Neil began his artistic career with etching, and until he moved to Italy in 1988 this was his principal form of expression. The tower images in particular are from this earlier period, and other themes that are later explored in his painting such as the legend of Icarus make their first appearance here. He has continued to produce plates since then, however, using this demanding but beautiful medium in counterpoint to his work in oils. With just a few exceptions his plates have all been made using copper prepared with a conventional hard ground and etched in ferric perchloride acid.

Neil has always done his own printing, apart from the illustrations to The Marionette Theatre (1984) and The Epic of Prince Igor (1988) which appeared in limited edition books.

Included here are also a number of linocuts.