Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-14
SHOW COLOR PRINTS.
Large Collection on View at
Library of Congress.
EXHIBITION Is INTERESTING
Work Of Detaille, Boughton and De
Melville Seen.
|STIPPLE ENGRAVING EXAMPLES
Colored Mezzotints, in Reproduction,
Are Attracting Much Atten-
ton From Visitors.
EXHIBITION IS INTERESTING
sT1PPLE ENGRAVING EXAMPLES

A collection of between three and four
hundred colored prints. representing color
printing done in recent years has been
paced on exhibition at the Library of
congress. This collection comprises lith-
osraphs. mezzotints. stipple engravings,
etchings, wood block prints and examples
OF photogravure and photo-collography.
ana is of interest as an exposition of
graphic art. as we'll as from the pretoria!
standpoint.
A love of color is inherent, for this
reason colored pictures even of inferior
quality are generally held in higher favor
than pictures in black and white Almost
every child has found delight in coloring
pictures with crayons and paints and few,
indeed, outgrow the fancy. Thackeray
and Stevenson both made mention of this
childish pleasure in their writings. Pub
fishers of prints have realized this pre-
objection on the part of the public and
have catered to it persistently and more
or less successfully. For more than a
hundred years colored prints of much
merit have been made. but with the intro
auction Of photography, new methods
come into vogue, which have in large
measure revolutiOnized this branch of
graphic art.
Before the Introduction of photography
colored print was of necessity produced
merely by the application of color to a
plate or stone or block prepared for print
ing In monotint. Sometimes the coloring
was done by hand after the impression
was made in one tint. but more often the
color was applied directly to the surface
OF the plate from which the impression
was pulled. Variety in effect. therefore.
Is largely due to difference in method of
preparation or grounding and knowl-
edge OF the initial processes is essential
to an understanding of ultimate results.
Difference in Methods.
Without going into details. the general
principles Of the various methods can be
clearly explained In a few words. In
line engraving on metal the picture is
made by shading with lines cut into the
surface; in stipple engraving the shadow
ing or modelling Is all manipulated by
means of tiny dots stippled on the sur
face and sunk beneath it; in mezzotint
engraving the entire surface of the plate
Is evenly roughed. SO that 1t would print
a solid black, and then smoothed down
SO that portions will print white or light.
IN other words, the engraver works In
this instance from black to white in
stead of from white to black.
Etching is done with acid on a metal
plate parts Of the surface being made
impervious to biting by means of var
nish or wax. Wood engraving is the OPP
posite Of engraving on metal. the surface
being cut away from the lines instead of
the lines being cut into the surface. Color
printing In conjunction with any Of these
methods is done either by successfully
linking the plate or by using several
plates, each holding a different color.
the former being the more usual method.
To an extent color printing Is only half
mechanical and can be made almost
entirely direct artistic expression. 1t
Is this which renders certain colored
prints of exceptional value and causes
others to be almost extensively poor.
In many instances coIored prints have
been touched up BY hand the mechanical
process failing to meet the requirements.
But this is not legitimate color printing.