'Moonmist' (1975) Phil Greenwood (b.1943) Etching with Aquatint on Paper

Phil Greenwood, Moonmist, 1975

Original etching and aquatint by British printmaker Phil Greenwood, signed, titled and numbered 29/75 in pencil.

Phil Greenwood was born in Dolgellau, North Wales in 1943 and studied at Harrow and Hornsey Colleges of Art. After a short period teaching and lecturing in printmaking, he became a full time artist and printmaker in 1971. He has exhibited extensively in Britain and internationally since the 1960s and was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1982. 

Landscape has remained central to Greenwood’s work throughout his career. Rather than making literal records of particular places, he often constructs his images from memories and impressions of landscapes he has visited, concentrating on atmosphere, light and mood. 

Moonmist was made in 1975 and combines etching with aquatint. Etching creates the fine drawn lines - the artist works into a protective ground on a metal plate and the exposed lines are then bitten into the plate with acid. Aquatint is a related printmaking technique used to create areas of tone rather than line. A fine resin is applied to the plate before it is exposed to acid, producing a subtly textured surface capable of holding ink in different densities. This allows the printmaker to build soft areas of shadow, haze and graduated colour, much closer to the tonal effect of a watercolour wash.

The technique is particularly well suited to Greenwood’s work. In Moonmist, the delicate etched branches sit against broad, softly shifting areas of mist, sky and landscape. Greenwood generally works from copper plates and is known for achieving a surprisingly wide tonal range using only two plates and two or three colours, layering and overprinting the inks to create greater depth. 

The restrained palette and almost silhouetted group of trees give Moonmist the quiet, slightly otherworldly atmosphere that characterises much of Greenwood’s landscape work. The image forms part of a broader body of etchings from this period exploring trees, moonlight, mist and changing light, including works such as Nightpool, Season of Mist and Summer Light. 

Artist: Phil Greenwood
Title: Moonmist
Date: 1975
Medium: Etching and aquatint on paper
Edition: 29/75
Plate size: 39 × 46.5 cm
Signed, titled and numbered in pencil
British, born 1943