Etch a sketch

Stairs on both sides of a door-
Etch proof  3"x5"

   In printmaking I am often making "sketches" or prototypes of which there is little more planning than to score the substrait as if I were taking pen to paper. In these two etch sketches I am working on shelac covered matte board with an exacto knife. The magic comes when I pull the paper after they have run through the press as I am never really sure what I have until I pull the proof.

Gear shift knob- etch proof 3 1/2"x 4 1/2"

    To prepare I premake a few dozen or more of these little plates from short ends of a matte job. After the shelac dries a few days, I throw them in a baggie with an exacto knife and drag them around for a few days instead of my sketch book. I pull one out when I got an hour or less to cut a plate from direct observation. When I get maybe a dozen or more cut, I reshelac the boards to dry again before printing. Then I ink them up and it's like a Christmas stocking to see how they turn out. Often times they get a piece of dust in the shelac while drying or dinged/dented in transport but for me that is what keeps it "sketchy" looking and the raw imperfections are what I like most about the process. On occasion I will add a few more cuts if something isn't reading easily but for the most part the proof is the product. I have collected many of these etch sketches in a 4x5 book which I also proof my small lino blocks directly into the book. When it's all done, like a sketchbook, I have a bound collection of efforts... just in a different medium.