,transcriber's ,notes3 ,underscores 80 before and after a word or phrase indicate italics in the original text4 ,small capitals have been converted to ,,solid capitals4 ,illustrations have been moved so they do not break up paragraphs4 ,typographical errors have been silently corrected but other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unaltered4 ,the use of 8v0 in ,,reprodvction and ,illvstrations as they appear on the title page and in the heading for the list of illustrations have been retained4 ,illustration ,a ,,practical ,,handbook ,,of ,,drawing ,,for ,,modern ,,methods ,,of ,,reprodvction ,,by ,,charles ,g4 ,,harper1 ,,author ,,of 8,,english ,,pen ,,artists ,,of ,,to-,,day40 ,illustration ,illustrated with ,drawings by several ,hands1 and with ,sketches by the ,author showing ,comparative ,results obtained by the several ,methods of ,reproduction now in ,use4 ,,london3 ,,chapman ,,hall1 ,,ld4 #ahid4 ,,to ,,charles ,,morley1 ,,esq4 ,,dear ,,mr4 ,,morley1 ,it is with a peculiar satisfaction that ,i inscribe this book to yourself1 for to you more than to any other occupant of an editorial chair is due the position held by 8process0 in illustrating the hazards and happenings of each succeeding week4 ,time was when the 8,pall ,mall ,budget10 with a daring originality never to be forgotten1 illustrated the news with diagrams fashioned heroically from the somewhat limited armoury of the compositor4 ,nor ,i nor my contemporaries1 ,i think1 have forgotten those weapons of offence--the brass rules1 hyphens1 asterisks1 daggers1 braces1 and other common objects of the type-case--with which the ,northumberland ,street printers set forth the details of a procession1 or the configuration of a country4 ,there was in those days a world of meaning--apart from libellous innuendo--in a row of asterisks2 for did they not signify a chain of mountains8 ,and what ,old ,man ,eloquent was ever so vividly convincing as those serpentine brass rules that served as the accepted hieroglyphics for rivers on type-set maps8 ,these were the beginnings of illustration in the 8,pall ,mall ,budget0 when you first filled the editorial chair4 ,the leaps and bounds by which you came abreast of 7and1 indeed1 overlook7 the other purveyors of illustrated news1 hot and hot1 ,i need not recount1 nor is there occasion here to allude to the events which led to what some alliterative journalist has styled the ,battle of the ,budgets4 ,only this3 that if others have reaped where you have sown1 why6 'twas ever thus4 ,for the rest1 ,i must needs apologize to you for a breach of an etiquette which demands that permission be first had and obtained before a ,dedication may be printed4 ,to print an unauthorized tribute to a private individual is wrong3 when 7as in the present case7 an ,editor is concerned ,i am not sure that the wrong-doing halts anything before lse majest4 ,yours very truly1 ,,charles ,g4 ,,harper4 ,,london1 ,may1 #ahid4 ,illustration3 ,,preface ,everywhere to-day is the ,illustrator 7artist he may not always be71 for never was illustration so marketable as now2 and the correspondence-editors of the ,sunday papers have at length found a new outlet for the superfluous energies of their eager querists in advising them to 8go in0 for black and white3 as one might advise an applicant to adventure upon a commercial enterprise of large issues and great risks before the amount of his capital 7if any7 had been ascertained4 ,it is so very easy to make black marks upon white cardboard1 is it not8 and not particularly difficult to seize upon the egregious mannerisms of the accepted purveyors of 8the picturesque0--that clich phrase1 battered nowadays out of all real meaning4 ,but for really serious art--personal1 aggressive1 definite and instructed--one requires something more than a penchant1 or the stimulating impulsion of an empty pocket1 or even the illusory magnetism of the vie bohme of the lady-novelist1 whose artists still wear velvet coats and aureoles of auburn hair1 and marry the inevitable heiress in the third volume4 ,not that one really wishes to be one of those creatures1 for the lady-novelists' love-lorn embryonic ,michael ,angelos are generally great cads2 but this by the way6 ,what is wanted in the aspirant is the vocation3 the feeling for beauty of line and for decoration1 and the powers both of idealizing and of selection4 ,pen-drawing and allied methods are the chiefest means of illustration at this day1 and these qualities are essential to their successful employ4 ,practitioners in pen-and-ink are already numerous enough to give any new-comer pause before he adds himself to their number1 but certainly the greater number of them are merely journalists without sense of style2 mannerists only of a peculiarly vicious parasitic type4 8,but10 ask those correspondents1 8does illustration pay80 8,yes10 says that omniscient person1 the ,correspondence-,editor4 ,then those pixie-led wayfarers through life1 filled with an inordinate desire to draw1 to paint1 to translate ,nature on to canvas or cardboard 7at a profit71 set about the staining of fair paper1 the wasting of good ink1 brushes1 pens1 and all the materials with which the graphic arts are pursued1 and lo6 just because the greater number of them set out1 not with the love of an art1 but with the single idea of a paying investment of time and labour--it does not pay6 ,remuneration in their case is ,latin for three farthings4 ,publishers and editors1 it is said1 can now1 with the cheapness of modern methods of reproduction as against the expense of wood-engraving1 afford to pay artists better because they pay engravers less4 ,perhaps they can4 ,but do they8 ,pen-drawing in particular has1 by reason of these things1 almost come to stand for exaggeration and a shameless license--a convention that sees and renders everything in a manner flamboyantly quaint4 ,but this vein is being worked down to the bed-rock3 it has plumbed its deepest depth1 and everything now points to a period of instructed sobriety where now the untaught abandon of these mannerists has rioted through the pages of illustrated magazines and newspapers to a final disrepute4 ,artists are now beginning to ask how they can dissociate themselves from that merely manufacturing army of frantic draughtsmen who never1 or rarely1 go beyond the exercise of pure line-work2 and the widening power of process gives them answer4 ,results striking and unhackneyed are always to be obtained to-day by those who are not hag-ridden by that purely ,philistine ideal of the clear sharp line4 ,these pages are written as a plea for something else than the eternal round of uninspired work4 ,they contain suggestions and examples of results obtained in striving to be at one with modern methods of reproduction1 and perhaps ,i may be permitted to hope that in this direction they may be of some service4 ,,charles ,g4 ,,harper4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,introductory #a ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,an ,,art #i ,,comparative ,,processes #bb ,,paper #gh ,,pens #ib ,,inks #if ,,the ,,making ,,of ,a ,,pen-,,drawing #ajb ,,wash ,,drawings #aba ,,styles ,,and ,,manner #ace ,,painters' ,,pen-,,drawings #aed ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,,english ,,pen ,,artists ,,of ,,to-,,day3 ,examples of their work1 with some ,criticisms and ,appreciations4 ,super royal #dto1 #c #cs4 net4 ,,the ,,brighton ,,road3 ,old ,times and ,new on a ,classic ,highway4 ,with #ie ,illustrations by the ,author and from old prints4 ,demy #hvo1 #afs4 ,,from ,,paddington ,,to ,,penzance3 ,the ,record of a ,summer ,tramp4 ,with #aje ,illustrations by the ,author4 ,demy #hvo1 #afs4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,list of ,illvstrations ,,page ,,vignette ,,on ,,title ,,kensington ,,palace4 ,photogravure ,frontispiece ,,the ,,hall1 ,,barnard',s ,,inn #be ,a ,,window1 ,,chepstow ,,castle #bi ,,on ,,whatman',s 8,,not0 ,,paper #ca ,,from ,a ,,drawing ,,on ,,allong ,,paper #ca1 #cb ,,bolt ,,head3 ,a ,,misty ,,day4 ,bitumen process #ch ,,bolt ,,head3 ,a ,,misty ,,day4 ,swelled gelatine process #ci ,a ,,note ,,at ,,gorran4 ,bitumen process #dc ,a ,,note ,,at ,,gorran4 ,swelled gelatine process #dc ,,charlwood4 ,swelled gelatine process #de ,,charlwood4 ,reproduced by ,chefdeville #de ,,view ,,from ,,the ,,tower ,,bridge ,,works4 ,bitumen process #dh ,,view ,,from ,,the ,,tower ,,bridge ,,works4 ,bitumen process4 ,sky revised by hand-work #di ,,kensington ,,palace #ea ,,snodgrass ,,farm #ec ,,sunset1 ,,black ,,rock #ee ,,drawing ,,in ,,diluted ,,inks1 ,,reproduced ,,by ,,gillot #eg ,,chepstow ,,castle #fa ,,clifford',s ,,inn3 ,a ,,foggy ,,night #fe ,,pencil ,,and ,,pen ,,and ,,ink ,,drawing ,,reproduced ,,by ,,half-,,tone ,,process #fh ,,the ,,village ,,street1 ,,tintern4 ,,night #gj ,,leebotwood #ga ,,examples ,,of ,,day',s ,,shading ,,mediums #ge1 #gf ,,churchyard ,,cross1 ,,raglan #gf ,,canvas-,,grain ,,clay-,,board #hd ,,plain ,,diagonal ,,grain #he ,,plain ,,perpendicular ,,grain #he ,,drawing ,,in ,,pencil ,,on ,,white ,,aquatint ,,grain ,,clay-,,board #hf ,,black ,,aquatint ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing #hg ,,black ,,diagonal-,,lined ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing #hg ,,black ,,perpendicular-,,lined ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing #hh ,,venetian ,f,,te ,,on ,,the ,,seine1 ,,with ,,the ,,trocadero ,,illuminated #hi ,,the ,,gatehouse1 ,,moynes ,,court #aaj ,,portrait ,,sketches #aah1 #aai ,,the ,,houses ,,of ,,parliament ,,at ,,night1 ,,from ,,the ,,river #abb ,,victoria ,,embankment ,,near ,,blackfriars ,,bridge3 ,a ,,foggy ,,night #abc ,,corfe ,,railway ,,station #abe ,,the ,,ambulatory1 ,,dore ,,abbey #abg ,,moonlight3 ,,confluence ,,of ,,the ,,severn ,,and ,,the ,,wye #aca ,,diagram ,,showing ,,method ,,of ,,reducing ,,drawings ,,for ,,reproduction #acc ,,painter',s ,,pen-,,drawing--,,pasturage1 ,,by ,,mr4 ,,alfred ,,hartley #aee ,,portrait1 ,,by ,,mr4 ,,bonnat #aef ,,towing ,,path1 ,,abingdon1 ,,by ,,mr4 ,,david ,,murray #aeh ,a ,,portrait ,,from ,a ,,drawing ,,by ,,mr4 ,t4 ,,blake ,,wirgman #aei ,,finis #afa ,a ,,practical ,,handbook ,,of ,,drawing ,,for ,,reproduction4 ,,introductory4 ,pen-drawing is the most spontaneous of the arts1 and amongst the applied crafts the most modern4 ,the professional pen-draughtsman was unknown but a few years since2 fifteen years ago1 or thereabouts1 he was an obscure individual1 working at a poorly considered craft1 and handling was so seldom thought of that the illustrator who could draw passably well was rarely troubled by his publisher on the score of technique4 ,for that which had deserved the name of technique was dead1 so far as illustration was concerned1 and 8process10 which was presently to vivify it1 was1 although born already1 but yet a sickly child4 ,to-day the illustrators are numerous beyond computation1 and the name of those who are impelled to the spoiling of good paper and the wasting of much ink is indeed legion4 ,for uncounted years before the invention of photo-mechanical methods of engraving1 there had been practised a method of drawing with the pen1 which formed a pretty pastime wherewith to fleet the idle hours of the gentlemanly amateur1 and this was1 for no discoverable reason1 called 8etching40 ,it is needless at this time to go into the derivatives of that word1 with the object of proving that the verb 8to etch0 means something very different from drawing in ink with a pen2 it should have1 long since1 been demonstrated to everybody's satisfaction that etching is the art of drawing on metal with a point1 and of biting in that drawing with acids4 ,but the manufacturers of pens long fostered the fallacy by selling so-called etching-pens3 probably they do so even now4 ,by whom pen-drawings were first called etchings none can say4 ,certainly the two arts have little or nothing in common3 the terms are not interchangeable4 ,etching has its own especial characteristics1 which may1 to an extent1 be imitated with the pen1 but the quality and direction of line produced by a rigid steel point on metal are entirely different from the lines drawn with a flexible nib upon paper4 ,the line produced by an etching needle has a uniform thickness1 but with the needle you can work in any imaginable direction upon the copper plate4 ,with a nib upon paper1 a line varying in thickness with the pressure of the hand results1 but there is not that entirely free use of the hand as with the etching point3 you cannot with entire freedom draw from and toward yourself4 ,the greatest exponents of pen-drawing have not entirely conquered the normal inability of the pen to express the infinite delightful waywardnesses of the etching-point4 ,again1 the etched line is only less sharp than the line made by the graver upon wood2 the line drawn with the pen upon the smoothest surface is ragged1 viewed under a magnifying glass4 ,this1 of course1 is not a plea for a clean line in pen-work--that is only the ideal of commercial draughtsmanship--but the man who can produce such a line with the pen at will1 who can overcome the tendency to inflexible lines1 has risen victorious over the stubbornness of a material4 ,the sketch-books1 gilt-lettered and india-rubber banded1 of the bread-and-butter miss1 and what one may be allowed1 perhaps1 to term the 8pre-process0 amateur generally1 give no hint of handling1 no foretaste of technique4 ,they are barren of aught save ill-registered facts1 and afford no pleasure to the eye1 which is the end1 the sensuous end1 of all art4 ,rather did these artless folk almost invariably seek to adventure beyond the province of the pen by strokes infinitely little and microscopic1 so that they might haply deceive the eye by similarity to wood engravings or steel prints4 ,but in those days pen-drawing was only a pursuit2 to-day it is a living art4 ,now1 an art is not merely a storehouse of facts1 nor a moral influence4 ,if it was of these things1 then the photographic camera would be all-powerful1 and all that would be left to do with the hands would be the production of devotional pictures2 and of those who produced them the best artist would infallibly be him with a character the most noted for piety4 ,art1 to the contrary1 is entirely independent of subject or morals4 ,it is not sociology1 nor ever shall be2 and those who practise an art might be the veriest pariahs1 and yet their works rank technically1 artistically1 among the best4 ,art is handling in excelsis1 and its results lie properly in the pride of the eye and the satisfaction of the sthetic sense1 though ,mr4 ,ruskin would have it otherwise4 ,is this the lashing of a dead horse1 or thrice slaying the slain8 ,no1 ,i think not4 ,the moral and literary fallacies remain4 ,open an art exhibition and give your exhibits technical1 not subject titles1 and you shall hear a mighty howl1 ,i promise you4 ,mr4 ,hamerton1 too1 has recently found grudging occasion to say that1 for artists1 8it does not appear that a literary education would be necessary in all cases40 ,whenever was it necessary8 ,but then ,mr4 ,hamerton is himself one of those philosophic writers of a winning literary turn who can practise an art in by no means a distinguished way1 but who write dogma by the yard and fumble over every illustration of their precepts4 ,his ,drawing and ,engraving--a reprint from his ,encyclopdia ,britannica article--is worse than useless to the student of illustration1 and especially of pen-drawing1 because ,mr4 ,hamerton has long been left behind the times4 ,he knows little of the admirable modern methods of reproducing line-work1 but gives us etymologies of drawing and historical dissertations on engraving1 which we do not want4 ,of such antiquated matter are even the current editions of