- -^y' ^ 
 
ANTHONY'S PHOTO SERIES, No. 6. 
 
 THE 
 
 ART OF 
 
 RETOUCHING 
 
 BY 
 
 BURROWS & COLTON 
 
 THIRD AMERICAN EDITION 
 
 REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, J. P. OURDAN 
 
 til 60 ITSS 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO. 
 1891. 
 
COPYRIGHT : 
 
 E. & H. T. ANTHONY & CO. 
 
 591 Broadway, New York. 
 
r 
 
 I 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WHEN the "Art of Retouching" was first 
 written, little hope was entertained that 
 it would be so universally welcomed as it has been ; 
 and as edition after edition was readily disposed 
 of_copies finding their way to all parts of the 
 world, with favorable reports from every quarter 
 —the author decided to fully rewrite and enlarge 
 the original book, introducing many useful 
 points noted by him during his sojourn in 
 America. Having retouched many negatives 
 during that time he is able to make a more com 
 plete and exhaustive treatise, embracing points 
 applicable to American taste and negatives 
 which would never occur in European practice. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 adjusting instructive matter to the requirements 
 of both. The author still disclaims the idea of 
 encroaching upon others' work, though endeavor- 
 ing to lay before his readers a lucid quotation of 
 other professionals' experience as well as his own, 
 which is based upon some years of study in ar- 
 tistic pursuits, both in this country and abroad. 
 The same characteristic absence of elaboration 
 which gave the first edition of this book such a 
 reputation, distinguishes this one throughout ; all 
 superfluous matter has been carefully avoided, 
 and everything contained in this edition is guar- 
 anteed to be perfectly practicable — can be dem- 
 onstrated to anyone requiring it. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OR the past few years, nearly every subject 
 
 connected with Photography has been writ- 
 ten up to such an extent that little remains to be 
 said concerning it. Retouching seems to be the 
 only one which has not received the attention it 
 unquestionably deserves ; for, as beautiful as the 
 Art of Photography is, there can be no doubt that 
 it abounds in shortcomings, and to meet these 
 Retouching is without dispute a powerful adjunct. 
 
 Articles have appeared at different times which 
 have treated generally of its effect and advantages, 
 but none have given the reader an insight into 
 the details of this interesting and important branch. 
 The object of this book is to give such minute and 
 detailed instructions, as to enable anyone with an 
 
INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 ordinary amount of taste to acquire the art of 
 Retouching in a short time. Of course it is not 
 impHed that one is to succeed in becoming a first- 
 class retoucher in a few days by simply reading 
 through the directions given. The production of 
 these artistic effects cannot be learned mechanic- 
 ally. It would take one year of careful study to 
 communicate to the work, the high and rare quali- 
 ties of art, and when accomplished, the labor 
 would scarcely be appreciated by the public gen- 
 erally as an individual acquirement, judging as it 
 does of the finished picture as a whole. Re- 
 touching as an artistic pursuit, has not been carried 
 to such a degree of excellence as to demand a 
 high artistic feeling, though naturally the more 
 of it one possesses the better work he will pro- 
 duce. While admitting that a few personal les- 
 sons at the hands of a practical retoucher with an 
 art education, would greatly advance beginners, it 
 is claimed that by following carefully the instruc- 
 tions given, for whichever system it is proposed 
 to learn, results may be obtained with reasonably 
 
VIU INTRODUCTION. 
 
 short practice, which would take the learner 
 months to master by the ordinary course of pro- 
 cedure. One thing is particularly recommended, 
 i.e., to adhere to one system until mastered ; for 
 by trying a little of this method and a little of an- 
 other, an uncertain style is acquired, to practice 
 which, takes longer time than is necessary, from 
 the fact of there being no established order in the 
 routine employed, resulting in effects altogether 
 unsatisfactory. This book being intended as a 
 practical instructor, we will launch at once into the 
 subject, treating each point with that degree of 
 care and minuteness of description necessary to 
 give the reader a clear conception of it. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 I ,^OR the production of good work it is very 
 ^ necessary to be capable of determining at a 
 glance just what amount of labor is required upon 
 a negative, and what alterations are to be made 
 to improve its printing qualities without destroy- 
 ing its character. This will take more or less 
 practice, depending upon the retoucher's knowl- 
 edge and artistic talent, it being impossible to 
 apply the remedy if one does not possess the 
 power of correctly appreciating a defect. As we 
 remarked in the preface, the greater artistic talent 
 one possesses, the easier he can portray in his 
 
TO THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 mind a point deficient in physical resemblance or 
 a possible improvement. All the niceties of exe- 
 cution are to a large extent mechanical, but the 
 power of vivifying a portrait is an undeniable in- 
 tellectual faculty. To render explanation more 
 explicit, in the endeavor to show the reader the 
 amount of work to be done upon a negative, fig- 
 ured plates are introduced which describe all the 
 muscles and lines of a face. The reader is rec- 
 ommended to refer frequently to these while prac- 
 ticing, as they will materially assist him to model 
 correctly, and accustom him to mentally dissect a 
 face when commencing to retouch, a practice 
 which will aid greatly in the student's advance- 
 ment. Throughout this work the reader is as- 
 sumed to be entirely ignorant of the Art of Re- 
 touching ; and although this may render the book 
 a little insipid to some, to the beginner it is infi- 
 nitely important to treat the subject thus, in order 
 to give him all possible practical information. It 
 will greatly assist any one taking up retouching as 
 a vocation, if he will make a careful study of the 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. II 
 
 anatomy of faces, and learn to give to or retain 
 in each face, the peculiarity of character it pos- 
 sesses. At the same time it is equally important 
 to improve the printing qualities of the negative 
 and to modify the lighting and expression ; but 
 to know how to do this, and, in so doing, to lose 
 the points above mentioned would be useless. 
 
 The study of facial anatomy and analysis will 
 by no means prove beneficial as applied to nega- 
 tives only, but once mastered, it may be used as 
 a groundwork for any future artistic study, such 
 as crayon, oil, or India-ink and pastel work. In- 
 deed it is to be regretted that many of the " Cray- 
 on Artists " had not paid due attention to this 
 branch ; had they done so, crayon work would 
 have enjoyed a wider popularity to-day ; but the 
 hundreds of vile productions that are circulated 
 through lack of knowledge of the anatomy of the 
 human face, owing to which likenesses are lost, 
 have so condemned this kind of portraiture that 
 the public have lost faith in it, regarding adher- 
 ence to original likeness as a matter of chance. 
 
12 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 These remarks are not altogether inapplicable 
 to photography ; how comparatively few photog- 
 raphers can always ensure a truthful likeness ! 
 Nothing can be more annoying than to produce a 
 faultless negative (chemically and artistically) and 
 have it ruined by the retoucher, who without any 
 regard to expression, drawing or anatomy, aims 
 simply at making the negative perfectly smooth 
 and fine. He succeeds in this manner in effacing 
 all traces of character, and as a rule treats faces 
 of either sex, and all ages, in precisely the same 
 way, instead of which he should have striven to 
 retain the peculiarities he has removed, and not 
 work the face of a man of sixty, as delicately as a 
 schoolboy's. 
 
 Every individual is distinguished by certain pe- 
 culiarities, and these must be so treated that where 
 they exist prominently as defective individualities, 
 they will remain, and yet not attract special atten- 
 tion. As the student progresses, bearing in mind 
 the hints advanced, he will soon attain proficiency 
 in this. He will learn to make with facility any 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. 1 3 
 
 alteration taste may suggest, such as a fixed, star- 
 ing and unnatural look, assumed by so many per- 
 sons while sitting for a portrait, into an easy, nat- 
 ural smile : or to change the forced, sinister smirk 
 assumed under like conditions into a calm and 
 pleasing expression. The plates will be found of 
 great service here ; as all muscular organisms are 
 subject to the same lineal changes under parallel 
 circumstances, such as grief, joy, pain, pleasure, 
 etc., the plates may be adjusted to any portrait. 
 These changes are all possible, and one unac- 
 quainted with the method of effecting them is 
 often surprised at the power a retoucher has to 
 alter a negative to suit his taste. This is in truth 
 much easier upon negatives than in drawing or 
 painting, particularly to those whose knowledge 
 of drawing is limited, as in a negative the model- 
 ling of the face is all indicated, leaving the re- 
 toucher only photographic exaggerations to over- 
 come, and to harmonize the whole so that each 
 feature effectively maintains its place without im- 
 portuning the spectator's eye. The most difficult 
 
14 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 subjects are the persons who insist upon being 
 taken ''just as they a7^ey Negatives of such may 
 be flattered with impunity, as it usually turns out 
 that they do not wish to be represented ''just as 
 they arey When the indications of modelling are 
 too weak to print, they can always be seen in a 
 soft, transmitted light sufficiently to enable the 
 retoucher to strengthen them to any extent. The 
 common error into which beginners are very apt 
 to fall, is a tendency to give too much rotundity 
 to the face, producing prints absolutely devoid of 
 character, there being a total absence of the deli- 
 cate modulation and half tone which gives a pict- 
 ure all the life it may have. 
 
 Exaggerations of photography have also to be 
 looked to. These are the most formidable diffi- 
 culties it is the retoucher's misfortune to encoun- 
 ter. Perhaps the most troublesome of all, is the 
 displacement (if such a term can be applied) of 
 the nose. It is surprising the number of different 
 shapes that may be given to this feature by the 
 slightest alteration of the light or the position of 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. 1 5 
 
 the sitter or camera. The artist photographer 
 builds much of his reputation upon a knowledge 
 of this fact — his conversance with the effects and 
 defects obtainable by such changes enabling him 
 to avoid the latter and avail himself of the bene- 
 fits of a judicious employment of the former. 
 
 As an instance of this, take the case of a lady 
 whose nose is of the retrousse stamp. Mr. Smith 
 photographs the subject, posing her with the head 
 slightly elevated and the camera raised to a level 
 with, or even a little lower than, the sitter's head, 
 and in such a position as to give a nearly full-face 
 portrait, the light reaching the sitter from the front 
 and top. As a natural consequence the patron is 
 not satisfied with her portrait The shape of her 
 nose has been completely altered, the end enlarged 
 and the bridge flattened, giving the lady an ex- 
 pression quite foreign to her. Mr. Brown is the 
 next photographer visited, who, being an artist, de- 
 cides at once the position, etc., most suitable to this 
 feature, and accordingly gives his sitter an easy, 
 meditative and artistic pose, avoiding both full face 
 
1 6 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 and profile, allowing a soft, diffused light to reach 
 the model from an angle of about forty-five de- 
 grees top and side, giving a good exposure and 
 developing thoroughly. By this means he brings 
 out every shade of detail possible, so that when he 
 commences to retouch the negative he has some- 
 thing to work upon, and is able to modify the nose 
 to any extent. The lady is naturally gratified, be- 
 cause her photographer has taken the most pleas- 
 ing view of her face. It is not always important, 
 nor yet advisable, to flatter a lady's portrait ; but 
 no harm is ever done by choosing the more favor- 
 able view and better side of the face, bringing forth 
 those points which are manifestly the most advan- 
 tageous to the sitter. 
 
 Now, as Mr. Brown has given satisfaction, it is 
 not our purpose to deal with his negative, but 
 the rejected one of the unfortunate Smith, with a 
 view to bringing it as near to the same point of 
 perfection as that of Brown. The unnatural, bad- 
 ly formed nose he has produced must be convert- 
 ed or modified to one of the type most suited to 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. 1 7 
 
 the sitter's peculiar style of beauty — not to alter it 
 into a Roman or an aquiline nose, which would be 
 as great a mistake as that already made, but to 
 modify it by approaching slightly to whichever of 
 these would, without any alteration of the likeness, 
 produce a more pleasing picture, always being 
 careful to leave no possibility of the departure 
 from nature being perceived. As this lady's nose 
 is retrousse, the rest of her features will be, no 
 doubt, in keeping, seeing which the retoucher is 
 to make it correspond or harmonize with the rest 
 of the face. 
 
