ACCIDENTS.
56. =Stopping-out Varnish dropped on a Plate while Biting.=--You are
just in time, I continued, to profit by an accident which has happened
to me. I dropped some stopping-out varnish on a plate while it was
biting; it has spread over some parts which are not yet sufficiently
bitten, and of course it is impossible to go on now. I took the ground
off the plate, and had this proof pulled. It is unequal in tone, and
does not give the modelling which I worked for.
"What are you going to do about it? Is the plate lost?"
57. =Revarnishing with the Roller for Rebiting.=--Oh, no, indeed, thanks
to the _roller for revarnishing_! My first precaution will be to clean
the plate very carefully, first with spirits of turpentine, until the
linen does not show the least sign of soiling, and then with bread. Or,
having used the turpentine, I might continue the cleaning process with a
solution of potash, after which the plate must be washed in pure water.
I then put a little ground, specially prepared for the purpose, on a
second plate, which must be scrupulously clean, and not heated; or,
better still, I apply the ground directly to the roller itself by means
of a palette-knife. I divide this second plate into three parts. By
passing the roller over the first part, I spread the ground roughly over
it; on the second part I equalize and distribute it more regularly; on
the third, finally, I finish the operation. By these repeated rollings a
very thin layer of ground is evenly spread over all parts of the surface
of the roller, and we may now apply it to the plate which is to be
rebitten.
To effect this purpose, I pass the roller over the cold plate carefully
and with very slight pressure, repeating the process a number of times
and in various directions. This is an operation requiring skill. The
ground adheres only to the surface of the plate, without penetrating
into the furrows, although it is next to impossible to prevent the
filling up of the very finest lines. Having thus spread the ground, and
having assured myself that the lines are all right by the brilliancy of
their reflection as I hold the plate against the light, I rapidly pass a
burning paper under the plate. The ground is slightly heated, and
solidifies as it cools.
The varnish used in this operation is the ordinary etching-ground in
balls, dissolved in oil of lavender in a bath of warm water. It must
have the consistency of liquid cream; if it is too thick, add a little
oil of lavender.[12]
Both the plate and the roller must be well protected against dust.
It is not necessary to clean the roller after the operation; only take
care to wipe its ends with the palm of your hand, turning it the while,
so as to remove the rings of varnish which may have formed there.
If the lines are found closed, too much pressure has been used on the
roller; if the ground is full of little holes, the plate has not been
cleaned well, and wherever the surface of the copper is exposed the acid
will act on it. There is nothing to be done, in both cases, but to wash
off the ground with spirits of turpentine, and commence anew.
My plate is now in the same state in which it was when I withdrew it
from the bath. I stop out those parts which are sufficiently bitten,
and, guided by my proof, I can proceed to continue the biting which was
interrupted by the accident.
58. =Revarnishing with the Roller in Cases of Partial Rebiting.=--You
will find this method especially valuable whenever you desire to
strengthen passages that are weak in tone. And furthermore, having thus
revarnished your plate, you may avail yourself of the opportunity of
giving additional finish. But if, before revarnishing, you should have
burnished down some over-bitten lines in a passage which needs rebiting,
you will find that the shallow cavity produced by the burnisher does not
take the ground from the roller; such places are easily detected by the
brilliant aspect of the copper, and good care must be taken to cover
them with ground. Again, if, before proceeding to rebite, you should
notice certain passages which are strong enough as they are, either
because the copper was cut by the point, or because the lines in them
are very close, you must cover them up with the brush. The same thing is
necessary in the case of the excessively black spots which sometimes
manifest themselves in places covered by irregularly crossing lines, and
the intensity of which it would be useless to increase still further.
This recommendation is valuable for work requiring precision.
59. =Revarnishing with the Dabber for Rebiting.=--For partial rebiting
the same result may be reached by applying the ground with the dabber.
Heat your plate, and surround the part to be rebitten with a thick coat
of ordinary etching-ground. Now heat your dabber, and pass it over the
ground. Finally, when the dabber is thoroughly impregnated with the
ground, carry it cautiously and little by little over the part in
question, dabbing continually.[13]
60. =Revarnishing with the Brush for Rebiting.=--Let me also call your
attention to an analogous case which may arise. If you desire to
increase the depth of the biting in a part of the plate in which the
lines are rather widely apart, you may cover the plate with the brush
and stopping-out varnish, and may pass the needle through the lines so
as to open them again. You can then rebite in the tray, or by using pure
acid, or by allowing acid at 20 deg. to stand on the part in question,
just as you please.
61. =Rebiting a Remedy only.=--Etchers who are entitled to be considered
authorities will advise you to avoid as much as possible all rebiting by
means of revarnishing, as it results in heaviness, and never has the
freshness of a first biting obtained with the same ground. A practised
eye can easily detect the difference. Never let the rebiting be more
than a quarter of the first biting. Use the process as a remedy, but
never count on it as a part of your regular work.