encyclopdias fashioned4 ,the fact is1 the bulk of art criticism is written by men who can only string platitudes and stale studio slang together1 without beginning to understand principles4 ,the appalling journalese of much 8art criticism0 is hopelessly out of date2 the slang of a half-forgotten atlier is the lingo of would-be criticism to-day4 ,it seems strange that a man who can write pretty vers de socit or another who writes essays 7essays1 truly1 in the philological sense71 should for such acquirements be amongst those to whom is delegated the criticism of art in painting1 drawing1 or engraving2 but so it is4 ,no one who has not surmounted the difficulties of a medium can truly appreciate technique in it1 whether that medium be words1 or paint1 or ink4 ,no one1 for instance1 would give a painter or a pen-artist the chance to review a poet's new volume of poems4 ,you would not send a plumber to pronounce upon a baker's method of kneading his dough4 ,no2 but an ordinary reporter is judged capable of criticizing a gallery of pictures4 ,you cannot get much artistic change out of his report1 nor from the articles on art written by a man whose only claim to the standing of 8art critic0 is the possession of a second-class certificate in drawing from the ,science and ,art ,department4 ,but of such stuff are the neurotic ,neros of the literary 8art critique0 fashioned1 and equally unauthorized by works are the lectures on illustration with which the ingenious ,mr4 ,blackburn at decent intervals tickles suburban audiences or the amiable dilettante of the ,society of ,arts into the fallacious belief that they know all about it1 8which10 to quote the ,euclidian formula1 8is absurd40 ,indeed1 not even the most industrious1 the best-informed1 nor the most catholic-minded man could ever lecture1 or write articles1 or publish an illustrated critical work upon illustration which should show an approximation to completeness in its examples of styles and methods4 ,the thing has been attempted1 but will never be done1 because the quantity of work--even good work--that has been produced is so vast1 the styles so varied4 ,the great storehouses of the best pen-work are the magazines1 and from them the eclectic will gather a rich harvest4 ,the ,century and ,harper's are now the chief of these4 ,the ,magazine of ,art and the ,portfolio1 which were used to be filled with good original work1 are now busied in providing such rchauffs as photographic blocks from paintings old and new1 but chiefly old1 because they cost nothing for copyright4 ,as for newspaper work1 the ,daily ,graphic is creating a school of its own1 which does far better work than ever its ,new ,york namesake 7now defunct7 ever printed4 ,some beautiful and most suggestive pen-drawings are to be found in the earlier numbers of ,l',art and many ,parisian publications1 such as the ,courier ,franais1 ,vie ,moderne1 ,paris ,illustr1 and ,la ,petit ,journal pour ,rire4 ,many of the ,salon catalogues1 too1 contain admirable examples4 ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,an ,,art4 ,photo-mechanical processes of reproduction were invented by men who sought1 not to create an art1 not to help art in any way1 but only to cheapen the cost of reproduction4 8,line0 processes--that is to say1 processes for the reproduction of pure line--though not the first invented amongst modern methods1 were the first to come into a state of practical utility2 though even then their results were so crude that the artists whom necessity led to draw for them sank at once to a deeper depth than ever they had sounded when the fac-simile wood-cutter held them in bondage4 ,they became the slaves of mechanical limitations and chemical formul1 which was a worse condition than having been henchmen of a craftsman4 ,so far as the sthetic sense is concerned1 the process illustration of previous date to 7say7 #ahhj might all be destroyed and no harm done1 save1 perhaps1 the loss of much evidence of a documentary character toward the history of early days of processes4 ,there have been two great factors in their gradual perfection--competition with the wood-engravers and of rival process firms one with another1 and1 perhaps more important still1 the independency of a few artists who have found methods of drawing with the pen1 and have followed them despite the temporary limitations of the process-man4 ,the workmen have 8drawn for process0 in the worst and most commercial sense of the term2 they have set down their lines after the hard-and-fast rules which were formulated for their guidance4 ,for years after the invention of zincography1 artists who were induced to make drawings for the new methods of engraving worked in a dull round of routine2 for in those days the process-man was not less1 but more1 tyrannical than his predecessor1 the wood-engraver2 his yoke was1 for a time1 harder to bear4 ,one was enjoined to make drawings with only the blackest of ,indian ink1 upon ,bristol-board1 the thickest and smoothest and whitest that could be obtained1 and upon none other4 ,it was impressed upon the draughtsman that he should draw lines thick and wide apart and firm1 and that his drawings should be made with a view to1 preferably1 a reduction in scale of one-third4 ,also that by no means should his lines run together by any chance1 except in the matter of a coarse and obvious cross-hatch4 ,and so1 by reason of these things1 the pen-work of that time is become dreadful to look upon at this day4 ,the man who then drew with a view to reproduction squirmed on the very edge of his chair1 and with compressed lips1 and his heart in his mouth1 drew upon his ,bristol-board slowly and carefully1 and with so heavy a hand1 that presently his wrist ached consumedly1 and his drawing became stilted in the extreme4 ,not yet was pen-drawing a profession1 for few men had learned these formul2 and the zincography of that time made miserable all them that were translated by it into something appreciably different from their original work4 ,illustration1 although already sensibly increased in volume1 was artistically at the lowest ebb4 ,it was a manufacture1 an industry2 but scarcely a profession1 and most certainly it had not yet become an art4 ,when technique in drawing for process began to appear as an individual technique opposed to the old fac-simile wood-engraving needs1 it was a handling entirely abominable and inartistic4 ,if old-time drawing for the wood-engravers was pursued in grooves of convention1 working for the zincographer proceeded in ruts4 ,there have never been1 before or since1 such horribly uninspired things produced as in the first years of process-work in these islands4 ,such dull1 scratchy1 spotty1 wiry-looking prints resulted3 they were1 as now1 produced in zinc1 and they proclaimed it unmistakably4 ,had not these new methods been about one-fifth the cost of wood-engraving1 they would have had no chance whatever4 ,but we are a commercial and an inartistic people1 and publishers1 careless of appearance1 welcomed any results that gave them a typographic block at a fifth of its former cost4 ,process1 in its beginnings1 was not a promising method of reproduction4 ,men saw scarcely anything in it save cheap 7and nasty7 ways of multiplying diagrams1 and the bald and generally artless elevations of new buildings issued from architects' offices4 ,but in course of time1 better blocks1 with practice1 became possible1 and freer use of the pen was obtained2 although at every unhackneyed stroke the process-man shrieked disaster4 ,it is incalculable how much time has been wasted1 how many careers set back1 by obedience to the hard-and-fast rules laid down for the guidance of artists by the process-people of years since4 ,to those artists who1 with an artistic recklessness of results entirely admirable and praiseworthy1 set down their work as they pleased1 we owe1 more than to any others1 the progress of process2 by their immediate martyrdom was our eventual salvation earned4 ,and in the sure and certain hope of a reproduction really and truly fac-simile1 the draughtsman in the medium of pen-and-ink is to-day become a technician of a peculiar subtlety4 ,to-day1 with the exercise of knowledge and discrimination1 drawings the most difficult of reproduction may be rendered faithfully2 it is a matter only of choice of processes4 ,but in the mass of reproduction at this time1 this knowledge1 this discrimination1 are often seen to be lacking4 ,it is a matter of commerce1 of course1 for a publisher1 an editor1 to send off originals in bulk to one firm1 and to await from one source the resulting blocks4 ,but unknowing1 or reckless of their individual merits and needs1 our typical editor has thus consigned some drawings to an unkind fate4 ,there are many processes even for the reproduction of line1 and drawings of varying characteristics are better reproduced by different methods2 they should each be sent for reproduction on its own merits4 ,it was in #ahhd that there began to arise quite a number of original styles in pen-work1 and then this new profession was by way of becoming an art4 ,you will not find any ,english-printed book or magazine before this date showing a sign of this new art1 but now it arose suddenly1 and at once became an irresponsible1 unreasoning welter of ill-considered mannerisms4 ,ever since #ahhd1 until within the last year or two1 pen-draughtsmen have rioted through every conceivable and inconceivable vagary of manner4 ,the artists who by force of artistry and character have helped to spur on the process-man against his will1 and have worked with little or no heed to the shortcomings of his science1 have freed the hands of a dreadful rabble that has revelled merely in eccentricity4 ,thus has liberty for a space meant a licence so wild that to-day it has become quite refreshing to turn back to the sobriety of the old illustrators of from thirty to forty years ago1 who drew for the fac-simile wood-engraver4 ,from #aheg1 through the '#fj's1 and on to #ahge1 when it finally shredded out1 there existed a fine convention in drawing for illustration and the wood-engraver4 ,among the foremost exponents of it were ,millais1 ,sandys1 ,charles ,green1 ,robert ,barnes1 ,simeon ,solomon1 ,mahony1 ,j4 ,d4 ,watson1 and ,j4 ,d4 ,linton4 ,pinwell and ,fred ,walker1 too1 produced excellent work in this manner1 before they untimely died4 ,the ,sunday ,magazine1 ,once a ,week1 ,good ,words1 ,cornhill1 the first two years of the ,graphic1 and1 where the drawings have not been drawn down to their humourous legends1 the volumes of ,punch during this period1 are a veritable storehouse of beautiful examples of this peculiarly ,english school4 ,it was a convention that grew out of the wood-engraver's imposed limits1 and they became transcended by the art of the young artists of that day4 ,there is a certain sweetness and grace in those old illustrations that seems to increase with the widening of that gulf between our day and the day of their production4 ,it is not for the sake of their draughtsmanship alone 7though that is excellent71 but chiefly for their technical qualities1 and their fine character-drawing1 that those monumental achievements in illustration appeal so strongly to the artistic eye to-day4 ,we have been accustomed during these last years to the stress of mannerism1 the bravura treatment of imported art1 bringing with it strange atmospheres which have nothing in common with our duller skies1 and1 truth to tell1 we want a change4 ,now1 we might do much worse than hark back to the '#fj's1 and study the peculiar style brought about by the needs of the wood-engraver1 but transformed into an admirable school by men who wrought their trammels into a convention so great that it cannot fail1 some day1 to be revived4 ,it is greatly to be deplored that we have not left to us the original drawings of that time and these men4 ,in the majority of cases1 and through a long series of years1 the drawings from which these fac-simile wood-engravings were made were drawn by the artists on the wood block1 and engraved1 so that we have left to us only the more or less successful engraver's imitation of the artists' original line-work4 ,but when these blocks were the work of the ,dalziels1 or of ,swain1 we may generally take them as a close approximation to the original drawing4 ,pen and pencil both were used upon the wood blocks3 some of these are to be seen at the ,south ,kensington ,museum1 with the original drawings upon them still uncut1 photography having in the mean while become applied to the use of transferring a drawing from paper to the wood surface4 ,unless you have practised etching on copper1 in which you have to draw upon the plate in reverse1 you can have little idea of the relief experienced by the artists of thirty years ago1 when the necessity for drawing in reverse upon the wood was obviated4 ,now1 ,i am not going to say that with pen and ink and process-reproduction you could obtain the sweetness of the wood-engraved line1 but something of it should be possible1 and the dignified1 almost classic1 reserve and repose of this style of draughtsmanship could be1 in great measure1 brought back to help assuage the worry of the ultra-clever pen-work of to-day1 and to form a grateful relief from that peculiarly modern vice in illustration1 of 8making a hole in the page40 ,the great difficulty that would lie in the way of such a revival would be that those who would attempt it would need to be good draughtsmen2 and of these there are not many4 ,no tricks nor flashy treatment hid bad drawing in this technique1 as in much of the slap-dashiness of to-day4 ,and not only would sound draughtsmanship be essential1 but also characterization of a peculiarly well-seen and graphic description4 ,the illustrator of a generation ago worked under tremendous disadvantages4 8,phiz0 etched his inimitable illustrations of ,dickens upon steel with all the attendant drawbacks of working in reverse1 yet he would be a bold man or reckless who should decry him4 ,he was1 at his best1 greater beyond comparison than ,,the ,cruickshank--,george1 in the forefront of that artistic trinity--and he reached his highest point in the delightful composition of 8,captain ,cuttle consoles his ,friend10 in ,dombey and ,son4 ,composition and characterization are beyond anything done before or since4 ,it is distinctly1 obviously1 great1 and it fits the author and his story like--like a glove4 ,one cannot find a newer and better simile than that for good fitting4 ,and 7not to criticize modern work severely because it is modern7 the greater bulk of illustration to-day fits the stories it professes to elucidate like a ,strand tailor4 ,there are facilities now for buying electrotypes from magazines and illustrated periodicals1 by which engravings that have already served one turn in illustrating a story can be purchased1 to do duty again in illustrating another2 and this is a practice very widely prevalent to-day4 ,and why can this be so readily done8 ,the answer is near to seek4 ,it is because illustration is become so characterless that it is so readily interchangeable4 ,perhaps it may be sought to lay the blame upon the author2 and certainly there is not at this time so ready a field for character-drawing as ,dickens presented4 ,but ,i have not seen any illustrations to ,mr4 ,hardy's tales1 nor to ,mr4 ,stevenson's1 that realize the excellently well-shown types in their works4 ,if you should chance to see any early volumes 7say from #ahei to #ahfc7 of ,once a ,week for sale1 secure them3 they should be the cherished possessions of every black and white artist4 ,after this date their quality fell off4 ,charles ,keene contributed to ,once a ,week some of his best work1 and the ,mr4 ,millais of that date in line is more interesting than