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• Airbrush (Badger model recommended) 
• Compressor 
• Hunt Speedball Water Soluble Screen Filler 4570 
• 2 copper plates (1 will be a small test plate) 
• materials for stencils (paper, X-acto knife, small coins or weights) 
 

• Paasche Airbrush Model H (for hobbyist)
•  works for high viscosity liquids
•  be sure to use siphon fed
•  rinse in water
•  rinse and let stay in ammonia water solution 
•   (not much ammonia, cannot even smell it)

1. Remove all grease and oxidation from the plates (Dawn; Salt & Vinegar), and rinse with water. Dry the plates immediately, and cover their backs with contact paper to protect from the ferric chloride etch. 
 
2. If there is any area you wish to preserve as bright white (or paper color) this is the time to stop it out with screen filler (or Future) on your plate. 
 
3. Using the airbrush, apply the Hunt Speedball Screen Filler (appropriately diluted) to your image on the plate, and in equal amounts to a test plate. Remember that the screen filler is going to prevent the plate from etching: it is the minute areas of open plate between the droplets of screen filler that will etch and produce your tonalites. Therefore: more screen filler produces a lighter value than less screen filler. Use your Radio Shack magnifier to check for coverage, and aim for 50% coverage of the plate - in other words the areas between the drops of screen filler should be about the same size as the drops themselves. 

Apply aquatint: 
Prop plate against wall 
Apply Diluted Speedball Screen Filler  with airbrush 
 (33%-50%) We used 33% water 

Variables: 

• Dilution of screen filler (viscosity)

(the more water the more the Screen filler breaks down 
• Air pressure  - 40-60 psi

   (the higher the pressure the finer the spray) 
• Distance between airbrush and plate
• Type (model of aribrush0 and nozzle used
• Spray duration

• Begin with basic aquatint
• Apply stop out (either Future Floor Wax or Screen Filler) Two layersof Future is necessary.
•  two thin layers of Screen Filler is better than 1 thick
• Dry
• Re-etch
• Rinse with cool or cold water (Warm dissolves Screen Filler)
• Rinse in salt/vinegar solution to remove the oxidation
• Blot on clean newsprint
• Dry
• .....  Repeat as desired  .....
• Printing:
• Need to be able to move the ink around a little, donít wipe too dry

i. remove plate from ferric chloride 
ii. rinse THOROUGHLY with water 
iii. Immerse in deoxidizing solution (salt & vinegar) for several minutes 
iv. rinse off salt and vinegar with water 
v. dry plate wioth hair dryer 
vi. apply screen filler with a brush to stop action of ferric chloride on specific 
areas of your image 
vii. dry plate (hair dreyer) and re-etch. Repeat entire process (steps i - vii) as 
many times as is necessary.

7. Remove the screen filler from the test plate with an ammonia & water solution and proof it. Label the proof according to the total time each area has been in the etchant. Proceed to etch the image on your other plate according to the times in the ferric chloride as necessary for each appropriate value. Take the plate out of the ferric chloride and stop out areas as they have been etched for the right amount of time. (You'll need to rinse off the plate, dry it, apply screen filler with a brush and let that dry too before etching each step further). 
 

 If you have a taste for the unexpected: 
 

• Dissolve some of the sprayed screen filler with water when wet, or a water/ammonia solution when dry. 
• Use the litho crayon for stopping out over the sprayed screen filler. It gives the plate a nice tooth to draw on. 
• Draw on a copper plate with a wax crayon. Coat it with future. When the future is dry, run the plate under hot water and rub at the crayon until it lifts the future up. Then spray with screen filler for a "lift ground" effect (strong black crayon-like marks). 
• Experiment with other techniques and materials in combination with this process and share the results with the class. 

See your textbook for other possible uses of this method.

