Emil Mayer

“ It is easily possible to supply the lacking aerial perspective of certain kinds of prints. In portrait work in the bromoil process, skilful workmanship renders one absolutely independent of the nature of the background. A light background can be made dark, a dark one light. ”

“ Everyone who devotes himself to the higher aims of photography, and studies the works of painters, must learn to see with the artist’s eye if he will apply his knowledge in pictorial presentation of his subjects. In the same way the bromoil printer should become more familiar with the working tools of the painter, and especially with the most valuable material at his command, the ink, than has hitherto been the case. ”

“ Mere changes of gradation of the whole picture or of its color can certainly be attained by simpler photographic methods. The extraordinary advantages of the bromoil process lie in other directions.
Bromoil printing, for instance, permits us to ink any individual part of the print more or less, or even not [80] at all, at will; it is possible to give enormous brilliance and aerial perspective to the high lights; they may show when finished every tonal value represented in the negative; it is also possible to darken them to an extraordinary extent by the application of more or softer ink. ”

“ If, in spite of all this, erroneous ideas as to assumed fundamental differences between oil and bromoil printing, and particularly as the special suitability of oil printing for certain effects are still disseminated, the reason usually lies in the fact that many who have previously worked in oil have drawn erroneous general conclusions from their first and naturally imperfect results in bromoil printing. They overlook the fact that even the worker experienced in oil printing must first learn bromoil printing and then practice it thoroughly in order to master it. ”

“ When one has once learnt the initial steps of brush [63] technique, in the course of time one fails to notice the difference between the laying on and the hopping off of the ink. The hand in time acquires an instinctive handling of the brush, which takes care at once of both the application and the distribution of the ink; if the proper relation between the consistency of the ink and the degree of swelling of the gelatine has been hit upon, a simplified handling of the brush comes of itself, because then the application of the ink is especially easy. ”

“ Development.—The processes of tanning in the film of a bromide print, produced by the bleaching of the silver image, which will be described later, are of an extremely subtle nature. We must therefore endeavor to avoid all causes for damage in this process and especially everything which tends to harden the whole film even to the slightest degree. Any tanning, which affects the whole gelatine film, has the same effect as general fog in a negative. It is well known that almost all the developers used in photography have more or less tendency to harden the gelatine film. ”

“ If it is desired to obtain a delicate picture from any negative, one uses only a little ink, and hops it off thoroughly; then there may be obtained from even the most contrasty negative a delicate print, but one thoroughly worked out in all its details. On the other hand, there is practically no limit to the continued application of ink; the film is still capable of taking up more ink, long after the limits of artistic pictorial effect have been passed. The result is that in the bromoil process vigor and depth of the shadows can be produced in any desired intensity. ”

“ By “workers” I mean especially amateurs, not those professionally skilled in the graphic arts. After overcoming these difficulties, caused chiefly by the materials, there is a certain feeling of satisfaction in having actually produced a work of art. By using the different techniques of bromoil printing: soft ink, hard ink, sketch, and coarse grain, one can obtain transfers of such beauty as may confidently be said can be attained by no other process. There is unlimited possibility of variation; and this alone assures the bromoil transfer process preëminence over any other method of printing. ”

“ Without question, the worker who intentionally strives for a given artistic effect can attain this easily and certainly by means of bromoil. If, however, he has no definite aim, but allows himself to be blindly driven on, as it were, by the idiosyncrasies of the process, it may happen that he will obtain quite another result. The greater gradation of the bromide print may induce him to keep on working on the picture until he finally obtains a print, which exactly corresponds in tone values with the gradation of his contrasty negative, which could not happen with the oil print. ”

“ Only it is necessary to find an artist who can conduct the various printings with such fine color sense that the final result will actually produce the impression of a work of art in color, not that of a colored photograph, which has unfortunately hitherto been the case with all experiments in this direction. ”

“ Collotype or copper-plate printing inks of various makes are frequently usable. As a rule, however, they must be tested as to their usefulness for our process; their consistency is frequently too hard, and sometimes they are not taken up by the film or cannot be distributed well, even when they are considerable diluted with linseed oil varnish, in spite of an apparently correct consistency.
The nature of the ink is not only influenced by the greasy substance used as a medium, but also by the material of the coloring matter itself. ”

