Lithography

LITHOGRAPHY, the art of drawing with a greasy sub stance, usually crayon, on a stone, metal or paper surface, and then printing, is based on the fact that grease attracts grease and is repelled by water. It is the most direct of all the graphic arts, for in practising it the artist first sees the exact value of each line that he draws and then has his drawing reproduced so accu rately that it may truly be said to have been multiplied. Whereas in making an etching, a process in which a drawing is engraved on a metal plate through a thin film of wax, or a woodblock (one in which the drawing is carved in wood) the artist must wait for a print to estimate his work fairly; in making a lithograph his drawing grows in definite values under his eyes and he can make changes in it as he works. Lithographic crayon yields broader tones than the etching needle, which is limited to a solid line ; it makes and retains finer lines than can be obtained in a wood block. Lithographs can be made from pen drawings on a plate or stone ; they can even be painted with a brush in what are called lithographic wash drawings or, sometimes, lithotints. A stone can be made solid black and a drawing produced with a knife by scratching, ripping out and reducing,—which gives fine lines, greys and jet blacks. Engravings on stone print well.

Drawing Materials.

The best medium on which to draw is Kelheim stone, that on which Senefelder was by chance working when he discovered the art. There are three grades of lithographic stone in use to-day : blue (hard), grey (medium), and yellow (soft). The blue is used for engraving, the grey for very fine work, and the yellow for work relatively unimportant. Litho graphic stones are grained by rubbing two together with a sifted layer of flint or carborundum between; the grain, therefore, is not native to the stone but is made up of innumerable, minute dots that can be varied by changing the quality of the flint or carborundum. Erasures may cause irremediable damage to such a fine surface and are best effected by means of a small piece of lithographic stone rotated with sand and water; defects may be picked out with a needle ; a knife may be used to scratch out, but if the grain is removed the part shows scratchy if drawn on again. After being ground the stone is washed thoroughly with

clean water and is then ready to receive a drawing.

Zinc and aluminium plates are bought with prepared surfaces of a coarseness depending on the size of the flint grains struck against them. The disadvantages of using a plate are that its sur face easily becomes greasy, corrections are hard to make and its colour may at first confuse values for the artist. In drawings made direct on either a stone or plate the composition known as "tusche" can be applied for solid black lines or large black areas.

Despite its excellence as a drawing surface, the inconvenience of carrying lithographic stone about has caused it to be most used as a receiving surface for drawings transferred from paper. Not only can paper be easily carried in the artist's portfolio, but, since a drawing made on paper has to be transferred to another surface before being printed, it appears as it will when printed and does not have to be made in reverse like those made direct on a zinc or aluminum plate or on stone. Good lithographic paper, made by hand in Germany, France, Scotland and Austria, has a specially prepared chalk surface that is very good to draw on, permits scraping out with a knife and transfers well. In the United States artists usually employ a fine quality of tracing paper. In drawing a lithograph on paper it is not necessary to develop the design with lithographic crayon. A Conte sanguine pencil can be used for the preliminary design over which lithographic crayon is passed later ; or charcoal, or a lead pencil can be used, since neither these nor the Conte contain grease to interfere with trans ference; but the Conte marks, being red, can be easily distin guished from those of the black lithographic crayon, while the black marks of charcoal or lead pencil are likely to confuse the artist. Changes in a drawing on paper can be made by painting out with Chinese white, which, if applied smoothly, can be drawn over; or they can be made on the stone or plate after trans ference. Since transferring has a tendency to intensify, the drawing should be kept slightly lighter than it is wanted to appear in the finished print.