Bromoil printing and bromoil transfer

by Emil Mayer

The brush should now be pressed down on the hard ink already distributed on the glass plate, and the ink dabbed very carefully from the brush on a clean place of the palette. One should never go with the brush direct from the ink itself to the print, as this will form a spot which it is difficult to work out. It is of the greatest importance always to work with a brush that has been well dabbed out and in which the ink is evenly distributed. If the brush has not been sufficiently dabbed out it leaves on the print a quantity of small, much darker and usually linear particles of ink, which cannot be distributed or are only removable with difficulty. Such spots must then as a rule be removed by the method described on [page 72].

The whole brush technique is based on the following principle: if the brush charged with ink is placed on the print and allowed to remain there for a moment, and then slowly lifted up, the ink remains on the image. If it is set down sharply and quickly lifted (the so-called “hopping”), it removes ink. In the first inking-up of a print, the swelling of which has been correctly carried out, the application of the ink may be effected by a gentle dabbing. A very thin film of ink is thus produced and almost simultaneously correctly distributed.

The brush should always be held by the extreme end between two fingers, never by the middle or near the hairs. The more lightly and more delicately the brush is managed the better it works.

It is best to begin the work at some characteristic place of the picture, which is well known to the worker; the ink should first be spread as delicately and evenly as possible on a small spot, avoiding, as far as possible, going over the same place twice with fresh ink. When the place selected has been covered with a light film of ink, the surface should be hopped over with light movements, when, with correct preparation of the print, the outlines will soon appear. A bromoil print correctly prepared, and with swelling suitable to the ink used, is easily recognizable by the fact that the image appears delicately but distinctly under the very first strokes of the brush. If this does not happen even after some time, either the degree of swelling of the print is too low or there is some fault in the preparation of the print, such as, for instance, unsuitable paper, a poor bromide print, errors in bleaching, etc. The longer the hopping continues, the more distinct the details should become. Then the application of the ink should be continued in places adjacent to those already worked up, until finally the whole surface of the print has been evenly gone over with ink and the image is visible in all its details, although still very thin and delicate. It is advisable to use a rough print from the negative as a guide.

Beginners usually make the mistake of jumping from one spot to another without filling up the intervening parts. This makes the work more difficult. Inking up should be carried out continuously by passing from those places already worked on to those not inked up. If it is noticed that the places which were first inked up appear too pale compared to their surroundings, since they have still too little ink, they should be inked up more strongly. Too dark spots should be evened out with the brush by removing the excess of ink and depositing it on the less inked parts. The amount of ink used on the print is very small; that which is first taken up by the brush lasts for a long time. It is not necessary to have frequent recourse to the ink spread on the palette by the knife, but is much better to take up, as long as possible, fresh ink from the spot on the palette on which the brush was dabbed.

On the other hand, however, every application of the brush to the print should actually deposit some ink on the print. If those parts touched by the brush do not increase in intensity, it must be determined whether the dark places on the palette from which ink is supposed to be taken, are actually giving up ink; for if the film of ink remaining on the palette is too thin, fresh ink must be deposited and distributed on it by the brush.

Care should be taken not to overload the brush with ink, for then the hairs stick together, distribute the ink badly on the print and, moreover, frequently leave large coherent particles of ink on the film, thus causing spots. As the brush is cut on the slant, it may happen that in dabbing out the brush on the palette and in the application of the ink to the print, the front and longer part of the brush is used more strongly. Then the ink collects at the back edge of the brush and causes spots when the brush is used more vigorously.

In many cases it is possible to complete the print with the hard ink alone. If it is noticed that the hard ink does not take well on the print and is removed again in lifting the brush, its consistency is too stiff for the work. One should not then continue to use it, but should soften the ink in the following manner: First place the brush in the hard ink and dab it out well in another place on the palette. Now dip the ends of the brush hairs carefully and very lightly into the soft ink and dab out the very small quantity of the soft ink taken up by the brush on the same spot, on which the hard ink has been previously distributed. There is thus formed on the palette as well as in the brush a mixture of the two inks. Now try carefully whether the now softened ink adheres well to the print, by placing the brush lightly on a light place of the print. If it leaves behind a light trace of ink without any trouble, the consistency is correct; but if this does not happen, the ink must be diluted again in the same way with the soft ink. If on the other hand the brush leaves behind a strong trace of ink from a light touch, the ink is too soft and requires the addition of some hard ink. It is not advisable to mix the soft and hard inks on the palette with the knife, as it is very difficult to strike the right consistency in this way.

This applies to all mixtures and dilutions of the ink which may be necessary in the course of the work, as in strengthening a colored ink with black, or in the preparation of any desired tint by admixture of different inks, and finally in softening inks with varnish. In all these cases mixing of the inks on the palette with the knife puts too much ink into use; also, as long as the ink is on the palette, one cannot estimate with the necessary exactitude either the tint or the consistency. The correct procedure is rather first to go with the brush to the first color and distribute this on a clean place, then set the same brush in the second color and make the mixture on the palette by dabbing. Then the mixture thus obtained should be tested as to its shade of consistency by gentle application to the print, and more of one or the other ink added in the same way with the brush. It should be noted that inks of a soft consistency go a very long way; the whole surface of the brush should never be dipped into such inks, but only the point of the brush. Softening of the inks with varnish should be effected in the same way.