Lovers of Richard Scott’s art will know that it contains images that have in recent years become recognisable as his personal iconography. These include his cats, the FHM women, the cars, the Joyride image and the Kevin’s Girl image, to name a few. This, of course, is also a feature that helps the viewer to distinguish Richard’s art from that of another artist. Part of the joy in experiencing Richard’s work is to recognise these and the way that he uses his creative energy to accommodate this iconography. In the past he has used painting, sculpture and even a cell phone to create works featuring this iconography.

The news is that Richard has taken one of these, the Kevin’s Girl image, and released it as a set of etchings.

The art of etching dates back to the 15th century when it was used as a technique to decorate steel armour and progressed to a method used to print images on paper. Today it is used in the manufacturing of bank notes, passports and printed circuit boards.

It essentially involves the use of acid to burn an image on a metal plate and there are many ways for the printmaker to control the acid’s effects. Most typically, the surface of the plate is covered in a hard, waxy “ground” that resists acid. The printmaker then scratches through the ground with a sharp point, exposing lines of metal that are attacked by the acid. After this, ink is pored over the plate and wiped off again to leave the ink in the grooves only. The plate is then used to transfer the image onto a specially treated piece of paper, usually by using a rolling press. This whole process is held dearly by many artists and it is always special to see them creating works using this medium.

This series, titled Kevin’s Girl, comes in an edition of 14 and is 15cm x 20.5cm in size. View it by clicking on the Richard Scott’s name above left.