>>Etch-a-tone. The print is made on a canvas type paper, in the old days it
>>was Portrait Proof, which was a favorite of M's. The print is taped down to
>>a work surface and with a cotton swab coated with a painting medium
>>(Grumbrachers I believe). He then uses a dark brown (any color will do) oil
>>pigment and with a swab, coats the complete print. The print is now almost
>>invisible under the haze of brown. The oil is now gradually removed from the
>>print using more medium as a solvent if necessary. More is lifted from the
>>highlights and less from the shadows or vice versa. It sounds difficult but
>
>Interesting. This is basically the description of "Mediobrome", first
>described, as far as I know, by Leonard Misonne in _Die Galerie_ in 1938.
>Misonne used this technique between 1935 and 1943.
>
>Do you have an exact citation for the Etch-a-tone? I can't find any in my
>databases. I am trying to determine who plagiarized whom.
I don't have any citations for the Etch-A-Tone process. In fact I suspect
that the pumice method MacDonald used was in fact the Etch-A-Tone process by
name, as MacDonald was not very careful about such things as the correct
names that Mortonson might have used. I'm also going on my own memory of
things over 25 years ago. (I'm not sure of the spelling of his name even
now, as I have not reference work to check here that would have his name.)
As far as dates go, I don't know how far back the process goes or when W.M.
started using it.
I my memory serves me, the pumice method was similar to the wet method in
that the print was covered with the film of oil paint and then left to dry.
Then the pumice was used to remove the paint, much the same as the swab and
solvent was used. It gave the print a much drier and atmospheric quality, as
the wet method left the print feeling lush and murky.
I mentioned these processes as I have not seen any modern references to
them and they are quite nice and need very little instructions to do. I
think most anyone could from these descriptions work out their own method
from these descriptions,
Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan
Santa Fe, New mexico