The Todd Gambit

David Fraiser Driesbach

"The Todd Gambit" was included in the Northern Illinois University exhibition: "David Driesbach Retrospective", 1991, catalog #51, illustrated in black and white, page 54.

Driesbach explained the technique he used to create this composition: "2 plates: 1 copper plate, 1 zinc plate (magenta, thalo green, flame red, black, orange, sienna) soft ground, engraving, aquatint, etched line, chine colle, stenciled color."

In nearly all of Driesbach's printed works he includes himself as a man in some combination of top hat and glasses, integrated into the surreal landscapes he has created on the plate, as if bearing witness to the action--surreal or otherwise--going on all around him. Here, he is two figures, hats replaced by spiked and colorful hair.