the ,sir ,john ,millais of to-day in paint4 ,there is1 in especial1 a beautiful drawing by him1 an illustration to the ,grandmother's ,apology1 in the volume for #ahei1 page #dj4 ,but1 frankly1 it is a mistake to instance one illustration where so very many are monumental productions4 ,fred ,walker contributed many exquisite drawings2 ,mr4 ,whistler1 few enough to make us ardently wish there were more2 and the same may be said of ,mr4 ,sandys' decorative work--his ,rosamond1 ,queen of the ,lombards1 his ,yet once more let the ,organ play1 his ,king ,warwulf1 ,harald ,harfagr1 or ,the ,old ,chartist4 ,these things are a delight3 the artist's work so insistently good1 the quality of the engraver's lines so wonderfully fine4 ,for all the talk and pother about illustration1 there is nothing to-day that comes within miles of the work done in1 say1 #ahfb-ahfc for ,once a ,week4 ,it would be difficult to over-praise or to over-estimate the value of this fine period4 ,it was the period of the abominable crinoline2 but even that hideous fashion was transfigured by the artistry of these men4 ,that is evident in the beautiful drawing1 ,if1 contributed by ,sandys to the ,argosy for #ahfc1 in which the grandly flowing lines of the dress show what may be done with the most unpromising material4 ,the most interesting drawings in the ,cornhill ,magazine range from #ahfc to #ahfg4 ,especially noteworthy are the illustrations by ,fred ,walker--,maladetta1 ,may1 #ahfc1 page #fba1 and ,out of the ,valley of the ,shadow1 ,january1 #ahfg1 page #ge4 ,if you compare the first of these with the little pen-drawing by ,charles ,green1 reproduced by process in ,harper's ,magazine1 ,may1 #ahia1 page #hid1 entitled1 8,give me those letters10 you will see how ,mr4 ,green's hand has retained the old technique he and his brother illustrators learnt in drawing for the wood-engraver1 and you will observe how well that old handling looks1 and how admirably it reproduces in the process-work of to-day4 ,two other most successful wood blocks from the ,cornhill ,magazine may be noted--,mother's ,guineas1 by ,charles ,keene1 ,july1 #ahfd1 and ,molly's ,new ,bonnet1 ,august1 #ahfd1 by ,mr4 ,du ,maurier4 ,,comparative ,,processes4 ,processes1 at first chiefly of the heliogravure or photogravure variety--processes1 that is to say1 of the intaglio or plate-printing description1 printed in the same way as etchings and mezzotints1 from dots and lines sunken in a metal plate instead of standing out in relief--date back almost to the invention of photography in #ahcd2 and all modern processes of reproducing drawings have a photographic basis4 ,even at that time it was demonstrated that a glass negative could be used to reproduce the photographic image as an etched plate that would print in the manner of a mezzotint4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,fox-,talbot1 to whom belongs1 equally with ,daguerre1 the invention of photography1 was the first to show this4 ,he devised an etched silver plate that reproduced a photograph direct4 ,photo-relief1 or type-printing1 blocks date from such comparatively recent times as #ahfj1 when the ,photographic ,journal showed an illustration printed from a block by the ,pretsch process4 ,at this present time there are three methods of primary importance for the reproduction of line drawings-- ,the swelled gelatine process1 ,the albumen process1 ,the bitumen process4 ,the first of these three processes is the most expensive1 and it has not so great a vogue as the less costly methods1 which are employed for the illustration of journals or publications that do not rely chiefly upon the excellence of their work4 ,it is employed almost exclusively by ,messrs4 ,a4 and ,c4 ,dawson in this country1 and it is in all essentials identical with the old ,pretsch process that first saw the light thirty-three years ago4 ,acids do not enter into the practice of it at all4 ,the procedure is briefly thus3 ,a good dense negative is taken of the drawing to be reproduced to the size required4 ,the glass plate is then placed in perfect contact with gelatine sensitized by an admixture of bichromate of potassium to the action of light4 ,placed in water1 the gelatine thus printed upon from the negative1 swells1 excepting those portions that have received the image of the reduced drawing4 ,these are now become sunken1 and form a suitable matrix for electrotyping into4 ,copper is then deposited by electro-deposition4 ,the copper skin receives a backing of type-metal1 and is mounted on wood to the height of type1 and the block1 ready for printing1 is completed4 ,this process gives peculiar advantages in the reproduction of pen-drawings made with greyed or diluted inks4 ,the photographic negative reproduces1 of course1 the varying intensities of such work with the most absolute accuracy1 and they are repeated1 with scarcely less fidelity1 by the gelatine matrix4 ,pencil marks and pen-drawings with a slight admixture of pencil come excellently well by this method4 ,every pen-draughtsman who sketches from nature knows how1 in re-drawing from his pencil sketches1 the feeling and sympathy of his work are lost1 wholly or in part2 but if the finished pen-drawing is made over the original pencil sketch and the pencilling retained1 the effect is generally a revelation4 ,it is in these cases that the swelled gelatine process gives the best results4 ,illustration3 #d #g4 ,,the ,,hall1 ,,barnard',s ,,inn4 ,drawing in pale ,indian ink on ,,hp ,whatman paper4 ,drawn without knowledge of process and reproduced by the swelled gelatine method4 ,this example 7,the ,hall1 ,barnard's ,inn7 of a pen-drawing not made for reproduction by process was made years ago4 ,now reproduced1 it shows that almost everything is possible to mechanical reproduction to-day4 ,this drawing1 worked upon with never a thought or idea or knowledge of process1 comes every whit as well as if it had been drawn scrupulously to that end4 ,it is all pen-work1 save the outline around it and the signature1 and they are in black chalk4 ,the reduction from the original is only three-quarters of an inch across1 and the reproduction is in every respect exact4 ,of course it is only swelled gelatine that could perform this feat2 but by that process it is clear that you get results at once sympathetic and faithful1 without the necessity of caring overmuch about the purely mechanical drudgery of learning a convention in pen and ink that shall be suitable for the etched processes4 ,that convention has been wrought--it may not be said by tears and blood1 but certainly with prodigious labour--by the masters of the art of pen-drawing into something artistic and pleasing to the eye1 while it satisfies photographic and chemical needs4 ,but here is a process that demands no previous training in drawing for reproduction1 and leaves the artist unfettered4 ,true1 it opens a vista of easy reproduction to the amateur1 which is a thing terrible to think upon2 but1 on the other hand1 to it we owe some delightful reproductions of 8painters'0 pen-drawings that make the earlier numbers of the illustrated exhibition catalogues worth having4 ,illustration3 #d #h4 ,a ,,window1 ,,chepstow ,,castle4 ,drawing in ,cont crayon on rough paper4 ,the albumen process is perhaps the more widely used of the three4 ,by it the vast majority of the blocks used in journalistic work are made4 ,it is credibly reported that one firm alone delivers annually sixty-three thousand blocks made by this process1 which 7it will thus be seen7 is particularly suited to reproduction of the most instant and straight-away nature4 ,it is also the cheapest method of reproduction1 which goes far toward explaining that gigantic output just quoted4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the albumen process in the hands of an artist in reproduction 7as1 for instance1 ,m4 ,chefdeville7 is capable of the most sympathetic results4 ,it gives a softer1 more velvety line than one would think possible1 a line of a different character entirely from the clear1 cold1 sharp1 and formal line characteristic of processes in which bitumen is used4 ,these two methods 7albumen and bitumen7 are incapable of reproducing scarcely anything in fac-simile but pure line-work2 pencil marks or greyed ink are either omitted or exaggerated to extremity1 and they can only be corrected by the subsequent use of the graver upon the block4 ,but black chalk or ,cont crayon used upon slightly granulated drawing-papers1 either by themselves or mixed with pen-work1 come readily enough and help greatly to reinforce a sketch4 ,this sketch of ,a ,window1 ,chepstow ,castle1 was made with a ,cont crayon4 ,unfortunately1 these materials smear very easily1 and have to be fixed before they can be trusted to the photo-engraver with perfect safety4 ,drawings made in this way may be fixed with a solution composed of gum mastic and methylated spirits of wine3 one part of the former to seven parts of the latter4 ,this fixing solution is best applied with a spray apparatus1 as sold by chemists4 ,but better than crayons1 chalks1 or charcoals are the lithographic chalks now coming somewhat into vogue4 ,they have the one inestimable advantage of fixity1 and cannot be readily smeared1 even with intent4 ,they are not fit for use upon smooth ,bristol-board or glazed paper1 but find their best mediums in ,,hp and 8not0 makes of drawing-paper1 and in the grained 8scratch-out0 cardboards1 of which more hereafter4 ,they give greater depth of colour than lead pencil1 and reproduce more surely2 and the drawings worked up with them readily stand as much reduction as an ordinary pen-drawing4 ,the ,no4 #a ,lemercier is the best variety of lithographic chalks for this admixture2 it is harder than others1 and can be better sharpened to a fine point4 ,for detail it is to be used very sparingly or not at all1 because it is incapable of producing a delicate line2 but for giving force1 for instance1 to a drawing of crumbling walls1 or to an impressionist sketch of landscape1 it is invaluable4 ,the effects produced by working with a ,no4 #a ,lemercier litho-chalk are shown here4 ,the first example was drawn upon ,whatman's 8not0 paper1 which gives a fine1 bold granulation4 ,the two remaining examples are from sketches on ,allong paper1 a fine-grained charcoal paper of ,french make4 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,whatman',s 8,,not0 ,,paper 7#f #d74 ,illustration3 ,,on ,,allong ,,paper1 ,,right ,,side 7#f #d74 ,illustration3 ,,from ,,the ,,drawing 7#d #b7 ,,on ,,allong ,,paper 7,,right ,,side74 ,it is also worth knowing that a good grained drawing may be made with litho-chalk1 by taking a piece of dull-surfaced paper1 like the kind generally used for type-writing purposes1 pinning it tightly upon glass- or sand-paper and then working upon it1 keeping it always in contact with the rough sand-paper underneath4 ,a canvas-grain may be obtained by using the cover of a canvas-bound book in the same way4 ,both the albumen and the bitumen processes are practised with the aid of acids upon zinc4 ,in the first named the zinc plate is coated with a ground composed of a solution of white of egg and bichromate of ammonia1 soluble in cold water4 ,a reversed photographic negative is taken of the drawing and placed in contact with the prepared zinc plate in a specially constructed printing-frame4 ,when the drawing is sufficiently printed upon this albumen surface1 the plate is rolled over with a roller charged with printing-ink thinned down with turpentine1 and then1 when this inking has been completed1 the plate is carefully rubbed in cold water until the inked albumen has been rubbed off it1 excepting those parts where the drawing appears4 ,the lines composing the drawing remain fixed upon the plate1 the peculiar property of the sensitized albumen rendering the lines that have been exposed to the action of light insoluble4 ,the zinc plate is then dried and sponged with gum2 dried again1 and then the coating of gum washed off1 and then inked again4 ,the plate1 now thoroughly prepared1 is placed in the first etching bath1 a rocking vessel filled with much-diluted nitric acid4 ,there are generally three etchings performed upon a zinc block1 each successive bath being of progressively stronger acid2 and between these baths the plate is gummed1 and powdered with resin1 and warmed over a gas flame until the printing-ink and the half-melted resin run down the sides of the lines already partly etched2 the object of these careful stages being to prevent what is technically termed 8under-etching0--that is to say1 the production of a relief line1 whose section would be thus3 ,upside down triangle instead of ,tent shape1 open bottom4 ,the result in the printing of an under-etched block would be that the lines would either break or wear down to nothingness1 whereas a block showing the second section would grow stronger and the old lines thicker with prolonged use4 ,the section of a wood engraving is according to this second diagram4 ,in the case of the bitumen process1 the photograph is taken as before1 the negative placed upon the zinc plate in the same way1 and the image printed upon the bitumen4 ,when this has been done1 the plate is flooded with turpentine1 and all the bitumen dissolved away1 with the exception of that upon the image4 ,the subsequent proceedings are as in the case of the albumen process1 and need not be recounted4 ,it will be seen 7if this outline can be followed7 that the bitumen process differs from the albumen only in the composition of the ground 7as an etcher would term it71 but the quality of line is very different4 ,the zinc plates used are cut from polished sheets of the metal1 from one-sixteenth to one-eighth of an inch in thickness4 ,a well-etched block should feel sharp yet smooth to the thumb and fingers1 as if it were cut4 ,a badly etched or over-etched block has an altogether different feel3 scratchy1 and repulsive to the touch4 ,frequently it happens that by carelessness or mischance the process-man will over-etch a block2 that is to say1 he will allow it to remain in the acid-bath a minute or so too long1 so that the upstanding lines become partly eaten away by the fluid4 ,the result1 when printed1 is a wretched ghost of the original drawing4 ,an over-etched block1 or a good block in which the lines appear too thin and the reproduction in consequence weak1 can be remedied in degree by being rubbed down with oilstone4 ,this1 if the lines are not under-etched1 thickens the upstanding metal and produces a heavier print4 ,but some of the smaller process firms have an ingenious1 if none too honest1 practice of pulling a proof from the unetched plate1 and sending it along with the defective block4 ,this can readily be done by inking up the image with a roller before printing1 and then passing the thin plate of metal through a lithographic press1 or through a transfer press1 such as is to be found in every process establishment4 ,of course the print thus secured is a perfect replica in little of the original drawing1 and looks eminently satisfactory4 ,one can generally identify these proofs before etching by their backs1 which have1 of course1 not the slightest marks of the pressure usually to be discerned upon even the most carefully prepared proofs of finished blocks4 ,the surface of a zinc block sometimes becomes oxidized by the acid used in etching not having been thoroughly washed off4 ,this may occur at once if the acid is strong1 and then it generally happens that the block is irretrievably ruined2 but if oxidation occurs after some time1 it is generally superficial1 and can be rubbed down4 ,the process of oxidation begins with an efflorescence1 which may be best rubbed down with a thick stick of charcoal1 broken across the grain4 ,but zinc blocks are