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To the best of my knowledge no books have been written on this hobby and few people are engaged in it. I call it celluloid etching. It consists primarily of fastening a piece of clear celluloid on a drawing or photograph with paper clips, and with a sharp needle mounted in a pen holder, etching the picture on celluloid. The needle cuts a heavy or fine line in the celluloid in direct proportion to the amount of pressure exerted and the number of times you go over the line.

Celluloid is a flexible, uniform, semi-soft material which permits artistic effects which cannot be duplicated on paper, canvas or wood. It's easy to remove both dirt and paint pigments from its smooth surface without affecting the basic material. When roughened with sandpaper, scraped with a razor blade or cut with a sharp needle the resulting surface becomes a ground upon which to apply oil paint, wax crayons, pastels, inks, tempera or colored pencils. Colors can be mixed, blended on or removed from the roughened surface, or permitted to dry and later cut with additional lines in the same or opposite directions as the original lines and different colors applied, repeating as often as necessary.

As an example, after the picture has been etched, a little Van Dyke brown oil paint is rubbed on the etched surface. An artist grade of paint is used. A lump about the size of a pea is squeezed on a piece of glass and then applied to the etching with absorbent cotton rolled into a small pad. I pay little attention to how much paint gets on the unetched surface, but I make sure all cuts are filled. The surplus paint is easily removed with clean cotton and, when necessary, a small amount of coal oil or paint thinner. Then the etching is put away to dry.

Meanwhile I cut a piece of white Bristol board for a background and a piece of cardboard for a backing, and either make or procure a frame.

When it is dry, I give the etching a final cleansing with white vinegar and rub it lightly with a piece of lint free cloth. I also clean another piece of celluloid the same size.

Spraying the etching with a fixative isn't satisfactory. The two pieces of celluloid are sealed together with the etched side inside. Holding the edges together on top of a newspaper with a ruler, run acetone along all edges with a small, soft brush, being careful to prevent any acetone from running in between the two pieces of celluloid. Use the acetone in a well ventilated room away from an open flame. Buy technical grade acetone from chemical supply houses to save money.

I trim uneven edges and save trimmings. After softened to a creamy consistency, trimmings make a good adhesive for paper, wood, leather, etc. Use this preparation, too, away from open flames.

Sealed in from dust and moisture, the etching is mounted in a frame facing in the same direction as the original picture. However, it can be reversed and still show the same clear lines and coloring. For contrast and to make the lines stand out, I put white Bristol board behind the etching, then a cardboard backing. A few brads driven in the frame will hold all securely.

The etching is finished. Its lines appear to be on the Bristol board. If the photo isn't reproduced too accurately the etching will look like a free hand line drawing. Its beauty and likeness will amaze and delight you. Even your first etching will make you stand back and, wonder "did I do that?"

If you allow yourself freedom of thought and hand, your etching of the same photo will be different from your neighbor's, your brother's or mine. You will have expressed you and you alone.

ARTISTS SAY that it's impossible to exhaust the possibilities of simple lines. That's why this hobby is an outlet for imagination and initiative.

Here's one method of making a change of your own in an etching. Suppose your eight-by-ten-inch photograph is a side view of a man with a low forehead and you decide he'll look more distinguished with a high forehead. Place the celluloid on the photo in the usual manner and etch the top of the head down to the eyebrows, including the hair line and part. Stop and move the celluloid up slightly and continue to etch until finished. Still retaining a likeness, the etching portrays a forehead somewhat higher. Reverse the procedure and a lower forehead will result.

Using this method and observing your subject in person, you can, with thought and experiments, make changes in the shape of the head, and position, shape and size of features which will emphasize or subordinate detail to an advantage. Likewise you can exaggerate and produce caricatures. But use caution when caricaturing friends, especially men, because here the male is more sensitive than the female.

Varying the width of a line has its effect. Interesting, too, is to see how few lines you can use and still keep a resemblance. Besides this you can add to or take away from the original picture such items as hair, clothes, houses, trees, animals, birds and many more.

If you get tired of working with lines, try shading and backgrounds, using the photo as a guide, and watch your etching sparkle with new and different lights. Shading and backgrounds open the door to colors. A sampler set, consisting of eight tubes, of photo oil colors is inexpensive and ideal to begin with. Tempera paints are also satisfactory. Wax crayons give good results. And pastels leave little to be desired. All may be procured at stores carrying artist's supplies. Tempera paints are best applied with a brush and the surplus wiped off with a clean rag. Pastels and crayons are applied the same as on paper and the surplus removed from the unetched surface with a rag.

A MOST effective celluloid etching is one painted with fluorescent paint, then mounted in a frame which has a hollow base, and lighted with black light from below. For lighting a very small etching in complete darkness an Argon glow bulb will suffice.

Painting etchings with fluorescent paint is like painting with light. This paint seems to capture the sun's brightness and gives an etching a brilliance, even in daylight, unequalled with ordinary paint.

A simple sunset etching done in harmonious colors and activated with black light comes to life with startling reality. Ablaze with vivid and brilliant illumination, offering a shimmering pattern of living and mysterious lights which are soft and inviting and almost as true as nature's own, it's one of which you'll never tire.

Fluorescent products which can be used on celluloid etchings are available in inks, water colors, enamels, crayons, powders, papers and fabrics (papers and fabrics make good backgrounds), in a wide variety of colors of which many have a daylight fluorescent surpassing in brilliance any on the non-fluorescent colors.

A number of fluorescent pigments have both a daylight and a black light appearance. This characteristic of appearing as one color in white light and also as a different color under black light makes it possible to produce a double picture in a single picture, one picture being invisible in white light, the other in black light.