• Apply water to surface of prepared plate.
• Water evaporates 
• the outer edges of water droplets will have some dots
• virtually none in the middle
• Water acts as a stop out
• Airbrush on Screen filler with plate flat

• dissolve screen filler aquatint 
• with ammonia water solution if dry 
• with water if wet 
• Paint on wet or dry plate with screen filler, dry all or part way. 
• If dry part way you can wash filler off partially, work in again. This is the best way to get brush stroke.  Multiple layers of thin aquatint is a better stop out than 1 thick layer. So... the thick method is better for destruction 
• Glycerin 
• Vaseline 
• Crayon 

• Begin with basic aquatint
•  Mezzotint ground-- best to get it in one pass
•  Mezzotint surface from etched airbrushed screen filler
• Etch in ferric to create mezzotint surface
• Rinse with cool or cold water (Warm dissolves Screen Filler)
• Rinse in salt/vinegar solution to remove the oxidation
• Blot on clean newsprint
• Dry
• Apply Screen Filler
•  Paint dilute screen filler onto etched mezzotint ground
•  in thin layers to reduce black tones to grays
• Print
• Printing:
• Need to be able to move the ink around a little, donít wipe too dry

• Use basic aquatint techniques
• Aquatint over stencil
• Etch in ferric 
• Rinse with cool or cold water (Warm dissolves Screen Filler)
• Rinse in salt/vinegar solution to remove the oxidation
• Blot on clean newsprint
• Dry
• Apply Screen Filler
•  in thin layers to reduce black tones to grays
• Print
• Printing:
• Need to be able to move the ink around a little, donít wipe too dry

•  range 1 min. - 1 hr. 30 min. 
•  use Future floor wax or speedball screen filler as stop out 
•  2 thin coats of Future are better than 1 thick 
•  Hunt Speed ball Water Soluble Screen Filler 4570  certified by the Art & Craft Material Institute as "Non-toxic". 
• is airbrushed onto the etching plate in various concentrations 
• plate  etched 

. 
 
 

produce the rich mezzotint black in only one etch. 
structural breakdown. In contrast, the particles of Hunt Speed ball screen filler undergo a structural breakdown. BUT this breakdown is impeded by the fact that this particular type of screen filler has clay particles as part of its constituent formulation.  when it does breakdown, it does so in such a way to produce a fine aquatint within itself. 

Second,  various dilution's with water. The greater the dilution the finer the aquatint. 
 variety of sprays that can be laid onto the copper plate by varying not only the amount of water in proportion to screen filler but also the P.S.I. pressure (how forceful the air is released) from the air compressor. A good starting mixture to work with is 70% screen filler to 30% water. Experiment with different dilution's to learn the working characteristics of each. 

Third, a plate can be etched only once to produce a full tonal range from the richest blacks to the softest gray 

Fourth, stencils 

• wet or dried screen filler aquatint can be manipulated with water or redissolved with a mild water/ammonia solution to create unique variations.
•  When reworking a plate, after it has been etched,  an anti-oxidation solution over the surface of the copper plate to neutralize the oxidation created because of the reaction of the ferric chloride etchant to the copper plate. A simple oxidation solution can be made by adding three tablespoons of salt to a cup of white vinegar. Immediately after the plate is etched wash off the ferric chloride with water. Then holding the plate over a photo developing tray run the vinegar salt solution over the plate. Then rewash with water and blow dry with a hairdryer. This deoxidization should also be done if you are progressively etching the plate and stopping out between etches.
• Dip bath

1. Immediately after using the airbrush to lay down an aquatint, drop the end portion of the airbrush into a jar containing a mild water/ammonia mixture. As a matter of course, the airbrush should either be blowing out a stream of screen filler particles or it should be submerged in an aqueous solution. 

2. When you are finished laying down an aquatint it is important to run water through the airbrush several times to clear out any screen filler residue. 

3. After the airbrush has been thoroughly cleaned out with water it should be housed in such a way that the tip of the airbrush is submerged into a mild water/ ammonia solution. 

modify a 500 g glass jam jar to make a larger reservoir bottle. This can be done by unscrewing the metal suction tube from the Paasche reservoir bottle and fitting it to the larger glass bottle by drilling a hole in its metal lid (do this at the side of the lid not in the middle). To compensate for the extra length needed on the metal suction tube inside the larger jar attach a small amount of plastic tubing. (Fish tank aquarium pumps use a plastic tubing that fits well.) This container can hold up to 500g of premixed screen filler aquatint solution which facilitates using this technique over extended periods of time

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