frequently ruined by carelessness in the printing-office after printing4 ,when the printing has been done it is customary to clean type and blocks from the printing-ink by scrubbing them with a brush dipped in what printers call 8lye0--that is1 a solution of pearl-ash--which1 although it does not injure the leaden types1 is apt to corrode the zinc of which most process blocks are made1 if they are not carefully and immediately washed in water and dried4 ,a block with its surface destroyed in this manner prints miserably1 with a fuzzy appearance4 ,the easiest way of protecting blocks from becoming oxidized is to allow the printing-ink to remain on them1 or if you have none1 rub them over with tallow4 ,illustration3 #ab #i4 ,,bolt ,,head3 ,a ,,misty ,,day4 ,pen and pencil drawing1 reproduced by the bitumen process4 ,illustration3 #ab #i4 ,,bolt ,,head3 ,a ,,misty ,,day4 ,pen and pencil drawing1 reproduced by the swelled gelatine process4 ,examples will now be shown of the varying results obtainable from the same drawings by different processes4 ,the drawing representing a ,misty ,day at ,bolt ,head was made upon common rough paper1 such as is usually found in sailors' log-books2 in fact1 it was a log-book the present writer used during the greater part of a tour in ,devon1 nothing else being obtainable in those parts save the cloth-bound1 gold-lettered sketch-books whose porterage convicts one at once of amateurishness4 ,and here let me say that a sailor's log-book1 though decidedly an unconventional medium for sketching in1 seems to be entirely admirable4 ,the paper takes pencil excellently well1 and the faint blue parallel lines with which the pages are ruled need bother no one2 they will not 7being blue7 reproduce4 ,to save the freshness of the impression1 the sketch was lightly finished in ink1 and sent for reproduction uncleaned4 ,the illustration shows the result4 ,it is an example of the bitumen process1 whose original sin of exaggerating all the pencil marks which it has been good enough to reproduce at all is partly cloaked by the intervention of hand-work all over the block4 ,you can see how continually the graver has been put through the lines to produce a greyness1 yet how unsatisfactory the result6 ,the drawing was now sent for reproduction by the swelled gelatine process4 ,the result is a much more satisfactory block4 ,everything that the original contained has been reproduced4 ,the sullen blacknesses of the pinnacled rocks are nothing extenuated1 as they were in the first example1 where they seem comparatively insignificant1 and the technical qualities of pen and pencil are retained throughout1 and can readily be identified4 ,the same remarks apply even more strongly to the small blocks from the ,note at ,gorran4 ,illustration3 ,pen and pencil drawing1 reproduced by bitumen process4 ,illustration3 #ac #i4 ,a ,,note ,,at ,,gorran4 ,pen and pencil drawing1 reproduced by swelled gelatine process4 ,but such a pure pen-drawing as that of ,charlwood1 shown here in blocks by 7#a7 ,messrs4 ,dawson's swelled gelatine process1 and 7#b7 by ,mr4 ,chefdeville's sympathetic handling of the albumen process1 would have come almost equally well by bitumen1 or by an ordinary practitioner's treatment of albumen4 ,it offered no technical difficulties1 and there is exceedingly little to choose between these two blocks4 ,careful examination would show that a very slight thickening of line had taken place throughout the block by the gelatine method1 and this must ever be the distinguishing difference between that process and those in which acids are used to eat away the metal of the block--that the gelatine renders at its best every jot and tittle of a drawing1 and would by the nature of the process rather exaggerate than diminish2 and that in those processes in which acids play a part1 the process-man must be ever watchful lest his zinc plate be 8over-etched0--lest the upstanding metal lines be eaten away to a scratchy travesty of the original drawing4 ,but you will see that although the lines in the swelled gelatine ,charlwood are appreciably thicker than in its albumen fellow1 yet the latter prints darker4 ,the explanation is in the metals of which the two blocks are composed4 ,zinc prints more heavily than copper4 ,illustration3 ,pen-drawing reproduced by swelled gelatine process4 ,illustration3 #h #f4 ,pen-drawing reproduced by ,chefdeville4 ,it should not be forgotten that1 to-day1 hand-work upon process-blocks is become very usual4 ,to paraphrase a well-worn political catch-phrase1 the old methods have been called in to redress the vagaries of the new3 the graver has been retained to correct the crudities of the rocking-bath4 ,to be less cryptic1 the graver is used nowadays to tone down the harsh and ragged edges of the etched zinc4 ,here is an illustration that will convey the idea to perfection4 ,here is1 in this ,view from the ,tower ,bridge ,works1 a zincographic block1 grounded with bitumen and etched by the aid of acids4 ,the original drawing was made upon ,bristol-board1 with ,stephens' ebony stain1 and an ,f nib of ,mitchell's make4 ,the size of that drawing was twelve and a half inches across2 the sky drawn in with much elaboration4 ,a first proof showed a sky harsh and wanting in arial perspective4 ,a graver was put through it1 cutting up the lines into dots1 and thus putting the sky into proper relation with the rest of the picture4 ,another interesting and suggestive comparison is between photogravure1 or heliogravure1 as it is sometimes called1 and type-printing processes for the reproduction of line4 ,the frontispiece to this volume is a heliogravure plate by ,dujardin1 of ,paris1 from a pen-drawing that offered no obstacles to adequate reproduction by the bitumen process4 ,in fact1 you see it here1 reproduced in that way1 and of the same size4 ,the copper intaglio plate is in every way superior to the relief block1 as might have been expected4 ,the hardness of the latter method gives way1 in the heliogravure plate1 to a delightful softness1 even when the plate is clean-wiped and printed in as bald and artless a fashion as a tradesman's business card2 but now it is printed with care and with the retroussage that is generally the meed of the etching1 you could not have distinguished it from an etching had you not been told its history4 ,illustration3 #ab #i4 ,,view ,,from ,,the ,,tower ,,bridge ,,works4 ,bitumen process4 ,illustration3 #ab #i4 ,,view ,,from ,,the ,,tower ,,bridge ,,works4 ,bitumen process4 ,sky revised by hand-work4 ,the procedure in making a heliogravure is in this wise3--,a copper plate1 similar to the kind used by etchers1 receives a ground of bichromatized bitumen4 ,a photograph is taken of the drawing to be reproduced1 and from the negative thus obtained a positive is made4 ,the positive1 in reverse1 is placed upon the grounded plate and printed upon it4 ,the bitumen which has been printed upon by the action of light is thus rendered wholly insoluble1 and the image of the drawing remains the only soluble portion of the ground4 ,the plate is then treated with turpentine1 and the soluble lines thus dissolved4 ,follows then the ordinary etching procedure4 ,this is a more simple and ready process than the making of a relief block4 ,it is1 however1 more expensive to commission1 but then expense never is any criterion of original cost4 ,the printing1 though1 is a heavy item1 because1 equally with etchings or mezzotints1 it must be printed upon a copper-plate press1 and this involves the cleaning and the re-inking of the plate with every impression4 ,the subject which the present plate bears does not show the utmost capabilities of the heliogravure4 ,it was chosen as a fair example to show the difference between two methods without straining the limitations of the relief block4 ,but if the drawing had been most carefully graduated in intensity from the deepest black to the palest brown1 the copper plate would have shown everything with perfect ease4 ,large editions of these plates are not to be printed without injury1 because the constant wiping of the soft copper wears down the surface4 ,but to obviate this defect a process of acierage has been invented1 by which a coating of iron is electrically deposited upon the surface of the plate1 rendering it1 practically1 as durable as a steel engraving4 ,illustration3 #aa #g4 ,,kensington ,,palace4 ,bitumen process4 ,it is by experiments we learn to achieve distinction2 by immediate failure that we rise to ultimate success2 and ofttimes by pure chance that we discover in these days some new trick of method by which process shall do for the illustrator something it has not done before4 ,there is still1 no doubt1 in the memory of many1 that musty anecdote of the painter who1 fumbling over the proper rendering of foam1 applied by some accident a sponge to the wet paint1 and lo6 there1 by happy chance1 was the foam which had before been like nothing so much as wool4 ,illustration3 ,,snodgrass ,,farm4 ,from a drawing by ,harry ,fenn4 ,an example of splatter-work4 ,in the same way1 ,i suppose1 some draughtsman discovered splatter-work4 ,he may readily be imagined1 prior to this lucky chance1 painfully stippling little dots with his pen2 pin-points of ink stilted and formal in effect when compared with the peculiarly informal concourse of spots produced by taking a small1 stiff-bristled brush 7say a toothbrush71 inking it1 and then1 holding the bristles downwards and inclining toward the drawing1 more or less vigorously stroking the inky bristles towards one with a match-stick4 ,holding the brush thus1 and stroking it in this way1 the bristles send a shower of ink spots upon the drawing4 ,of course this trick requires an extended practice before it can be performed in workmanlike fashion1 and even then the parts not required to be splattered have to be carefully covered with cut-paper masks4 ,mem4--,to use a fixed ink for drawings on which you intend to splatter1 because it is extremely probable that you will require to paint some portions out with ,chinese white1 and ,chinese white upon any inks that are not fixed is the despair of the draughtsman4 ,here is an excellent example of splatter4 ,it is by that resourceful ,american draughtsman1 ,harry ,fenn4 ,indeed1 the greatest exponents of this method are ,americans3 few men in this country have rendered it with any frequency1 or with much advantage4 ,i have essayed its use to aid this sunset view of ,black ,rock1 and to me it seems to come well4 ,but the finer spots are very difficult of reproduction2 some are lost here4 ,there is a most ingenious contrivance1 an ,american notion1 ,i believe1 for the better application of splatter4 ,it is called the air-brush1 and it consists of a tube filled with ink1 and fitted with a description of nozzle through which the ink is projected on to paper by a pneumatic arrangement worked by the artist by means of a treadle4 ,you aim the affair at your drawing1 work your treadle1 and the trick is done4 ,the splatter is remarkably fine and equable1 and its intensity can be regulated by the distance at which the nozzle is held from the drawing4 ,the greater advantage1 however1 in the use of the air-brush would seem to lie with the lithographic draughtsmen1 who have to cover immense areas of work4 ,illustration3 #f #h4 ,,sunset1 ,,black ,,rock4 ,splatter-work4 ,here follows an experiment with diluted inks3 the drawing made upon ,,hp ,whatman with all manner of nibs4 ,it is all pen-work1 worked with black stain1 and with writing ink watered down to different values4 ,this is an attempt to render as truthfully as possible 7and as unconventionally7 the sunset shine and shadow of a lonely shore1 blown upon with the wild winds of the ,channel4 ,a little stream1 overgrown with bents and waving rushes1 flows between a break in the low cliffs and loses itself in the sands4 ,the sun sets behind the ruined house1 and between it and the foreground is a clump of storm-bent trees1 constrained to their uneasy inward pose not by present breezes1 but to this shrinking habit of growth by long-continued stress of weather4 ,the block is by ,gillot1 of ,paris1 who was asked to get the appearance of the original drawing in a line-block4 ,this he has not altogether succeeded in doing3 perhaps it was impossible2 but the feeling is here4 ,it is a line-block1 rouletted all over in the attempt to get the effect produced by watered inks4 ,the roulettes1 by which these greynesses are produced1 are peculiar instruments1 consisting of infinitesimal wheels of hard steel whose edges are fashioned into microscopically small points or facets4 ,mounted at the end of a stick more nearly resembling a penholder than anything else1 the wheel is driven along 7and into7 the surface of the metal by pressure1 making small indentations in it4 ,there are varieties of roulettes1 the differences between them lying in the patterns of the projections from the wheel4 ,the varieties in the texture of rouletting seen in this print are thus explained4 ,illustration3 #aj #f4 ,,drawing ,,in ,,diluted ,,inks1 ,,reproduced ,,by ,,gillot4 ,block touched up by hand and freely rouletted4 ,now come some experiments in mixtures4 ,the mixed drawing has many possibilities of artistic expression1 and here are some essays in mixtures1 harnessed to tentative employments of process4 ,first is this experiment in pen and pencil reproduced in half-tone4 ,it is a view of ,chepstow ,castle--that really picturesque old border fortress--from across the river ,wye1 a river that comes rushing down from the uplands with an impetuous current full of swirls and eddies4 ,the town of ,chepstow lies at the back1 represented in this drawing only by its lights4 ,the huts and sheds that straggle down to the waterside1 and the rotting pier1 where small vessels load and unload insignificant cargoes1 are commonplace enough1 but they go to make a fine composition2 and the last sunburst in the evening sky1 the stars already brilliant1 and the white gleams from the hurrying river1 are immensely valuable1 and things of joy to the practitioner in black and white4 ,rain had fallen during the day1 and1 when the present writer sat down to sketch1 still lent a fine impending juicy air to the scene that seemed incapable of adequate translation into pure line2 therefore1 upon the pencil sketch was added pen-work1 and to that more pencil1 and1 when finished1 the drawing was sent to be processed1 with special instructions that the white spaces in the sky should be preserved1 together with those on the buildings1 but that all else might acquire the light grey tint which the half-tone always gives1 as of a drawing made upon paper of a silvery grey4 ,in the result you can see this purely arbitrary1 but delightful1 ground tint everywhere2 it gives absolutely the appearance of a drawing made upon tinted cardboard1 but1 truly1 the only paper employed was a common1 rough make1 that would be despised of the lordly amateur4 ,here you see the half-tone process on its best behaviour1 and ,i think it has secured a very notable result4 ,illustration3 #aa #h4 ,,chepstow ,,castle4 ,drawing in pen and ink and pencil made on rough paper4 ,reproduced by half-tone process4 ,here is another experiment1 ,clifford's ,inn3 a ,foggy ,night--a mixture of pen and ink and crayon worked upon with a stump1 and then lightly brushed over with a damp1 not a full1 brush2 the lights in the windows and the reflections taken out with the point of an eraser4 ,it should be said that in drawing thus for half-tone reproduction the drawing should be made much more emphatic than the print is intended to appear2 that is to say1 the deepest shadows should be given an additional depth1 and the fainter shading should be a shade lighter than you would give to a drawing not made with a view to