These are the four etching plates reversed as a negative image.  The etched lines appear as if they contained ink.  Because the plates are drawn in reverse, reversing them again gives an accurate indication of what the print will look like.

Shown below are some pictures of the Samford Hall plate during various degrees of completion.  The detail example of the towers shows about two weeks’ progress into the plate.  Lines are “drawn” using a pin vise, which exposes the copper plate beneath its black asphaltum ground.  Note that the pin vise, or etching needle, does not gouge or scratch the plate, but simply removes the ground exposing the metal underneath.

The remaining five pictures show the second and third stages where the bricks and clouds are drawn in.  Notice in the flattened views how rough the ground surface is due to the many crosshatched lines.  It also has a waxy appearance.  Extra asphaltum is brushed onto the beveled edges and previously engraved border and title areas to protect them from accidental biting in the acid bath.

Most plates go through several stages of biting, proofing and grounding.  My use of the term “stage” is not to be confused with “state.”  State is applied to edition pulls off the same plate where the plate has been modified significantly to render a recognizably different image.

The detail picture of the Langdon Hall plate shows a close-up of pigeons.  Though the plate is copper, this shot resembles how a zinc plate looks with lines drawn on it.  The picture bottom left was taken a few minutes before the first acid bite.  The plate borders are double coated with asphaltum and stop-out varnish to insure no unwanted areas are bitten into the plate.  This image also represents the time when as many lines as possible are drawn while the graphite guidelines are still visible to the artist.  The remaining pictures (right top and bottom) show second and third stage crosshatching work after the first-stage lines have been bitten and the plate reground with asphaltum.  It is also during this time the clouds are drawn in.

The next picture shows some first stage work about three months into the plate.  Pictures 3 and 4 show progress at the seven-month mark.  The bottom two pictures are mirrored negative images of the plate showing seven months of progress,  These images very closely resemble an inked plate, and they helped give an idea of what the print might look like.  This plate was eleven months in the making.