 This is not at all times an easy matter, but can 
 be accomplished in most cases by a little judicious 
 working, as we shall describe when speaking of 
 this part of the face. 
 
 A practice prevalent among photographers of 
 under-development of negatives is much to be 
 deprecated, as tending to increase the labor of the 
 retoucher. Many photographers seem afraid of 
 their developer, allowing it to remain upon the 
 plate so little time that all the imperfections, such 
 
1 8 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 as deep lines, freckles, etc., which with proper de- 
 velopment appear semi-transparent, are absolutely 
 dear glass ; others, under the impression that they 
 are using a lightning process, under-expose, and 
 finish the damage thus commenced by using too 
 strong a developer, in the hope of bringing out 
 details they are conscious of having exposed too 
 briefly to impress upon the film. The develop- 
 ment should be carried on until the details are 
 well out, and the freckles, etc., partially subdued. 
 In badly freckled faces, the development may be 
 carried much farther than usual. 
 
 An excellent way of subduing freckles is to 
 wash the face in warm water just before sitting, 
 or to rub well with a rough towel. This makes 
 the surrounding portions of the face red, and as 
 the freckles are yellow, by giving a little longer 
 exposure than usual, they will be scarcely visible 
 in the negative. Even in the worst cases they 
 are so much reduced, and the retoucher's work 
 consequently so much lessened, that the photog- 
 rapher is fully compensated for his extra trouble. 
 
^ HOW TO BEGIN. 1 9 
 
 The face may also be well powdered, which will 
 ^greatly reduce the exposure. 
 
 When retouching freckles and deep lines, it is 
 often found a difficult matter to get the pencil to 
 take, in parts that have been once touched, the 
 pencil having so glazed the surface upon its first 
 application that further density with lead cannot 
 be given. For this reason it is necessary for the 
 operator to be able to judge pretty nearly of the 
 work needed, in order that he may get as much 
 lead on with the first stroke as the spot will re- 
 quire. When a retouching medium is used upon 
 the unvarnished film, after as much as can be put 
 on the film is finished, the negative may be var- 
 nished, the surface then abraded or treated with 
 the resin solution and the face reworked upon the 
 varnish. 
 
 Rembrandt negatives must be treated rather 
 differently to those ordinarily lighted, for in these 
 more than in others, the distorting effect of im- 
 proper lighting is very apparent. The nose is 
 by no means the only part of the face which be- 
 
-O THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 comes distorted or exaggerated, and which re- 
 quires very careful manipulation and much expe- 
 rience to restore to its true form. All freckles, 
 lines, comedones or black heads and marks of 
 every description are exaggerated in this style of 
 lighting to a far greater extent than in ordinarily 
 lighted negatives. These defects are again fre- 
 quently made more glaring by under-exposure 
 and over-intensification, producing too strong con- 
 trasts. A tendency to hardness should always be 
 overcome by the retoucher when it is not possible 
 for him to govern the photographer, though the 
 latter is the one to obviate this defect ; and as it 
 can at no time be overcome so well as during the 
 operations of exposure and development, it should 
 then receive attention. 
 
 In elderly persons, the lines of the face and 
 texture of the skin are much deepened, particular- 
 ly when a top light has been used. 
 
 A distressing negative for a hardly worked re- 
 toucher, is one which has been focussed pretty well 
 to the front, and a small diaphragm used in the 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. 2T 
 
 lens. Such a one will be found to be extremely 
 troublesome, requiring the most skillful working 
 to make a presentable picture. 
 
 The labial furrow (No. 5, PI. 2) — the line running 
 from the nose to the corner of the mouth — is al- 
 ways deeper on the light than on the shadow side 
 of face, from the fact that in the one on the shadow 
 side, running in the same direction as the light in 
 which the picture is taken, the light enters it and 
 brightens it up ; whereas, on the other or light 
 side the light crosses the direction of the furrow, 
 which, being shielded by the muscle over It, Nasi- 
 lis Labii Superioris, the common elevator of the 
 Ala (No. 7, PI. i) no light enters. The same rule 
 applies in a measure to all other lines, though not 
 to such a marked degree ; hence the shadow side 
 of a face always contains less modelling and half 
 tone, but, being in shadow, it can be improved or 
 rectified by skillful working. Upon this point 
 most beginners fail at first to satisfy themselves 
 with their work, and yet a moment's reflection 
 should show them at once where the fault lies. 
 
22 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 which, in most instances, consists in their filling up 
 the entire shadow side, half tone and all, making it 
 as smooth as they know how, and then adding a 
 high light to correspond, as they think, with the 
 other side of the face. They forget to consider 
 that the light does not strike both sides alike, 
 Due regard must also be given to perspective ; 
 muscles, etc., seen from one point differ materially 
 from those seen from another point of view, both 
 in appearance and lighting. When reflectors are 
 used (which, if employed, should be so placed as 
 to avoid strong reflection and false lights) there is 
 often a false light produced in the eyes, more par- 
 ticularly that upon the shadow side or next the 
 reflector. This is impossible to remove nicely in 
 the negative, and it must be touched out upon the 
 print. Methods are given by some retouchers to 
 do this, but as they are neither clean nor certain, 
 it is best to leave it to the spotter to remove. 
 
 Properly speaking, false lights of any kind should 
 not exist. Another thing the retoucher has to ac- 
 custom himself to, is to be able to tell, upon seeing 
 
HOW TO BliGIN. 23 
 
 any unusually deep lines or peculiar marks, wheth- 
 er they are photographic exaggerations or really 
 characteristic points of the subject, and, if exagger- 
 ations, to decide what extent of modification they 
 will bear without destroying the character of the 
 face upon which he is at work. A mole or scar, 
 for instance, will usually be exaggerated, but if 
 fully removed, the likeness would suffer a little 
 loss ; and as a number of little departures from 
 truth would soon totally obliterate all likeness, it 
 is better to indulge in none. 
 
 The license of successful artistic portraiture 
 permits a representation as favorable to the sitter 
 as possible ; there is, nevertheless, a limit to flat- 
 tery which is only definable by peculiar circum- 
 stances of the case, as with personal imperfections 
 a resemblance can often be secured without sig- 
 nalizing the blemish, and even when this is impos- 
 sible, it is by no means illegitimate practice to 
 subdue it, if done with discretion, taking care to 
 preserve distinctive impersonation. 
 
 The hair, hands, and drapery should also re- 
 
24 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ceive an adequate share of attention, though these 
 portions of a negative do not require such elabor- 
 ate work as the face ; at the same time what is 
 done must be done carefully, and with the same 
 light and shade effect as the rest of the picture. 
 
 The hands, unless nicely formed, in good focus 
 and well posed, should always be as subdued as 
 possible, and in no instance should either the hand 
 or any accessory be more prominent, or attract the 
 eye more, than the face. This should be the main 
 feature of all negatives, the remaining portions 
 being simply arranged and kept partly subdued. 
 When the face is not the most attractive part in 
 the negative, the retoucher must always intensify 
 it by means of plumbago applied at the back ; and 
 when portions are too bright, they may be greatly 
 reduced by rendering the matt varnish transpar- 
 ent with turpentine varnish or dammar varnish. 
 A diversity of effect may be obtained by lighten- 
 ing parts of the background, a surprising differ- 
 ence being easily obtainable with a few taste- 
 ful touches on the back, with a stump charged 
 
HOW TO BEGIN. 25 
 
 with plumbago, soft pastel powder, or crayon 
 sauce. 
 
 With landscape negatives, the retoucher has 
 generally but little to do ; but it is well to know 
 what to do when one has them. As, however, 
 little work is required, if worth doing at all it is 
 worth doing well. More credit is due to a man 
 who can make a passable picture of an indifferent 
 negative, than to one who produces good work 
 having always a negative of the best quality and 
 most suitable to retouch. This is not intended 
 to imply that landscape negatives are usually 
 indifferent ; but it seldom happens that the re- 
 toucher has anything to do with really good ones, 
 whereas upon the less perfect ones the lights have 
 often to be put in or existing lights subdued, the 
 cloud effects to be made to harmonize with the 
 rest of the picture, and, in most cases, the whole 
 of the sky to be worked in. 
 
 This is frequently done by combination printing 
 (of which mention is made in another chapter) ; 
 but this plan is often impracticable, and the sky is 
 
26 THE ART OF RPLTOUCHING. 
 
 left to the resources of the retoucher to do the 
 best that is possible with it. Mentioning this may 
 seem superfluous; but these things must all be 
 known to the pupil before attempting to retouch, 
 as it is of little use working upon what one does 
 not thoroughly understand, or trying to make im- 
 provements without a knowledge of what they are 
 to be. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Materials and Their Selection. 
 
 HE requirements of the retoucher, are a re- 
 
 touching^ desk, a supply of pencils of various 
 grades, a magnifying glass, several small brushes, 
 stumps of paper and leather, a few cakes of water 
 color, viz., neutral tint, Indian red and carmine, 
 and a bottle of a good, hard matt varnish, one 
 which dries quickly with an even matt surface, 
 and upon which work can be done with the harder 
 grades of pencils. 
 
 The negative should be fully exposed, thin and 
 full of detail ; over-dense negatives are at all times 
 unsatisfactory to work upon. Unfortunately it is 
 not always the retoucher's fortune to get negatives 
 possessing such degree of excellence as he would 
 
2 8 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 wish, in fact, it is the practice of many operators to 
 allow indifferent ones to,pass, consoling themselves 
 with the thought that the retoucher can make all 
 defects good. This is to be regretted, being by 
 no means conducive to the production of good 
 work or advancement of the art ; it is, however, 
 the case, and being so, we must resort to the readi- 
 est means of correcting the error. This view is 
 taken from the standpoint of a professional re- 
 toucher, who receives daily many negatives from 
 different operators and employs a number of 
 skilled assistants, a steady increase of business 
 being sufficient guarantee of his ability to speak 
 authoritatively. 
 
 If it be intended to work the negative upon the 
 varnish, it will be necessary to abrade its surface 
 with cuttle-fish powder, or some other abrading 
 substance, to cause the pencil to bite. This slight 
 matter, which would appear so simple, is by no 
 means the least important, and requires to be done 
 systematically and with the same amount of atten- 
 tion as any of the subsequent operations. Care 
 
THE MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 29 
 
 being taken that no gritty particles are in the 
 powder employed (which would scratch the film). 
 Place as much on the face as will cover a dime 
 and proceed gently to grind the surface with the 
 ball of the finger — not in a circular motion, as 
 would be the most usual course, but more up and 
 down the face, the course of the finger describing 
 ellipses, the greater diameters of which are down 
 the face. The surface thus produced, takes the 
 lead better and gives a finer touch than circular 
 abrasion. Rub very carefully, holding the nega- 
 tive in such a position as to be able to see that 
 the powder is not cutting through the film, and 
 until it feels tolerably rough ; a little practice 
 will be necessary to enable one to distinguish 
 when the right condition is obtained. Examine 
 with a magnifying glass from time to time to see 
 that the peculiar tooth which indicates the proper 
 surface is produced, perfectly matt and containing 
 no shiny patches ; now dust off the superfiuou? 
 powder with a soft brush and wipe from the part? 
 not to be retouched. If not sufificiently abraded, 
 
30 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 repeat the operation, as this precaution may often 
 save the retoucher from removing all his work 
 in consequence of the pencil refusing to take in 
 some parts, necessitating the entire re-abrasion 
 of the negative. 
 
