"Lack and shortcomings create" - PAUL VALERY"You should be satisfied discovering and not explaining" - GEORGES BRAQUE"I don't seek, I find" - PABLO PICASSO"I use differently materials and techniques in use for ages." - SHIGERU BAN"A painter is a collector who makes paintings that he likes to see at other people's place" - PABLO PICASSO"I refuse to see the finished product in order to only see what it's made of" - PHILIPPE STARCK"Every day, I dim the value of intelligence" - MARCEL PROUST"I don't have to deform, I start shapeless and I shape" - GEORGE BRAQUE"The agility of a building goes hand in hand with the sincerity of a purpose." - RENZO PIANO"The artist is a constant player whose masterpiece is the game won" - ANDRE MALRAUX"Money is a good servant but a bad master" - ALEXANDRE DUMAS"The logical reasoning must run into the sense approach in order to make apparent the architecture" - TADAO ANDO"Art is not power but word of comfort" - THOMAS MANN"The architect has to choose a disadvantage and to assume the responsability." - COOP HIMMELB(L)AU"A piece of art is a cry in the desert" - FRANCOIS MAURIAC"A way to act is to be a dreamer" - PHILIPPE STARCK"Art starts where nature stops" - OSCAR WILDE"When I look at a scenery, nothing can stop me from looking at its faults" - OSCAR WILDE"I desire a piece of me still unknown" - PAUL GAUGUIN"By architecture, I want to do the wind dancing, the earth and the sky stiring !" - TADAO ANDO"Today is the first day of the rest of my life" - ADDAGE OCCIDENTAL"Less is more»" - PRECEPTE DU BAHAUS"Architecture is everywhere, in a curb of pavement, in a territory abandoned by town planning" - PATRICK BOUCHAIN"The set should highlight a person and allow him to draw the best from inside" - JACQUES GARCIA"There is no personal art without personal discipline" - PIERRE REVERDY"Work is food for noble souls" - SENEQUE"Art doesn't reproduce what's visible but makes visible" - PAUL KLEE"Ideas don'y belond to anyone, they are in the mood of time" - PAUL ARDEN"I have painted Greek temples all my life without knowing it" - MARK ROTHKO"Not to succeed is not a failure, it's training" - ADDAGE TIBETAIN"Art is not shape but shaping" - PAUL KLEE"Despite its physical expression, I consider architecture as mental activity." - DANIEL LIBESKIND"Above reason, there is conscience" - VICTOR HUGO"Pain hurts but it's not that bad" - ALICE HAUTBOUT"Landscape teaches us how to build our houses. In nature, the plant's shape depends to the place it grows." - GLENN MERCUTT"Being an artist is not counting" - RAINER MARIA RILKE"He who knows internal peace is neither upset by failure nor carried away by success" - MATTHIEU RICCARD"Beauty is always weird" - CHARLES BAUDELAIRE"One needs to feel, not to know" - STENDHAL"Art that is not in the present will never be" - PABLO PICASSO"To become universal, first become intimate !" - RODIN"The beauty of an object depends to the way it catches the light" - ANDREE PUTMAN"A drawing is a rough draft of the awakening mind" - GEORGES ROUAULT"Changes don't modify the sea itself" - VINCENT VAN GOGH"Mona Lisa smiles because all who have drawn her a moustache have died" - ANDRE MALRAUX"The most important can't be seen by eyes" - SAINT EXUPERY"There are no difficult tasks that can't be split into small easy ones" - ADDAGE BOUDHISTE"A building lives thanks its beauty, because it seduces, moves and inspires people." - HERZOG & DE MEURON"True mastery is the accomplishment of simplicity" - PRECEPTE ZEN"The less you desire, the more you are" - PRECEPTE ZEN"For an artist, pride is less a character fault than a necessary condition of creation" - GAETAN PICON"I have changed the perception of visible with the vision of real" - PHILIPPE STARCK"When I am out of blue, I use red!" - PABLO PICASSO"One must reintroduce dream and sacred in the modern city." - MASSIMILIANO FUKSAS"For me, space is ambiguous like air and light which pour between two things." - TOYO ITO

What is an etching, nowadays?

In a world of plasma screen, CDs and disposable digital images, genuine etching offers an inimitable sensuality and invites us to discover a 15th century technique :
etched engraving.
An etching is an engraved board of metal (zinc or copper).
It is a rare object, giving a depth and a grain that you will never get tired of.
Unique pieces, there are no two identical prints and it can be made
in the colour you wish.




What are my personal etchings' characters ?

They are big, for an «efficient»» decoration and to be looked at closely
or from far away.
The paper is 24x32 in. and weighs around 11 oz.
Plates are wiped with silk paper drawing traces of patina, of patience and of life.
The plate doesn't say it all; I love to paint with wiping.
Paper is off-white, very granular, with irregular rims.
Made in France, by hand, pressed by man's weigh, it is strong and resistant. My etchings don't necessarily need a frame.
I am even wondering if a glass is not hiding some of the paper's sensuality.
  • On the back of the painting, there are 2 paper links that allow you to hang it.
  • On the front, paper discs and wooden sticks bring toughness and style.

It is also possible to order an engraved plate custom-made.

To know more

All the different methods of printing are unknown or mixed up.
Let's see :
  • Engraving with bumps :
    Like a desk stamp, only bumps take the ink and put it back onto the paper.
    It usually concerns engraving on wood (Japanese engravings)
    or linoleum (also called savingcuts or raised cut)
  • Engraving with holes :
    On the contrary, it holds the ink deep in the hole and the surface is properly cleaned and wiped out. Under pressure, the ink comes out of the holes and goes onto the paper. It mainly concerns engraving on metal (zinc or copper) also called metalcuts.
  • Engraving methods :
    Different tools, some of them graver or burin, wheel or dry-point carve out the holes directly. These tools are difficult to handle and need a certain skill.
    On one print, direct and indirect methods complement one another to obtain the required effects. Example: etching with aquaforte and wheel.
  • Indirect engraving methods :
    These methods use a metal "protector" and an "aggressor", respectively to protect and carve out the plate.
    Most of the time we use a varnish and nitric acid.
    This method is also called etching.
  • AquaForte :
    This indirect method imitates wash drawing or water-colour. The artist sprinkles resin grain like flour sticking on a baking tray. This resin is like varnish, only the smallest non sprinkled surfaces will become small holes.
    Other indirect methods are sugar and soft varnish.
  • Lithography :
    The printing is made with a stone, which takes (or not) the ink and will print it back onto the paper. The drawing is done with a soft lead pencil on a thick limestone board. The printing comes from a chemical principle preventing oil and water to mix.
  • Serigraphy or Silk-screen art printing :
    Printing is made through a piece of fabric permeable at certain places and not permeable at others depending on the drawing. It is like a sophisticated stencil. Often very much mechanized, this method gives twin prints.
  • Monotype :
    The artist draws directly on a smooth board (glass) and prints it back onto the paper.


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Luc Hautbout is the contemporary figurative artist specialized in the making of etchings, inviting you to visit the virtual painting gallery and the art gallery in Avignon.