"'The idea originated,' says Dr. Brown, 'with Mr. Mark Lemon, Leech's
friend and colleague, who saw that by a new invention--a beautiful piece
of machinery--the impression of a block in _Punch_ being first taken on
a sheet of indiarubber, was enlarged; when by a lithographic process
the copy thus got could be transferred to the stone and impressions
printed upon a large sheet of canvas. Having thus obtained an outline
groundwork, consisting of his own lines enlarged to some eight times the
area of the original block, Leech proceeded to colour these. His
knowledge of the manipulation of oil-colours was very slight, and it was
under the guidance of his friend Millais that his first attempts were
made, and crude enough they were. He used a kind of transparent colour,
which allowed the coarse lines of the enlargement to show through, so
that the production presented the appearance of indifferent lithographs
slightly tinted. In a short time he obtained great mastery over
oil-colour, and instead of allowing the thick, fatty lines of printer's
ink to remain on the canvas, he, by the use of turpentine, removed the
ink, particularly with regard to the lines of the faces and figures.
These he redrew with his own hand in a fine and delicate manner. To this
he added a delicacy of finish, particularly in flesh-colour, which
greatly enhanced the value and beauty of his later works."