Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1891-04-09
y58sw NEWSPAPER PICTURES
ARE MADE.

ARE MADE.
Tae illustration of newspapers IS a new
M.saneb Of art Ever since its beginning
ias awysentices have been trying to find
sasut TIE simplest and most effective
snethe< for the reproduction OF drawings,
isu order that they might be made with
Fyse sre4test possible quickness, engraved
gu, metal with the utmost attainable
CELEBRITY, aud printed ciearly and we'll at
,fze rate OF twenty thousand copies per
aseur. 70 such perfection have the pro-
euesses fer this purpose been brought,
xhat the turning out of pictures all ready
6er the lightning presses is nowadays
sparstiv more than matter OF few
szsissutes' time.
Nest interesting OF the processes en-
sHoyed in newspaper illustration, from
sine point of view Of simplicity, is what
m,ay he termed the "chalk method"
Take u thin bed Of smooth chalk laid up
.uyn a metal serface, and draw upon it with
II Ene,steel point any picture you may
desire. The steel point will cut the lines
sss she picture out Of the chalk to the
.snetal and thus you will have it in the
-slaspe OF an intaglio. Make stereotype
aredn this iistaglio, and you have your
.ane&xa splate to print the picture from.
x;ould anything be more simple?
DRAWING ON BED OF CHALK.
Such is 4he idea OF the chalk method.
I'm applying 1t, instead Of pure chalk vari-
aaixtures are used, such as plaster-of-
paris, which as merely chalk in another
>shxpe, with u certain proportion OF a
ssyisite Carolina clay. The stuff, pulver-
iised and stirred up with water, is spread
snxsr q rectangular sheet Of polished steel,
.se you would spread slice of bread with
ghsstter, to an even thickness of about one
ssiiity second OF an inch. Now you are
sreody to begin operations as soon as you
inxve gaaked the steel plate in an oven for
"a while, until the chalk layer has been
srcadered perfectly hard.
2tmill hardly do for you to attempt to
,ArsM-,your picture directly upon the chalk,
iessy'ou make mistakes. The best way
trsitG make your sketch on piece OF
Sp.spez, and then, laying it down upon the
ssshcik surface, go over the lines with a
,ansiscA point, which will indent the paper
:snEsleave marks beneath upon the chalk.
asiitsise drawing and find under it, in the
,zasiJ.s ,sitsreproduction. Now you apply
ryaur steel point directly to the chalk,
srwthng all the lines Of the drawing down
ttiarengh the chalk to the surface Of the
.atssls plate. When you finish thia opera
gfion the dark steel OF The plate shows
tssarough the chalk in all the lines Of the
ssxesch. And these lines are perfectly
aslean and sharp, thanks to the keenness
Dnd the 2rnife-Ike steel point employed.
AaS yon haave to do for the rest is to pour
ssaolten aead over the chalk surface in q
,saoNd and let it get cold. The lines that
eont ont Of tlfe chalk will be repro
s.sueeflin relief upon the lead, and thus
,you .wsll have your metal engraving TO
spsSntsbhe newspaper picture from, mount
ling litaor the purpose on an iron block,
sthick enough to make it level with type
ZINC ETCHING.
Though so advantageous for it's SIM
ae5city, the chalk method is not so good
dar fine work in the way of sketches and
portraits as the 'zinc process" so called.
The former, however, by reason OF its
.lcbes,pness, is most useful to provincial
saRe~spapers, which cannot afford the
comparatively expensive Photographic
,pasut required by the latter. In the zinc
process, to begin with, an ordinary pho
rkosraph, reduced to the required size, is
taken with a camera of the pen-and-ink
sketch drawn on cardboard by the artist.
Ssxt, a smoth plate of zinc is Flowed
soaer" with an albumen solution that
Storms q sensitized skin on the surface !;
t4a,e glass negative of the picture is laid
sr1son this zinc plate and the two are put
escgether IN The sunlight. What are TO
Toe the black lines of the printed drawings
~'Hi VI va tOAtoSt WhitS anu AIdilokJSbl Ill
Nls the negative. The sunlight goes
through wherever the negative is trans
,paYent, and has the effect Of hardening
The sensitized skin beneath, so that it
'ssings tightly to the zinc. 1t requires
9osaly one nsinute to perform this opera
tson NcsT the zinc plate is taken and
gwen 9. casfing over the sensitized skin
'ssElithag5ar. er's ink, rubbed on with a
ROLLER, afaer which the plate is washed.
aa aiIpiaces where the sunlight has not
-Earack the zine, owing to the opacity of
the glass negative. the sensitized skin
readily syashes of, together with the ink
sTaaatNcepers it; elsewhere it clings. Thus,
alter .the washing, the perfect drawing in
ink :senains upon the zinc plate. To
.sxsake the ink lines harder the plate is
brushed with powdered dragons blood.