publication4 ,if these points are not borne in mind1 the result is apt to be flat and featureless4 ,if a half-tone block exhibits these disagreeable peculiarities1 high lights can always be created by the aid of a chisel used upon the metal surface of the block4 ,the more important process firms generally employ a staff of competent engravers1 who1 now that wood engraving is less widely used1 have turned their attention to just this kind of work--the correcting of process-blocks4 ,the artist has but to mark his proof with the corrections and alterations he requires4 ,the two illustrations shown on page #fh1 from different states of the same block1 give a notion of correcting the flatness of half-tone4 ,the second block shows a good deal of retouching in the lights taken out upon the paper and the jug1 and in the hatching upon the drinking-horn4 ,illustration3 #i #f4 ,,clifford',s ,,inn3 ,a ,,foggy ,,night4 ,drawn in pen and ink and crayon1 and brushed over4 ,reproduced by half-tone process1 medium grain4 ,half-tone processes are practised in much the same way as the albumen and bitumen line methods already described1 in so far as that they are worked with acids and upon zinc or copper4 ,at first these half-tone blocks were made in zinc1 but recently some reproductive firms have preferred to use copper4 ,messrs4 ,waterlow and ,sons1 in this country1 generally employ copper for half-tone blocks from drawings or photographs4 ,copper prints a softer and more sympathetic line1 and does not accumulate dirt so readily as zinc4 ,all the half-tone blocks in this volume are in copper4 ,by these processes the photographs that one sees reproduced direct from nature appear in print without the aid of the artist4 ,they are often referred to as the ,meisenbach process1 because the ,meisenbach ,company was amongst the first to use these methods in this country4 ,the essential difference in their working is that there is a ruled screen of glass interposed between the drawing or object to be photographed and the negative4 ,generally a screen of glass is closely ruled with lines crossing at right angles1 and etched with hydrofluoric acid4 ,into the grooves thus produced1 printing-ink is rubbed4 ,the result is a close network of black lines upon glass4 ,this screen1 interposed between the sensitized plate in the camera and the object to be photographed1 produces upon the negative the criss-cross appearance we see in the ultimate picture4 ,in the half-tone reproductions by ,angerer and ,gschl1 of ,vienna1 this appearance is singularly varied4 ,the screen used by them is said to be made from white silk of the gauziest description1 hung before a wall covered with black velvet in such a manner that the blackness of the velvet can be seen and photographed through the silken film4 ,a negative is made1 and from it a positive is produced1 which exhibits a curiously varied arrangement of dots and meshes4 ,the positive is used in the same way as the ruled-glass screens4 ,illustration3 #f #f4 ,,pencil ,,and ,,pen ,,and ,,ink ,,drawing ,,reproduced ,,by ,,half-,,tone ,,process4 ,the network characteristic of half-tone relief blocks can be made fine1 or medium1 or coarse1 as required4 ,the fine-grained blocks are used for careful book and magazine printing1 and the medium-grained for printing in the better illustrated weeklies2 the coarse-grained are used for rougher printing1 but still are nearly always too fine for newspaper work4 ,the ,daily ,graphic1 however1 has solved the problem of printing them sufficiently well for the picture to be discerned4 ,beyond this the rotary steam-printing press has not yet advanced4 ,in appearance somewhat similar to a half-tone block1 but with the tint differently applied1 is the illustration of ,the ,village ,street1 ,tintern3 ,night4 ,here is a pure pen-drawing1 scratched and scribbled to blackness without much care for finesse1 the great reduction and the tint being reckoned upon to assuage all angularities4 ,the original drawing was then lightly scribbled over with blue pencil to indicate to the process-man that a mechanical tint was required to be applied upon the block1 and word was specially sent that the tint was to be squarely cut1 not vignetted4 ,the result seems happy4 ,this is a line block1 not tone4 ,illustration3 #aa #i4 ,,the ,,village ,,street1 ,,tintern4 ,,night4 ,application of shading medium4 ,in such a case the procedure is normal until the image is printed upon the sensitized ground of the zinc plate4 ,then the prescribed tint is transferred by pressure of thumb and fingers1 or by means of a burnisher1 from an engraved sheet of gelatine previously inked with a printing roller4 ,the zinc plate is then etched in the familiar way4 ,illustration3 #aa #h4 ,,leebotwood4 ,showing application of shading medium to treatment of sky4 ,these tints are produced by ,day's shading mediums2 thin sheets of gelatine engraved upon one side with lines or with a pattern of stipple4 ,there are very many of these patterns4 ,they can readily be applied1 and with the greatest accuracy1 because the gelatine is semi-transparent1 and admits of the operator seeing what he is about4 ,these mechanical tints are capable of exquisite application1 but they have been more frequently regarded as labour-saving appliances1 and have rarely been used with skill1 and so have come to bear an altogether unmerited stigma4 ,they can be used by a clever process-man1 under the directions of the draughtsman1 with great effect1 and in remarkably diverse ways4 ,for it is not at all necessary that the tint should come all over the block4 ,it can be worked in most intricately4 ,the illustration1 ,leebotwood1 shows an application of shading medium to the sky4 ,the proprietors 7for it is a patent7 of these devices have endeavoured to introduce their use amongst artists1 with a view to their working the mediums upon the drawings themselves4 ,it has been shown that the varieties of shading to be obtained by shifting and transposing the gelatine plates is illimitable1 but as their use involves establishing a printing roller and printer's ink in one's studio1 and as all artists are not printers born1 it does not seem at all likely that ,day's shading mediums will be used outside lithographic offices or the offices of reproductive firms4 ,here are appended some examples of the shading mediums commonly used4 ,the cost of reproduction by process varies very greatly4 ,it is always calculated at so much the square inch1 with a minimum charge ranging1 for line-work1 from two-and-sixpence to five shillings4 ,for half-tone the minimum may be put at from ten shillings to sixteen shillings4 ,plain line blocks1 by the bitumen or albumen processes1 cost from twopence-halfpenny to sixpence per square inch1 and handwork upon the block is charged extra4 ,some firms make a charge of one penny per square inch for the application of ,day's shading mediums4 ,line blocks by the swelled gelatine process are charged at one shilling per square inch1 and reproductions of pencil or crayon work at one-and-threepence4 ,half-tone blocks from objects1 photographs1 or drawings range from eightpence to one-and-sixpence per square inch1 and the cost of a photogravure plate may be put at two-and-sixpence for the same unit4 ,the best work in any photographic process is infinitely less costly than wood engraving1 which1 although its cost is not generally calculated on the basis of the inch1 as in all process work1 may range approximately from three shillings to five shillings for engraving of average merit4 ,illustration3 ,,examples ,,of ,,day',s ,,shading ,,mediums4 ,illustration3 ,,examples ,,of ,,day',s ,,shading ,,medium4 ,illustration3 ,,churchyard ,,cross1 ,,raglan4 ,application of shading medium4 ,electrotype copies of line blocks cost from three-farthings to three-halfpence per square inch1 and from half-tone blocks1 twopence1 although it is not advisable to have electrotypes taken of these fine and delicate blocks4 ,if duplicates are wanted of half-tones1 the usual practice is to have two original blocks made1 the process-engraver charging for the second block half the price of the first4 ,,paper4 ,the process engraver will tell you1 if you seek counsel of him1 that you should use ,bristol-board1 and of that only the smoothest and most highly finished varieties4 ,but1 however easy it may render his work of reproduction1 there is no necessity for you to draw upon cardboard or smooth-surfaced paper at all4 ,paper of a reasonable whiteness is1 of course1 necessary to any process of line engraving which has photography as a basis1 but to say that stiff cardboards or papers of a blue-white1 as opposed to the cream-laid variety1 are necessary is merely to obscure what is1 after all1 a simple matter4 ,bristol-board is certainly a very favourite material1 and the varieties of cardboards sold under that name are numerous enough to please anybody4 ,goodall's sell as reliable a make as can be readily found4 ,it is white enough to please the photo-engraver1 and of a smooth1 hard surface2 and a hard surface you must have for pen-work4 ,but it is an unsympathetic material1 and it is an appreciably more difficult matter to make a pencil sketch upon it than upon such papers as ,whatman's ,,hp4 ,mounting-boards are frequently used1 chiefly for journalistic pen-work1 when it may be supposed nobody cares anything about the finesse of the art1 but only that the drawing shall be up to a certain standard of excellence1 and1 more particularly1 up to time4 ,mounting-boards are appreciably cheaper than good ,bristol-board1 but if erasures are to be made they are troublesome1 because under the surface they are composed of the shoddiest of matter4 ,they are convenient1 indeed admirable1 for studies carried out in a masculine manner with a quill pen1 or for simple drawings made with an ordinary writing nib1 with not too sharp a point4 ,for delicate technique they are not to be recommended4 ,indeed1 for anything but work done at home1 cardboards of any sort are inexpedient2 they are heavy1 and take up too much space4 ,if they were necessary1 of course you would have to put up with the inconvenience of carrying two or more pounds' weight of them about with you1 but they are not necessary4 ,every one who makes drawings in pen and ink is continually looking out for an ideal paper2 many have found their ideals in this respect2 but that paper which one man swears by1 another will1 not inconceivably1 swear at1 so no recommendation can be trusted4 ,again1 personal predilections change amazingly4 ,one day you will be able to use ,bristol-board with every satisfaction2 another1 you will find its smooth1 dead white1 immaculate surface perfectly dispiriting4 ,no one's advice can be implicitly followed in respect of papers1 inks1 or pens4 ,every one must find his own especial fancy1 and when he has found it he will produce the better work4 ,the pen-draughtsman who is a paper-fancier does not leave untried even the fly-leaves of his correspondence4 ,papers have been found in this way which have proved satisfactory4 ,all you have to do is to go to some large stationer or wholesale papermaker's and get your fancy matched4 ,it would be an easy matter to obtain sheets larger than note-paper4 ,whatman's ,,hp1 or hot-pressed drawing-paper1 is good for pen-drawing1 but its proper use is not very readily learnt4 ,to begin with1 the surface is full of little granulations and occasional fibres which catch the pen and cause splutterings and blots4 ,sometimes1 too1 you happen upon insufficiently sized ,whatman1 and then lines thicken almost as if the drawing were being made upon blotting-paper4 ,a good plan is to select some good ,,hp ,whatman and have it calendered4 ,any good stationer could put you in the way of getting the calendering done1 or possibly such a firm as ,dickinsons'1 manufacturers of paper1 in ,old ,bailey1 could be prevailed upon to do it4 ,if you want a firm1 hard1 clear-cut line1 you will of course use only ,bristol-board or mounting-board1 or papers with a highly finished surface4 ,drawings upon ,whatman's papers give in the reproductions broken and granulated lines which the process-man 7but no one else7 regards as defects4 ,should the block itself be defective1 he will doubtless point to the paper as the cause1 but there is no reason why the best results should not proceed from ,,hp paper4 ,messrs4 ,reeves and ,sons1 of ,cheapside1 sell what they call ,london boards4 ,these are sheets of ,whatman mounted upon cardboard4 ,they offer the advantages of the ,,hp surface with the rigidity of the ,bristol-board4 ,the ,art ,tablets sold by the same firm are cardboards with ,whatman paper mounted on either side4 ,a drawing can be made upon both sides and the tablet split up afterwards4 ,in connection with illustration1 amongst the most remarkable inventions of late years are the prepared cardboards generally known amongst illustrators as 8scratch-out cardboards10 introduced by ,messrs4 ,angerer and ,gschl of ,vienna1 and by ,m4 ,gillot of ,paris4 ,these cardboards are of several kinds1 but are all prepared with a surface of kaolin1 or china-clay4 ,reeves sell eight varieties of these clay-boards4 ,they are somewhat expensive1 costing two shillings a sheet of nineteen by thirteen inches1 but when their use is well understood they justify their existence by the rich effects obtained1 and by the saving of time effected in drawing upon them4 ,drawings made upon these preparations have all the fulness and richness of wash1 pencil1 or crayon1 and may be reproduced by line processes at the same cost as a pen-drawing made upon plain paper4 ,the simplest variety of clay-board is the one prepared with a plain white surface1 upon which a drawing may be made with pen and ink1 or with a brush1 the lights taken out with a scraper or a sharp-pointed knife4 ,it is advisable to work upon all clay-surfaced papers or cardboards with pigmental inks1 as1 for instance1 lampblack1 ivory-black1 or ,indian ink4 ,ebony stain is not suitable4 ,the more liquid inks and stains have a tendency to soak through the prepared surface of china-clay1 rather than to rest only upon it1 thereby rendering the cardboard useless for 8scratch-out0 purposes1 and of no more value than ordinary drawing-paper4 ,a drawing made upon plain clay-board with pen and brush1 using lampblack as a medium1 can be worked upon very effectively with a sharp point4 ,white lines of a character not to be obtained in any other way can be thus produced with happy effect4 ,mr4 ,heywood ,sumner has made some of his most striking decorative drawings in this manner4 ,it is a manner of working remarkably akin to the wood-engraver's art--that is to say1 drawing or engraving in white lines upon a black field--only of course the cardboard is more readily worked upon than the wood block4 ,indeed1 wood-engravers have frequently used this plain clay-board4 ,they have had the surface sensitized1 the drawing photographed and printed upon it1 and have then proceeded to take out lights1 to cut out white lines1 and to hatch and cross-hatch1 until the result looks in every way similar to a wood engraving4 ,this has then been photographed again1 and a zinc block made that in the printing would defy even an expert to detect4 ,other kinds of clay-boards are impressed with a grain or with plain indented lines1 or printed upon with black lines or reticulations1 which may be scratched through with a point1 or worked upon with brush or pen4 ,examples are given here3 ,illustration3 ,,canvas-,,grain ,,clay-,,board4 ,no4 #a4 ,white cardboard1 impressed with a plain canvas grain4 ,this gives a fine painty effect1 as shown in the drawing of polled willows3 a drawing made in pencil1 with lights in foreground grass and on tree-trunks scratched out with a knife or with the