Etchings

Bell Tower

Little Boats

Justin Ward grew up in Carmel Valley, Carmel Highlands and Monterey, California, attended art school at California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland and received a degree in Graphic Design and Illustration with a minor in Printmaking. While at college, he taught himself the art of etching by using the printmaking studio facilities at night and weekends. His etchings are now available in a number of galleries as well as on permanent display at the Community Hospital in Monterey and in the permanent collection of the Monterey Maritime Museum. He has also received numerous awards at the Monterey County Fair Art Exhibitions including a first place and honorable mention last year. He has also done extensive research and study on the history of printmaking from Durer, to Rembrandt to the present day, with a strong emphasis on the Etching Revival Period between 1840 and 1920, centering on James McNeill Whistler and his immediate contemporaries. He considers himself an expert authority on Whistler and his school. He has a small etching press and studio set up at home and has managed to continue creating original etchings throughout his professional career. He gets enormous satisfaction from creating his own fine art.

Each of his etchings is a unique and individual piece of handcrafted art. Each is hand numbered and signed at the bottom as proof of the artist’s approval of the image. Most of the etching editions are very small, sometimes limited to as few as ten printed pieces up to editions of approximately 50. An edition is marked numerically from 1 to the final amount issued and are always printed on the same paper stock and meant to look as close as possible throughout this final edition. He has also selected etchings for sale marked “Artist Proof”, “Trial Proof” and “AP” or are not marked at all, which are unique prints pulled from his own collection or as special prints made for friends and family. As an etching is initially printed, variations on types of paper stock or colored ink are used to experiment with the image until he feels that he has found the right look and feel to the edition. In this early stage, additions or corrections to the drawing may be made directly on the zinc plate either by re-etching or touching up with a needle directly on the plate (called “drypoint”). Many of his “Artists Proofs” come from these experimental early stages before the final printed edition is completed and the etching plate is destroyed.

For additional information about Justin Ward's etchings, visit his website at http://www.jwardetchings.com.

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