Creepy Crawly Frog - Whilst a member of Conwy Print Workshop, I created this small etching of a tree frog crawling along a branch. Unlike linocutting, which is a relief process (the areas cut away remain white), etching is an intaglio process. It's a very different process to linocutting, primarily because it allows a range of tones to be created. Whilst I definitely wouldn't discount etching again in the future, at the time I felt it lacked the immediacy which cutting lino gave me and I couldn't engage fully with a process which seemed to essentially be drawing on metal.

"In etching, a metal (usually copper, zinc or steel) plate is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the ground with a pointed etching needle where he wants a line to appear in the finished piece, so exposing the bare metal. The échoppe, a tool with a slanted oval section is also used for "swelling" lines. The plate is then dipped in a bath of acid, technically called the mordant (French for "biting") or etchant, or has acid washed over it. The acid "bites" into the metal, where it is exposed, leaving behind lines sunk into the plate. The remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate. The plate is inked all over, and then the ink wiped off the surface, leaving only the ink in the etched lines. The plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper (often moistened to soften it). The paper picks up the ink from the etched lines, making a print." (Ref Wikipedia)