curved-bladed eraser sold for use with these preparations4 ,illustration3 ,,plain ,,diagonal ,,grain4 ,illustration3 ,,plain ,,perpendicular ,,grain4 #b4 ,plain white diagonal lines4 ,pencil drawing4 #c4 ,plain white perpendicular lines4 ,pencil drawing4 #d4 ,plain white aquatint grain4 ,pencil drawing4 ,these four varieties require greater care and a lighter hand in working than the others1 because their patterns are not very deeply stamped1 and consequently the furrows between the upstanding lines are apt to become filled with pencil1 and to give a broken and spotty effect in the reproduction4 ,illustration3 ,,drawing ,,in ,,pencil ,,on ,,white ,,aquatint ,,grain ,,clay-,,board4 #e4 ,black aquatint4 ,this is not a variety in constant use4 ,three states are shown4 #f4 ,black diagonal lines4 ,this is the pattern in greater requisition4 ,the method of working is shown1 but the possibilities of this pattern are seen admirably and to the best advantage in the illustration of ,venetian ,fte on the ,seine4 ,illustration3 ,,black ,,aquatint ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing4 ,illustration3 ,,black ,,diagonal-,,lined ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing4 #g4 ,black perpendicular lines4 ,same as ,no4 #f1 except in direction of line4 ,illustration3 ,,black ,,perpendicular-,,lined ,,clay-,,board ,,and ,,two ,,stages ,,of ,,drawing4 ,illustration3 ,,venetian ,f,,te ,,on ,,the ,,seine1 ,,with ,,the ,,trocadero ,,illuminated4 ,pen and ink on black diagonal-lined clay-board4 ,lights scratched out4 ,drawings made upon these grained and ridged papers must not be stumped down or treated in any way that would fill up the interstices1 which give the lined and granular effect capable of reproduction by line-process4 ,also1 it is very important to note that drawings on these papers can only be subjected to a slight reduction of scale--say1 a reduction at most by one quarter4 ,the closeness of the printed grains and lines forbids a smaller scale that shall be perfect4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,h4 ,shannon has drawn upon lined 8scratch-out0 cardboard with the happiest effect4 ,,pens4 ,a common delusion as to pens for drawing is that only the finer-pointed kinds are suitable4 ,to the contrary1 most of the so-called 8etching pens0 and crow-quills and lilliputian affairs sold are not only unnecessary1 but positively harmful4 ,they encourage the niggling methods of the amateur1 and are1 besides1 untrustworthy and dreadfully scratchy4 ,you can but rarely depend upon them for the drawing of a continuous line2 frequently they refuse to mark at all4 ,i know very well that ,i shall be exclaimed against when ,i say that a good medium-pointed pen or fine-pointed school nib are far better than three-fourths of the pens especially made for draughtsmen1 but that is the case4 ,with practice1 one can use almost any writing nib for the production of a pen-drawing4 ,even the broad-pointed ,j pen is useful4 ,quill pens are delightful to work with for the making of pen-studies in a bold1 free manner4 ,a well-cut quill flies over all descriptions of paper1 rough or smooth1 without the least catching of fibres or spluttering4 ,it is the freest and least trammelling of pens1 and seems almost to draw of its own volition4 ,brandauer's pens are1 generally1 very good1 chiefly for the reason that they have circular points that rarely become scratchy4 ,they make a small nib1 ,no4 #eae1 which works and wears well2 this last an unusual quality in the small makes4 ,perry ,co4 sell two very similar nibs1 ,no4 #fja 7a so-called 8etching pen07 and ,no4 #be2 they are both scratchy4 ,gillott's crowquill1 ,no4 #fei1 is a barrel pen1 very small and very good1 flexible1 and capable of producing at once the finest and the boldest lines2 but ,brandauer's ,oriental pen1 ,no4 #cdb ,,ef1 an ordinary fine-pointed writing pen1 is just as excellent1 and its use is more readily learnt4 ,it takes some time and practice to discover the capabilities of the ,gillott crowquill2 the other pen's possibilities are easier found4 ,besides1 the tendency with a microscopic nib is to niggled work1 which is not to be desired at the cost of vigour4 ,mitchell's ,f pen is a fine-pointed school writing nib4 ,it is not particularly flexible1 but very reliable and lasts long4 ,gillott has recently introduced a very remarkable nib1 ,no4 #ajjj1 frankly a drawing pen1 flexible in the extreme1 capable of producing at will the finest of hair-lines or the broadest of strokes4 ,some illustrators make line drawings with a brush4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,f4 ,sullivan works in this way1 using a red sable brush with all superfluous hairs cut away1 and fashioned to a point4 ,lampblack is the best medium for the brush4 ,to draw in line with a brush requires long practice and great dexterity1 but men who habitually work in this way say that its use once learnt1 no one would exchange it for the pen4 ,of this ,i can express no opinion4 ,certainly there are some obvious advantages in using a brush4 ,it does not ever penetrate the surface of the paper1 and it is capable of producing the most solid and smooth lines4 ,stylographic and fountain pens1 of whatever make1 are of no use whatever4 ,glass pens are recommended by some draughtsmen for their quality of drawing an equable line2 but they would seem to be chiefly useful in mathematical and engineering work1 which demands the same thickness of line throughout4 ,these pens would also prove very useful in architects' offices1 in drawing profiles of mouldings1 tracery1 and crockets1 because1 not being divided into two nibs1 they make any variety of curve without the slightest alteration in the character of the line produced4 ,any one accustomed to use the ordinary divided nibs will know the difficulty of drawing such curves with them4 ,,inks4 ,it is1 perhaps1 more difficult to come by a thoroughly reliable ink than to be exactly suited with papers and pens2 and yet greater attention has been given by manufacturers to inks than to those other necessaries4 ,you can1 often with advantage1 use a writing pen2 but no one1 however clever he may be1 can make a satisfactory drawing for reproduction with the aid of writing-inks4 ,they are either not black enough1 or else are too fluid1 so that it is impossible to run lines close together1 or to cross-hatch without the ink running the lines into one another4 ,it may1 perhaps1 be remarked that this is an obvious error1 since many of ,keene's most delightful drawings and studies were made in writing-inks--black1 blue-black1 or diluted1 or even in red1 and violet1 and blue inks4 ,certainly ,keene was a great man in whatever medium he used1 but he was not accustomed to be reproduced in any other way than by so-called fac-simile wood engraving4 ,in this way all his greynesses and faint lines could have their relative values translated1 but even in the cleverest surface-printing processes his work could not be adequately reproduced4 ,stephens's ebony stain is perhaps the most widely used ink at this time4 ,it is not made for the purpose of drawing1 being a stain for wood2 but its merits for pen-drawing have been known for some considerable time4 ,it is certainly the best1 cheapest1 and least troublesome medium in the market4 ,it is1 when not diluted1 an intensely black liquid with an appreciable body1 but not too thick to flow freely4 ,it dries with a certain but not very obtrusive glaze1 which process-engravers at one time objected to most strongly1 because they wanted something to object to on principle2 but they have at length become tired of remonstrating1 and really there was never any objection to the stain upon that score4 ,it flows readily from the pen1 and when drying upon the nib is not gummy nor in any way adhesive1 but powders easily--avoiding the abomination of a pen clogged with a sticky mess of half-dry mud1 characteristic of the use of ,indian ink4 ,ebony stain is sold in substantial stone bottles1 and so does not readily become thick2 but when1 owing to any cause1 it does not run freely enough1 a sparing dilution with water restores its fluid properties4 ,diluted too often or too freely1 it becomes of a decided purple-brown tint2 but as a good-sized bottle costs only sixpence1 and holds enough to last a year1 it need not be repeatedly diluted on the score of its cost4 ,it is not a fixed ink1 and readily smudges when washed over or spotted with water--so cannot be used in combination with water-colour or flat-washes4 ,neither can ,chinese white be used upon a drawing made in ,ebony stain4 ,these are disadvantages that would tell against its use by illustrators who make many alterations upon their work1 or who paint in lights on a pen-drawing with body-colour2 but for pure pen-drawing1 and for straight-away journalistic work1 it is invaluable4 ,indian ink is the traditional medium4 ,it has the advantage of fixity2 lines drawn with it1 when once dry1 will not smudge when washed over1 and1 at most1 they give but a very slight grey or brown tint to the paper4 ,indian ink can be bought in sticks and ground with water in a saucer2 but there seems to be no reason for any one to go to this trouble1 as liquid ,indian inks are to be bought in bottles from ,messrs4 ,reeves4 ,the best ,indian ink1 when freshly ground1 gives a fine black line that dries with that bogey of the process-man1 a glaze2 but lampblack is of a more intense blackness1 and dries with a dull surface4 ,lampblack is easily soluble1 and therefore has not the stability of good ,indian ink to recommend it4 ,for ordinary use with the pen1 it has too much of the pigmental nature1 and is very apt to clog the nib and to cause annoyance and loss of time4 ,lampblack and ,ivory-black are better suited to the brush4 ,hentschel1 of #ahb1 ,fleet ,street1 sells an ,american preparation called 8,whiting's ,process-,drawing ,ink10 which professes to have all the virtues that should accompany a drawing-ink4 ,it is very abominable1 and has an immediate corrosive effect upon pens4 ,the drawing-materials' shop in ,king ,william ,street1 ,strand1 sells 8,higgins' ,american ,drawing ,ink10 done up in ingeniously contrived bottles4 ,it is well spoken of4 ,encre de ,chine ,liquide is the best liquid ,indian ink sold1 and is very largely used by draughtsmen4 ,it can be obtained readily at any good colour-shop4 ,it is far preferable to most of the liquid ,indian inks prepared by ,english houses1 which when left standing for a few minutes deposit a sediment1 and at best are inadequate concoctions of a greenish-grey colour4 ,messrs4 ,reeves and ,sons have recently introduced a special ink for pen-drawing1 which they call 8,artists' ,black40 ,it is as good as any4 ,it is a liquid ink1 sold in shilling bottles4 ,mr4 ,du ,maurier uses blue-black writing-ink from an inkstand that is always allowed to stand open and receive dust and become half muddy4 ,he prefers it in this condition4 ,also he generally works upon ,,hp drawing-paper4 ,it is interesting to know this1 but to work in blue-black ink is an amiable eccentricity that might prove disastrous to any one following his example4 ,his work is not reproduced by zincography1 but by fac-simile wood engraving4 ,it may be laid down as an inflexible rule1 if you are beginning the study of pen-drawing1 if your work is for hurried newspaper production1 or if you have not the control of the reproduction in your own hands1 to draw for line-process in the blackest ink and on the whitest paper4 ,many architects and architectural draughtsmen1 who are accustomed to exhibit pen-drawings of architecture at the ,royal ,academy1 are accustomed to draw in brown inks4 ,prout's ,brown is generally used1 and gives a very pleasing effect to a drawing4 ,it photographs and reproduces readily1 but it must always be borne in mind that1 if printed in black ink1 the reproduction will inevitably be much heavier4 ,scarlet inks1 and even yellow inks1 have been used by draughtsmen for special purposes1 and are allowable from the photographic point of view2 but blue must not be used1 being an actinic colour and impossible to photograph4 ,,the ,,making ,,of ,a ,,pen-,,drawing4 ,it is not to be supposed that because the pen is so handy an instrument1 and inks and paper1 of sorts1 are everywhere1 that the making of a pen-drawing is a simple affair of a few uneducated strokes4 ,the less you know of the art1 the easier it seems1 and they do but show their ignorance who speak of its simplicity4 ,you will want as much power of draughtsmanship1 and more1 for drawing in this medium than in many others2 because the difference between good drawing and bad is more readily seen in line-work than in other methods1 and since in these days the standard of the art has been raised so high4 ,you will want not less study in the open air1 or with the life-class for figure-work1 than the painter gives or should give to his preliminary studies for his art4 ,this drudgery you will have to go through1 whether in the schools of the ,science and ,art ,department 7which does not recognize this1 the livest art of our time71 or in the studio and under the care of some artist who receives pupils in the fashion of the atlier system in ,france4 ,but such studios are rare in ,england4 ,it seems likely that the student of pen-drawing1 who starts with learning draughtsmanship of any sort1 must first go through much of the ordinary grind of the schools1 and1 when he has got some sort of proficiency1 turn to and worry out the application of the pen to his already received teaching4 ,no one will teach him pen-drawing as an individual art2 of that there is no doubt4 ,perhaps the best course he could pursue would be to become acquainted with the books illustrated by the foremost men1 and study them awhile to see in what manner they work with the pen1 and with this knowledge set to work with models1 in the same way as a painter would do4 ,or1 if your work is of another branch beside the figure1 go to the fields1 the hedgerows1 and all the glory of the country-side1 and work first-hand4 ,the sketch-book is a necessity1 and should always be in the student's pocket for the jotting down of notes and memoranda4 ,i do not think many pen-draughtsmen are careful enough to make a thorough pencil study as the basis of their pen-drawing1 although that is the best way to proceed1 and their drawings would be all the better for the practice4 ,it is to this absence of the preliminary pencil-work1 this shirking of an undoubted drudgery1 that is due the quantity of uninspired1 fumbling drawing with the pen that we see nowadays4 ,the omission of a carefully made original pencil-sketch1 over which to work in pen and ink1 renders commonplace the work of many artists which1 if only they were less impatient of toil1 would become transfigured4 ,what is so injurious to the man who has learnt his art is fatal to one who is by way of beginning its study4 ,make1 then1 a pencil-drawing in outline1 using an ,,hb pencil1 as carefully as if that only were the end and object of your work4 ,work lightly with this hard pencil upon the paper or cardboard you have selected1 indicating shadows rather than filling them in4 ,it is necessary to make only faint pencil lines1 for they will have to be rubbed out eventually1 after the pen-drawing has been made over them4 ,if the marks were deep and strong1 a great deal of rubbing would have to be done to get them out1 and that injures the surface of the paper and greys the black lines of the ink used4 ,on the other hand1 if the pencil-marks were not rubbed out1 they would very likely photograph and reproduce in the process-block4 ,to a pen-draughtsman of experience the reproduction of his pencil-marks can be made an additional beauty2 but the student had much better be1 at first1 a purist1 and make