 Various gums and solutions are employed in 
 place of powder to give a tooth to the film ; these 
 may answer for some kinds of varnish, but as 
 an abrading material, cuttle-fish will be found 
 more generally useful. The most useful solution 
 where abrading is not advisable (as for negatives 
 intended for subsequent enlarging, etc.) is a simple 
 solution of common resin in turpentine; the au- 
 thor has used this for the past two years upon 
 every variety of varnish to be had in the Ameri- 
 can market, and finds no cause to complain of its 
 general utility. Solar prints or enlargements 
 made from negatives retouched upon it, show 
 none of the markings usually met with when a 
 small negative has been abraded. Negatives that 
 have been retouched upon an abraded surface 
 and required for enlargement, may be improved 
 
THE MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 3 1 
 
 by having some of this solution rubbed over the 
 abraded portions ; this will prevent the lines from 
 showing. 
 
 A saturated solution of the resin in turpentine 
 should be kept on hand, and the clear portion di- 
 luted by twice its bulk for use. Formulae for 
 other solutions will be found in another chapter, 
 each of which the retoucher may try, selecting 
 one which answers his touch best. It seldom 
 happens that two retouchers can at first use pre- 
 cisely the same materials for working, as they may 
 not have the same touch. The more delicately 
 the work upon a negative is to be done, the finer 
 and at the same time the more abraded or matt 
 must be the surface. This is why retouching upon 
 unvarnished films is so much finer and softer than 
 that done upon varnish, the matt surface of the 
 collodion, which has been hardened or tanned by 
 any reliable means, being so exquisitely fine that 
 It may be worked upon to any extent, having a 
 tooth which takes the pencil as readily as paper. 
 As touching upon such films requires very delicate 
 
32 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 work (on account of the facility with which lead 
 may be put on, a novice is apt to do too much), 
 the beginner is advised to commence his studies 
 upon varnish, until he accustoms himself to handle 
 the pencil in such a way as to produce a light, 
 feathery stroke ; for, although working on the film 
 is decidedly more pleasant and expeditious, and 
 negatives so treated produce superior prints, it 
 takes much longer to learn upon films than upon 
 varnish. Having once mastered the art upon var- 
 nish, very little practice is required to attain pro- 
 ficiency in working upon the medium. 
 
 Another reason why the beginner should use 
 varnish until he can make sure of his touch is, that 
 not being thoroughly accustomed to the work he 
 is constantly making mistakes, or finds when his 
 negative is printed that he has done too much 
 upon it which will have to be removed. Upon 
 varnish, this can be done by re-abrasion of the sur- 
 face, but upon the film, a stroke once made is per- 
 manently fixed and cannot be removed. In such 
 cases the employment of the turpentine solution is 
 
PLATE 2 
 
MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 
 
 advisable, as it affords greater facility of touch- 
 ing over and over upon one head until perfection 
 is attained, by simply removing the work with a 
 wad of cotton charged with turpentine and apply- 
 ing more medium as directed, proceeding as be- 
 fore, carefully noting previous errors and avoiding 
 a repetition of them. 
 
 Pencils. 
 
 In selecting pencils, the greatest pains should 
 be taken and the greatest difficulty will be found, 
 as few makers produce leads of an uniform qual- 
 ity. Those used for retouching must be of the 
 finest and closest manufacture possible to procure, 
 well moulded, and absolutely free from grit. For 
 general work, Siberian leads HHH or HHHH 
 will be found the most suitable grades, using a 
 harder one for fine dotting and upon those parts 
 which require but a light touch. 
 
 Having procured your pencils, proceed to sharp 
 en them by cutting away the wood, leaving about 
 one half an inch of. the lead free to be point- 
 
"34 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ed. Rub the lead away upon a piece of glass- 
 paper until it has a very sharp, long and slender 
 point. The wood must be cut away rather ob- 
 tusely, to prevent it obstructing the sight while 
 being used, thus : 
 
 We now allude, of course, to the ordinary wood- 
 cased pencils. In our own practice we much pre- 
 fer using those known as " Eagle Automatic 
 Holders." These are to be had at any station- 
 er's, the advantages in their use being that they 
 are always the same length and are less ex- 
 pensive than the other forms. One holder is suf- 
 ficient for all purposes, the leads being changed as 
 they are needed. Leads of various grades should 
 always be kept in readiness for use, as the char- 
 acter of negative or circumstances may require. 
 We shall describe the different methods employed 
 and which have come under our notice, pointing 
 out, at the same time, their respective merits or 
 
MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 35 
 
 disadvantages. We must again remind the read- 
 er in passing, to adhere strictly to one method, 
 whichever he proposes to learn, until perfect in 
 it, before attempting a second style, otherwise the 
 object aimed at in this book will be lost. 
 
 The Light. 
 
 The light by which negatives are to be work- 
 ed must necessarily be a good one By this we 
 do not mean to be understood a very powerful, 
 glaring light, although it should be sufficiently 
 strong to show all the defects in the negative 
 when reflected through it by means of a suitable 
 reflector. The usual plan of retouching desk fit- 
 ted only with a plain mirror, which has to be 
 used near a window, has the disadvantage of a 
 false, glaring light which in time impairs the sight, 
 and, at the same time, does not give as satisfactory 
 results as could be wished for. This defect may 
 be obviated to a great extent by suspending a 
 ground glass at half the angle formed by the mir- 
 
THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ror and middle frame of the desk when opened, 
 
 thus : 
 
 GROUND 
 'GLASS 
 
 MIRROR 
 
 A piece of ordinary glass coated with matt var- 
 nish will answer the purpose as well as, if not bet- 
 ter than, ground glass ; besides, it is not as expen- 
 sive, and if broken can be replaced at a very tri- 
 fling cost. 
 
 The magnifying-glass used, should be of about 
 six inches focal length and preferably, from three 
 and a half to four inches in diameter, to enable 
 the operator to see through it with both eyes. It 
 should be fixed in some such way that it may be 
 always used at the same distance from the negative 
 and in the same position ; for, if held in the hand, 
 it is liable to such constant vibration — causing 
 
 The Magnifier. 
 
MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 37 
 
 the eye to incessantly change focus to accommo- 
 date itself to the moving glass — that in a short 
 time the sight may become permanently impair- 
 ed. This is particularly the case with persons 
 whose eyes have a tendency to dilation of the 
 cornea. 
 
 The Desk. 
 
 There are many forms of desks in use for neg- 
 ative retouching. Those generally employed are 
 fitted with carriers or frames to take the different 
 sizes of photographic plates. The desk itself con- 
 sists of three frames hinged together, with a plate 
 of silvered glass embedded in the lower frame to 
 reflect the light. The carriers are rebated to fit 
 in the middle frame, and the upper frame is made 
 solid, to prevent the light reaching the retoucher's 
 eyes. The upper and middle frames are support- 
 ed in position by means of light iron bars, which 
 fit into notches at the lower ends ; the bar itself 
 lies in a groove when the desk is closed. 
 
 The annexed sketch will give an idea of the 
 sort of apparatus of which we speak. 
 
38 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Another form is also used answering the same 
 purpose, in which the carriers are replaced by a 
 
 plain sheet of glass, which permits of the different 
 sizes of negatives being worked without the re- 
 moval of carriers or frames. 
 
 Some of the desks of this description have a 
 horizontal bar, at the ends of which are two pegs 
 with nuts and thumb-screws. These pegs slide 
 in grooves or slots in the side of the frame, being 
 held in position by tightening the thumb-screws. 
 The negative is placed upon the sheet of glass, 
 the lower edge resting upon the cross-bar, by 
 means of which it is kept in any desired position. 
 The desk should have an attachment for holding 
 the magnifier in a fixed position at a suitable dis- 
 tance from the negative, and in such a position as 
 not to interfere with the right arm. The eye is 
 thus spared the exertion of accommodating itself 
 
MATERIALS AND THEIR SELECTION. 39 
 
 to the ever-changing focus resuhing from the 
 magnifier being held in the hand, which injures 
 the sight very much, as indeed must be patent to 
 anyone who gives the subject sHght consideration. 
 Of course to the amateur, this is not a matter of 
 much interest, nor even to professionals who only 
 retouch a few negatives daily ; but, to the retouch- 
 er who is seated at the retouching desk from 
 morning until night and duly impressed with the 
 fact that no one possessed of the best eyesight 
 can hope to retain it unimpaired after a few years 
 of constant employment at this occupation, it be- 
 comes one of vital importance. 
 
 This is not advanced simply as a passing re- 
 mark, but as an absolute fact based upon long 
 practice ; and our opinion on this head will be 
 shared by all whose experience places them in a 
 position to judge. Professionals and indeed am- 
 ateurs are recommended to work with as little 
 light as possible, and to allow the light to pass 
 only through that portion of the negative which is 
 being retouched. The desk should be fitted with 
 
40 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 an appliance which will enable the retoucher to 
 regulate the amount of light passing through the 
 negative, as circumstances and the strength of the 
 negative may require. A sliding screen fitted at 
 the back of the desk containing squares of glass 
 of different grades, plain, finely ground and opal 
 or porcelain will be found excellent. By sliding 
 this screen to bring different glasses opposite the 
 negative, always examining after retouching 
 through the next deeper degree of opacity, the 
 effect is seen in a moment. 
 
 A negative retouched over ground glass, will 
 give through opal, just the appearance the finish- 
 ed print will have ; thus, in stopping out a scar or 
 other defect, one is able to judge more correctly 
 how the work will print, than if it were examined 
 only through plain glass. 
 
 For working at night, a violet glass should be 
 used together with the porcelain. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Face, Hands, Drapery, etc. 
 
 The Face Generally. 
 
 " I "HIS being the principal part of the negative 
 ^ to which attention is to be given, and upon 
 which the whole beauty of a picture depends, we 
 shall treat upon it at length, trusting that our 
 readers may not become weary of the description 
 and pass over our observations hurriedly, as we 
 shall not mention any points which are not really 
 important and which the beginner should not 
 carefully study. 
 
 As we have before remarked, and as the pupil 
 will readily understand, each face requires special 
 treatment, from the fact that in all nature, no two 
 
42 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 faces are alike. It is not meant by this that each 
 and every face will require special study, but each 
 peculiar type or class. In treating of the muscles 
 and lines of the face to be retouched, we find the 
 most convenient and comprehensive plan to be 
 that of referrmg to a lettered plate, and to be, in 
 fact, the only way of clearly explaining our mean- 
 ing without employing unnecessary tautology. 
 An inspection of our plate will show the principal 
 muscles and lines to be found in every face, al- 
 though some of them may not be quite so con- 
 spicuous in one person as another, from the fact 
 that they are subdued in a great measure by the 
 predominance of surrounding parts. This is par- 
 ticularly noticeable in elderly persons, and more 
 in men than in women. It would seem a fallacy 
 to assert that in the face of an elderly person the 
 muscles are not so apparent as in younger ones. 
 It would be said, perhaps, that the older a person 
 grows the more prominently his features, etc., are 
 marked. This may be true as concerns the folds 
 and wrinkles, but the muscles themselves are not 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 43 
 
 SO clearly defined ; and for this reason it is not 
 only the muscles which are to be studied, but 
 their contractions and movements, as these latter 
 form niost of the lines to be treated. 
 
 As an example of this we will take the bucci- 
 nator of the intermaxillary group ; that is to say, 
 the space between the jaws and the circumference 
 of the mouth, and that corresponding with the 
 lower jaw {^Zygomato-maxillaris). In a young 
 pcirson these muscles are very pronounced ; but 
 in elderly ones the subcutaneous fat immediately 
 under the skin disappears in proportion to the age 
 of the person, and the integumentary covering, 
 having lost its contractibility, does not return to 
 its usual form as in youth, but remains in folds, 
 and falls to such an extent as to entirely alter the 
 shape as well as the expression of this part of the 
 face. The same may be said of the palpebral 
 region (No. 4 and 4A, PI. 2) ; that is, the circumfer- 
 ence of the eye, eyebrows, etc., which changes 
 its form to a greater extent, perhaps, than the 
 others. The labial furrow (N0.5, PI. 2) becomes 
 
44 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 very decided when the flesh loses consistency in 
 the manner above mentioned. 7 hese lines must 
 not be totally obliterated nor too much softened. 
 Certainly a person is made to look much younger 
 by such treatment, as, of course, it subdues the 
 loose flesh, thereby showing more distinctly the 
 formation of the muscles ; still it destroys the true 
 character of the face. The folds and wrinkles in 
 the skin, which are caused by contraction of the 
 muscles, run always in a perpendicular direction to 
 the muscles themselves and cross their direction, 
 such as those in the forehead. The frontal de- 
 pression in a child is scarcely marked ; but as he 
 or she grows older, and the muscles, Orbisculares 
 Palpebrarum (No. 4A, PI. 2), are constantly con- 
 tracted, a furrow forms across the forehead be- 
 tween these muscles above the nose, continuing 
 up to between the frontals (fig. i, PI. 2). 
 
