AW: German translation
The direct translation of "Heinrich Kühn, Technik der Lichtbildnerei, Halle a.d.S., 1921" is that "Wischkreide" is carbon black bounded in oily material. Best regards Hans (german native speaker) -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Judy Seigel [mailto:jseigel@panix.com] Gesendet: Donnerstag, 29. November 2007 00:27 An: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca Betreff: Re: German translation On Wed, 28 Nov 2007, Tor-Einar Jarnbjo wrote: > Christina Z. Anderson schrieb: >> Thanks for this, Tor and Hans; will check on wiping or smearing chalk.. > I might even have confused you with the use of the word "chalk". Even though > the German word "Kreide" surely means chalk (as in some kind of colouring > mineral compound), it might also be used as a more generic expression for a > drawing util, like a crayon. I suppose this is the text you're referring > from: For "Kreid-e (f.)" my Cassell's "New German Dictionary", 1957, starts with "chalk, crayon, calcium carbonate, whiting," before going into idiomatic uses such as "crippled with debts." My guess would be that Kuhn & company used some kind of "whiting," as that's a familiar ingredient of paint, often used as filler or to provide bulk at low cost. I also remember (vaguely) wiping plates with something "chalky" in printmaking class, but that was millennia ago --- tho you could pop into the printmaking department, Chris -- they'd probably have a barrel of it. But I wouldn't in any event worry too much about getting the identical material -- I would assume "ca n'existe plus"... At the time, those materials were probably mined, rather than fabricated, and often the mines got mined out. I remember my heartbreak when I couldn't get -- I think it was my basic Burnt Sienna --any more... Liquitex still sold a jar of acrylic with the same name, but it behaved differently, dried more slowly, and different tonality. The company rep "explained" that the mine was mined out (near Sienna, I assume) so they were using a different one -- maybe just over the hill, but still different. Today, besides being mined out, and built up (think "White Cliffs of Dover," probably full of condo's by now), it's probably cheaper and easier to fabricate the stuff anyway... as some relatively recent pigments were from the start, eg., ultramarine. And even if you had the identical pigment, none of the other ingredients, including the paper, will be the same -- and, as gum printers know all too well, one tiny variable can loom large. BUT -- whoa ! I got out my old copy of Doerner -- "The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting." (Copyright 1934 and 1949.) I always complained it was not quite translated from the German... And checked the index. There are four entries for chalk: As priming material (ie, as size of a sort); for Chalk grounds, additions to for elasticity...; for Chalk grounds, isolation of; and for Chalk grounds, quality of. I'll check the text and if there's anything that seems relevant beyond what we surmise, I can copy & send, Chris -- tho your library ought to have a copy, or get one for you. But you are warned -- it's seductive. You can sit down and read, for instance, that "it's always a good practice to allow purified oil to stand for some time...etc." Oh stop me before ---- oops, here are index entries for gum arabic, gum emulsions and gummigutt, evidently the German name for gamboge, "a gum resin much used in water color, but not lightproof..." etc. etc. etc. (Is there a Process Junky Anonymous chapter on line?) J. > http://www.muenzberg.symmedia.net/gumkuehn.htm > > Later in the text, the author refers to Wischkreide as beeing soot dissolved > in some greasy compound, making it easier to use for rubber printing than dry > soot dissolved directly in the rubber solution. I wouldn't bet on it, but my > 2-cent-guess is that it is an old German expression for "conté crayons". > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conté > > Tor > > >
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