XIII

Stopping out

Stopping out varnish was traditionally made with white wax, asphaltum, gum mastic and turpentine and is used to protect distinct areas of the printing matrix from being bitten by the acid. In areas Goya wanted to appear white, he would apply the stopping out varnish with a brush at the beginning of the etching process, so these locations were not exposed to acid at any stage and the copperplate remained smooth. Stopping out varnish was applied in both broad and delicate brushstrokes to the copperplate for Todos caerán (All will fall), the resulting areas appearing as bright white accents on the woman-bird on the perch, the shawl of the procuress, the chest of one of the young sex workers, the light grey garments of both young sex workers and an area of background on the right. (See figs. 30 and 31).

Goya also used stopping out varnish to achieve areas of graduated tone. In El vergonzoso (The shamefaced one) for example, areas of the plate he wanted to appear light grey were bitten by the acid briefly and then protected by stopping out varnish in subsequent acid baths. (See figs. 32 and 33). For the background tone across the upper left corner, a longer biting time resulted in the pits of aquatint being deeper and wider so they could hold more ink and appear darker in the finished print. When working with finely ground aquatint, Goya may have achieved a range of aquatint tones by altering the strength of the acid.⁴³ As J.H. Green instructed:

In fine grounds, you will find it best to apply weak aquafortis, which prevents the danger of over biting; we generally make it of such a strength, that the lightest tints are bitten in two minutes, the next three minutes, &c. by which means, though the work is slower, you will proceed with greater confidence, and make more beautiful work: In coarse grounds, you may use quicker aquafortis, so that the finest tints will only require two minutes biting.⁴⁴

In Obsequio á el maestro (A gift for the master) there is a dark line of ink adjacent to an area of stopping out indicating that the acid pooled slightly at the interface between the stopped out area and the area bitten by acid, causing the copperplate to be etched slightly more deeply at the border. (See figs. 34 and 35).

When examining Goya’s prints, the transition between an area that has been stopped out and one that has not, can be quite stark. In contrast, in areas where he used the technique of burnishing to create highlights, the transition is more graduated. In El caballo raptor (The Kidnapping Horse), burnishing and stopping out were used in tandem to create the light region surrounding the horse and figure. (See fig. 36). This effect was achieved by applying aquatint to the whole plate and biting it in acid. Stopping out varnish was then applied in the lightest section with a loaded brush working from left to right. The transition between the lightest section to the aquatinted region was created with a burnishing tool, working in an upwards direction.⁴⁵