 With respect to men whose foreheads are 
 marked at an early age by much study, physical 
 and moral sufferings, etc., the wrinkle, if not suffi- 
 ciently retouched in the negative, would give a 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 45 
 
 much older appearance to the portrait than that 
 in actual life, from the cause we have already 
 explained ; that is, the light crossing the direction 
 of the wrinkle would make it appear more deeply 
 set than was natural. 
 
 The frontal depression (fig. 2, PI. 2), or the fur- 
 row in the forehead at the root of the nose, may 
 be so treated as to give or disperse an expression 
 of grief, pain, or frowning. It is sometimes only 
 a single and very slight furrow ; but in men much 
 employed in intellectual labors, there are generally 
 two folds decidedly marked, and at the sides of 
 these folds are two small protuberances, which 
 should in no case be obliterated, while at times it 
 is even advisable to increase their size somewhat 
 by introducing a little light upon them. This 
 modification may be resorted to with advantage 
 in the case of negatives of persons whose eyes 
 are farther apart than the average, and whose 
 foreheads are low and flat or receding. 
 
 To begin with the forehead and work down the 
 face, in the same manner as it is retouched, will 
 
46 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 be the simplest way to proceed with our descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 The frontal eminences, which we always make 
 the starting"-point, are two prominences on the 
 upper part of the forehead above the orbits and 
 superciliary arches. They appear usually as two, 
 but occasionally the depression separating them 
 is so slight as to make the two appear as one 
 large protuberance. In extreme youth they are 
 always more pronounced ; that is to say, the pro- 
 jection is greater, but, owing to the fresh, pulpy 
 condition of the covering, the depression dividing 
 them is not so decided. They must be smoothed 
 and softened by very careful retouching, and 
 brightened so as to appear the most pronounced 
 high lights of the face (with the exception of the 
 sharp line of light upon the nose), due care being 
 taken to light them in proper perspective, and to 
 give to the one nearer the source of light the 
 greater prominence. A great fault often lies in 
 placing the high light too near the centre of the 
 forehead and too high up and near the hair. 
 
FACE, HANDS, ])KArERY, ETC. 47 
 
 It must always be borne in mind that rotundity 
 is best obtained by placing the densest lights in 
 the centre of the high lights, and the deepest por- 
 tions of shadows in the centre of shades, never 
 allowing the edge of a light or shadow to be 
 sharp or defined. Immediately under, over, and 
 between these lights a delicate half tone must be 
 left. The lower one must gradually increase in 
 intensity as it approaches the orbitar arches or 
 brows, where it is again worked into high light. 
 From the outer edge of the frontals the forehead 
 recedes, forming the half flat temporal surface, 
 which must always be left a half tone slightly 
 deeper than that between the frontals and orbits. 
 This throws the frontals and orbits up and gives 
 life and form to the eyes. There exists in mus- 
 cular and thin persons a curved line or crest, 
 which must be to an extent subdued. The malar 
 or cheek bone (No. 6, PI. i) must be lightened 
 and led into the cheek, the highest point of its 
 light being under the eye, immediately over the 
 highest point of the malar bone. As the bone 
 
48 THE AKT OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 approaches the ear it should be only slightly 
 worked and made less pronounced; the concha or 
 funnel-shaped entrance to the ear may receive a 
 very slight light upon the upper edge of the car- 
 tilaginous protuberance, remembering what has 
 been said about placing lights too near the edge. 
 
 Having made this part sufficiently even, we 
 now return to the frontal depression at the root 
 of the nose, which must be kept subdued, simply 
 evening it and removing too strong furrows run- 
 ning across the top of the nose The upper lids 
 of the eyes should be very cautiously touched, 
 taking care to destroy none of the lines formed 
 by the elevation of the lid. 
 
 The Eye \^ the dominant feature, and its expres- 
 sion precedes even the language of the lips in 
 challenging the attention of the spectator. This 
 organ is too often overlooked by retouchers and 
 photographers, probably more because of the dif- 
 ficulty of treating it properly. We desire at this 
 point, as we are aiming at making first-class re- 
 touchers of our readers, to direct special attention 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 49 
 
 to the differences in shape assumed by the eye at 
 various periods of Hfe ; a knowledge of where 
 to look for these changes must be acquired, for 
 it is better to leave the eye untouched than to 
 attempt it without such knowledge. 
 
 The progress from childhood to youth is indi- 
 cated in the inner angle of the eye, while as life 
 advances these changes are to be found at the 
 outer corner. The difference of character be- 
 tween the eye of a man and that of a woman 
 should not be overlooked ; the eye of the latter 
 must be represented in all softness and brilliancy, 
 only for the expression of tender sentiment, 
 while all that is epic and philosophical is becom- 
 ing in the eye of a man. 
 
 The eye of a lady should generally be treated 
 as in full light, to demonstrate all its characteristic 
 delicacy of construction ; when photographed in 
 such light as to show the detail of structure, the 
 desire to intensify all the perceptible niceties of 
 form will often lead the student astray, for even 
 were he to succeed in detailing all the little feath- 
 
50 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ery forms noticeable, it would be imDossible to 
 handle them with sufficient accuracy of relative 
 density to preserve the expression, and would be 
 useless in small portraits ; on the other hand it is 
 impossible to treat large light and shade portraits 
 by simple allusion — where the rendition of mi- 
 nute detail is not necessary to resemblance, it may 
 be simply indicated — but light and shade demand 
 the most scrupulous truth and justice in their 
 treatment. In negatives where every minute 
 portion of the structure of the eye is visible, every 
 line must be rendered, but without any degree of 
 spottiness or severity signalizing certain points, 
 which cannot be subdued without injury to re- 
 semblance. Such treatment results in breadth 
 and effect when successfully carried out. A light 
 so high as to throw the eye into strong shade, is 
 not a favorable one in which to photograph aged 
 persons, as it signalizes too strongly the indica- 
 tions of age, not alone in the eye but wherever 
 its traces most prominently exist. When such a 
 light is used, however, breadth must be preserved 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 5 I 
 
 by guarding against dark spots upon broad lights 
 and subduing bright spots in the middle of dark 
 tints and half tones. 
 
 Every part of the eye must be accurately ad- 
 justed to convey impressions of vitality and in- 
 telligence. The light reflected in the eye must 
 be many tones higher than that of any other part, 
 still preserving harmony with surrounding por- 
 tions. The eyebrow in dark complexions must 
 not be retouched to form a hard and solid mass ; 
 retouching the flesh in a sharp line up to the 
 brow will produce this defect. 
 
 Our cautionary remarks against severity of line 
 in drawing, applies equally to every other part of 
 the face in many portraits, exceptions to the rule 
 being subjects after the middle age, principally in 
 men ; where these peculiar characteristics exist 
 they must be brought forward with caution. The 
 brow may be bushy, or here and there tufted, or 
 the hair fail ; these points must be represented by 
 spirited touches with a soft blunt pencil, as any at- 
 tempt to individualize the hairs will result in failure. 
 
52 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 The upper lash is a striking feature upon which 
 much of the character of the eye depends, while 
 the lower lash does not in any way contribute to 
 the marking of the eye. 
 
 Two common errors with beginners must be 
 particularly guarded against, that of marking the 
 eyelash too strongly and that of obliterating them 
 completely, making the eye look as if it had been 
 singed. The upper edge of the lash must be 
 softened into the lid, and the lower edge must 
 melt imperceptibly into the shadows which it casts 
 upon the orb beneath it. Under the outward 
 extremity of the lash, the thickness of the lid is 
 perceptible ; this must be represented as it is seen, 
 that is, distinct from the lash and tender in tone. 
 The form assumed by the pupil of the eye is of 
 course governed by the relative position of the 
 head — round in full face portraits and oval in 
 profile, intermediate forms with half profile, three- 
 quarter face, etc. These positions in turn, con- 
 trol the lighting of the eye. 
 
 The following remarks will treat different points 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 53 
 
 of the eye more locally and will guide the begin- 
 ner by progressive steps until complete. Com- 
 mence to retouch the organ by placing a light 
 upon the top light side of the iris. This light will 
 be but a wedge-shaped speck, and directly oppo- 
 site to it in the direction of the source of light 
 there must be a longer light much lower in tone^ 
 about the third of a circle in form, taking the 
 same curved direction as the iris ; this will render 
 the luminous effect produced by the light passing 
 through the convex form of the eye. Place a 
 liffht in the lower light side of the white fibrous 
 membrane — the Sclerotic — cautiously avoiding 
 blocking up the shadow formed by the upper 
 eyelid. A small white speck placed in the ex- 
 treme corner on the shadow side at the intersec- 
 tion of the lids — the Carujiciilar Lachrymalis — 
 and a few judicious touches on the edges of the 
 lids where the lashes begin, leaving the dark 
 spaces formed by the lashes untouched, finish the 
 eye and greatly improve the life and expression 
 of the negative. 
 
54 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Let us here exhort the student to avoid falling 
 into an error not only made by beginners but 
 persisted in by many retouchers of long experi- 
 ence, that is, of destroying the extremely delicate 
 transparency of the skin immediately under the 
 eye ; every little prevailing tint should be care- 
 fully preserved, and will materially help to give 
 expression to the eye. The lower lid has gener- 
 ally two or three sharp lines under or upon it, and 
 a furrow under it, which is very much increased 
 by sorrow, age, pain, or excessive pleasure. 
 
 This furrow must be very much subdued, not 
 totally removed, as an indication of it must always 
 remain to help the eye; those above it, however, 
 will require very little modification, and if too 
 much diminished they give a dead appearance to 
 the eye. We have now finished with confessedly 
 the most difficult organ. We trust our remarks 
 are comprehensive, as we have intended them to 
 be ; and with the assurance that we have consci- 
 entiously described the full manipulation of the 
 eye, as the author himself has been accustomed to 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 55 
 
 treat it, we will pass to another organ, which is 
 altogether neglected by retouchers generally and 
 not only by them but by most photographers — 
 in our opinion it is deserving of just as much at- 
 tention as any other part of the head. 
 
 The Ear, as we have just said, is frequently 
 treated with indifference not only by retouchers 
 and photographers but by many artists. An in- 
 spection of the productions of eminent workers 
 will, however, convince one that the ear has been 
 made the subject of most accurate study. It may 
 be said in palliation of the neglect of this organ 
 that, being without expression and not an in- 
 tellectual feature, it does not contribute to resem- 
 blance. The former we are quite willing to ad- 
 mit, but in the latter opinion we can by no means 
 concur. 
 
 That all ears are not alike is sufficient to in- 
 sure them some attention ; and this fact is also 
 proof that the ears do frequently contribute to 
 resemblance. When, therefore, this feature is 
 represented in full light, as in three-quarter face 
 
5^ THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 and profile portraits, it should be treated with the 
 utmost precision, and by judicious disposition the 
 exaggerations of photography usually apparent 
 in the ear should be modified. The softness of 
 the lobe should be fully described and the upper 
 cartilaginous surfaces tenderly treated. 
 
