Tolkien Etchings

I think the original version of my etching, “Luthien, Beren and Morgoth”, depicting the event in the deepest chamber of Angband, beneath Thangorodrim, for my suite of prints inspired by J.R.R.Tolkien, was fairly successful. However, I was never totally satisfied with the swirling lines meant to depict Luthien’s hypnotic song. So I decided to do a second, (and later a third), state of this piece. Creating a new “state” of an etching means reworking the same plate that produced the first image. In this case I first wanted to see how the print would look without the “song” lines, so I re-etched over them and blended them into the background. I rather like the results, and feel it still tells the story this way. I only printed 5 in this state, as I wanted to move on to the third.

In the final state I am again going to add the “song” lines, however this time I will create them purely by burnishing. Burnishing means rubbing the plate with a smooth steel tool thereby actually compressing the metal and smoothing it. This technique will allow me to give the new song lines a much softer, more subtle quality.

Above the new piece are the two states, side by side.