E.119 Self portrait 1999

• I. 1st state of 5

  

  Drypoint. Head and shoulders portrait of the artist with a short beard, wearing spectacles, and looking straight ahead. He wears an open-necked shirt. The portrait is lightly scored and prints indistinctly.

  Light grey impression with plate tone, on wove Magnani paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘1 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.

• II. 2nd state of 5

  

  The dome of the head and the ear at right have been burnished and lowered; similarly the right side of the head has been burnished and made narrower. More drypoint hatching has been applied to the face and the hair, as well as the shirt, to which a button has been added.

  Cleanly wiped impression on wove BFK Rives paper with watermark, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘2 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.

• III. 3rd state of 5

  

  Further hatched modelling has been added to the face and to the ear at left, and hatched reflections have been added to the spectacles.

  Impression with light plate tone, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘3 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.

• IV. 4th state of 5

  The peak of the left eyebrow has been lowered. There are two variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression printed with rich burr and wiped so as to reveal the burnishing marks around the head, on wove Magnani paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘4 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.
  2. Impression with light plate tone, on wove Magnani paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’. Although inscribed ‘5’, this is an impression of the fourth state.

• V. 5th and final state

  Vertical drypoint hatching has been added beneath the shirt collar. A rocker has been used to darken the tone of the eyebrow at left, and around the edge of the neck. The shoulder at left has been raised, with the addition of several strokes. There are six variant impressions of this state.

  1. Impression with rich burr, and with plate tone on the right half of the face, on wove Magnani paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘6 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’. Although inscribed ‘6’, this is an impression of the fifth state. (Featured Image)
  2. Cleanly wiped impression, on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘5 [circled]’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’. Although inscribed ‘7’, this is an impression of the fifth state.
  3. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP I/IV’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.
  4. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP II/IV’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.
  5. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP III/IV’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.
  6. Impression on wove paper, printed by Rick Amor in his Alphington studio. Inscribed in pencil, below the plate mark: lower left: ‘AP IV/IV’; lower centre: ‘SP’; lower right: signed and dated ‘Rick Amor 99’.

  Impressions V.c. through V.f. are variably printed.

• V.a. 5th and final state (Featured Image)

  

  Vertical drypoint hatching has been added beneath the shirt collar. A rocker has been used to darken the tone of the eyebrow at left, and around the edge of the neck. The shoulder at left has been raised, with the addition of several strokes. There are six variant impressions of this state.

• No edition

• Comment

  This self portrait followed one painted in the same year (Niagara Galleries & Tony Palmer 1999), and resembles the painting in relative scale and in the placement of the image. However, there are differences in detail between the two works, and both were done independently in front of a mirror. Amor has quipped that the print makes him look like he would in a police mug shot.

  The progression of E.119 through five states reflects a straightforward development of the drypoint, from a rough sketch to a fully completed image.