 In three-quarter and front views, the retouching 
 of the ear may be made to contribute much to 
 the perspective, while in profile portraits it may 
 be so handled as to give breadth. It is not an 
 unusual thing to see the ear of a grown person 
 so distorted as to appear quite round, like that of 
 a child. As the ear elongates with age, this de- 
 fect should be modified by increasing all perpen- 
 dicular cartilaginous lights to give less breadth 
 and better form to the ear. 
 
 At the side of the nose above the labial furrow 
 will be found the common elevator muscle of the 
 Ala of the nose and upper lip. This may be 
 lightened to a certain extent in the middle, but 
 care must be taken not to carry the light too 
 close to the nose, as the nearer it is to that feature 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 57 
 
 the flatter and broader the nose appears. While 
 working upon this muscle the labial furrow must 
 be softened to the extent required, taking it near- 
 ly all away as it joins the nose and gradually run- 
 ning into it. 
 
 Many Americans are peculiar in having no 
 labial furrow. Such subjects are difficult to treat 
 properly. The absence of this furrow makes the 
 nose appear much larger, and this defect is exag- 
 gerated by photography. Malays, Indians, and 
 Swedes also possess this peculiarity in majority. 
 
 Should the sitter have assumed a pouting, dis- 
 agreeable expression, by which the furrow is 
 made to curve down towards the mouth, its di- 
 rection may be somewhat changed by removing 
 the lower curved end of the line and leaving 
 a portion of the face comparatively untouched, 
 where the end of the line should have been to 
 have given a pleasing expression. By placing a 
 little lijjht over this untouched part and rounding 
 the muscle somewhat, the line will print as if 
 curved up, which, to say the least, will improve the 
 
58 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 expression of the mouth. When this change is 
 resorted to, the crow-foot lines or furrows at the 
 corners of the eyes may be allowed partly to re- 
 main, as also the round shadow at the corner of 
 the mouth, all of which aid in rendering the de- 
 sired expression. The shadow at the corner of 
 the mouth can be increased by contrast by making 
 a semi-circular light around it. 
 
 The retoucher must aim to be consistent in 
 working, and, when an alteration to an agreeable 
 expression is attempted in the mouth, the eyes 
 and cheeks must coincide in the same feeling. 
 
 On the upper lip, in the centre, is a groove 
 which terminates in the septum of the nose; the 
 projecting edges of this groove must be brighten- 
 ed, the light increasing as it approaches the end 
 at the edge of the lip. The light upon the light 
 side of this groove must be a little longer than 
 the one on the shadow side, as the nose throws a 
 shade over the latter which must not be disturbed 
 at this point. 
 
 The Moitth. It must not be forgotten when 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 59 
 
 treating the mouth that its form is no less sus- 
 ceptible to the changes of time, etc., at different 
 periods of life than other features. In infancy its 
 round and contracted form and beauty of con- 
 struction must not be tampered with by too great 
 freedom in the employment of high lights. 
 
 The mouths of infants assist only in a very small 
 degree in expression. Young children smile and 
 laugh almost exclusively with their eyes. But as 
 teeth make their appearance, the mouth finds other 
 offices to fill besides the extraction of nourish- 
 ment, and its form changes, becoming more and 
 more elongated with the growth of the teeth, and 
 coincides more in expression with the eyes. Age 
 produces another and equally remarkable change, 
 and as the teeth begin to disappear, the mouth 
 loses its power of varying expression. These 
 things must all be borne in mind when attempting 
 to beautify or flatter a negative. If the retoucher 
 familiarizes himself with these changes he will find 
 no difficulty in imparting a youthful appearance 
 to a negative, when required, without making the 
 
6o THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 alteration apparent ; that is to say, it will please 
 the sitter because it looks a little more youthful, 
 and yet if it were attempted to point out the dif- 
 ference between the picture and sitter it would 
 be found impossible by taking each feature indi- 
 vidually. 
 
 A light should also be placed near the upper 
 edge at the centre of the lower lip, just sufficient 
 to give form and expression to the mouth. It 
 must have two intense portions in its length to 
 carry out the double bow form. We speak of two 
 intense portions merely by contrast to the rest of 
 the light, as actually the entire light must be faint 
 though graded. A light should also be placed 
 upon the upper edge, near the centre of the lower 
 lip ; this light must be very faint, just sufficient to 
 give form and expression to the mouth. 
 
 The lips themselves will sometimes be found 
 to have small downward depressions caused by 
 the skin having become dry or cracked. Should 
 this be noticed at the time of sitting a request 
 should be made to the sitter to moisten the lips 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 6 1 
 
 in the usual manner ; but if from any cause they 
 remain, and are visible in the negative, they must 
 be wholly removed. 
 
 The shadow under the lower lip will require 
 but little work, being simply softened and led into 
 the chin to avoid too much rotundity or projec- 
 tion. 
 
 The Chin may be said to be a difficult feature 
 to handle with judgment. Chins vary so much 
 in form that each one requires separate study. It 
 should generally be brought forward with its due 
 importance, but an incidental characteristic which 
 points to an unfavorable allusion should be sub- 
 dued ; a very fiat or a greatly elongated chin 
 should not be too predominant. The same sug- 
 gestion applies to wrinkles in the brow or even 
 dimples in the cheek of youth ; it is a mistake to 
 assert that because they are strongly marked in 
 nature they should be so represented in portraits, 
 for however skilled the operator may be, and 
 however much he may have succeeded in over- 
 coming the anomalies of photography, he still 
 
THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 cannot make his portrait a living creature, and, 
 until he can, all blemishes will appear more pro- 
 nounced than in nature. 
 
 The chin, although varying in form, is gener- 
 ally nearly round, with a slight indentation in the 
 centre. The light must never be very strong 
 upon this feature, and when the chin is square its 
 form will have to be suggested in the lighting. 
 Having finished so much of the face, give the 
 lower jaw a little light, evening up all inequalities 
 and harmonizing it with the work already done, 
 and all that remains is to place the lights upon 
 the nose and to remove markings in the neck. 
 
 The Nose. The light upon the nose will have 
 to be very carefully worked or else the rest of the 
 work, however nicely done, will be greatly deteri- 
 orated. We have seen many negatives otherwise 
 fairly retouched, hopelessly spoiled, as far as the 
 likeness was concerned, by the introduction of a 
 line of light entirely out of character with the fea- 
 ture itself, and, in fact, completely altering its 
 shape. 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 63 
 
 Some retouchers seem to labor under the im- 
 pression that a patch of Hght on the forehead, 
 and a straight line terminating in a spot or bulb 
 of light at the end of the nose, are essentials in 
 every case. 
 
 If the end or lobe be of double form— which, 
 however, is never very apparent — the light will 
 have to be sharper, or, rather, more angular ; the 
 longer the light along its side the longer the nose 
 will appear. By making this high light more in- 
 tense and broader at the middle, the nose will be 
 a better shape. Upon the wings or sesamoid car- 
 tilage (No. I, PI. 2) a round, very soft, and diffused 
 light, just a shade removed from half tone, should 
 be placed, and when indicated in the negative, the 
 inner surface of the nostril may receive a light 
 touch to relieve the intense shadow. When the 
 nose has been distorted by improper lighting, as 
 mentioned in a previous chapter, let the rest of 
 the face be worked with rather more density than 
 usual, and increase its opacity with plumbago at 
 the back. The nose will now appear compara- 
 
64 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 tively dark, and may be worked upon to any ex- 
 tent. The bulb must receive a sharp angular light, 
 and the bridge be lightened by a short, slightly^ 
 curved line, about the same density as the light 
 upon the bulb. The edges of this light must be 
 softened, and led into the half tone between it and 
 the cheek. 
 
 The Neck seldom requires much retouching, ex- 
 cept in portraits of ladies wearing low-necked 
 dresses or bodices. All deep furrows should be 
 removed and a soft light placed upon the muscles 
 and clavicle — the clavicle in ladies of spare habit 
 is apt to be too conspicuously defined ; this must 
 all be very cautiously subdued. The general 
 tone of neck and shoulders should be of a lower 
 key than that of the face, the highest light ol 
 which is the forehead. In men, the larynx gener- 
 ally throws too deep a shadow, which should be 
 softened, and the muscles are too obviously dem- 
 onstrated ; the light, however, must not be touch- 
 ed, as it would throw the throat too much forward. 
 
 The hair may be improved by working upon 
 
PLATE 4 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 65 
 
 the lights and blending them with the shadows, 
 using for the purpose a blunt and soft pencil. At 
 the edges, the hair should be led into and given 
 the value of the retouching done upon the face ; 
 this is to avoid too abrupt contour lines, bearing 
 in mind that roundness is always secured by soft 
 contours and brilliant centres, and not by violent 
 contrasts. The hair may be lightened all over by 
 applying ivory black or plumbago at the back of 
 the negative upon matt varnish. If the hair take 
 too darkly, a better effect may be produced by 
 powdering it at the time of sitting. The broad 
 lights in the face, as we have mentioned before, 
 are also put in, in this manner. 
 
 The hands and arms in ladies' portraits, when 
 shown, will require to be worked up to subdue the 
 heavy veins, which usually appear more promi- 
 nently than in nature. The creases on the knuckles 
 should be removed and the luna in nails strength- 
 ened. Unless the hands are very small and very 
 well posed they should be always as much sub- 
 dued-as ptDssibler / : .: ' 
 
66 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 In painting, the hand is one of the most diffi- 
 cult exercises of the artist's skill, and we see no 
 reason why a little more care should not be be- 
 stowed upon it than is usually seen in photog- 
 raphy. Few retouchers study the hand at all, 
 and those who do, generally dispose of it in a 
 slovenly, sketchy style by which it is not much 
 improved; but we have never failed to find that 
 the most elaborate accuracy in treatment always 
 repaid us. Whether such careful work would pay 
 commercially is not for us to say ; we only pro- 
 pose showing what should be done to produce 
 the best work. 
 
 It is a significant fact that the best photogra- 
 phers, who have made world-wide reputations, al- 
 ways pay as much attention to these points as to 
 the rest of a picture. 
 
 Hands and arms should only be seen when 
 looked for— that is, they must be subdued — but 
 wnen looked for they should be found to have re- 
 ceived their share of care. 
 
 When skillfully disposed they form a powerful 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 67 
 
 auxiliary in expression of pose ; and if so lighted 
 in retouching as to give them an easy, probable 
 and fleshy appearance (not flattened and lighten- 
 ed so as to make them look like either white 
 marble or cut out white paper), they constitute 
 an essential part of the study of ladies' portraiture, 
 with their beauty of proportion and graceful dis- 
 play of line. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that the left hand 
 bends more gracefully at ihe wrist than the right, 
 and the license of art permits a concession to the 
 right hand of the superior grace of the left. The 
 characteristics of the different fingers will speak 
 for themselves in each negative. 
 
 The drapery, except in cases of very glossy and 
 thin silks — which usually appear too much broken 
 up to receive further manipulation — should be 
 brightened up to harmonize with the rest of the 
 picture. Light materials— blue, drab and white — 
 are by the slightest manipulation made to look so 
 brilliant, and to contain so much delicate half-tone 
 and detail, that it amply repays the retoucher to 
 
68 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 bestow the little time required upon them, en- 
 hancing, as they do, the beauty of the negative. 
 These lights are always indicated in the negative, 
 though not sufficiently strong to print. It only 
 remains, then, to intensify them by means of sharp, 
 decisive touches applied to the back of the nega- 
 tive with a leather stump and plumbago. It need 
 hardly be said that the pupil's knowledge of draw- 
 ing will greatly assist him to do this. When the 
 negatives are prepared for retouching upon the 
 film, a number of these sharp high lights can be 
 put in upon the film side of the plate, using for 
 the purpose a fine cork or moulded gray paper 
 stump. When the back is shown, as is sometimes 
 done in full-length pictures, avoid the folds or 
 plaits running across the waist of the dress by re- 
 moving the heavy shadows. Lace of any de- 
 scription is made to look very effective by a few 
 sharp touches, preferably done upon the back of 
 tne negative, using either a soft pencil or white 
 crayon upon matt varnish. 
 
