Mix two parts of pure white wax and one part of good tallow soap into a mass not larger than a hazel nut. The ink loses its good properties quickly and should be made fresh day by day. Mix the two materials with a thick knife on a lukewarm (but positively not warm) stone, separate into small parts and moisten with rain water. As soon as the water has softened the mass a trifle, add as much lampblack as will lie on two knife points and mix the whole mass together once more till it is thoroughly mixed and quite firm. When required, a bit of this is rubbed down in a clean saucer with rain water.
As a better flow of ink is needed for brush work than for pen work, it is evident that it would not be requisite to treat the stone with soap-water and oil of turpentine, as for pen work. However, it often pays to make certain fine lines with the pen, and therefore it is better to combine both processes and prepare the stone as for pen work. It is well, however, after drying the coating, to rub it very gently with dry sand, which will not make the pen strokes flow to any extent and still will prepare the stone so that it will take the brush strokes well and not make necessary such strong etching.
If a brush design is to be etched in high relief, for ease in printing or for durability, it must be etched only to the extent absolutely required at first. Then it must be prepared with gum and inked-in with good acid-proof color. Set it aside for a while, that the color may concentrate so that it will resist the acid well, and then etch the stone to the desired degree. After etching, wash with water, coat with gum and put aside to dry. Owing to this latter procedure any fine parts that may have been unduly affected by the acid will adhere to the plate anew and it can be printed then like a pen design.
If pen and brush work are to be combined on a stone, and absolute certainty is desired, that even the very finest lines shall not suffer from etching, the following process will serve:—
Over the cleanly ground plate pour a solution of weakened but pure aquafortis, about forty parts of water to one part of aquafortis. Repeat this several times. Then pour a great deal of water over the stone, to wash off all acid, and let it dry. Pen as well as brush work is easy on such a stone, by using the proper ink for each method. When the work is finished and dry, the stone is merely coated with gum solution. After a few minutes it can be inked-in with acid-proof ink and treated as described before.
II
THE CRAYON METHOD
The fat of the chemical ink penetrates the stone in dry form as well as in fluid form, and makes the plate receptive to printing-color. If the dry ink is cut into long pieces and sharpened, it can be used much like lead or black crayon. If the stone is ground very smooth, the work can be made quite fine and resembles that done with fluid ink. The crayon, however, wears away too quickly. If the stone is ground rough, so that instead of a polished surface it has one resembling rough paper, the crayon work appears as a mass of dots that are coarser or finer according to pressure with the crayon, and produce an effect similar to crayon designs on paper. As almost every artist and painter knows how to use crayon, no particular practice is required for working on stone, and there are no obstacles such as the difficulty of using the steel pen.
That crayon work on stone is capable of high perfection, and that it can represent the essentials of a painting in a manner scarcely to be excelled by the best copper-plate engraver, has been demonstrated by many successful productions. Add to this that in no other style can one work equally fast, either on copper or stone, and we see that the crayon method is a genuine advantage for the art.
For crayon work the stones must be uniform and hard. They must either be new, or, if they have been used, they must be ground so thoroughly that all traces of fat are destroyed and removed absolutely to a degree where it is certain that they will not appear again and take color, even if the stone is etched only lightly. As soon as the plates have been ground true, they must be grained by strewing some fine sand or powdered sandstone on them and rubbing in all directions with a small piece of limestone. The work can be done dry or wet. Soap-water is best. It gives the stone a handsome grain. Practice is demanded to get good results without scratching the stone. The artist must decide for himself what grain he needs. I think that it would be good if the artist himself were to grain the stone in varying degrees according to the need of his design. For instance, a coarser grain might be good for foregrounds.
As soon as the stone has been grained, it must be cleansed perfectly from dust and dirt. It is best to pour clean water over it and wash it with a clean rag. The dust and sand must all be removed, otherwise they will not let the crayon reach the stone where it is used delicately.