Illumination Reflection

Oranges, by Gary de Soto

"The first time I walked

With a girl, I was twelve, 

Cold, and weighted down

With two oranges in my jacket. 

December. Frost cracking 

Beneath my steps, my breath 

Before me, then gone...

I smiled,

Touched her shoulder, and led 

Her down the street, across

A used car lot"

I had read this poem, Oranges, by Gary de Soto, a while ago in middle school, and I always imagined it as a snowy setting in the 1950's. When translating that image into an etching I wanted to highlight the range of value from the bright lights to the darkness of the night. Originally, I had many, many ideas of how to show those intentions in my work. I decided on a somewhat literal interpretation with an old car dealership in the snow. I thought it had a lot of potential to be better than how it turned out. Unfortunately, when the plastic plate stopped printing I was unable to develop the drawing in the way I wanted. However I was able to literally illuminate my drawing by adding a backlight to the inked plate. Some comments that people pointed out were:

-Good contrast, light behind illumination 

-Texture is good, 3-D look with shadow 

-Mood with darkness is eerie 

-Etching around the light adds interest

-Can't tell it's an etching  

I agree with the comments and I was overall glad with the way it turned out. The etching medium allowed me to really add in detail and see the medium in a new light. I didn't enjoy etching as much as other mediums like pencil and paint because it is difficult to see the end result beforehand.