for clean pen-strokes alone on his finished drawing4 ,it must always be remembered1 if you are working for reproduction 7and consequent reduction of scale from the drawing to the process-block71 that the pen-work you have seen printed in the books and papers and magazines was made on a much larger scale than you see it reproduced in their pages4 ,very frequently1 as in the ,american magazines1 the reduction is to about one quarter scale of the original drawing2 but1 working for process in ,england1 the drawing should1 generally speaking1 be from two-thirds to one-half larger than the reproduction4 ,these proportions will1 as a rule1 give excellent results4 ,seeing that your drawing is to be so much larger than the process-block1 it follows that the pen-work can1 with advantage1 be correspondingly vigorous4 ,it would help you better than any description to a notion of what an original drawing should be like1 if you could obtain a glance at the originals of any good pen-draughtsmen4 ,but unfortunately1 there are few exhibitions in which pen-work has any place4 ,when your pencil study is completed in an outline giving all details down to the minutest1 you can set about the pen-drawing4 ,often1 indeed1 if carefully made1 the pencil-sketch looks too good to be covered up with ink4 ,if you wish to retain it1 it can1 if made upon thin paper1 be traced upon cardboard with the aid of black carbon paper1 or better still 7since blue will not photograph7 with blue transfer paper1 which you can either purchase or make for yourself by taking thin smooth paper and rubbing powdered blue chalk upon one side of it1 or scribbling closely upon it with blue pencil4 ,there is another way of tracing the pencil-drawing3 by pinning over it a sheet of thin correspondence paper 7of the kind called ,bank ,post7 and working upon that straight away4 ,but1 after all1 it would1 for the sake of retaining something of the freshness of first impressions1 be best to sacrifice your pencil study and work away on that4 ,now the pen-drawing is begun1 care should be taken to draw only clear and perfectly black lines1 and not to run these together1 but to keep the drawing what the process men call 8open40 ,if details are put in without regard for the fining down which reduction gives1 it is only too likely that the result will show only dirty1 meaningless patches where was a great deal of delicate pen-work4 ,of course1 the exact knowledge of how to draw with the pen to get the best results by process cannot properly be taught1 but must be learned by experience1 after many miscalculations4 ,it will be found1 too1 that many things which it would be inadvisable for the beginner to do 7especially if he cannot command his own choice of process-engraver7 are perfectly legitimate to the practised artist who has studied process work4 ,the student should not be at first encouraged to make experiments in diluted inks or retained pencil-marks1 or any of those delightful practices by which one who is thoroughly conversant with photographic processes and pen-drawing varies the monotony of his medium4 ,he should begin by making his drawings as simply as he can1 so that they express his subject4 ,and this simplicity1 this quality of suggestion1 is the true field of pen-work4 ,the best work is reticent and sober1 giving the greatest number of essential facts in the fewest strokes4 ,if you can express a fact with sufficient intelligibility in half a dozen pen strokes1 it is inartistic and inexpedient to worry it into any number of scratches4 ,this is often done because the public likes to see that there has been plenty of manual labour put into the work it buys4 ,it is greatly impressed with the knowledge that any particular drawing took days to complete1 and it respects that drawing accordingly1 and has nothing but contempt for a sketch which may have taken only an hour or so1 although the first may be artless and overloaded with unnecessary detail1 and the second instinct with actuality and suggestion4 ,but if you are drawing a landscape with a pen1 that is no reason for putting in an elaborate foreground of grass1 carefully working up each square inch4 ,such a subject can be rendered by a master in a few strokes1 and though1 possibly1 you may never equal the artistry of the master1 you can follow his ideals4 ,another and allied point in pen-and-ink art is its adaptability to what is termed 8selection40 ,you have1 say1 before you the view or object to be drawn4 ,you do not need to make a drawing in which you shall niggle up every part of it1 but you select 7the trained eye readily does this7 its salient feature and emphasize it and make it fall properly into the composition1 leaving aught else either suggested or less thoroughly treated4 ,here is a pen-drawing made with a very special regard to a selection only of the essential4 ,the ,gatehouse1 ,moynes ,court1 is a singular structure near the shore of the ,severn estuary1 two miles below ,chepstow4 ,the singularity of its design1 rarely paralleled in ,england1 would give the artist the motive for sketching1 and its tapering lines and curious roofs are best preserved in a drawing that deals chiefly in outline1 and has but little shading wherewith to confuse the queer profile of these effective towers4 ,this drawing was reproduced by the bitumen process4 ,the lines in the foreground1 suggestive of grass1 were drawn in pencil4 ,the pen-sketches and studies of the foremost artists which have been made1 not for publication1 but for practice1 but which have sometimes been reproduced1 as1 for instance1 some slight sketches of ,charles ,keene's1 delight the artist's eye simply by reason of their suggestive and selective qualities4 ,if you do not delight in these things1 but have a desire to 7as the untaught public might say7 8see them finished10 then it seems likely either that you have not the artistic sense1 or else you have not sufficient training2 but ,i should suspect you were in the first category1 and should then advise you to leave matters artistic alone4 ,illustration3 #g #i4 ,,the ,,gatehouse1 ,,moynes ,,court4 ,bitumen process4 ,drawing showing value of selection4 ,you should not forget that in drawing for reproduction you are not working like the painter of a picture4 ,the painter's picture exists for its own sake1 not1 like a pen or wash drawing1 as only the means to an end4 ,the end of these drawings is illustration1 and when this is frankly acknowledged1 no one has any right to criticize the neatness or untidiness of the means1 so long as the end is kept properly in view4 ,we have not yet arrived at that stage of civilization when black-and-white art shall be appreciated as fully as colour4 ,when we have won to that pinnacle of culture1 then perhaps an original drawing in pen or monochrome will be cherished for its own sake2 at present we are barbaric more than enough1 and bright hues attract us only in lesser degree than our 8friend and brother10 ,quashee from the ,congo4 ,how nearly related we are these preferences may show more readily than the ranter's impassioned oratory4 ,as a drawing made for reproduction is only a stage on the way to the printed illustration1 and is not the cynosure of collectors1 it is successful or unsuccessful only in so far as it subserves this purpose4 ,there is really no need for scrupulous neatness in the original2 there is no necessity for it to have the appearance of a finished picture or of delicate execution1 so only it will wear this appearance when reduced4 ,that curious bugbear of neatness causes want of breadth and vigour1 and is the cause of most of the tight and trammelled handling we see4 ,draughtsmen at the outset of their career are too much afraid of their mediums of white cardboard and ink1 and too scrupulous in submitting their original drawings1 beautifully cleaned up and trimmed round1 to editors who1 if they know their business1 give no better consideration to them on that account4 ,mr4 ,ruskin has written1 in his ,elements of ,drawing1 some most misleading things with regard to drawing with the pen4 ,true1 his book was written in the '#ej's1 before pen-drawing became an art1 but it has been repeatedly reprinted even so lately as #ahic1 and consequently it is still actively dangerous4 8,coarse art10 i4e4 bold work1 says ,mr4 ,ruskin--he is speaking of pen-drawing--8is always bad art40 ,there you see ,mr4 ,ruskin holding a brief for the ,british public which admires the ineffable artistry displayed in writing the ,lord's ,prayer on a threepenny piece1 but deplores the immorality shown in drawings done with a quill pen4 ,the art of a pen-drawing is not to be calculated on a sliding-scale graduated to microscopical fractions of an inch and applied to its individual strokes4 ,the appearance a drawing will present when reduced may be approximately judged by the use of a 8diminishing glass10 that is to say1 a concave glass4 ,drawings should not be cleaned up with india-rubber1 which destroys the surface of paper or cardboard and renders lines rotten2 bread should be used1 preferably stale bread two days old1 crumbled and rubbed over the drawing with the palm of the hand4 ,mr4 ,ruskin says that in this way 8you waste the good bread1 which is wrong20 but you had better use a handful of 8the good bread0 in this way than injure a good drawing4 ,the copying of wood engravings or steel prints1 not for their subjects1 but for their peculiar techniques1 is a vicious and inartistic practice4 ,time used in this way is time wasted1 and worse than wasted1 because this practice is utterly at variance with the spirit of pen-work4 ,it is not a proof of artistry or consummate draughtsmanship to be able to draw a straight line or a perfect circle1 the absurd legend of ,giotto and his circle notwithstanding4 ,there are many labour-saving tricks in drawing for reproduction1 but these have usually little connection with the purely artistic side of illustration4 ,they have been devised chiefly to aid the new race of artist-journalists in drawing for the papers which cater for that well-known desire of the public to see its news illustrated hot and hot4 ,most of these methods and the larger proportion of the men who practice them are frankly journalistic1 but some few draughtsmen have succeeded in resolving this sleight of hand into novel and interesting styles1 and their hurried work has achieved a value all its own1 scarcely legitimate1 but aggressive and clamouring for attention4 ,one of these tricks in illustration is a method which is largely practised for journalistic illustration in ,america--drawing in pen and ink upon photographs1 which are afterwards bleached out1 the outline drawings remaining to be processed4 ,although not a desirable practice from an artistic point of view1 it is advantageously used for news work or upon any occasion in which expedition is essential4 ,the photograph to be treated in this way is printed by the usual silver-print method1 with the exception that the paper used is somewhat differently prepared4 ,what is known as 8plain salted paper0 is used2 that is to say1 paper prepared without the albumen which gives to ordinary silver-prints their smooth1 shiny appearance4 ,the paper is prepared by being soaked in a solution made by the following formula3-- ,chlorate of ammonia #ajj grains4 ,gelatine #aj ,water #aj ounces4 ,the print is made and fixed without toning4 ,it may now be drawn upon with pen and ,indian ink4 ,the ink should be perfectly black and fixed4 ,the drawing1 if it is to be worth anything artistically1 must not aim at anything like the fulness of detail which the photograph possesses4 ,an outline drawing is readily made in this way1 and a considerable amount of detail may be achieved4 ,indeed1 the temptation is always to go over the photograph in pen and ink too fully1 and only draughtsmen of accomplishment can resist this almost irresistible inducement to do too much4 ,still1 admirable results have been obtained in this way by artists who know and practise the very great virtue of reticence4 ,when the drawing has been finished it is immersed in a solution of bichlorate of mercury dissolved in alcohol1 which removes all traces of the photograph1 leaving the drawing showing uninjured upon plain white paper4 ,omissions from the drawing may now be supplied and corrections made1 and it is now ready for being processed4 ,if very serious omissions are noticed1 the photograph may be conjured back by immersing the paper in a solution of hyposulphite of soda4 ,another and readier way is to draw upon photographs printed on ferro-prussiate paper4 ,this paper may be purchased at any good photographic materials shop1 or it can be prepared by brushing a sheet of paper over with a sensitizing solution composed of the two following solutions1 ,a and ,b1 prepared separately and then mixed in equal volumes3-- ,a ,citrate of iron and ammonia #a ounces4 ,water #h ,b ,ferricyanide of potassium #a ,water #h ,the paper must be prepared thus in a dark room and quickly dried4 ,it will remain in good condition for three or four months1 and is best preserved in a calcium tube4 ,prints made upon ferro-prussiate paper are formed in ,prussian blue1 and are fixed in the simplest way1 on being taken from the printing frame1 by washing in cold water4 ,an ,indian ink drawing may now be made upon this blue photographic print1 and sent for process without the necessity of bleaching1 because blue will not reproduce4 ,if1 on the other hand1 it is desired to see the drawing as black lines upon white paper1 the blue print may be bleached out in a few seconds by immersing it in a dish of water in which a small piece of what chemists call carbonate of soda 7common washing soda7 has been dissolved4 ,outline drawings for reproduction by process may be made upon tracing-paper4 ,most of the rough illustrations and portrait sketches printed in the morning and evening newspapers are tracings made in this way from photographs or from other more elaborate illustrations4 ,although this is not at all a dignified branch of art1 yet some of the little portrait heads that appear from time to time in the ,st4 ,james's ,gazette1 ,pall ,mall ,gazette1 and the ,westminster ,gazette are models of selection and due economy of line1 calculated to give all the essentials of portraiture1 while having due regard to the exigencies of the newspaper printing press4 ,illustration ,the two outline portrait sketches shown here are reproduced from the ,st4 ,james's ,gazette4 ,their thick lines have a tendency to become offensive when subjected to careful book-printing1 but appearing as they originally did in the rapidly printed editions of an evening paper1 this emphasis of line was exactly suited to the occasion4 ,illustration ,translucent white tracing-paper should be used for tracing purposes1 pinned securely through the corners of the photograph or drawing to be copied in this manner on to a drawing-board1 so that the tracing may not be shifted while in progress4 ,no pencilling is necessary1 but the tracing should be made in ink1 straight away4 ,fixed ,indian ink should be used1 because when the tracing is finished it will be necessary for process purposes to paste it upon cardboard1 and1 tracing-paper being so thin1 the moisture penetrates1 and would smudge a drawing made in soluble inks unless the very greatest care was taken4 ,old tracing-paper which has turned a yellow colour should on no account be used1 and tracing-cloth is rarely available1 because1 although beautifully transparent1 it is generally too greasy for pure line-work4 ,pen-drawings which are to be made and reproduced for the newspaper press at the utmost speed are made upon lithographic transfer paper in lithographic ink1 a stubborn and difficult material of a fatty nature4 ,drawings made in this way are not