FINISHING THE PLATE.
43. =Omissions.--Insufficiency of the Work so far done.=--The result you
have obtained, I tell my pupil, as he shows a proof of the _first state_
of his plate to me, is not final. Your work needs a few retouches and
slight modifications, not counting the little irregularities which I had
foreseen, and which it will be easy enough to repair. We will proceed in
order. (See Pl. I^_a_). To commence with, here are certain parts which
are sufficiently bitten, and which, nevertheless, are indecisive in
tone, and do not hold their place. I allude to the columns and to the
trees in the further distance; one feels that there is something wanting
there, which must be added. You must, therefore, re-cover your plate, in
the manner already known to you, either with transparent ground, or with
ordinary etching-ground, just as if the plate had never yet been touched
by the needle.
44. =Transparent Ground for Retouching.=--The white or transparent
ground or varnish[11] admirably allows all previous work to show
through. It is preferred to the ordinary ground for working over parts
that have been insufficiently bitten, on account of its transparency,
which leaves even the finest lines visible, while under the ordinary
ground these lines might be lost entirely. It will be an easy matter for
you to combine the new work with the old; the very slight shadow thrown
on the copper by the transparent ground will give a blackish appearance
to your lines, which may serve as a guide to you, and, with your proof
before your eyes, you will readily succeed in finding the places which
need retouching. To make assurance doubly sure, you can indicate the
retouches on your proof with a lead-pencil.
The transparent ground has occasionally been found to crack and scale
off, when left in the bath for a long while, or when strong acid is
used. But as you are only going to use it for light and, consequently,
short biting, you need not fear this danger. Another inconvenience,
which may easily be prevented, consists in the presence of small bubbles
of air, which appear on the varnish as soon as it begins to melt. Heat
the plate just to the proper point of melting, and dab it vigorously for
some length of time, until the varnish cools; then hold the back of the
plate flat to the fire; the varnish melts again, and the rest of the
bubbles disappear. If some of them should prove to be obstinate, cover
them very lightly with the brush, as otherwise the acid will penetrate
through the passages thus left open, and will make little holes in the
copper, which, on removing the varnish, will cause an unpleasant
surprise. You shall hear more of this further on.
45. =Ordinary Ground used for Retouching.--Biting the
Retouches.=--Ordinary etching-ground, such as we used in the first
instance, does not show the work previously done as well as the
transparent ground, but the later additions are seen all the better on
it. It may be used in its natural state, or it may be smoked. It is
preferable to the transparent varnish, whenever the work already
achieved is deeply bitten, and hence easily seen.
In the present case my advice is that you use the ordinary ground.
Having made your retouches, introduce your plate into the bath, and
proceed as before, by partial biting, endeavoring, as much as possible,
to obtain the same intensity of tone. These additions, thus bitten by
themselves, will mingle with the lines previously drawn, and now
protected by the varnish.
It is hardly possible to judge of the additions, especially on
transparent varnish, until they have been bitten in. But, if you should
then find that you have not yet reached your point, you can revarnish
the plate once more, and complete the parts that appear to be
unfinished.
I must also call your attention to the fact, that all lines drawn on
transparent ground seem to thicken most singularly, as soon as the acid
begins to work. But do not let that deceive you.
Now look at this spot in the immediate foreground (Pl. I^_a_), which has
a somewhat coarse appearance. It is much softer in the original
(represented by Pl. II.). You must add a few lines, and must bite them
rather lightly; they will mingle agreeably with the energetic lines of
the first state. You may put the large trees through the same process,
and you will find that they gain in lightness by it. Later on, when you
have acquired more experience, you will occasionally find it handy to
make these additions between two bitings. You will thus reach the
desired result without the necessity of regrounding your plate.
Sometimes, when using strong acid for these retouches, the lines first
drawn are also attacked by the liquid. In that case, stop the biting
immediately, and rest contented with what you have got. It is not
difficult to understand why these revarnished lines should commence to
bite again, more especially if they are deep: the acid, finding the
edges of the lines (which are sharp and angular, and therefore do not
offer much hold to the varnish) but indifferently protected, attacks
them, without going into their depths. The ravages thus committed along
the edges of the lines may be quite disastrous; and it is well,
therefore, whenever you revarnish a plate, to give additional protection
to those parts which are not to be retouched, by going over them with
stopping-out varnish.