“ The bromoil process, on the other hand, is in its very essence preëminently suitable for work in several colors, and offers all the possibilities which have previously been lacking. Without any special preliminary preparation the worker can apply any number of different colors to one and the same print at one sitting; he can harmonize them to each other during the progress of the work, combine neighboring colors by working them into each other on the print and easily correct any error that may occur. ”

“ It must be so hard that a brush set into a small quantity of the ink that has been taken from the heap with the stiff spatula and spread out in a thin film, neither takes up the ink nor gives it up again to white paper. In order to make it fit for use, one must add to this thin film one small drop, not more, of pure linseed or poppy oil, petroleum, light copper-plate printing varnish, or medium, and mix it well with the ink with the stiff spatula. Petroleum can be highly recommended for the softening medium. ”

“ In practice the method of procedure is as follows: there is first produced, on the print which is to be worked up, a relief which is vigorous enough to sufficiently develop all the detail in the shadows. An ink which is fairly stiff for this degree of swelling is chosen; the brush is first dipped in the solvent and then into the ink, which has been thinly spread on the palette. After a few dabbings on the palette the ink solution with which the brush is charged is spread on the print with a hopping motion and distributed with the same brush as evenly as possible. ”

“ For prints and transfers which should show the greatest possible fineness and modeling, it is better to choose a smooth bromide paper.
The prepared print is swollen and pigmented as in making an ordinary bromoil print. It is not necessary, when planning to make a transfer, to produce a higher relief by a warm water or ammonia bath, which requires the use of softer inks and limits artistic freedom in working up. One’s whole attention must be focused on a single point: the shadows must be clean, the lights pure white. ”

“ It is true that the execution of a bromoil print in polychrome requires complete mastery of the process; an indispensable condition is a perfect command of the handling of brush and ink. Therefore, experiments in polychrome bromoil printing can only be recommended to those who have the monochrome process absolutely at their fingers’ tips.
If a negative is to be printed in several colors, the worker must first be absolutely clear as to his artistic scheme and know exactly in what color each individual part of the print must be executed ”

“ The possibilities of after-treatment of a bromoil print are manifold. Thus, for instance, by means of the eraser very natural appearing clouds can be rubbed into [110] the cloudless sky of a landscape not taken with an orthochromatic plate, if in inking the sky is properly darkened. In the background and subordinate planes of a portrait, a certain draughtsmanlike character can be attained by suitable delicate strokes with the rubber. Ugly lines of the hair or clothing which could not be suitably dealt with in the inking-up, can now be altered with a little skill. ”

“ At first a smeared spot is formed on the surface of the print; by continued gentle hopping the spot is gradually worked out, and by continued working we get a fineness of detail, equal to that of printing-out paper. It is true that even the highest lights acquire a delicate film of ink, so that a print treated in this way is somewhat low in key. If the hopping with the brush charged with benzol is not continued until the finest possible grain is attained, a misty effect may be produced, with some suppression of the finest details ”

“ With too slow bleaching, the hydrochloric acid may be gradually increased, at the most to double that prescribed; one should not hasten the bleaching process by warming the solution. The bleaching is rapidly effected in warm solutions; yet generally the film of moderately hardened papers is so altered that they swell up too much even in cold water and take the ink badly or not at all. The dilute bleaching solution will keep and may be used repeatedly as long as it acts; when it becomes exhausted, the slowing up of the bleaching cannot be hastened by the addition of hydrochloric acid. ”

“ The finished bromoil print, produced by a perfectly even application of ink over the whole picture by means of successive additions, each thoroughly worked over with the brush, differs from the original bromide print in coloration, structure, more extended gradation, and change in the character of its surface. As the worker is at liberty to stop at any desired stage of the work, he can obtain from the original bromide print, according to his taste, a delicate light-toned bromoil or a very rich and highly modulated print, or any intermediate stage between these two extremes. ”

“ At every single step lurks the danger that undesired changes of gradation in the negative may result from inaccuracy in exposure and development, from the use of improperly chosen sensitive material, and from various other causes, and even if these factors are all correctly handled, there is still an unavoidable loss of detail. ”