 1 he above observations apply to whichever 
 
FACE, HANDS, DRAPERY, ETC. 69 
 
 method of retouching is employed, as, of course, 
 in each of them the ultimate result is striven for 
 and the same principles of art involved. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Methods of Worhing. 
 
 First Method. 
 'T^HE first method described will be the one 
 employed by the author in his own prac- 
 tice, and which has given so much satisfaction and 
 received such hearty recommendation from those 
 for whom he has retouched. This refers to an 
 experience of some years as a professional re- 
 toucher, with several pupils and assistants always 
 engaged, and, perhaps, a larger number of nega- 
 tives received daily than ever fell to the lot of any 
 one retoucher. 
 
 By preference we take a negative the film of 
 which has been treated, before drying, with a me- 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. J I 
 
 dium of some kind to prevent the pencil going 
 through, and to give it the necessary tooth for 
 working upon. Our tannin medium, which has 
 been for some time in the market, is extensively 
 used, and will be found to answer the purpose ad- 
 mirably without the disadvantages attendant upon 
 the use of gum and other substitutes. Should, 
 however, the negative have been varnished, much 
 the same course or mode of working is adopted, 
 the surface being abraded as described in a pre- 
 vious chapter. 
 
 We commence proceedings by placing the neg- 
 ative in such a position as to be able to make 
 with a downward stroke of the pencil a line across 
 the forehead. First fill in all irregularand trans- 
 parent spots and lines (which we have mentioned 
 in speaking of the face), giving to these spots and 
 lines the same value as the surrounding portions 
 of the forehead, beginning at the point of highest 
 light. The regular lines — that is to say, the per- 
 manent ones — must not be totally obliterated, as 
 we have already shown when describing the 
 
72 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 muscles, etc. The spots and irregularities are not 
 to be completely filled in, as in other processes, 
 one or two short lines only being drawn through 
 them. The object of this is to produce an effect 
 of stippling upon the finished picture, which could 
 not be done if the spots were completely blocked, 
 unless the negative was afterwards stippled all 
 over. This would, of course, entail much time, 
 and the result has only a labored look, without 
 any of the pleasing, flesh-like stipple alwa3's pro- 
 duced when the touches are made as above di- 
 rected. The lines and marks made, must take the 
 same direction as the lines of the skin and direc- 
 tion of the muscles, unless these lines are caused 
 by the contraction of the muscles, when their 
 course is perpendicular to and across the muscles. 
 These lines are, however, but few, occurring prin- 
 cipally upon the muscles of the forehead, and oc- 
 casionally upon the upper lip. The crow-foot 
 lines upon the temples are produced in this way, 
 but are exceptions to the rule, and must not be 
 removed in every face. Fill in in a like manner, 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 73 
 
 with rather longer and more feathery strokes, the 
 deep lines in the forehead between the frontals 
 (No. I, PI. 2), and the orbitar arches and muscles 
 {Orbiscttlaris Palpehrartim — No. /\a, PI. 2). This 
 must not be done so as to make the entire fore- 
 head of one tint ; an indication of these lines may 
 be left in the first working, and when the breadths 
 of light are put in, the presence of these indica- 
 tions of form will give a pleasing, transparent, life- 
 like character to the work difficult to obtain in 
 any other way. Now turn the negative gradual- 
 ly round, and, still following the direction taken 
 by the muscle of the orbit, soften the lines upon 
 the temporal plane. The negative is now turned 
 farther round until it is nearly upright, in which 
 position the frontal depression (No. 2, PI. 2) is 
 worked, and also the nose, and the negative again 
 turned back to such a position that the furrows 
 under the eyes and the common elevator of the 
 ala, the nose and the upper lip, may be softened 
 and modelled. The same rules as to the direc- 
 tion of stroke must always be strictly adhered to. 
 
74 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Reference should here be given to remarks on 
 the face in Chapter II. 
 
 The strokes in the labial furrow, No. 5, should 
 be made sufficiently dense at the first application, 
 and should run the whole length of the furrow in 
 one sweep of the pencil. Where the lines run- 
 ning in different directions cross or meet each 
 other, the space is filled in with small dots made 
 with the point of the pencil. In this manner we 
 proceed, turning the negative constantly as the 
 lines take a different direction, until the negative 
 appears even and delicate all over. The strokes 
 of the pencil must always be made an equal dis- 
 tance apart, or the work will not be uniform, and 
 a stroke must never be made across a line. Al- 
 ways turn the negative until, with a downward 
 stroke, the mark may be filled in. The negative 
 now receives the necessary spotting, /. e., remov- 
 ing all transparent spots in the film, from whatever 
 cause produced, by filling the spot with neutral 
 tint (dry cake) color, ground to match the nega- 
 tive, and applied with a very finely pointed sable 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 75 
 
 brush ; though in the case of small pinholes, pro- 
 ceeding either from chemical causes or from dust 
 in the silver bath, or deposited in any way upon 
 the surface of the film previous to developing — at 
 least, upon a thin negative, and providing they 
 are not on the face — we recommend them to be 
 left untouched, as the small, black spot produced 
 in the resulting print is barely visible to the 
 naked eye, whereas it is impossible to put on a 
 touch of color, however minute, without its show- 
 ing more or less ; it is then coated upon the back 
 with matt varnish, and the lights put in as they 
 occur with a fine leather or paper stump charged 
 with plumbago, or more effectually with the soft 
 crayons sold in round boxes for crayon drawing, 
 using the lighter green, flesh and gray shades, 
 softening the work with a stump after the effect 
 is produced. In some negatives it will be more 
 convenient to work the chin and frontal depres- 
 sions solely by dotting with the point of the pen- 
 cil. This, however, is only in cases where ladies 
 have a rather coarse skin. 
 
76 
 
 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Another Method. 
 A method much employed by English retouch- 
 ers consists in first filling in all the imperfections 
 completely ; that is to say, the pencil is worked 
 over the spots, etc., until no sign of them is visi- 
 ble. The inequalities of light and modelling are 
 then done by short, straight lines running in a 
 downward direction across the muscles and lines. 
 The only parts of this process which are analo- 
 gous to the last mentioned are the touching upon 
 the nose and the frontal depression. Althou'^h 
 the lines or strokes of the pencil take a down- 
 ward direction, they are seldom parallel, and not 
 equidistant from each other. By some retouchers 
 the lines are made so fine as to give the appear- 
 ance of dotting. The effect, however, is by no 
 means so good as the lines. 
 
 A method was described in The British Jour- 
 nal of Photography of December 13, 1873, by 
 Mr. G. Croughton, which we take the liberty of 
 quoting for the benefit of those who do not hap- 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 77 
 
 pen to have seen the article referred to, as by it 
 a very effective picture is produced, and the meth- 
 od is a much quicker one than that described 
 above : 
 
 " In elderly people the lines and texture of the 
 face are far too marked in the enlarged negative ; 
 these can be much softened and reduced by print- 
 ing through tracing paper. Strain the tracing 
 paper over the face of the negative, so interposing 
 a thickness of tracing paper between the sensi- 
 tized paper and the negative. I always strain 
 tracing paper on the reverse side of the negative, 
 as it serves to soften the printing, and is a capital 
 medium for working upon with the pencil to 
 strengthen the high lights. I can also, when 
 wanted, deepen the shadows of drapery, and I 
 make a varnish of Canada balsam, one dram ; 
 benzole, one ounce. Dipping a brush into this, I 
 run over the shades I want to deepen upon the 
 tracing paper ; the Canada balsam making the 
 paper more transparent in those parts, the light 
 acts more quickly and a greater depth of shadow 
 
7^ THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Upon the print is the result, the distance the pa- 
 per is from the film softening- the edges. One 
 plan I have adopted appears to me to be of great 
 value for improving pictures which are flat from 
 over-exposure or bad lighting, particularly if you 
 wish your print to appear as if it were worked 
 upon. The large head of a lady was done in this 
 way, and the result, although there is not a touch 
 upon the print, is such that more than one person 
 has been tempted to bet that it was worked upon, 
 and have only been convinced by a liberal use of 
 sponge and water. 
 
 " The transparency was enlarged from a car Re- 
 sized negative to lox 8, varnished with Hughes's 
 matt varnish, to which I had added a little gum 
 elemi (this must be allowed at least twelve hours 
 to dry) ; then with a mixture of putty powder 
 and powdered blacklead I rubbed all over the 
 face till I had what appeared to be an even, deli- 
 cate tint throughout. I then cleared out the high 
 lights with apiece of bread moulded to a point by 
 the fingers." 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 79 
 
 The Americans seem to have adopted all the 
 various methods. As a rule, however, they work 
 rather more in a scumbling style, giving the 
 strokes no particular direction, but making a touch 
 wherever taste suggests or an inequality requires 
 it; and this is the most convenient manner, no 
 particular notice being taken of the direction of 
 the lines of the skin. At the same time the work 
 is done rather more systematically than the meth- 
 od we describe as scumbling. The touch might 
 be called a saw-tooth one, such being the shape 
 or character of the markings when examined by 
 a powerful glass. They are made excessively 
 fine, and produce a very charming effect of stipple 
 when printed. This may be seen by examining 
 many of the American portraits. 
 
 The methods m tise tipon the Continent of Europe 
 are, perhaps, nearer the perfection of retouching 
 than most of those generally employed ; and, al- 
 though different styles may be used in the same 
 town or studio by various operators, they seem to 
 get the desired artistic effect to greater perfection 
 
8o THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 than is done elsewhere. Continental negatives 
 are manifestly much over-worked in many in- 
 stances ; but, as a rule, they please the public and 
 the majority of photographers. 
 
 Herr Mohr, of Frankfort-on-the*Main, was, we 
 believe, the first to introduce negative retouching 
 into England. True, there were a few who work- 
 ed it secretly before his advent, but they guarded 
 their operations so carefully as to leave the rest 
 of the profession in ignorance as to the method 
 they employed for producing such good results ; 
 and until Herr Mohr taught it, it was not gener- 
 ally practiced to a very great extent. 
 
 We shall describe as nearly as possible the way 
 in which the negatives the author saw retouched 
 in different places upon the Continent were done. 
 In Germany the finished result resembles more 
 the hatching upon a crayon drawing or water col- 
 or. The retoucher first proceeds to fill up all 
 transparent spots or lines, as in the aforemention- 
 ed methods, but in a little different manner, using 
 the point of the pencil more, lightly dotting until 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. ' 8r 
 
 all the markings — such as freckles, blotches, and 
 optical exaggerations — are removed, and the face 
 presents a tolerably even and smooth appearance, 
 showing no signs of the blemishes. He now be- 
 gins by means of cross hatching to model the face, 
 placing a line or touch here and there as his eye 
 happens to catch some unfinished portion wanting 
 in gradation. The lights are put in their respec- 
 tive places, and gradually softened into the half- 
 tones and shadows until the negative appears of 
 that rotundity and modulation which a good re- 
 toucher so loves to see building up under his pen- 
 cil. As he attains more experience he ventures 
 upon bold touches, which give the negative much 
 greater value and disperse the mechanical stiff- 
 ness which beginners are too apt to give their 
 touching. When the requisite amount of hatch- 
 ing is done (the lines of which are not at an angle 
 of 45 deg. but about 30 deg.) our retoucher be- 
 gins to fill in between the lines or cross hatches. 
 
 :The method practiced by the French generally 
 has the advantage over the German of being less 
 
82 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 liable to lose the likeness, although there is really 
 a very trifling difference in the handling ; in truth, 
 in most of the methods the commencement is 
 nearly the same, the negative being first made 
 even throughout and then worked up until suffi- 
 ciently soft. Most of the French retouchers, after 
 having levelled the face and removed the inequal- 
 ities, do the modelling required by making very 
 fine, long, downward strokes, rather curved. This 
 does not produce exactly the stipple most suitable, 
 but makes the face very smooth and soft. The 
 negatives are usually treated with gum or a mix- 
 ture of gum and dextrine dissolved in warm wa- 
 ter ; this takes the pencil as readily as paper, but 
 has the disadvantage of the film splitting, owing 
 to the absorption of moisture by the gum and 
 dextrine. The Germans retouch, as a rule, upon 
 the varnish, using as a medium some gum solu- 
 tion which will give a bite to the pencil. 
 
