A White Etching Ground for Drawing: An Argument for Rembrandt's Lost Ground

This paper examines the origins and the significance that the etching varnish has had in the practice of drawing within printmaking, from Bosse's initial paradigms up to the innovative and obscure techniques from the 19th century. The common etching ground is framed within the possibility of a white etching ground for drawing as used by Rembrandt van Rijn, and the developments this same ground went through: its origins, its definition, its use and its ever-changing formulas. Different techniques and methods are analysed in this context, from the more accessible and perhaps better known method as proposed by Bosse to the more obscure and obsolete positive method. This varied definition of white ground is set against a series of other possible "grounds" traditionally used in painting and drawing, and through these experiments we argue that the overlap between printmaking, painting and drawing allows artists to adapt these various systems to meet the requirements of certain experimental procedures, thus furthering the study of new possibilities and methods in these same practices. In considering the white ground as a framework for this potential, this essay presents examples that function as a means to recover these techniques and emphasize a deeper connection between these art forms. As we aim to point out with this experimental study, there is a wealth of drawing and painting techniques to explore within the printmaking practice.