Double picture painting requires a special technique which can be acquired only at present by experimenting.

Unfortunately black light and fluorescent paints have been pretty much overlooked by non-technical writers. Much knowledge, however, can be gained by studying bulletins and small pamphlets issued by manufacturers and dealers, among whom are: Vogel Luminescence Company, San Francisco, California; Keese Engineering Company, Hollywood, California; Black Light Products, Chicago, Illinois, and Switzer Brothers, Cleveland, Ohio. If you wish a more extended list of names of manufacturers write the New Jersey Zinc Sales Company, 160 Front Street, New York 7, New York.

Most dealers stock sample sets consisting of eight colors in both enamels and water colors. Black light equipment comes in size, power and price from the small 2½ watt Argon bulb, costing about $1 to de luxe floor models costing several hundred dollars.

Less brilliant on etchings are luminous paints, some of which have an after glow as long as twelve hours after being exposed to sunlight, electric light or black light. Since they also glow under black light, it's occasionally advantageous to use them in conjunction with fluorescent pigments. But remember an after glow in fluorescent paint signifies impurity and is undesirable.

FOR OBTAINING indispensable information on color harmony I consulted "Color in Sketching and Rendering," by Guptill, which covers water colors in detail and touches on related media. Exercises are offered to students unable to attend classes. In Theodore DePostels' book "Fundamentals of Perspective," a simple method, clarified in four colors, of showing the order in which the lines of which a perspective is composed is explained.

When I wish to do fine detail work on an etching, I use a magnifying glass. An adjustable holder is easily made by inserting a half-inch-dowel vertically in a base and attaching a chemist's burette clamp.

As I work on an etching, I run my fingers over it occasionally; they will instantly tell me of any unetched portion. Another way to check on the completeness of an etching is occasionally to slip a piece of colored paper between the celluloid and the picture being etched without removing all clips or thumb tacks.

Harmonious and unusual backgrounds are worked out with colored paper and colored Cellophane singly or in combination. Interesting, too, are etchings mounted between two pieces of clear glass with a background. Mounted like this an etching has the same appearance from either side, except it is seen reversed from one side.

For an inexpensive supply of celluloid, I contact local printing shops in my home city, Oakland, California. Job shops use celluloid to cover blotter books and other advertising matter and have pieces left over which you can use.

Some good photographs are too small to etch, and perhaps the negative isn't available for making an enlargement. These photos can be blown up in a low cost homemade projector. Projector plans are available in library books or may be procured from mechanical magazines. While not absolutely necessary, a projector broadens your work and makes possible changes or additions to an etching with minimum loss of time and material. When using a projector it's best to first make all drawings on paper and then etch them on celluloid.

I FOUND etching so interesting that I practiced it for a year just for the fun of it with but little thought of selling my work.

Selling my first etching was an accident and a thrill too. I snapped the picture of a neighborhood boy and his dog. From the photograph I made an enlarged etching and finished it in brown. Knowing the boy had a birthday coming up in a few weeks, I waited and gave it to him for a present. The etching so pleased his parents that they became inquisitive about my hobby and wanted to know if I would make six more like the original, which I did, receiving $2 each. The etchings were given by the parents to friends and relatives. Later I received inquiries from people who had either received or had seen an etching, wanting to know what I thought I could do with an etching of their photos.

At this time all work was undertaken on an experimental basis. Final products had to be satisfactory. Some photos were unsuitable. Some time and work was wasted as far as monetary gain was concerned, but, lacking formal art training, I did profit in knowledge and pleasure from each experience.

It was exciting and encouraging to see the interest aroused in this hobby. Consequently I made up and gave away etchings of birds, landscapes, animals, even insects particularly butterflies. Results were more inquiries and orders. The largest etching I've ever made was twelve by sixteen inches, for which I received $12.

I'VE FOUND that the trick in earning money from etchings of people is to produce the unusual or original, but not necessarily a literal actuality. Seemingly difficult, it isn't. For instance, by combining two or more pictures, an etching of a boy can be made so that he appears to be piloting an airplane, driving a car or swimming, etc. To accomplish this you'll need other pictures to guide you. So it's good business, to start at once with an artist's "morgue" of pictures from apples to zebras.

Specialize too. Experiment with etchings of people, animals, still life, land and seascapes in monotone and color in oil, tempera and crayon until your interest crystallizes in one type of work and medium; then specialize in that if you want to earn money.

I've found that pleasing samples of my work placed in a variety store and gift shop will sell, attract attention and invite inquiries, whether it's decorative inserts for glasses, coasters, bookends, flowers or snow scenes.

A consignment selling plan is best at first. Simply show the dealer a display of etchings and tell him that you'd like to leave it on his counter for a few days with no obligation to him, that you'll pay him a 33¹/3 percent commission on all sales, that you'll call in two or three weeks and refill the display and collect for items sold. This plan saves your time by eliminating all sales talk and enables you to place more displays in the same length of time.

A dealer will readily see that you've offered him a good proposition and will be glad to give your display counter space, which will in itself sell etchings for him. This plan insures you an easy and steady income, limited only by the number of displays you place.

I always leave my business card or at least my name and phone number with the dealer. I have the dealer sign for all merchandise left with him and give him a carbon copy. If I call later and find no etchings have been sold, I substitute a different group of etchings and try again before removing my consignment.

WHEN PLACING a price on etchings bear in mind that speed will come with experience, which will throttle any impulse to charge for the exact number of hours and minutes spent making an etching. The quality of the frame used will also have a bearing on the price. For an etching done in one color with few and simple lines, I find satisfactory a price of $1 for a four-by-six-inch etching and $2 for anything between four by six and six by eight. Two or more colors will add from 50 cents to $1.50 to the price.