink is not waterproof but when heated it becomes waterproof. It serves as the plasticizer and the dispersing agent. The ground has good drawing properties and won’t chip. It will hold up in strong etches in copper or aluminum plates. The new blue roll on hard ground can remain on the plate for a ½ an hour- 45 minutes with a fan blowing cold air on it. It will remain firm enough to draw through a piece of paper as a hand drawn soft ground. If it is left for 3.5 hours with a fan blowing cold air on it, it will become firmer and can be used as a hard ground. It will be softer than the heated hard ground. Some people prefer the softer hard ground. Remember that this ground still has to be heated to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) before etching to make it resistant to the etch.
For a complete list of supply sources to make this etching ground click here.
