Illinois artist Barbara Pihos works in the traditional printmaking techniques of etching and aquatint.
She begins her landscapes with field sketches, which are the basis for more detailed compositions drawn directly into the acid resist on her zinc plates. She gives a brief overview of her process, and the etching/aquatint process in general, on her website.
She works fairly large for etchings, up to 18×24″ (45x60cm), perhaps larger, and her process for aquatint is more involved than most.
In addition to the gallery of work on her website, you can find examples on the websites of several galleries in which she is represented (listed below).
Unfortunately, the images are usually so small that her work looks photographic in reproduction, which I think is unfortunate. You can see a bit of the actual visual character of her etchings, however, in small pop-up details accessed from “Closeup” links above some of the pieces in her website gallery (above, bottom two images).
I particularly enjoy the way Pihos balances areas of intense detail with areas of open space in many of her compositions, in a sort of yin/yang dance of texture.
