Skip Rohde

About the Artist

Skip Rohde is painter and printmaker working in Asheville’s historic River Arts District, where he has been the President of the River District Artists for three years. He teaches classes in the College for Seniors at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He is also the courtroom artist for WLOS-TV.

Skip was a U.S. Navy officer for twenty two years. After retiring, he earned a degree in fine art from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. Additionally, he has studied art at Memphis State University, the Torpedo Factory, and Maryland Institute, College of Art.

Etchings

These images are all original prints, either etchings or drypoints. In an etching, a plate is prepared and covered with a thin acid-resistant coating. The artist draws the image onto the plate. This removes the coating and exposes the metal. When the drawing is done, the artist submerges the plate in a dilute acid bath. The acid eats away (or etches) the exposed metal. When enough has been eaten away, the artist removes the plate and cleans off the coating.

Now it’s time for printing. While the paper is soaking in a water bath, the artist covers the plate with a very thick ink. Then the ink on the surface is very carefully wiped off, leaving only the ink in the recessed lines. Now the plate is put onto the press. The artist takes the paper out of the soaking tray, blots it almost dry, and places it on top of the plate on the press. Then the plate and paper are run between two rollers that press the paper very hard onto the plate. This transfers the ink from the plate to the paper. The new print is allowed to dry, then dampened and pressed flat.

Drypoints are very similar to etchings, except that no acid is used. Instead, the artist uses a very hard stylus to draw the image on the plate. The stylus literally carves through the metal, creating a slight burr where it peels back. This burr holds ink. When you compare an etching to a drypoint, you’ll see that the etching has sharp, well-defined lines, while a drypoint has very light and slightly fuzzy lines, which gives a much softer texture. Additionally, a drypoint plate is very fragile, and the burr is very quickly mashed down. From a soft copper drypoint plate, it’s hard to get more than six to ten good prints before the burr is gone.