46. =Revarnishing with the Brush.=--Instead of revarnishing with the
dabber, the ground may also be laid with the brush. For this purpose you
can use the stopping-out varnish mixed with lamp-black. Spread a coat of
varnish all over the plate, using a very soft brush; if the copper
should not be perfectly covered on the edges of the deeply etched lines,
add a second coat of varnish. Do not wait till the varnish has become
too dry before you execute the retouches, which, of course, must also be
bitten in as usual. Mixed with lamp-black, the stopping-out varnish
allows even the finest lines to be seen, which would not show as well if
the varnish were used in its natural state. Many engravers use this
varnish instead of the transparent ground.
47. =Partial Retouches.--Patching.=--For partial retouches and for
patching the stopping-out varnish is also used, but in a simpler and
more expeditious way. Cover the part in question with a tolerably thick
coat of varnish, and when you have finished your retouch, slightly
moisten the lines with saliva, to prevent the few drops of acid which
you supply from your bath with the brush from running beyond the spot on
which they are to act. If pure acid is used,--which is still more
expeditious,--the effervescence is stopped by dabbing with a piece of
blotting-paper, and the operation is repeated as long as the biting does
not appear to be sufficient. For very delicate corrections it is
advisable not to wait until the first ebullition is over; but it must be
left to the feeling to indicate the most opportune moment for the
application of the blotting-paper. If you proceed rapidly and
cautiously, you can obtain extremely fine lines in this way, as you have
had occasion to see under other circumstances (see paragraph 40, p. 25).
You may recollect that I spoke of lines which had not bitten: I alluded
to this spot in the middle of the bridge (see Pl. I^_a_). You did not
bear on your needle sufficiently, and hence it did not penetrate clear
down to the copper; consequently, after having compared the proof of the
first state with the original (Pl. II.), you must do the necessary
patching according to the instructions just given to you.
48. =Dry Point.=--Whenever it is necessary to retouch, or to add to very
delicate parts of the plate, such as the extreme distance, or any other
part very lightly bitten, it is safer to use the _dry point_, as in such
cases retouching by acid is a most difficult thing to do. The tone must
be hit exactly, and without exaggeration.
Your plate offers an opportunity for the use of the dry point: the sky
and the mountain are partly etched; you can improve them by a few
touches of the dry point.
The dry point is held in a perpendicular position, and is used on the
bare copper. It must be ground with a cutting edge, and very sharp, so
that it may freely penetrate into the copper, and not merely scratch it.
You cut the line yourself, regulating its depth by the amount of
pressure used, and according to the tone of the particular passage on
which you are working. For patching, it is more frequently used in
delicate passages than in others, as, even with great pressure, the
strength of a dry point line will always be below that of a line deeply
bitten. In printing, the dry point line has less depth of color than the
bitten line, as the acid bites into the copper perpendicularly at right
angles; while the furrow produced by the dry point, which offers only
acute angles, takes up less ink, although it appears equally broad.
This inequality disappears if a plate in which etched lines and dry
point work are intermingled is re-bitten; the difference in tone is then
equalized.
On the other hand, the difference in the appearance of etched lines and
dry point work produces curious effects. Thus, if a passage which is too
strong and appears to stand out is to be corrected, a few touches of the
dry point will be sufficient to soften it, and to push it back to
another distance.
The dry point is not only used for retouching; it is sometimes employed,
without any etching, to put in the whole background.
49. =Use of the Scraper for removing the Bur thrown up by the Dry
Point.=--The dry point work being finished, the _bur_ thrown up by the
instrument must be removed. The bur is the ridge raised on the edge of
the line, as the point ploughs through the metal; you can satisfy
yourself of its existence by the touch. In printing, the ink catches in
this ridge, and produces blots. The bur is removed by means of the
_scraper_, an instrument with a triangular blade, one of the sides of
which, held flat, is passed over the plate in the opposite direction to
that of the stroke of the point, and so as to take the line obliquely.
You need not feel any anxiety about injuring the plate; the touch will
tell you when the bur has disappeared. In the case of dry point lines
crossing one another, each set running in a different direction must be
drawn as well as scraped separately, in the manner just described;
otherwise you will run the risk of closing the lines which cross the
path of the scraper, by turning the bur down into the furrows.
50. =Reducing Over-bitten Passages.=--So much for the additions. We will
now pass on to the very opposite: the shadow thrown by the parapet, and
the ground between the man and the woman, have been _over-bitten_. These
parts do not harmonize with the neighboring parts, and are stronger in
tone than the corresponding parts of the original.
To remedy this, there are four means at your command:--
The Burnisher.
Charcoal.
The Scraper.
Hammering out.
