461 



a time kiuiwii lo he sutHciciil. 'i'lic plate is then carried to llie 

 (lark room and developed, lixed and washed, <lricd, coated with 

 a I'ldiluT solution and stn])t from the jilass, heiiia,- I hen tloate(l 

 on to a thick sheet of ])late i^lass with other nci;ati\-es and put 

 into a pi'iiitino;' frame with a j)iet'e of sensitized /.inc plate and 

 printed, after whi(di it is taken to the coatini;- I'ooni and a liuht 

 coatinii,- (d' etchinii' ink is apjdied 1)_\- means of a roller. This 

 c(»ats the whole of tlu' platt". The i)arts atiected bv the lii;lit, 

 the clear lin(>s in the n(»<2,'ative, are insoluhle. The })ai'ts not 

 affected are solnhle and when the plate is washed nnder the 

 fancet the soluble parts are washed away, leaving- your drawing- 

 reduced to scale on a background of bright zinc. The plate is 

 then dried and rosin is dusted on so as to strengthen the acid- 

 resisting etching ink. It is then given a light etch sufficient to 

 give a sharp line but of little depth. It is then further dusted 

 to protect the sides of the lines, heated so that the resin becomes 

 incorporated with the ettdiing ink and etched until sufficient 

 de})th is attained. It then goes to the router, who routs out all 

 the metal which is not wanted, and is ready fV»r the blocker, 

 who mounts it on a ty|)e-hig'h block of pear or apple wood, and 

 it is then ready for the press. 



With vour wash drawing the method you use is distinctly 

 different. Your tones are secured by the depth of color a])])lied 

 and YOU assure texture by the fidelity of your drawing. The 

 material used is Bristol board, India ink or sepia and your 

 first wash will be of the same value and density as the lightest 

 ]iortion of your drawing, ])utting in successive washes and 

 detail until the drawing is completer We will now follow the 

 wash drawing in its course thru the engraver's hands, who, 

 to reproduce it, has to inter]iose a Levy screen at a known dis- 

 tance in front of his wet ])late. These screens are ruled with 

 lines varving from ^O to 400 lines t(» the inch and ruled in 

 both directions. This when the negative is unule you will 

 find has broken up your drawing into thousands of small dots 

 and the whole of the drawing is covered — not only the ])arts 

 von have drawn but the white background as W(dl. This is 



