Part 21 (1/2)
If pen and brush work are to be combined on a stone, and absolute certainty is desired, that even the very finest lines shall not suffer from etching, the following process will serve:--
Over the cleanly ground plate pour a solution of weakened but pure aquafortis, about forty parts of water to one part of aquafortis. Repeat this several times. Then pour a great deal of water over the stone, to wash off all acid, and let it dry. Pen as well as brush work is easy on such a stone, by using the proper ink for each method. When the work is finished and dry, the stone is merely coated with gum solution. After a few minutes it can be inked-in with acid-proof ink and treated as described before.
II
THE CRAYON METHOD
The fat of the chemical ink penetrates the stone in dry form as well as in fluid form, and makes the plate receptive to printing-color. If the dry ink is cut into long pieces and sharpened, it can be used much like lead or black crayon. If the stone is ground very smooth, the work can be made quite fine and resembles that done with fluid ink. The crayon, however, wears away too quickly. If the stone is ground rough, so that instead of a polished surface it has one resembling rough paper, the crayon work appears as a ma.s.s of dots that are coa.r.s.er or finer according to pressure with the crayon, and produce an effect similar to crayon designs on paper. As almost every artist and painter knows how to use crayon, no particular practice is required for working on stone, and there are no obstacles such as the difficulty of using the steel pen.
That crayon work on stone is capable of high perfection, and that it can represent the essentials of a painting in a manner scarcely to be excelled by the best copper-plate engraver, has been demonstrated by many successful productions. Add to this that in no other style can one work equally fast, either on copper or stone, and we see that the crayon method is a genuine advantage for the art.
For crayon work the stones must be uniform and hard. They must either be new, or, if they have been used, they must be ground so thoroughly that all traces of fat are destroyed and removed absolutely to a degree where it is certain that they will not appear again and take color, even if the stone is etched only lightly. As soon as the plates have been ground true, they must be grained by strewing some fine sand or powdered sandstone on them and rubbing in all directions with a small piece of limestone. The work can be done dry or wet. Soap-water is best. It gives the stone a handsome grain. Practice is demanded to get good results without scratching the stone. The artist must decide for himself what grain he needs. I think that it would be good if the artist himself were to grain the stone in varying degrees according to the need of his design. For instance, a coa.r.s.er grain might be good for foregrounds.
As soon as the stone has been grained, it must be cleansed perfectly from dust and dirt. It is best to pour clean water over it and wash it with a clean rag. The dust and sand must all be removed, otherwise they will not let the crayon reach the stone where it is used delicately.
When the design is finished, it should be set aside for a day, that it may take good hold of the stone. It does no harm to let plates rest for years before etching. Etching must be done by pouring. Painting the etching fluid on is dangerous because of the danger of taking away fine spots. About one hundred parts of water are used to one part of aquafortis. Everything depends on not etching a bit more than necessary.
It is best to etch the coa.r.s.er parts specially with a small brush and stronger etching solution, and it is very good to wash the stone with clean water after etching and let it dry completely before coating with gum.
When the stone has been prepared, it should not be cleansed at once with oil of turpentine, but should be inked-in first with a light printing-color. Only after it has taken this well should it be cleansed of the crayon and treated to a firmer color. In the first inking-in there should be very little pressure with the sponge or wet cloth when dampening it, as the lightest parts of the design are easily rubbed away before they have taken color. If such parts should vanish, the easiest way to restore them is as follows:--
Coat the plate with gum solution and wipe with a clean dry cloth till it is perfectly dry. Then take a flat, knife-like instrument of steel, which is cleanly ground so that it has no nicks or other defects that might injure the stone. Sc.r.a.pe with moderate pressure to and fro over the defective places, but only so that it touches the elevated points and not the surface of the stone itself. Smear a little fat, such as linseed oil varnish, over it and wash this away again instantly with gum solution. Generally the parts all reappear very nicely when the stone is inked-in again.
A second kind of correction is as follows: Ink the stone with firm color, wash it well with plenty of pure water and let it dry. Now redraw the lost places with crayon.
