608. Retouching Trees

Retouching Trees. To successfully retouch trees, you should observe their appearance in nature and use the correct form of touch to bring them out properly, just as you would if you were making a pencil drawing. You must remember, however, that you are working on the negative and not on a positive. Sometimes the broad and sometimes the narrow surface of the chisel edge will be most useful, as they enable you to make either broad or narrow touches as required.

609. For working on such trees as the oak, beech and elm, use the broad edge, while for fir, ash, chestnut and willow the sharp edge will be most serviceable. Use the pointed end of the pencil when retouching birch, weeping willow, poplar and other trees which have fine leaves.

610. In retouching buildings and other architectural subjects, the chisel edge will, as a rule, be most serviceable in spreading lines and in strengthening outlines. Where signs or lettering appear prominently, it will be necessary, in almost every case, to accentuate the high-lights on the letters, in order that they may stand out more boldly than they would if left untouched. This lettering is, as a rule, a very important part of the technical architectural picture, and it must be perfectly clear and distinct and attract attention. When you observe these signs on a building itself, they stand out very boldly, owing to the brilliancy of the gilt, of which the letters are generally composed. This yellow, however, reproduces very dark, as it does not

affect the sensitive plate to the degree in which you might think it would. Therefore, it is invariably necessary to build up the high-lights on these letters and also to outline them very carefully on the negative. The high-lights may often be accentuated by reducing the shadows a trifle with the etching knife. This, of course, should be done before attempting to retouch the negative with the pencil.

611. There are times when the brass or other metallic trimmings on a building will reflect light very strongly - to such an extent that it will be necessary to reduce the strong high-lights formed. Then again, if these same trimmings are in the shade, they may, owing to their color, reproduce altogether too dark and require building up with the pencil to their relative tonal value.

612. All of the work which will be required on technical architectural negatives will require careful thought on your part. If the best of results are to be secured you should observe the appearance of various architectural subjects, together with their trimmings and ornaments. Notice the effect of various lightings on the subject, as this will do much toward enabling you to gradually improve your work upon the negative and produce the most satisfactory results.

613. Working On Back Of Negatives

Working On Back Of Negatives. It is not necessary to have all of the alterations made on the film side of the negative. In fact, a great deal of work may be applied on the glass side, which will be far more effective in enabling you to secure perfect results than if you attempted to secure the same effect working in detail on the film side. The first step is to coat the glass side of the negative with ground-glass substitute, so that you may have a substance on which to work - one that will hold the materials which you will employ. Although ground-glass substitute can be made, it is far more advisable to purchase it from the dealer in photographic supplies. The prepared medium will give far better results than that which you might mix yourself. If, however, you desire to make your own substitute, we have found the following formula to give excellent satisfaction;

614. Ground-Glass Substitute. -

Gum Sandarac..........................................

90 grs.

Gum Mastic..............................................

20 grs.

Dissolve in Ether......................................

2 ozs.

Add Benzole.............................................

1 to 1 1/2 ozs.

Never use more than 1 1/2 ounces of Benzole - 1 ounce will usually be found best. Benzole must be fresh.

615. To coat the glass with the substitute you should proceed in exactly the same manner as if you were flowing the negative with retouching varnish. Extreme care must be exercised, however, that none of the substitute runs over on to the film side of the negative, as it would be practically impossible to remove it without damaging the film. Begin to pour the substitute on the corner of the negative farthest from you - holding the negative in the left hand, by the left corner. Pour a sufficient amount of substitute on the negative to permit of its flowing evenly over all portions. Avoid an excess amount, however, as it would then run over on the film side. Tip the negative a trifle to the left, and when the substitute has reached the left corner, again tip the negative so that the substitute will run toward your left hand. Just before it reaches the thumb again tip the negative to the right and allow the substitute to quickly drain back into the bottle. The substitute sets very quickly; therefore practice the operation until you become somewhat dexterous in evenly coating the glass.

616. Avoid coating any part of the negative twice with the substitute, as this would, of course, increase the density of that particular portion. If you will carefully follow out the above suggestion, you should experience no difficulty after a few attempts in applying the ground-glass substitute evenly.

617. To accentuate shadows - that is, to cause a deeper printing of them - take the etching knife and cut away the ground-glass substitute directly over them, carefully shading or blending around the edges of the opening thus produced. As the thickness of the glass will cause a slight diffusion, you should not make this opening quite as large

as the shadow which you wish to accentuate, for if made too large a slight line may result and ruin the shadow portion. High-lights are built up by working on this ground-glass substitute with a stump dipped in pencil filings, but where fine lines are to be strengthened, a soft pencil may be used to advantage. The amount of work necessary will depend entirely upon the results which you desire to produce, and it may be necessary to make proofs from time to time, in order to learn exactly what is the effect of the work that you have placed on the negative.

618. Another favorite method of working on the negative is to apply a sheet of cepa-skin (French onion-skin) paper, or very fine grained tissue-paper, to the back. This paper is sometimes known as papier-mineral. Cut a piece of this paper the size of the negative to be worked up, lay it in the water for a moment, and then place between blotters. Around the edge of the negative, on the glass side, apply a little mucilage or weak glue. Lay the damp sheet of tissue-paper on the negative, pressing it down slightly on the gummed margin, and set up on edge to dry. It will dry in a very short while, and the tissue-paper will be found to lie perfectly smooth and be tightly drawn.

619. The tissue-paper lying over the dense parts of the negative, or over parts which are to be printed deeply, can be cut out with a sharp knife; or, if a knife is not handy, or it is not desired to cut the paper, a solution of one part of balsam to six parts of turpentine can be applied to the paper, which will cause it to become transparent. Other parts of the negative which require lightening can be worked up with a stump, rubbed in pencil filings, liquid charcoal, or with some light water-color. This tissue-paper backing will give the same effect as the ground-glass substitute, but in an increased degree.

620. In many pictures, more especially those made with hand cameras fitted with ordinary rapid rectilinear lenses, a decided darkening will be noticed in the corners of the print. This is caused by the inability of the lens employed to carry the light to the corners or edges of the plate

in the same strength as to the center. The negative of such a picture will be found to be almost clear glass at the corners. This can be remedied by applying charcoal with a stump to the paper backing of the negative, blending it down from the corners toward the center of the negative. In this way the unevenness of the negative can be removed so that the print shows no defect of the lens.

Illustration No. 45. Pencil for Marking on Glass

Illustration No. 45. Pencil for Marking on Glass.

See Paragraph 621.

621. Although the above methods are by far the most practical ones, it is possible to work on the back of the negative without applying any ground-glass substitute. The Faber Company manufactures a special pencil, shown in Illustration No. 45, which may be used to work in highlights on the back of the negative, and where only the high-lights are to be strengthened this pencil will be found a very convenient method of securing the desired result.