More Etching Tidbits

I've been doing a little more experimenting with my copper etching techniques. I got a really nice new sharpie paint pen that works pretty well as an etching resist. You can get them with an ultra-fine tip, and they dry very quickly and stand up well to ferric chloride etching solution (I haven't tried it with ferric nitrate yet) I used the sharpie paint pen to make some new etched copper beads. Since the paint pen dries quickly, it makes it easier to draw on all sides of a three dimensional object. The one problem I've noticed with the sharpie paint pens is that the paint scrapes off metal easily, but as long as you are careful not to scratch the paint, they work well. I also discovered that erasers work really well for highlighting oxidized metal. The eraser gives higher contrast than steel or bronze wool, because it only hits the higher surfaces of the metal. The bead at the top of the post was oxidized and highlighted with bronze wool, while the bead below was highlighted with an eraser. Both were tumbled after oxidizing and highlighting.