SOFT GROUND PROCESS
Soft ground is to give the image more texture.
1. After the hard ground printing, clean off the zinc plate with white spirit ( or better, use safe wash)
2. use vinegar(or ammonia but too smelly and a bit toxic) and whitening powder to clean the plate for degreasing and dry with hair dryer ( see steps 3 and 4 for hard ground for the steps in more details)
3. Put on hot plate to apply soft ground, but the hot plate should be less hot ( 35 deg rather than 70 deg) and roll on to apply evenly. The final colour should be a honey glazed.
4. Use different fabric and material to create the texture - I used tissue paper to create the cloud effect and draw the shadow on with a soft pencil on a tissue paper over the drawing
5. See hard ground for the acid process, basically the same except we use the weaker acid ( strength ratio 1 : 16 ) for about 2 mins, note can't use feather as the plate now is more vulnerable
6. clean off with water afterwards and then dry and apply ink as the hard ground process.
