Calcutta Skies

This is a combination of photo etching with some hand-drawn line etching and aquatint, made on a zinc plate. I have also done chine collé with very thin Nepalese paper.

THE STORY

The starting point for this etching was a photograph I had taken and developed myself about 10 years ago -- I wanted to use it again in my current printmaking practice, so decided to do a photo etching, with some line etching and 'aquatinted' skies added on, to give it some drama. It holds nostalgia of the grey Calcutta monsoon skies, blurry with heavy rain-filled clouds, which make the birds of the city including pigeons, frantically fly about, and ultimately settle in their nests.