Bald Eagle Head – ETCHING – ETCHING – 68/90

5.75″ x 9.75″

“Bald Eagles , more than any bird I know, have particular, individual faces.
I feel the way about the faces of lions. It may be my special interest in predators,
but I do like to try to capture the unique expression of each Eagle. For this reason,
I enjoyed doing this portrait and could indeed do many more without tiring of
the subject.

I also enjoy the direct, hands-on involvement that the process of making an
original lithographic prints affords the artist. In a world steeped in technology,
I admire tradition and old methods. There is a great pleasure in making something
by hand and in using skills that are hundreds of years old.

With original prints such as this, the artist creates the different color plates used
in the printing( instead of having the camera create color separations as with
reproduction prints). In the case of this original lithograph, I tried to restrict
myself to two color plates. I often like to set artistic challenges such as the
white on white painting in White Encounter – Polar Bear or the black on black
in Midnight – Black Wolf. In this case, I did my drawing on the first Mylar plate,
for which I selected greenish-gray ink. Then I did another plate, for which I
selected a brownish-gray ink. I could have left it at that, but I decided for
the sake of realism to do some Prismacolor yellow hand coloring for beak
and eye and some warm, sooty color for shadows around the eye
and body feathers.”  

N19 – HALL