62. =Holes in the Ground.=--Having once taken up the consideration of
the little mishaps which may befall the etcher, I shall now show you
another plate in which the sky is dotted by a number of minute holes of
no great depth (_piques_). This plate has, no doubt, been retouched, and
the ground having been badly laid, the acid played mischief with it. It
is very lucky that the lines in the sky are widely separated, as
otherwise these holes would be inextricably mixed up with them. We can
rid ourselves of them by a few strokes of the burnisher, and by rubbing
with charcoal-paste and a bit of fine linen. The burnisher alone would
give too much polish to the copper; in printing the ink would leave no
tint on the plate in these spots, and the traces of the burnisher would
show as white marks in the proofs. To avoid this, the copper must be
restored to its natural state.[14]
"What would happen," asks another of my pupils, "if these little holes
occurred in a sky or in some other closely worked passage? Here is a
plate in which this accident has befallen some clouds and part of the
ground. What shall I do?"
To begin with, let me tell you for your future guidance that this
accident would not have happened if you had waited for the drying of the
ground with which you covered this sky after you had bitten it. The
acid, which never loses an opportunity given it by mismanagement or
inattention, worked its way unbeknown to you through the soft varnish in
the clouds as well as in the ground, and went on a spree at your
expense. Remember that nitric acid is very selfish; it insists that it
shall always be uppermost in your mind, and all your calculations must
take this demand into account; its powers, creative as well as
destructive, are to be continually dreaded; it likes to see you occupy
yourself with it continually, watchfully, and with fear. If you turn
your back to it, it plays you a trick, and thus it has punished you for
neglecting it for a moment.
"Thank you. But you are acting the part of La Fontaine's schoolmaster,
who moralized with the pupil when he had fallen into the water."
63. =Planing out Faulty Passages.=--And that did not help him out. You
are right. Well, you must go to some skilful copper-planer,[15] who will
work away at the spoiled part of your plate with scraper and burnisher
and charcoal, until he has restored the copper to its virgin state; then
all you've got to do will be to do your work over again.
"That is rather a blunt way of settling the question. Seeing that we are
about to cut into the flesh after this fashion, might it not be as well
to have the whole of the sky taken out altogether? I am not satisfied
with it, any way."
Certainly. By the same process the planer can remove every thing, up to
the outlines of the trees and the figures in your plate; he will cut out
any thing you want, and yet respect all the outlines, if you will only
indicate your wishes on a proof. In this passage, where you see deep
holes, scraper and charcoal will be insufficient; the planer must,
therefore, hammer them out before he goes at the other parts. As regards
the little holes in the foreground, since they are not as deep as the
lines among which they appear, you can remove them, or at least reduce
them, by means of charcoal, without injury to the deeply bitten parts.
You may follow this plan whenever you are convinced that a lowering of
tone will do no harm to your first work. In the opposite case, you must
either have recourse to the planer, or put up with the accident. If you
are not too much of a purist, you will occasionally find these _piques_
productive of a _piquant_ effect, and then you will take good care not
to touch them.
"That's a 'point' which you did not mention among the utensils! You have
ingenious ways of getting out of a scrape."
We cut out, or cut down, or dig away, whole passages, according to
necessity. I have seen the half of a plate planed off, because the
design was faulty.
64. =Acid Spots on Clothing.=--Here comes one of my friends, who is also
an etcher. I wonder what he brings us! His clothing is covered all over
with spots of the most beautiful garnet; he ought to have washed them
with volatile alkali, which neutralizes the effect of the acid. But he
does not mind it.
65. =Reducing Over-bitten Passages and Creves.=--"Oh, gentlemen, that is
not worth while speaking of! But you must see my plate. I drew a horse
from nature, which a whole swamp-ful of leeches might have disputed with
me. But I do believe it escaped the _biting_ of these animals only to
succumb to mine. Judge for yourselves!"
The fact of the matter is, that you have killed it with acid. There is
nothing left of it, but an informal mass, ten times over-bitten.
Fortunately there is no lack of black ink at the printer's! It is a
veritable Chinese shadow, and looks as if the horse had gone into
mourning for itself. However, although the carcass is lost, I hope you
may be able to save some of the members. The wounds are deep and broad;
but we can try a remedy _in extremis_: first of all, your horse will
have to stand an attack of _charcoal_; if it survives this, we shall
subject it to renewed and ferocious _bitings_. All this puzzles you.
Therefore, having treated your beast to the charcoal, and having had a
last proof taken, you place the latter before you, and re-cover your
plate with a solid coat of varnish. With a somewhat coarse point you
patch those places which show white in the proof, taking care to
harmonize your patches with the surrounding parts.
In this way you replace the lines which have disappeared, and then
proceed to bite in, doing your best to come as near as possible to the
strength of the first biting. The result may not be very marvellous, but
it will be an improvement, at all events. If I were in your place, I
should not hesitate to begin again. The process which I have just
described is best suited to isolated passages.
In closely worked and lightly bitten passages, blotches (or _creves_)
are more easily remedied, as they are less deep. Rub them down with
charcoal, very cautiously and delicately, and let the dry point do the
rest.
There, now! There's our friend, again, using acid instead of spirits of
turpentine to clean his plate! That'll be the end of the animal. It is
against the law, sir, to murder a poor, inoffensive beast this wise!
Fortunately we can help him out with several sheets of blotting-paper,
in default of water, which we do not happen to have at hand. We were in
time! The copper has only lost its polish; a little more charcoal,--and
Rosinante still lives.
[Illustration: Plate III.]