ART 320

Soft Ground Etching

Definition of soft ground
1: a mixture of ordinary etching ground usually with tallow or grease that is used chiefly to obtain textural lines and effects on the plate.
Much like the hard ground used in standard etching but with admixture of tallow to the usual etching ground which renders normally hard ground to be  a soft and waxy ground and prevents it from setting hard when it is applied in a thin layer to the copper plate. The artist draws in pencil or crayon onto paper laid over the soft  and when the paper is removed it will take the soft ground with it revealing a soft scratch like opening in the soft ground surface. The artist can also place other items onto the soft ground like cloth or crumpled paper and when ran trough the press and lifted of will crate texture in the soft ground that can be bitten in the acid. The soft ground is by its nature not as resistant as hard ground and there can be what is called foul bite. Like plate tone during wiping the foul bite can be a desirable added mark .