International studio (40.1910)

Sir Hubert von Herkomer s Lithographs

scraping the lighter will be the resulting tone—
and it is obvious that unless the ground is full and
rich in quality to start with, any wide range of
gradation in the subsequent work cannot be en-
sured. It is for this reason, too, that the ink must
be dabbed so firmly into the granulation of the
stone; if it were simply smeared over the surface
it would lie only on the projections of the grain and
would be almost immediately removed by the action
of the scraper, but by being driven into the depres-
sions of the grain it remains through even pro-
longed scraping and lends itself to the expression
of an infinitely great variety of tones.

For securing the full modulation of tones from
absolute black to pure white Sir Hubert usually
employs, in addition to the scraper, a pen and a
sharply pointed tool. The scraper is used for the
broader and simpler tone effects, but for the more
subtle tones, and where small and delicate model-
lings have to be realised, he finds the pen of the
greatest possible value. It will scrape away the ink
in exquisitely fine lines, and it is so flexible and so
completely under control, that it can be applied
with certainty in the most intricate and difficult
passages of a minutely finished picture. The
pointed tool is necessary for the occasional picking
out of white dots in a tone which might print too
opaquely and seem, if it were unrelieved, to be
lacking in the right degree of luminosity.

When the scraping is finished and the picture
on the stone has been fully developed, it is etched
in the customary manner with a mixture of nitric
and hydrochloric acids in an emulsion of gum
arabic, though, it must be noted, a stone treated
by Sir Hubert's method needs to be etched more
strongly than those worked on in the ordinary way.
In the subsequent processes of rolling up, inking,
and printing, he follows the usual course of litho-
graphic work, except that he requires from his
printer a definite sense of artistic responsibility and
an educated appreciation of the special qualities of
the work to be dealt with. Lithographs with such
unusual characteristics could hardly be printed
satisfactorily by the merely mechanical operation
of the press, and intelligent observation of the
stone while impressions are being taken from it is
indispensable.

However, there is one other matter in which he
has departed from precedent. Lithographers have
been accustomed to re-sensitize a stone which has
been worked upon and printed from, and to make,
when required, corrections in the original drawing,
though their recourse to this device has been only
occasional. But Sir Hubert uses this re-sensitizing
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as a regular thing in his method of working. It
enables him to prove his lithographs stage by stage
in the same way that an etcher tests the different
states of a plate, and it gives him opportunities of
carrying his work to the highest pitch of complete-
ness. A stone can be re-sensitized three or four
times, if necessary, and fresh work can be done
upon it with chalk at each stage, but twice is, as a
rule, sufficient. By over-use of this convenient
device the drawing upon the stone runs some risk
of injury because the pyroligneous acid, which is
the chief agent in the re-sensitizing process, has a
mordant action on the stone and to some extent
eats away the portions of it which are not covered
with ink. It sharpens the grain and consequently
increases the definiteness of the drawing, so the
possibility of losing certain subtleties in the work
has always to be guarded against.

Obviously, in this lithographic method the
quality of the stone used is a matter of consider-
able importance. The softer yellow stones are not
to be trusted, as they have inequalities of texture
and at times other defects which may annoyingly
interfere with the artist's intentions ; and in a less
degree, but still quite appreciably, the same objec-
tions apply to even the harder yellow stones. The
best of all is the blue stone, which is exceedingly
hard and close in grain and is generally freer from
dangerous blemishes. The colour may, perhaps,
be a little disconcerting at first to the artist who is
seeking to estimate exactly the relation between
very delicate tones, but this is a difficulty which he
will be able to overcome with comparatively brief
experience, and the gain to him of having a really
dependable surface for the various processes of his
work is not to be disputed.

But with the right materials and a sufficiency of
intelligence and patient application, admirable re-
sults are within the reach of any artist who will
take the trouble to study the principles of this
mode of lithographic working. Sir Hubert has
proved by example that these results are entirely
possible, and he shows by precept how they can be
arrived at; there are no secrets in his method, no
tricks of mechanism, and no devices which any
purist could quarrel with as not legitimate. His
work is all pure lithography, and is wholly sincere
in its respect for the traditions of the art. What
he has done is to point the way convincingly in
which artists can develop a graphic art that lends
itself most admirably to a wide variety of purposes ;
and he has established by his own work a standard
of practice against which they can measure their
performances. A. L. B.