Mezzotint. 



37 



E. MEZZOTINT. 



Process. 



This and the following processefs (F and G) may be termed tone- 

 processes, as they aim at rendering surfaces of tone rather than pure 

 line. The other processes of engraving often attempt effects of tone, but 

 the woodcut, line-engraving, dry-point, or etching, which conceals its line 

 in a close web of shading in which the quality of the line is lost, follows 

 a questionable convention. Lithography, on the other hand, I can be used 

 with equal effect and justification, either as a line- or a tone -process. 



^Mezzotint is a negative process, inasmuch as the engraver works at 



Fig. 11.— The Mezzotint RocKErv, and lines showing the 'ways' in which 

 the gronnd is laid. 



his design from a black ground to the high lights, not from a white 

 ground to the black lines or shadows. The surface of the plate is first 

 roughened all over in such a way that if it were filled w^ith ink it would 

 print a deep black. This roughening, or grounding, of the surface of the 

 plate is generally obtained by the tool called the BocJicr, of which the 

 essential feature is a curved, serrated edge with cutting teeth, of thread 

 smaller or larger (ranging from about 50-100 teeth to the inch) according 

 to the quality of grain required (see fig. 11). This tool is held with its 

 blade at right angles to the i^late, and the cutting edge rocked regularly 



Fig. 12.— The Mezzotint Burnisher. 



over the surface of the plate at several angles, causing a uniform indenta- 

 tion of the plate, with a burr to each indentation. The hollows hold the 

 ink, and the burr adds the rich velvety quality characteristic of mezzo- 

 tint. The engraver then removes the burr with a mezzotint scraper 