 While treating this subject, we shall say a few 
 words respecting our own retouching medium. 
 Disclaiming totally the idea of using the bookj;or 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 83 
 
 advertising purposes, we still feel justified in in- 
 troducing the subject, being convinced that by the 
 use of a proper article results may be obtained 
 quite unapproachable where varnish is used. 
 The use of ordinary gum is attended with many dis- 
 advantages, as we have before mentioned. The 
 films treated with it are very liable to split and 
 crack if not varnished immediately, or if the var- 
 nish be applied cold, from the fact that they ab- 
 sorb moisture, which, if not thoroughly expelled, 
 destroys the film. The medium mentioned has 
 not this objection, being made with a view of 
 overcoming the difficulty spoken of. Besides this, 
 it renders the film very tough and gives a fine 
 tooth, upon which a pencil of any grade may be 
 used with as much ease as upon paper. This can- 
 not be done upon varnished films. 
 
 When working upon mediums of any kind, 
 breathing upon the plate must be avoided, as by 
 so doing the film becomes softened and the pen- 
 cil cuts through. The spotting is much easier 
 upon films than upon the glazed varnish, and be- 
 
84 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 sides which the touching is protected by subse- 
 quent varnishing. 
 
 This medium, though hundreds of bottles were 
 readily disposed of in England, has not been put 
 into the American market, for the author has few 
 opportunities of advertising competitively with 
 other preparations. Persons who find the various 
 methods described of use, and the book generally 
 of value, and who feel inclined to try this prepara- 
 tion upon the writer's assurance that it is the best 
 article for the purpose, may have any quantity 
 specially prepared for them by application to 
 Messrs. Anthony & Co. ; also the matt varnish 
 mentioned, both of which preparations the author 
 always uses, keeping a small stock on hand. 
 
 The following solutions are employed by some 
 of the best retouchers, and have been highly rec- 
 ommended at different times, each being advo- 
 cated by the artist in whose hands it worked sat- 
 isfactorily : 
 
 The first and, perhaps, the best kind of medium 
 intended to be used upon the varnished negative 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 85 
 
 is to dissolve eighty grains of gum Thus (white 
 pine turpentine) in one ounce of benzole. When 
 dissolved and filtered the solution is applied to 
 the part to be worked upon with a tuft of cotton- 
 wool. When it is nearly dry — which should be 
 almost immediately after being applied — it may 
 be rubbed gently with the ball of the finger. Re- 
 touching which at first is not satisfactorily done 
 may be removed with a little benzole and the 
 negative re-worked. 
 
 Another solution to be used in the same man- 
 ner as above : Dissolve in one ounce of benzole, 
 ten grains of clear resin ; allow to stand for a day 
 or two before using. 
 
 Another : 
 
 Turpentine, , . . i ounce. 
 Gum dammar, , , . lo grains. 
 Canada balsam, . . . 5 " 
 Another : 
 
 Spirits of turpentine, . . 3 ounces. 
 Cuttle-fish powder, . . i ounce. 
 This is strongly recommended by Mr. Beattie. 
 
86 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 The directions for its use are the same as the 
 above, the part bein^ rubbed with the ball of the 
 finger if streaks appear. 
 
 Another (to be applied cold to a negative 
 which has been coated with gum water) : 
 
 Ether, . . . . 15 ounces. 
 
 Sandarac, .... 1 dram. 
 
 Shellac, .... 6 drams. 
 
 Mastic, . . . . 6 " 
 
 Dissolve, and add two and a half ounces of ben- 
 zole. 
 
 One other method described— being a F'rench 
 idea, and both novel and efficacious — is to make 
 a solution of — 
 
 Gum arable, ... i part. 
 Water 7 parts. 
 
 And another, of — 
 
 Bichromate of potash, . . 3 parts. 
 Water, 7 " 
 
 The bichromate solution is added to the gum so- 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 87 
 
 lution until it assumes the color of dark sherry 
 wine. In this state it must be kept in the dark. 
 The i)lates are then coated and kept in the dark 
 until dry, when they are exposed for half an hour 
 to strong light. They are then varnished with a 
 hard matt varnish. 
 
 We can scarcely see the advantage of varnish- 
 ing with the matt varnish before retouching, as 
 the gum and bichromate would form hard, insol- 
 uble varnish themselves when exposed to light. 
 Still, we give the quotation as we have it ; the 
 reader may try both systems and choose the one 
 more suitable. 
 
 Besides the above, there are negative retouch- 
 ing varnishes made by some of the photographic 
 dealers upon which the retouching is done with- 
 out any medium or abrading substance being 
 necessary. In using a varnish of this kind it 
 should always be well tested to see that it does 
 not crack or become tacky when heated or placed 
 in the sun. 
 
 There is no better method beside retouching 
 
88 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 upon mediumized films, than using a hard shellac 
 varnish, and rubbing over the solution of resin in 
 turpentine, mentioned in the chapter on Materials. 
 
 When negatives are retouched upon the gum- 
 med film, and prints taken from them before var- 
 nishing, there often appears, after varnishing, a 
 number of minute yellow or brown spots ; this is 
 either caused by the paper being laid on while still 
 damp or because the film has absorbed moisture and 
 taken silver from the paper, which prints or dark- 
 ens in the light. Care should, therefore, be taken 
 to have both surfaces quite dry ; and as a greater 
 precaution, kaolin finely powdered may be dusted 
 lightly over the film previous to the paper being 
 placed in contact. 
 
 Retouching with a brush and color has been 
 recommended, and is practiced by some retouch- 
 ers here and abroad. When this is done (which 
 takes much longer than with pencil) a very fine, 
 stiff brush and neutral tint color is used. No 
 gum must be mixed with the color, as it would 
 adhere to the paper and spoil the negative. 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. 89 
 
 Retouching with a needle point has also been 
 mentioned, but we have never seen any very sat- 
 isfactory results produced by it. If it be done, 
 the parts intended to be lightened must be care- 
 fully scratched with the needle, keeping the neg- 
 ative warm while working— the object of this is 
 to prevent ragged lines — and black lead brushed 
 over to fill in the scratches so produced. When 
 all the shadows have been so worked, the too 
 strong lights are lightened by scratching, no lead 
 being, of course, used. The negative, when var- 
 nished, is then ready for the printer. For this 
 process a special collodion is necessary. A little 
 fine resin or gum added to an ordinary collodion 
 will answer the same purpose ; the negative, 
 after washing, has a weak solution of albumen — 
 strength, one ounce to twenty ounces of water^ — 
 flowed over it and allowed to dry. By using a 
 thin collodion and keeping the plate warm the 
 scratching can be done with much greater facility. 
 The only advantage we can see in such a process 
 is where very hard, over-dense negatives are to 
 
go THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 be worked, in which case the over-dense portions 
 are made much lighter by the scratching process. 
 
 Before conchiding this chapter, a few words 
 about the retouching machines that have been ad- 
 vertised within the past few months may not be 
 out of place. To every sensible man it must be 
 patent that no artistic pursuits can be carried on 
 by any mechanical arrangement, however ingen- 
 iously planned. And without wishing to say any- 
 thing derogatory to either of the machines adver- 
 tised, the author feels it a duty, in writing a book 
 of this kind, to avoid misleading the reader, and 
 to point out any practice likely to embarrass a 
 beginner. As mechanical contrivances these ma- 
 chines have each their respective merits, but with 
 all of them the same amount of talent is required 
 to guide them as to guide a pencil ; and this when 
 coupled with the practice necpc,c;qry to become ac- 
 customed to the use of these machines, to prevent 
 them either from spoiling a negative or doing too 
 much upon it, leave little in favor of machinery 
 as a retouching aid. 
 
METHODS OF WORKING. gi 
 
 Besides, the best of these machines are not ap- 
 plicable to any of the methods described in this 
 book, and in using them no guidance could be 
 had from the foregoing chapters further than the 
 modelling is concerned. These remarks apply to 
 studies of heads in all kinas of work, in whatso- 
 ever material executed. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Rewibrandts, Landscapes, etc. 
 
 R E M B R A N D T S. 
 
 HIS kind of portraiture will be found more 
 
 difficult to manage. As a rule, photogra- 
 phers who attempt this style of lighting either 
 make the light upon the profile too strong or the 
 shadow too deep. One fault is quite as trouble- 
 some to the retoucher as the other. It is to be 
 regretted that photographers do not content them- 
 selves with soft effects produced by the first de- 
 velopment, and not resort to after-intensification, 
 thereby destroying all the detail in the light side 
 of the face. 
 
 However dense a light may be in nature, it al- 
 
REMBRANDTS, LANDSCAPES, ETC. 93 
 
 ways contains detail and modulation, and so it 
 should be in a negative. Commencing with the 
 edge of the light upon the forehead — assuming the 
 negative to be profile, or nearly so, as Rembrandts 
 usually are — soften the light into the surrounding 
 parts until the temporal arch or crest is reached ; 
 in this case the arch should receive (compar- 
 atively with parts around it) more light and show 
 more plainly, although in shade, than if the nega- 
 tive were an ordinarily lighted one, taking care to 
 preserve relative importance of detail and careful 
 handline cf reflexes. The malar bone and the 
 palpabral muscles should all contain a little more 
 prominence than in plainly lighted negatives. 
 We do not mean that they must be whiter; but 
 the modelling, in order to show well when printed 
 as deeply as it is necessary to print Rembrandts, 
 must be made to contain more contrast. 
 
 The light on the nose must be carefully worked 
 out, and also the corner of the eyes ; the deep 
 shadow formed by the orbitar arch in under-ex- 
 posed negatives will require a great deal of work- 
 
94 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ing to make it print properly. Much of this may 
 be stopped out at the back of the negative, as also 
 much of the shadow side, if too thin. Of course, 
 this must be done after the retouching has been 
 carried as far as it is possible. Upon thin nega- 
 tives it is sometimes a difficult matter to g^et the 
 pencil to take where it has already gone over; 
 that is, if sufficient density be not obtained by 
 the first application of the pencil, it is not easy to 
 make the second application take. In such cases, 
 by using the matt varnish at the back, and work- 
 ing upon it, sufficient density may be secured. 
 The eyes in a Rembrandt negative will require no 
 working if the head be profile, or nearly so, as 
 they are at first generally too strongly lighted, 
 unless the negative be particularly well lighted; 
 they are, therefore, left to be retouched in the 
 print. 
 
 A pleasing effect may be produced — when not 
 supplied in the background — by lightening it 
 close to the figure or face upon one side and some 
 distance from it on the other. 
 
REMBRANDTS, LANDSCAPES, ETC. 
 
 95 
 
 Landscapes. 
 
 For landscapes a great degree of skill is not 
 required. The sky is usually the principal part 
 to be worked upon ; for this purpose it is only 
 necessary to work in a cloud effect suitable to 
 the subject with ivory black upon the back of the 
 negative. Any deep shadows, that may suggest 
 themselves as being too dense to the retoucher, 
 may be treated with plumbago, and the landscape 
 itself should be masked while the clouds are be- 
 ing printed. This mask may be placed upon the 
 glass of the printing-frame, and should be cut 
 large enough to overlap the outline a quarter of 
 an inch. When the sky is just dark enough to 
 show the clouds clearly — though not as dark, of 
 course, as they are to be when finished — the mask 
 is removed and the rest of the picture printed in. 
 
