Featured artist: Angela Brookes
- lucy w
- Jul 20
- 3 min read
Angela brings a painterly approach to her prints, using various techniques to create her atmospheric landscapes of big skies, natural forms and changing light. She tells us how she became a printmaker, how she makes her prints and what she takes inspiration from.
How did you get into printmaking?
I took up printmaking after many years of working with clay and teaching ceramics. I completed a degree in ceramics at the Central School of Art, where I was encouraged to choose a second discipline, one day each week. I chose printmaking and studied etching with Norman Ackroyd, who introduced me to the glories of aquatint. I loved the fact that you could achieve a very gentle graduation from one tone to another with aquatint.
When I took up printmaking again, I started with etching, but now my favoured printing process is a combination of drypoint with monoprint. I have developed this technique as it gives me a more painterly approach and I like the fact that each print is different and more exciting for me to produce, and it does enable me to create that delicate transition of tone and colour.
What inspires you?
My subject matter is always landscape and the natural world. I had a very rural upbringing which imbued in me a love of my surroundings and a strong sense of the passing seasons.
These early influences have stayed with me and I hope my work demonstrates my appreciation of the glorious natural world that we inhabit.
I am often inspired by a glimpse of something that catches my eye, be it a dramatic sky, a plane trail, a skein of geese, a full moon or an ancient tree. Skies fascinate me, and I try to depict them in all of their moods. From my home, I can observe the sky throughout the day, I can watch the evening light gently fade, witness the intense colours of the setting sun, and enjoy the slow rise of the moon.
How do you make your prints?
For drypoint with monoprint, I start with the drypoint, carving into the plate with a sharp etching needle to create the line. I make closely crosshatched lines to achieve the darker tonal or black areas. Sometimes I use a roulette wheel too. Occasionally I incorporate carborundum to achieve the depth of colour I need, especially on larger plates, where the black areas are extensive. I make several test prints of the first plate to make sure I am happy with the image, the line and the tones, before I add the colour, which I do in a variety of ways, sometimes on the same plate, sometimes using a second plate. As I use monoprint, I keep my editions very small, usually only five or ten, and always mark these particular prints as e/v - edition variable.
I have also created several images using polymer plates, where the image is transferred on to the plate using light. These plates are often imaginary landscapes which I construct digitally, based on my observations. I have also experimented with my own photographs, including shadows, natural forms, flowers, local memorable events, and examples of my own ceramic work. I love using these plates as they print so beautifully. I have also enjoyed hand-colouring these prints and hope to experiment further. The polymer plates afford me the possibility to create larger editions, sometimes of 20 or 30.
Recently I have experimented with mezzotint plates, using bees and moths as the subject. Here I work in reverse to the etching process and the drypoint process, gently burnishing the blackened metal plate to reveal various tonal qualities, and with enough burnishing, the white areas.
Angela is our featured artist at our gallery in Greenwich Market until August 2, and her beautiful prints are available there and a selection of them in our online shop all year round. For more information, see her artist's page and her website.
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