the very beginning of
his work, have a clear conception of the idea he intends to realize on
his plate, as the work of the needle must harmonize with the character
of the subject, and as the effect produced is finally determined by the
combination of this work with that of the acid.

The knowledge needed to bring about these intimate relations between the
needle, which produces the _drawing_, and the biting-in, which supplies
the _color_, constitutes the whole science of the etcher.

3. =Manner of Using the Needle.--Character of Lines.=--The needle or
point must be allowed to play lightly on the varnish, so as to permit
the hand to move with that unconcern which is necessary to great freedom
of execution. The use of a moderately sharp needle will insure lines
which are full and nourished in the delicate as well as in the vigorous
parts of the work. We shall thus secure the means of being simple. Nor
will it be necessary to depart from this character even in plates
requiring the most minute execution; all that is required will be a
finer point, and lines of a more delicate kind. But the spaces left
between the latter will be proportionately the same, or perhaps even
somewhat wider, so as to prevent the acid from confusing the lines by
eating away the ridges of metal which are left standing between the
furrows. Freshness and neatness depend on these conditions in small as
well as in large plates.

4. =Freedom of Execution.=--It is a well-known fact that the engraver
who employs the burin (or graver), produces lines on the naked copper or
steel which cross one another, and are measured and regular. It is a
necessary consequence of the importance of line-engraving, growing out
of its application to classical works of high style, that it should
always show the severity and coldness of positive and almost
mathematical workmanship. With etching this is not the case: the point
must be free and capricious; it must accentuate the forms of objects
without stiffness or dryness, and must delicately bring out the various
distances, without following any other law than that of a picturesque
harmony in the execution. It may be made to work with precision,
whenever that is needed, but only to be abandoned afterwards to its
natural grace. It will be well, however, to avoid over-excitement and
violence in execution, which give an air of slovenliness to that which
ought to be simply a revery.

5. =How to produce Difference in Texture.