_LITHOGRAPHY._
Lithography, for some time the rival of metal engraving and even for a
time of wood, was invented at the end of the last century, and, as its
name implies, is the art of drawing or writing upon stone. Briefly, a
peculiar grained stone, found in Germany, may be drawn upon with
greasy chalk or ink; afterward it is slightly etched, only washed
really, with weak nitric acid and water to fix the drawing and
somewhat reduce the surface of the stone; if the stone be now covered
with gum, allowed to dry, and then inked, the ink adheres only to the
drawing; and if a sheet of paper is placed on it, and the whole passed
through a press, a print, or rather the drawing in ink, will come off
on the paper. This is roughly the art of lithography.
The most important consideration for you, however, is the making of
the drawing. This may be done in one of two ways: either upon the
stone itself, or upon transfer paper specially coated, so that the
entire drawing is transferred from the paper on which it is drawn, by
mechanical means, to the stone, and not merely a print from the
original drawing. For many reasons it would probably be best to draw
upon the stone itself always; because, first and above all, the less
intervention--even mechanical intervention--there is between the
artist and his work, the better; and in many cases it is not possible
to get good results unless the artist works on the stone. But if one
has to make a large drawing out of doors, it is obviously impossible
to carry about a big and heavy stone with one; therefore lithographic
transfer paper must be used if the work is to be done from nature.
Before this paper was perfected (it is very good now, and can be
obtained from Hughes & Kimber of West Harding Street, though Belfont's
of Paris is the best), the artist either copied his sketches, studies,
or pictures himself, on the stone, if he understood lithography; or
else his drawings were copied for him by some other artists who were
trained lithographers. One most notable example of this is to be found
in J. F. Lewis's "Alhambra." The originals by Lewis were redrawn on
the stone by J. D. Harding, J. Lane, and W. Ganci, as well as by Lewis
himself; inevitably some of these men's individuality was apparent,
and even in the case of Lewis, much must have been lost by copying
his own designs; and if original work is given to professional
lithographers, in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred all the real
character is taken out of it. To-day, however, one may draw upon
transfer paper, being careful only not to touch it with one's fingers,
either in lithographic chalk or lithographic ink, which is only the
chalk rubbed down and put on with a pen or brush, on this paper, which
should be fastened down like an oil sketch, in a box having a cover,
by drawing pins. Take the drawing to the printer; he will put it on
the stone and print it for you far better than you can do it yourself;
still this is rather expensive, as the transferring of the drawing to
the stone and pulling a few proofs will cost you about a guinea. But
if your design can be drawn in your own studio, or at the
lithographer's, on the stone, it is not only much simpler, but the
result may be better, and you can employ more varied methods of work.
For example, you may draw with the lithographic crayon--Lemercier's
are the best; get them at Lechertier & Barbe's--just as you would with
ordinary chalk or crayon. For if the stone is grained like paper, the
design, if well printed, should look almost exactly like a drawing on
paper. On a smooth or ungrained stone you may draw or write with pen
or brush and lithographic ink, which is only the crayon rubbed down
with gum arabic, or ammonia and water, as you would rub down Indian
ink, only you must heat the saucer in which you are rubbing it, a
little. When you have done this, use Gillott's lithographic pens,
putting the ink on the pen with a brush, or use a trimmed sable brush
brought to a fine point; you must make your lines carefully, and get
your ink of the right consistency, otherwise it tends to blot and
spread or smear. Again, you may mix more of the medium with the
rubbed-down crayon. I should say it rubs, when warm, without water;
this medium may be obtained ready mixed from Way & Sons, Wellington
Street, Strand; paint with it as you would in water colours, adding
more of the medium or more ink as you wish little or much colour. I
have tried only a couple of experiments in this way, and they were
both complete failures. The trouble I found was this: in making light
tones, the moment the brush charged with colour touches the stone, the
stone itself turns much darker than the colour you are putting on it;
and as it dries out very slowly, the making of a wash drawing is a
most tedious process, unless one has had enough experience of the work
to know just the effect of the finished drawing, or rather just the
effect of the wash applied, which cannot be seen in its proper tone,
while working on the stone, since the appearance the stone presents so
long as it is wet is absolutely different to what it will look like
when dry, and it is almost impossible to work over washes, because the
colour floats off if they are gone over again, or at least smudges and
smears; still, corrections and additions can be made with the crayon
point, and the whole design brought pretty well together. The best
work in wash has been done by Lunois, a Frenchman. Corrections are at
all times difficult to make in lithographs, the error having to be
scratched out and the stone repaired in that spot, before the new work
can be put in again.
Stump drawings may be made by getting the crayon in powder and
smearing it on the stone in masses with a rag. Effects can be obtained
by removing too much colour with ordinary scrapers and putting in
modelling with stumps and the point of the crayon; or all three of
the methods I have mentioned may be combined, as they often are, on
the same stone, notably in the work of Hervier.
Tints may be obtained by stippling and splatter work, as in pen
drawings. There is a machine called an air brush, used by
lithographers for this purpose, but the introduction of mechanical
dodges has done much to harm lithography.
Zinc may be grained and drawn upon in the same way; why this metal is
not more generally used, I do not know, for it is much lighter, more
portable, and can be easily mounted on a plain stone to print from.
Until lately it was maintained that only what was drawn on stone could
be got off it in a print. But Mr. Goulding, the etching printer, who
has been making a series of experiments, says he can get almost as
much variety of effect, by wiping the surface of the stone carefully,
in a small number of prints, as he can from a copper plate (_see_
Lecture on the printing of Etchings). Still, for you, the process
ordinarily will end with the drawing. Even the transferring is only to
be successfully done by skilled workmen, and until you can print an
etching decently, it would be scarcely worth while to try a
lithograph.
Considering that the process is perfectly autographic, that the
materials are few and cheap, it is strange that it is so little
employed at present. But a very serious attempt is being made to
revive it, and as an artist like Mr. Whistler is the leader and
initiator, I believe it will be successful.
Colour printing by lithography, though very complicated, might be
tried by you; as many stones must be prepared for transferring the
design, made either on paper or stone, from the paper to stone, or
from one stone to another, as there are colours, and only that part of
the design which is of one colour must appear on one stone; if you try
to get colour prints in the usual fashion by printing one colour over
the other, you will obtain the usual commercial muddling lithographic
appearance. But if you mix your own colours for the lithographer, and
have the colours placed side by side, in flat masses like the Japanese
block prints (_see_ Wood Engraving Lecture), you should get good
results.
There are endless other processes and methods of work, but they are
all more or less complicated, and require special training and special
tools, and even machinery, and one who wishes to pursue the subject
further must go to a lithographer and learn the trade.
But in order to get artistic effects only, one has but to draw or
paint on paper or stone as one would ordinarily. The means are most
simple, and the results should be most interesting.