“ It is necessary to be thoroughly familiar with the action of the atomizer which is being used; with most atomizers the finest drops, on account of their lightness, fall downwards not very far from the mouthpiece, while others project their finest drops to a greater distance. The sprayed print, which naturally cannot be touched on the film side, must be left undisturbed for a certain period, which must be determined by experiment, for it depends, among other things, on the temperature of the room and the peculiarities of the paper which is used. ”

“ It would seem permissible to assume that the whole work of dilution with linseed oil could be saved by not adding so much color to the varnish, but by proceeding with the inking-up as soon as the ink is taken up by the brush, but this is not the case.
As I have stated above under “Varnish,” every degree of consistency of the varnish requires a definite quantity of color. If one adds too little color, the paste will be too soft for bromoil printing, and cannot be spread. Too much color is hardly possible with the stiffest consistency ”

“ It may happen that during the inking the print becomes covered with fibers and small hairs of the most different shapes. This phenomenon may sometimes become so troublesome that a successful print appears problematical. It is frequently incorrectly assumed that these impurities are caused entirely by the brush. Hairs that have fallen from the brush are always recognizable as such, for they are straight, relatively thick, lie entirely on the surface of the film, and can be easily removed. When there is an excessive appearance of fibers, they are due to the use of an unsuitable cloth for drying. ”

“ If, however, it should happen, especially when using rough papers, that the shadows do not yet appear quite deep enough, one should print again twice with increased pressure. All the ink which was on the bromoil print will now be transferred to the paper; if the printing was carried out properly the bromoil will look as if it had not been pigmented at all.
It should never be forgotten that the rolls ought never to be so strongly screwed down that they can only be started by great effort; they must always move easily, and with little muscular effort. ”

“ In practice, the bringing together of neighboring tones, which differ considerably in value, can be easily effected by hopping off the ink from the darker parts with a brush that has not been freshly charged with ink, and depositing it on the lighter parts. The lightening of too dark places can also be attained by going over them with a perfectly clean brush that has not been dipped in the ink. Isolated high lights can be accentuated by touching them with a pointed water-color brush, dipped in water; then the film swells and repels the ink. ”

“ Not the least important, however, is the fact that the flexibility of the process enables one to immediately repair any error without impairment of the print. When it is further considered that the bromoil process is independent of the size of the negative, that it permits the operator to use any support, any structure, any grain and any color, we should be warranted in saying that the bromoil process is the process of the future for amateurs striving for artistic results. ”

“ If the sky parts of a picture are swollen too much, their uniform inking is not easy. Then it is advisable to ink up the sky only on the dry print, as is suggested on page 112.
Because the tonality of any color, which has already been applied, can be altered with the brush, polychrome bromoil printing affords very great possibilities. Obviously good taste and a sound color sense are indispensable requisites, for without them there is danger of producing the undesirable effects characteristic of certain colored postcards. ”

“ Practice teaches that there is always a definite consistency of ink which corresponds to a definite degree of swelling and with this the print may be executed from start to finish. If the operator has learnt by experience what ink consistency corresponds to the existing swelling of the film, he will prepare his ink of the suitable consistency, and is then in a position to carry out the work uninterruptedly without any new mixing of the ink. ”

“ However desirable it might be and however it might simplify the process to be able to use any desired developer in producing the bromide print, to avoid trouble it must be observed that the use of developers which tan the film may seriously influence the result, even though it is possible to get some kind of prints in many cases. If the worker is absolutely sure that the bromide paper which he is using is not strongly hardened and is therefore well suited for bromoil printing, he may undertake development with any one of the ordinary developers which he prefers. ”

“ The warmer the water used, the longer is the scale of tones, naturally within definite limits.
In bromoil printing it is therefore entirely at the choice of the operator whether he will or will not make use of the long scale of tones which the process can give.
If cold water is used for the soaking, the gradation of the tanned image is much less than that of the oil print or the bromide image. By the choice of a suitable temperature of the water, the short gradation of the oil print with all its peculiarities can be exactly obtained. ”

“ It was possible to produce certain modifications of the negative image as a whole, by printing it darker or lighter, or by using a harder or softer working process. Changes on the negative itself for the purpose of giving a more artistic rendering must, however, always be very carefully thought out in advance and effected by retouching, often difficult and not within the power of every photographer, or by other methods which change the negative itself. ”