Printing crayon work is the most difficult of all lithography, but can be done perfectly if all necessary precautions are taken. These are mainly: (_a_) proper dampening of the paper; (_b_) perfect dampening of the stone;--too much meaning that the fine points will not take color well, too little making the stone s.m.u.t easily; (_c_) good stretching of the leather, industrious lubrication, and an underlay of taffeta; (_d_) a good, finely mixed inking-color that will not shade off in printing and yet does not contain too much lampblack; (_e_) soft and well-dried ink-rollers; (_f_) proper tension of the press; (_g_) utmost possible speed in printing. The latter aids enormously, because the stone does not get so much time to dry out.
Aside from the spreading and running-together of the darker parts, one of the commonest faults of crayon work is that it is very liable to get a tone, which spreads over the whole design like a veil; or that the designs lose their firmness and appear ”monotonic” because the shadings spread and thicken. The first fault comes from weak etching or from oil that was rancid when it was used to prepare the varnish. The latter fault makes the color adhere and s.m.u.t the stone. The same fault is developed if the printing-color contains soap, which some printers mix into it for better adherence. It can occur also if the stone has lost its preparation owing to frequent cleansing and strong rubbing with a dry rag that is inky. Even strong rubbing with clean water can cause it if the rag contains fats.
As to the ”monotonic” effect, it is frequent, and I have learned that it can be caused in two ways, namely, if the color is squashed continually during the print, which makes the stone sooty; or if the color spreads, as, for instance, during the night or during the noonday rest. The stone is prepared only on the surface. In the pen style, all lines are prepared on the sides also, so that they cannot spread because they are considerably more elevated than the crayon designs.
If a crayon design dries after printing and is not coated properly with gum, the color is liable to spread away from the design and give the plate the before-mentioned tone. Even if it is coated with gum, the color will spread, at least in the inner parts of the stone; and as soon as the very thin surface has been at all wiped away by rough usage, the underlying fattiness will appear gradually, and begin to take color.
Both faults of crayon work, namely, the taking of tone and the development of a ”monotonic” condition, can be remedied by inking the plate for a while with a firmer color. If this does not help, the following must be resorted to: Ink-in the plate as well as possible, lay it in the etching-trough and pour over it very weak aquafortis once or twice. Then wash it with pure water and paint the gum solution over it.
The etching must be done with great caution, with a solution so weak that the acid is scarcely perceptible. If the plate is to be saved at all without extensive corrections and re-drawing, this is the best way.
If it is done correctly, it harms the design so little that I advise it even when the plate looks quite well, but has been standing very long after the first printing.
I have etched several crayon designs over again, and rather extensively, to make them more durable and facilitate printing, and with good success. This gives the further advantage that corrections can be made at the same time.
The correction of crayon designs, that have been etched already and used for printing, always has been so difficult a task that few have succeeded. This has led me to give the matter my best attention; and I hope that the following rules, based on many experiments, will show the way, at least, even if they do not produce absolute results.
When a copper-plate engraver has partially finished his plate, he can have a proof pulled to enable him to study his work. Then he can make corrections as he pleases,--an advantage that the stone worker has lacked hitherto.
To produce an impression that shall be faithful to all the beauties of a crayon design is a matter dependent on so many trivial details that of the many hundred crayon designs that have been produced by lithographers since the origin of the art, hardly one has realized the designer's hopes and ambitions. The commonest fault is that the more delicate parts of the design print too light and the heavier ones too dark, thus destroying the balance of tones. The lightening occurs because the finest parts of the design have lost their power of taking printing-color. The darkening occurs because the closely shaded parts flow together, either because the etching has not made enough white s.p.a.ce between the points and lines or because they are squashed in the pressure of printing.
From this, two other faults may arise, that become visible after inking-in the plate: The first is the appearance of white dots, sometimes pretty large. The second is that black dots and s.m.u.t-marks appear.
The white dots are caused by speaking during the work, and thus dropping spittle on the plate. If the spittle is mucous, the plate covers itself there with a fine crust that resists the chemical crayon so that it does not soak into the stone and is wiped away by the inking-in. If the spittle is fatty,--for instance, if one has eaten anything greasy,--the dots that appear will be black. The same results from touching the plate with fatty hands. Sometimes a whole picture of the fingers and skin will appear on the impression.
Let us suppose that after inking-in, a plate shows all these faults: the finest shadings vanished entirely, the darker places run together, white and black dots and s.m.u.t-marks so that the plate has become useless in every respect. Can this be remedied? If so, how?