(2) It has been remarked before that the color of the stone often
deceives the artist as to the values and proportions of his work and
that the designs always look better on the soft-colored stone than they
do on the glaring white paper. This observation led to printing on paper
tinted like the stone, and the results fulfilled expectations. There
were difficulties however. The very best quality of this paper is
extremely dear, and other qualities had the property of dirtying the
stone, on account of the coloring-matter used for tinting them.
Therefore the attempt was made to print the design on white paper and to
color it afterwards. Here, too, there arose many inconveniences, so that
at last there came the thought of laying a yellow tint over the
impression by means of a second printing. This method proved to be not
only the most economical and quick, but it had the further advantage
that the margins of the paper could be left white, thus enhancing the
value of the design. Hardly had it been used with success a few times
before Herr Piloty conceived the idea of printing the high lights into
the design with white printing-color, so that the impressions would
resemble actual drawings. My experiments toward that end did not result
satisfactorily, because no white oil color will print well enough; and I
proposed that the high lights be engraved into the tint plate and thus
permit the original white of the paper to show. So there came that kind
of crayon impression with one or more tint plates, which has become so
popular that various art connoisseurs hold it to be the triumph of the
lithographic art.
To make and print these tone plates, I have thought out many ways; but
as I am sure that they will suggest themselves to those who have grasped
my text-book, I will describe only the best of them all.
Take a stone of good average quality, the best not being essential, and
grind it as for crayon work with a grain not too coarse. When it is
clean and dry, cover it uniformly with the following chemical ink, which
must be laid on so thickly that it surely will resist the aquafortis
sufficiently, yet not so very thickly that it will hinder the drawing-in
of the lights later on.
The chemical ink for use on the tone plates is made of four parts wax,
one part soap, and two parts vermilion. The two first materials are
melted in a clean vessel over a moderate fire and then the vermilion is
stirred in.
A piece of ink as large as a hazel nut is rubbed down in a clean coffee
cup and then dissolved in rain water till it is just fluid enough to lie
evenly and nicely on the plate when applied with a soft brush.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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