Take an old plate of any size and turn it into a work of art!  This takes just a few items and involves the use of a wonderful product; B&B Etchall.  You will need the Etching Crème instead of  the Etching Liquid, mainly because of etching a circular area on the inside of the plate.
This is what you will need to get together to complete this project:

• B&B Etching Crème [if only doing a small 
  project the 4oz. size will do wonderfully.
• A plain plate of your choice.  I suggest white 
  or off-white, any size or shape will do.  [I used Corelle for my sample piece!]
• A technical pen or your choice of permanent marker
• Liberty Matte Sealer Spray
• Masking tape
• Your assortment of brushes and Paper Towel
• Q Tips and Windex for removing inked boo-boos
• I did the tinting on this project using my oil 
  rouging technique but you could convert to 
  acrylics easily.
• Graphite paper unless you own an opaque projector
• Pen or stylus for transferring
• Magic Rub Eraser for getting rid of graphite 
  lines and smudges after ink has dried.
• White Acrylic Paint for “snow”

ETCHING INSTRUCTIONS:

• Wash the plate to remove any oily film or 
  residue
• Set the plate on a flat surface and pour the 
  etching crème into the center of the plate and
   let it seek it’s own level.
• Set a timer for 15 minutes or more.  Crème 
  actually stops processing after around 15 
  minutes.
• After processing, literally pour the crème back
   into the bottle to use again.  Use a spatula to 
  get all of the crème off of the plate.
• Immediately rinse under tap water and rub 
  with your fingers so the etching that got 
  outside the pattern does not have a chance to
   etch that area.
• Dry thoroughly and you are ready to design!  
  Do NOT apply sealer.

INKING INSTRUCTIONS:

• If you do not own an opaque projector transfer 
  the pattern on with graphite paper.  If you do 
  have a projector merely place the pattern in 
  the door, put the glass plate on a piece of 
  Rubbermaid shelf liner so it does not slide 
  around as you are inking your design under 
  the projector itself.
• Proceed to ink in the design in as much detail 
  as you wish.  Unwanted graphite lines will 
  disappear with the Magic Rub Eraser after 
  the ink has dried.
• Mistakes with the ink can be removed with a 
  cotton swab moistened with Windex or any 
  glass cleaner that contains ammonia!  Let the 
  wet area dry completely before going back to 
  add ink to that particular area.
• After completing the inking process you are 
• ready to add color!
• Use masking tape to frame the area in that 
  was etched.  I took swatches of tape and laid 
  them around the edges of where the etched 
  circle met the un-etched border.  It was a little 
  tedious because the tape had to be laid in 
  stages allowing for the curve that was required.
   You will see what I me an when you start to 
  apply it and work your way around the circle!
  
                                  continued in next column   

pattern for tracing

APPLYING THE COLOR TINTING:

• I used my oil rouging technique.  I added color
   to the extreme background first by taking a
   Small Scumbler and stippling Payne’s Grey 
  with no medium added to the base of the trees
   in the very background.  After stippling color 
  in an uneven pattern I took a large Badger 
  Blender and “tamped” over the upper edged 
  to soften and diffuse the paint.  Do not apply 
  the paint heavily.  Keep it dusty or light in 
  application.  It will dry with the matte spray 
  faster and you will not cover all of the inking.
• I then shaded the areas under the trees in the
   foreground with Payne’s Grey in the same 
  manner. Clean up with dry Q Tips by buffing 
  the paint from the plate.
• Go outside to spray dry the tinting.  Add as 
  many light mists of  Liberty spray as 
  needed to dry the paint.  It should take approx.
   5-6.  After the last mist has dried, test with 
  your  finger.
• I added bits of B Umber and an Alizarin tint to the areas in the background as well as the snow and shaded areas in the foreground.  Refer to my photo for reference.  Finish with several mistings of the matte spray to dry, then carefully remove the 
  masking tape.
• Use either Burnt Umber Acrylic or Oil to 
  create the twigs in the lower left quadrant.  
  This helps to frame the picture.  Spray lightly 
  with several mists of the mat spray to dry the oil
   as well as protect the acrylic if that is what 
  you chose to do them in.
• The last touch was to add white acrylic with a
   fan brush.  I carefully stippled it on the pine
  boughs and in the background to give it a 
  neat wintery “look”. 
• Apply a few more final mists of the matte 
  spray to finish and that’s it!