A solution of powdered
rosin and
denatured alcohol used to protect areas of a
metal
plate from the
acid used in most
etching processes. The
varnish is made by first
crumbling blocks of lump rosin with a hammer and adding it to an equal
volume of
denatured alcohol. It takes quite a while for all of the rosin to
dissolve in the alcohol, so
you have to think ahead when you first notice you’re running out of the stuff.
Stop-out is most useful when etching with
aquatint,
soft-ground texture or some other
tonal process. One can apply the texture or aquatint to the plate and then apply stop-out
as needed to places that one would like to
etch more lightly, creating less dark areas on
the final
print. Since you can paint the stop-out on as finely as you like, you can get
some very detailed
highlights which would otherwise be difficult to attain. It also
allows you to “
erase” any mistakes you might have made in lifting up the
ground in
any other sort of etching before going into the acid but without having to start over again
with the
drawing.