François, Jean-Charles

Jean-Charles François, (born March 4, 1717, Nancy, Fr.—died March 21, 1769, Paris), French etcher and engraver who was one of the inventors of the crayon method in engraving—a process devised to imitate the grainy effect of chalk, pastel, or charcoal drawings by engraving closely dotted lines with various pointed tools. This technique was especially popular in France from the mid-18th century until the invention in 1798 of lithography (q.v.), a less laborious method of printmaking to achieve the same effects.