AQUATINT (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. aqua,

See also:

• WATER

water, and tincta, dyed)  , a kind of etching (q.v.) which imitates washes with a brush . There are many ways of preparing a plate for aquatint, the following being recommended by P . G . Hamerton . Have three different solutions of rosin in rectified alcohol, making them of various degrees of strength, but always thin enough to be quite fluid, the weakest solution being almost colourless . First pour the strongest solution on the plate . When it dries it will produce a granulation; and you may now bite as in ordinary etching for your darker tones, stopping out what the acid is not to operate upon, or you may use a brush charged with acid, perchloride of iron being a very good mordant for the purpose . After cleaning the plate, you proceed with the weaker solutions in the same way, the weakest giving the finest granulation for skies, distances, &c . The process requires a good deal of stopping-out, and some burnishing, scraping, &c., at last . Aquatint may be effectively used in combination with line etching, and still more harmoniously with soft ground etching in which the line imitates that of the lead pencil .