51. =The Burnisher.=--As these passages are limited in extent, and not
very deeply bitten, you may use the burnisher to reduce them. Moisten
it with saliva, and take only a small spot at a time, holding the
instrument down flat. If you were to use only the end, you might make a
cavity in the copper. The burnisher flattens and enlarges the surface of
the copper, and consequently diminishes the width of the line. The tone,
therefore, is reduced.
On fine, close, and equal work the burnisher does excellent service, the
effect being analogous to that of the crumb of bread on a design on
paper.
It is less efficacious on deeply bitten work, because it rounds off the
edges of the lines as it penetrates into the furrows, and thus detracts
somewhat from the freshness of tone,--an unpleasant result, which, in
very fine work, is beyond the power of the eye to see.
You may use the burnisher to get rid of certain spots produced in the
foliage by lines placed too closely together, and by the same means you
can reduce those exaggerated passages in the stone-work of the
right-hand column.
You can also burnish these useless little blotches in the mountains.
52. =Charcoal.=--Whenever it is necessary to reduce the whole of a
distance, the use of charcoal is to be preferred. Charcoal made of
willow, or of other soft woods, which can be had of the plate-makers, is
used flat, impregnated with oil or water; it must be freed from its
bark, as this would scratch the plate. It wears the metal away
uniformly, and does not injure the crispness of the lines. Rub the
passage to be reduced with the charcoal, regulating the length of time
by the degree of delicacy you desire to attain. At the beginning soak
your charcoal in water, so as leave it more tooth; then clean it, and
continue with oil, which reduces the wear on the copper. The eye is
sufficient to judge of the wear; the way in which the charcoal takes
hold of the copper, and the copper-colored spots which it shows, may
serve as guides. As the effectiveness of the different kinds of charcoal
varies, these divers qualities of softness and coarseness are utilized
according to the nature of the correction to be made. It is well to
know, also, that it takes hold much more actively if used in the
direction of the grain, than transversely. You may, according to
circumstances, commence with a piece of coal having considerable tooth,
continue with another that is less aggressive, and wind up with a
somewhat soft piece. The heavier the charcoal the coarser its tooth, the
lightest being the softest. The plate must be washed, so as to keep the
charcoal always clean; as otherwise the dust produced, which forms a
paste, will wear down the bottom of the furrows, and the result, in the
proof, will be dull and reddish lines.
Charcoal is also used to remove the traces of the needle in those parts
of the plate in which changes were made while the drawing was still in
progress.
53. =The Scraper.=--The scraper is more efficacious than the burnisher
in the case of small places that have been deeply bitten. If the scraper
is sufficiently sharp, it leaves no trace whatever on the lowered
surface of the copper.
To sum up:--
_Charcoal_ and _scraper_ are used to remove part of the surface of the
copper. The furrows, having been reduced in depth, receive less ink in
printing; the lines gain in delicacy in the impressions.
The _burnisher_ simply displaces the copper; _charcoal_ and _scraper_
wear it away. It follows that they must be used with discernment.
54. =Hammering Out (Repoussage).=--These three means are employed when a
moderate lowering of the plate is required. When it becomes necessary to
go down to half the thickness of the plate or more, the result will be a
hollow, which will show as a spot in printing. In that case recourse is
had to the fourth means; that is to say, to hammer and anvil. Get a pair
of compasses with curved legs (_calipers_); let one of the legs rest on
the spot to be hammered out; the other leg will then indicate the place
on the back of the plate which must be struck with the hammer on the
anvil. In this way places which have been reduced with charcoal or
scraper may be brought up to the level of the plate; but if the lines
should be found to have been flattened, which would result in a dull
tone in the proofs, it will be best to have the part in question planed
out entirely, and to do it over.
55. =Finishing the Surface of the Plate.=--The charcoal occasionally
leaves traces on the plate, which show in the proof as rather too
strong a tint. You can get rid of them, by rubbing with a piece of very
soft linen, and the paste obtained by grinding charcoal with oil on a
fine stone.
By the same process the whole plate is tidied. It is likely to need it,
as it has undoubtedly lost some of its freshness, owing to the abuse to
which it was subjected in passing through all these processes.
Our young pupil, having executed these several operations, and bitten
his retouched plate, submits a proof to my inspection, which I compare
with that of the first state (Pls. I^_a_ and I.). Now you see, I say to
him, how one state leads to another. You have come up to the harmony of
the original; your _second state_ is satisfactory, and so there is no
need of having recourse to varnishing the plate a third time.
[Illustration: Plate I.]
[Illustration: Plate II.]