The large rubber eraser is to put in the broad effects of light in the background and dress. The small nigrivorine erasers are used when it is necessary to remove the crayon, in order to produce small decided lights—principally in making free-hand crayons and to produce the line effects over a platinum and silver enlargement. While the stumps are used for putting on the crayon, the erasers are used to remove it. The chamois is also used for removing the crayon, to produce broad effects of light.
The cotton is for applying the crayon sauce to the paper and for rubbing the crayon at different stages in the completion of the picture. The crayon cannot be removed with the eraser unless it has first been rubbed with the cotton; and this must be borne in mind, as the use of the eraser at this stage would only result in making a black line or spot, when it was intended to produce a white line or spot.
It will also be well to make a chamois block for applying the crayon sauce, to be worked with the tortillon stump. This is done by tacking onto a block, four inches long, two inches wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, a piece of chamois skin, three inches wide by five inches long, allowing it to cover the top, while it is fastened along the four edges. This is placed face down in the box of crayon sauce and rubbed around in it, so that the crayon will adhere thoroughly to the chamois.
Emery paper is used to sharpen the nigrivorine erasers and the crayon points.
The knife, which is a very important tool, should be a good one, always kept well sharpened. The best for this work is an ink eraser, with a rounding point, a long edge on one side of the blade and a short one on the other side, extending about an inch from the point.
The mortar and pestle are for pounding or grinding the Conte crayon No. 1 and the crayon sauce, in making the special crayon sauce mentioned above.
The paste-board box is intended to hold this special crayon sauce or the Peerless sauce.
The back-boards are one inch thick, made to fit the back of the strainer (described in the next chapter), and are used in mounting. It will be necessary to have three different sizes, the most useful being 11×15, 15×19 and 19×24 inches, to fit, respectively, strainers measuring 16×20, 20×24, 24×29 and 25×30 inches.
The pliers should be either what is known as shoe-maker's pliers (which are the cheapest) or the canvas pliers, used in stretching that material; they are needed to stretch the cloth on the strainer.
The pulverized pumice stone is used in preparing the surface of crayon paper and bromide enlargements, to produce the stipple effect.