 When it is required to print a natural sky in by 
 combination printing, the simplest method we have 
 found to answer in practice is to make two masks 
 a shade larger than the parts they are to protect 
 
90 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 — one to cover the sky and the other the land- 
 scape portion of the negative. These are placed 
 upon the back of the negatives, and a combination 
 print of the two made by first exposing the sensi- 
 tive paper under the cloud negative and then ad- 
 justing it to the landscape negative, the sky of 
 which is also masked. The masks having both 
 been on the backs of the negatives, the line be- 
 tween sky and landscape will not be visible unless 
 the prints were made in too strong a light. The 
 paper is then removed. When combination prints 
 of clouds are made, the two printings must mani- 
 festly be carried on in the same light, otherwise 
 they would be different in tone. 
 
 Frequently the lines in landscapes are not nice- 
 ly balanced ; for instance, a mountain may be 
 shown in the distance on one side, and nothing to 
 counterbalance it on the other side of the picture. 
 When this occurs, by judiciously distributing some 
 clouds on the side opposite the offending moun- 
 tain, the effect may often be subdued ; lightening 
 the sky above the mountain will also assist in this. 
 
REMBRANDTS, I,ANDSCAPES, ETC. 
 
 97 
 
 Printing Clean Ground in Large Portraits. 
 
 It often happens that a large negative, which is 
 perfect in other respects, has a very streaky and 
 dirty background. To print from such negatives 
 as they are, only reflects discredit upon the pho- 
 tographer. Vignettes are not wished for, and 
 combination printing is very troublesome. By 
 following the under-mentioned directions, prints 
 with perfectly clean grounds may be made from 
 this class of negatives with but little trouble : 
 
 First trace the outline of the figure upon paper 
 and lay the paper upon a thick piece of felt, such 
 as is used for printing-frame pads ; cut through 
 with a sharp knife both paper and pad. We now 
 have a felt pad exactly the size of the figure. 
 Place bits of cork at the upper corners and edges 
 of the negative -upon the background half only. 
 Now lay the silvered paper upon the negative, 
 fastening the corners to strain the paper pretty 
 tightly. Next lay the felt mask upon the paper 
 j;;st over the figure and close the frame. The ob- 
 
98 , THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ject of this is to cause the felt pad to press th.^ 
 paper into close contact with the figure, while the 
 corks keep the paper some distance from the neg- 
 ative on the background, thus printing the figure 
 sharply but throwing the background so much out 
 of focus that the light diffuses and produces a 
 perfectly even ground. This " dodge" in the case 
 of copies is invaluable. It will scarcely pay to 
 use felt for one copy— several thicknesses of blot- 
 ting-paper may be substituted for single prints 
 —but for a number of copies the felt is better. 
 
 Cracks in Films. 
 
 If not too wide, cracks in films may be easily 
 removed by rubbing in with the ball of the finger 
 either lampblack, indigo, or plumbago, selecting 
 whichever of the three will more nearly match the 
 printing density of that part of the negative, so as 
 to avoid printing a white line. Soft French pas- 
 tels are very useful for this purpose. The grays 
 can be had in tones to correspond precisely with 
 any kind of negative. It is only necessary to rub 
 
i 
 
 REMBRANDTS, LANDSCAPES, ETC. 99 
 
 che finger charged with pastel across the lines or 
 cracks. 
 
 The crayon sauces supersede all others for 
 this purpose. Of course, large cracks will have 
 to be touched out with color, and as color will 
 not take kindly upon bare glass it will be found 
 necessary to varnish the negative beiorehand. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Enamelling Prints, Intensification of 
 Negatives, etc. 
 
 Enamelling Prints. 
 T^HIS fashion, which for a time bade fair to 
 
 ^ gain favor with the profession, is gradually 
 losing its charm. A ^ood ^\ctme requires no such 
 superfluous finish to add to its beauty ; while, on 
 the other hand, if the picture be finished in an in- 
 different manner, the enamelling suggests the idea 
 that such means had been resorted to for the pur- 
 pose of hiding some of the imperfections in a glar- 
 ing polish, which would have the effect of sub- 
 duing by its attractive appearance the minor 
 
ENAMELLING PRINTS, ETC. lOI 
 
 defects. There are, however, many persons who 
 are admirers of the finish, and many whose cus- 
 tomers prefer it to ordinary albumen paper finish. 
 For the benefit of such we describe the methods 
 of enamelling we have employed, and which will 
 be found to produce very good and, at the same 
 time, very brilliant results. 
 
 The following will be useful in affording the 
 toughest film, although a little more troublesome 
 than those methods usually practiced : The first 
 process, after the finished prints have left the 
 water, is to lay them in warm water until they are re- 
 quired for use. Have a solution of gelatine, made 
 by dissolving one ounce of gelatine in half a pint 
 of water. To effect this, allow the gelatine to re- 
 main in the cold water until well swollen ; pour off 
 the cold and then warm gently and add one dram 
 of white sugar. When dissolved pour the gela- 
 tine into a clean dish, and, taking the prints from 
 the warm water, blot them and lay them upon the 
 solution of gelatine in the same manner as float- 
 ing albumenized paper upon a silver bath. Allow 
 
I02 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 to remain a few seconds, and lay them upon their 
 backs on clean paper to dry. 
 
 The plates are now prepared by polishing first 
 with a solution of white wax in benzole in the 
 proportion of five grains to the ounce of benzole. 
 A little of the solution is poured upon the glass 
 and spread over with a piece of rag, and finally 
 polished with a clean tuft of cotton-wool. When 
 all are waxed, collodionize with plain collodion, 
 and place when set, in cold water until all greasy 
 lines have disappeared. The prints have now to 
 be laid upon the glass. To do this they must 
 first be placed in a solution of chrome alum two 
 per cent, strength, about 90 deg. Fah., and then 
 placed upon the glass with a piece of waxed 
 paper over them. Before they are quite dry, paste 
 a piece of stout cartridge paper at their backs. 
 Stroke out the water and allow them to dry, 
 when, if properly done, they will spring from the 
 glass. They may now be cut to the required 
 sizes, and, if medallions, embossed in the cameo 
 press. By using this method, the collodion, from 
 
ENAMELLING PRINTS, ETC. IO3 
 
 being placed in water immediately, is less liable 
 to catch particles of dust that may be flying. 
 
 Another method is to prepare the glasses as 
 above, collodionize, and allow to dry. When dry, 
 run a line of solution of india-rubber around the 
 edges to prevent the film from leaving them. The 
 prints are then floated upon the gelatine solution 
 and placed immediately upon the glass. The 
 water and superfluous gelatine is stroked out, care 
 being taken that there are no minute air-bells be- 
 tween the print and the collodion, and the prints 
 backed with paper and allowed to dry. This is 
 the simplest method, but not quite so neat nor 
 so sure as the first mentioned. The gelatine may 
 be swilled over the plate and the wet print laid 
 down upon it with a little better result, ensuring 
 greater immunity from air-bells. 
 
 By laying albumen prints immediately after 
 they are taken from the washing water upon 
 plates collodionized and soaked in water as de- 
 scribed, a very good enamelled surface may be 
 secured. 
 
I04 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 Attempts have been made to produce the fine 
 enamelled surface with a varnish; but the results 
 are far from being satisfactory, and the process is 
 quite as, if not more, troublesome. 
 
 One drawback to enamelling is the great diffi- 
 culty of spotting the prints. Water color washes 
 away or runs when the gelatine is put on, and oil 
 colors do not meet the requirements of the case. 
 By using a quantity of gum with the color and 
 waxing the prints, after spotting, they can be made 
 to match tolerably well. Colors are also supplied 
 to retouch the prints before they are glazed ; but 
 we cannot give an opinion as to their efficacy, not 
 having used them ourselves. By mixing the col- 
 ors used with albumen they do not run so much, 
 as the albumen coagulates when in contact with 
 the warm gelatine ; but, even then, the color lies 
 unevenly and granularly. A drop of solution of 
 gum dammar in ether will fix the touching ; or the 
 whole print, if much worked upon, may be brush- 
 ed over with matt varnish. Small spots may be 
 obliterated with a soft pencil. 
 
ENAMELLING PRINTS, ETC. 
 
 Chemical Intensification of Parts of 
 Negatives. 
 
 It often happens that a negative could be made 
 perfect if it were possible to give intensity to cer- 
 tain parts only, A landscape, for instance, may 
 have a finely clouded sky, but the view portion be 
 too weak for printing ; if it were intensified the 
 sky would be lost. Proceed by making ready 
 a solution of iodide of potassium and iodine about 
 the color of dark sherry. To prepare this solu- 
 tion add iodine to water until a dark, muddy pre- 
 cipitate is formed ; then add iodide of potassium 
 until the liquid clears, and dilute with water to 
 the required strength. Having developed the 
 negative, wash well and flood with the iodine so- 
 lution, and rinse with clean water. Allow it to 
 dry, and run a line of varnish around the edge to 
 prevent the film leaving the glass during the 
 second development. 
 
 When thoroughly dry go round the edges of 
 the part to be intensified with a large brush (fine- 
 
I06 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 ly pointed) charged with water This line must, 
 of course, be made inside the contour line ; keep 
 it well flooded until the contour is all drawn, and 
 with a larger brush fill in the space to be strength- 
 ened with water. This will have to be done very 
 skillfully or the lines of the brush will show. 
 When the part is well covered with water pour 
 on the intensifier, which will flow over the wet 
 portion only, stopping at the edges where they 
 come in contact with the dry part of the film. 
 When the Intensifier has done its work wash 
 again, fix and dry, when the negative will be 
 properly intensified in all parts. This process 
 may be employed to intensify a face, drapery, or 
 backgrounds ; or, by substituting cyanide of po- 
 tassium for the intensifier, the parts may be re- 
 duced if too strong. At first sight it would ap- 
 pear that the contour line would be sharp, or cut 
 out, as it were ; this, however, does not happen if 
 skillfully managed, as the extreme edge dries 
 slowly during the painting, thus softening that 
 which would otherwise appear too strong. 
 
ENAMELLING PRINTS, ETC. IO7 
 
 A varnish composed of gum anime in benzole, 
 colored with iodine, may be applied to backs of 
 negatives, and when dry removed from all light 
 portions with benzole or alcohol with very good 
 results. Hard landscapes may in this way be 
 very evenly printed. 
 
 Spotting Prints. 
 
 When the negatives are properly retouched 
 and have no specks of dirt or chemical stains upon 
 them the proofs will, provided they were carefully 
 printed, require no spotting; but if the negatives 
 were carelessly taken, badly spotted or retouched, 
 a white spot upon the print will occur wherever 
 a dark one exists in the negative. 
 
 For spotting these mix upon a palette a color 
 to match as nearly possible the tone of the print. 
 Black, brown, rose madder, and neutral tint in 
 proper proportion will match any photographic 
 tone nearly enough for general work. A little 
 gum must be ground with the color to make it 
 run more freely, and to give it the same glaze as 
 
108 THE ART OF RETOUCHING. 
 
 the albumenized paper. Use a small, finely-point- 
 ed red sable brush charged with color, taking only 
 sufficient to cover the defect. Too much color in 
 the brush is not advisable, being more difficult to 
 work with and often making the spots too dark. 
 It is always better to have the touching a little 
 lighter instead of a shade darker than the photo- 
 graph. The photographs, when touched, will be 
 much improved if polished with the following 
 paste : 
 
 Encaustic Paste Formtila. — Dissolve with gen- 
 tle heat — 
 
 White wax (pure), . . 3 ounces. 
 
 Essence of turpentine (white), 3^ " 
 
 Copal varnish (pure), . • dram. 
 
 Oil of lavender, . . i " 
 Rub a little of the paste over the picture with 
 a soft rag, and polish with a piece of old, soft flannel. 
 
 The lighter specks in the face may be worked 
 out delicately with a hard pencil. Prints to be 
 burnished should be spotted rather lightly, as the 
 touching will usually show darker when finished. 
 
333^57 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 UBRARY