Etching Painterly and Subtle Effects with Coffee Lift and Spit Bite
1 day course
18 October 2025
10am to 4pm
£125 including 1 x 15x15cm or 20x15cm aluminium plate
On this course you will learn how to prepare an aluminium plate, apply hard ground and to etch using copper sulphate. You will create painterly and subtle effects and learn how to ink up, wipe and print your plate successfully on an etching press. By the end of the course, you will have created a small variable edition of prints to take home.
With a paint brush or dip pen, learn how to apply coffee in a loose and painterly manner creating a positive autographic image etched onto an aluminium plate after applying a hard ground. Using the unique ‘self-aquatinting’ quality of aluminium, you will then paint subtle gradients of tone, like watercolour, directly onto the plate with a ‘spit bite’ solution. Additional effects may be applied using greasy media such as chinagraph pencils and oil pastels.
Course structure
• Explanation of the techniques with examples.
• Explore the basic principles of sugar and coffee lift, direct and deliberate hand applied etching with spit bite, and the unique qualities of aluminium for etching.
• Prepare your plate for etching by bevelling edges, degreasing and protecting the back.
• Apply coffee with paint brushes and dip pens before applying a hard etching ground.
• Process your plate to release the image before etching in a saline copper sulphate solution.
• Clean, then develop the design further with spit bite and greasy media.
• Select and prepare appropriate paper for printing.
• Ink up, wipe and print your plate on an etching press in a single colour.
Pre-course information
All drawing on to the plate will be freehand. You are very welcome to bring your sketchbook or any references with you, but the process does not allow for preparatory tracing or transferring drawings.
Experience level
Suitable for beginners and those wishing to refresh their skills.
Maximum 5 places
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For all courses except CPSC Certificate course
Full payment of the course fee is required when booking a place. A reserved place is not secure until full payment has been received.
If for any reason you are unable to attend, we will refund monies paid minus a £20 admin fee, as long as you cancel your place more than 1 month before the course start date.
For CPSC Certificate course
Payment for Term 1 is required when booking a place. A reserved place is not secure until this payment has been received. Payments for Terms 2 & 3 will be due at the end of the previous term. Payments for Terms 2 & 3 will be due before the first day of each term.
If for any reason prior to the commencement of the course you are unable to attend, we will refund monies paid minus a £20.00 admin fee, as long as you cancel your place more than 1 month before the course start date. Once you start the course on Term 1 you have committed to all 3 terms. Course transfers are at the discretion of Curwen Print Study Centre.
There is an option to book your place for £100 deposit. If you choose this option your place is secured. The balance of term 1 will be due 20 working days before the start of the course. If you cancel more than 20 working days before the course start date, we will refund monies paid minus a £20 admin fee. If your place is not cancelled during this timescale, and the balance is not paid then the deposit is non refundable. All other Terms & Conditions remain the same.
Curwen Print Study Centre reserves the right to cancel courses – a full refund will be made in these circumstances.
