DOI Heft:
No. 178 (January, 1908)
DOI Artikel:Newbolt, Frank: The etchings of Mr. Fred. V. Burridge, R.E.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20776#0316
F. V. Bur ridge, R.E.
explain itself, or is " unfinished." There is nothing
hasty or ill-considered about it, although it is full
of boldness and vigour and must have been actually
etched in a fine frenzy of enthusiasm. Wisht
Weather is a less beautiful subject, but The Pride of
North Devon, which was in the Paris Exhibition,
is equal to Harlech in this particular quality.
Sand-grain is used on this plate very judiciously.
After the plate is grounded or re-grounded, a piece
of sand-paper is rubbed over the surface where a
tone is required, and the marks made are bitten in
the usual way. The same effect may sometimes
be given by aquatint, by the roulette, or by
foul-biting, but whichever is used the risk of
making the plate appear muddy, confused or lazy
is considerable. There is little or no grain or tint
in the engraving of the plate exhibited last year—
The Marsh Farm, which Mr. Burridge always
prints himself. It is instructive to note that he is
one of the very few who are really capable of
printing their own plates as well as or better than
professional printers, and that he prefers to print
himself those which seem to require special
attention. Amongst these are The Old Shipyard,
At Lowest Ebb, Willows in the Marsh, A Spring
Afternoon, Bideford Bridge, Wisht Weather,
Morfa, Harlech, and Evening on the Yore.
In printing this proof of The Marsh Farm he
has left a slight trace of ink on the plate to suggest
the dreary wind and coming rain, but it is almost
a pity, as the etched work needs no assistance of
this kind, however useful it may be in some cases,
perhaps in most.
The plate is a very fine one from every point of
view, and it should increase Mr. Burridge*s reputa-
tion. It has no local interest such as must ever
be inseparable from such a subject as Bideford
Bridge; it has no horseman, no girl with a pail,
and no geese, but this only leaves us at liberty to
admire the delicacy of the distance and the glory
of the sky behind the shivering trees.
The Dockyard Smithy, which won the bronze
medal, and The Little Smithy are of a different
sort. The former is difficult, dashing, and original:
" wisht weather"
282
from an etching by fred. v. burridge
explain itself, or is " unfinished." There is nothing
hasty or ill-considered about it, although it is full
of boldness and vigour and must have been actually
etched in a fine frenzy of enthusiasm. Wisht
Weather is a less beautiful subject, but The Pride of
North Devon, which was in the Paris Exhibition,
is equal to Harlech in this particular quality.
Sand-grain is used on this plate very judiciously.
After the plate is grounded or re-grounded, a piece
of sand-paper is rubbed over the surface where a
tone is required, and the marks made are bitten in
the usual way. The same effect may sometimes
be given by aquatint, by the roulette, or by
foul-biting, but whichever is used the risk of
making the plate appear muddy, confused or lazy
is considerable. There is little or no grain or tint
in the engraving of the plate exhibited last year—
The Marsh Farm, which Mr. Burridge always
prints himself. It is instructive to note that he is
one of the very few who are really capable of
printing their own plates as well as or better than
professional printers, and that he prefers to print
himself those which seem to require special
attention. Amongst these are The Old Shipyard,
At Lowest Ebb, Willows in the Marsh, A Spring
Afternoon, Bideford Bridge, Wisht Weather,
Morfa, Harlech, and Evening on the Yore.
In printing this proof of The Marsh Farm he
has left a slight trace of ink on the plate to suggest
the dreary wind and coming rain, but it is almost
a pity, as the etched work needs no assistance of
this kind, however useful it may be in some cases,
perhaps in most.
The plate is a very fine one from every point of
view, and it should increase Mr. Burridge*s reputa-
tion. It has no local interest such as must ever
be inseparable from such a subject as Bideford
Bridge; it has no horseman, no girl with a pail,
and no geese, but this only leaves us at liberty to
admire the delicacy of the distance and the glory
of the sky behind the shivering trees.
The Dockyard Smithy, which won the bronze
medal, and The Little Smithy are of a different
sort. The former is difficult, dashing, and original:
" wisht weather"
282
from an etching by fred. v. burridge