photographed1 but transferred direct to the zinc plate1 and etched in a very short space of time4 ,no reduction in scale is possible1 and the original drawing is inevitably destroyed in the process of transferring4 ,,wash ,,drawings4 ,wash drawings for reproduction by half-tone process should be made upon smooth or finely grained cardboards4 ,reeves' ,london board is very good for the purpose1 and so is a ,french board they keep1 stamped in the corner of each sheet with the initials ,a4 ,l4 in a circle4 ,wash drawings should be made in different gradations of the same colour if a good result is to be expected3 thus a wash drawing in lampblack should be executed only in shades of lampblack1 and not varied by the use of sepia in some parts1 or of ,payne's grey in others4 ,lampblack is a favourite material1 and excellent from the photographic point of view4 ,payne's grey1 or neutral tint1 at one time had a great vogue1 but it is too blue in all its shades for altogether satisfactory reproduction1 although the illustration1 ,the ,houses of ,parliament1 shown on p4 #abb1 has come well with its use4 ,chinese white was freely used in the drawing1 and its value is shown in putting in the swirls of fog4 ,illustration3 #aa #ag4 ,,the ,,houses ,,of ,,parliament ,,at ,,night1 ,,from ,,the ,,river4 ,wash drawing in ,payne's grey4 ,half-tone process1 medium grain4 ,illustration3 #e #c4 ,,victoria ,,embankment ,,near ,,blackfriars ,,bridge3 ,a ,,foggy ,,night4 ,drawing on paper in charcoal-grey1 lights put in with ,chinese white4 ,medium grain4 ,indian ink is capable of producing the greatest range of tone from light to dark1 and successive washes with it are quite indelible4 ,but it may be said at once that this great range is not necessary--nay1 is not advisable in drawing for half-tone reproduction4 ,in view of the unavoidable defects of the half-tone processes which tend to flatten out the picture1 artists should not attempt many and delicate gradations4 ,half a dozen tones from black to white will generally suffice4 ,any attempt to secure the thousand-and-one gradations of a photograph will be at once needless and harmful4 ,pure transparent water-colour washes do not give such good effects in reproduction as work in body-colour4 ,chinese white mixed with lampblack comes beautifully4 ,charcoal-grey1 of recent introduction1 is not so well adapted to the admixture of body-colour4 ,altogether1 charcoal-grey1 although a very admirable colour1 is a difficult material unless you know exactly at starting a drawing what you intend to do4 ,the illustration1 ,victoria ,embankment3 a ,foggy ,night1 was made in it on rough paper4 ,the nature of the subject rendered the execution of the drawing easy1 but in a drawing which runs the whole gamut of tone1 its unstable qualities forbid its use by the novice4 ,illustration3 #ac #aj4 ,,corfe ,,railway ,,station4 ,drawing upon common rough scribbling paper in ,indian ink1 washes reinforced by pencil lines4 ,fine grain4 ,illustration3 #aj #f4 ,,the ,,ambulatory1 ,,dore ,,abbey4 ,photograph painted in parts with body-colour4 ,the drawings made in wash by ,myrbach and ,rossi have set the fashion for much recent illustration4 ,vignettes made with a full brush and reduced to infinitesimal proportions have abounded since the illustrated editions of ,tartarin of ,tarascon first charmed the eye2 but now1 reduced to the common denominator of the sixpenny magazines1 they have lost all the qualities and retained all the defects the fashion ever had4 ,the drawing of ,corfe ,railway ,station was made in washes of ,indian ink with a full brush1 each successive wash left to dry thoroughly before the next was laid on4 ,parts are reinforced with pencil strokes3 these can readily be identified in the print4 ,the block was then vignetted4 ,another method is used for half-tone work4 ,a photograph is mounted upon cardboard1 and may be worked upon in brushwork with body-colour to any extent1 either for lightening the picture or for making it darker4 ,for working upon the ordinary silver-print an admixture of ox-gall must be used or the pigments will not 8take0 upon the sensitized paper4#a ,the illustration1 ,the ,ambulatory1 ,dore ,abbey1 is from a photograph1 worked upon in this manner4 ,the photo was so dark and indefinite that something was necessary to be done to show the springing of the arches and the relation of one pier to another4 ,chinese white was used in the manner described above1 and the arches outlined in places by scratching with the sharp point of a penknife4 #a ,refer to ,the ,real ,japan1 by ,henry ,norman4 ,fisher ,unwin1 #ahib4 ,the book is freely illustrated with half-tone blocks made from photographs4 ,the photographs were all extensively worked upon with body-colour in this manner4 ,indeed1 the brushwork may clearly be discerned in the reproductions4 ,tinted cards may be used in drawing for half-tone1 but yellow tints must be avoided1 for obvious photographic reasons2 and blue tints1 photographically1 are practically pure white4 ,if tinted cardboard is used at all1 it should be in tints of grey or brown4 ,illustration3 #ad #ab4 ,,moonlight3 ,,confluence ,,of ,,the ,,severn ,,and ,,the ,,wye4 ,oil sketch on canvas in ,payne's grey4 ,half-tone process4 ,fine grain4 ,a very satisfactory way of working for half-tone is to work in oil monochrome4 ,the reproductions from oil sketches come very well indeed by half-tone processes3 full and vigorous4 ,the photo-engraver always objects to oil because of its gloss1 but this can be obviated by mixing your colour with turpentine or benzine1 which give a dull surface4 ,the sketch shown on p4 #acj was made in this way4 ,it was a smoothly worked sketch1 with no aggressive brush-marks1 but it may be noted that brush-marks come beautifully by this process3 if anything1 rather stronger than in the original1 because the shadows cast by them reproduce as well4 ,but if you sketch in oils for reproduction1 be chary of vigorous brushwork in white3 it comes unpleasantly prominent in the block4 ,in giving instructions for the reproduction1 and reduction1 of drawings1 the measurement in one direction of the reproduction desired should be plainly indicated thus3 #d inches 4 ,unless absolutely unavoidable1 drawings should not be sent marked 8 size10 8 scale10 and so on1 because these terms are apt to mislead4 ,people not accustomed to measurements are very uncertain in their understanding of them1 and1 absurd as it may seem to those who deal in mensuration1 they very frequently take scale and size as synonymous terms2 while scale is really size1 and so on1 in proportion4 ,illustration ,the proportions a drawing will assume when reduced may be ascertained in this way4 ,you have1 say1 a narrow upright drawing1 as shown in the above diagram1 and you want the width reduced to a certain measurement1 but having marked this off are at a loss to know what height the reproduction will be4 ,supposing it to be a pen-drawing1 vignetted1 as most pen-drawings are2 in the first place1 light pencil lines touching the farthest projections of the drawing should be ruled to each of its four sides1 meeting accurately at the angles ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d4 ,this frame being made1 a diagonal line should be lightly ruled from upper to lower corner1 either--as shown--from ,b to ,c1 or from ,a to ,d4 ,the measurement of the proposed reduction should then be marked off upon the base line at ,e1 and a perpendicular line ruled from it to meet the diagonal4 ,the point of contact1 ,f1 gives the height that was to be found1 and a horizontal line from ,f to ,g completes the diagram1 and gives the correct proportions of the block to be made4 ,it will readily be seen that large copies of small sketches can be made in exact proportions by a further application of the diagonal1 but care should be taken to have all these lines drawn scrupulously accurate1 because the slightest deviation throws the proportions all out4 ,,styles ,,and ,,manner4 ,pen-drawing is ruled by expediency more1 perhaps1 than any art4 ,i shall not say that one method is more right than another in the management of textures1 or in the elaboration or mere suggestion of detail1 for line work is1 to begin with1 a purely arbitrary rendering of tones4 ,there is nothing like line in nature4 ,take up an isolated brick2 it does not suggest line in any way4 ,build it up with others into a wall1 and you can in pen and ink render that wall in many ways that will be equally convincing and right4 ,it may be expressed in terms of splatter-work1 which can be made to represent admirably a wall where the bricks have become welded into an homogeneous mass1 individually indistinguishable by age1 or of vertical or horizontal lines that may or may not take account of each individual brick and the joints of the mortar that binds the courses together4 ,crosshatching1 though a cheap expedient and a decaying convention1 may be used4 ,but to lose sight of ordinary atmospheric conditions is no more privileged in pen-work than in paint4 ,this is not by any means unnecessary or untimely advice1 though it should be4 ,the fact of using a pen instead of a brush does not empower anybody to play tricks with the solar system1 though one sees it constantly done4 ,one continually sees in pen-drawing the laws of light and shade set at naught1 and nobody says anything against it--perhaps it looks smart4 ,certainly the effect is novel1 and novelty is a powerful factor in anything4 ,but to draw a wall shining with a strong diffused light which throws a great black shadow1 is contrary to art and nature both4 8,nature10 according to ,mr4 ,whistler1 8may be #8creeping up1' but she has not reached that point yet4 ,when one sees suns setting behind the east ends of cathedrals1 with other vagaries of that sort1 one simply classes such things with that amusing erratum of ,mr4 ,rider ,haggard's1 in which he describes a ship #8steaming out of the mouth of the ,thames1 shaping her course toward the red ball of the setting sun4'0 ,but though the instance is amusing1 the custom is apt to pall4 ,some of the ,american pen-draughtsmen who contribute to the ,century are exceedingly clever1 and their handling extremely personal2 but after a time this excessive personality ceases to charm1 and1 for one thing1 these young bloods are curiously narrow in their choice of the masters from whom they are only too pleased to derive4 ,mr4 ,brennan is1 perhaps1 the most curiously original of these men4 ,he is the man who has shown most convincingly that the inked thumb is the most instant and effective instrument wherewith to render velvet in a pen-drawing4 ,you cannot fail to be struck with his method2 his manner is entirely personal1 and yet1 after a time1 it worries one into intolerance4 ,it is the same with that convention1 founded1 apparently1 by ,mr4 ,herbert ,railton1 which has had a long run of some nine or ten years4 ,it was a convention in pictorial architecture that had nothing except a remarkably novel technique to recommend it4 ,the illustrator invited us rather to see how 8pretty0 he could render an old building1 than how nearly he could show it us as it stood4 ,he could draw an elevation in a manner curiously feminine1 but he could only repeat himself and his trees2 his landscapes were insults to the imagination4 ,nothing inspired him to achievements beyond pictorial confectionery4 ,this convention has had its day1 although in the mean while so strikingly mannered was it that it appealed to almost all the young and undiscriminating men whose work lay in the rendering of pictorial architecture4 8,go to10 said the ,average ,artist in 8the picturesque10 8,i will sit down and make a drawing in the manner of ,mr4 ,railton40 ,and he did1 generally1 it may be observed1 from a photograph1 and in the undistracting seclusion of his own room4 ,this sort of artistic influenza1 which nearly all the younger men caught at one time or another1 was very dangerous to true art4 ,but it could not possibly last2 it was so resourceless4 ,always we were invited to glance at the same sky and an unchanging rendering of buildings1 whether old or new1 in the same condition of supposedly picturesque decrepitude4 ,everything in this mannerism wore the romantic air of the ,moated ,grange and radiated ,mrs4 ,radcliffe1 dungeons1 spectres1 and death1 whether the subject was a ruinated castle or a new warehouse4 ,all this has grown offensive3 we want more sobriety4 ,this apotheosis of raging skies and falling smuts1 of impending chimneys1 crumbling stones1 and tottering walls was only a personal manner4 ,its imitators have rendered it ridiculous4 ,the chief merits of such topographical and archological drawings are that they be truthful and reverent4 ,if art is ever to approach the documentary stage1 to be used as the record of facts1 it is in this matter4 ,to flood the country with representations of old buildings that are not so much pictures of them as exercises in an exaggerated personal manner1 is to deserve ill at the hands of all who would have preserved to them the appearance of places that are passing away4 ,the illustrations to such books1 say1 as ,mr4 ,loftie's ,inns of ,court or his ,westminster ,abbey are of no historic or artistic value whatever2 they are merely essays in a wild and weird manner of which we are tired in the originator of it2 which we loathe in those who imitate its worst faults4 ,we require a sober style in this work1 after being drunken so long with its so-called picturesqueness1 which1 rightly considered1 is but impressionism1 ill seen and uninstructed4 ,no one has exercised so admirable a method1 whether in landscape1 in portraiture1 or in architecture1 as ,sir ,george ,reid1 but his work is not readily accessible for the study it invites4 ,it is scholarly and expressive1 eloquent of the character of his subject1 free from redundancies4 ,it is elaborate or suggestive on due occasion1 and1 although the style is so distinguished1 you always feel that every drawing by this stylist is really and truly a representation of the person1 place1 or thing he has drawn1 and not a mere pretext for an individual handling2 no braggart assumption of 8side40 ,the dangers of following in a slavish manner the eccentricities of well-known men are exemplified in the work of those illustrators who ape the whimsies of the impressionist ,degas4 ,what ,degas may do may nearly always be informed with distinction1 but the illustrators who reproduce1 not his genius1 but an outstanding feature of it1 are singularly narrow4 ,if ,degas has painted a picture of the play with the orchestra in the foreground and the bass-viol looming immensely up three parts of the composition1 the third-rate impressionists also lug in a bass-viol2 if he has shown a ballet-girl with apparently only one leg1 they always draw one-legged coryphes1 and remain incapable of conceiving them as bipeds4 ,caldecott is a dangerous man to copy4 ,he was1 first and last1 a draughtsman1 and a draughtsman whose every dot and line were eloquent4 ,there is no technique that you can lay hold of in his work1 but only characterization1 which is more frequently caricature4 ,caldecott would never have made a serious illustrator2 in burlesque he was immense1 and no artist could desire a better monument than his ,picture ,books4 ,his reputation has fallen greatly of late1 notwithstanding the delightful ,john ,gilpin and the others of that inimitable series2 but his repute had stood higher to-day if his private letters to his friends and other unconsidered trifles had never been collected and published1 ghoul-like1 after his death4 ,pandering to the market has almost killed ,caldecott's repute1 for the undiscriminating public were invited to admire reproductions of hasty sketches never intended for publicity4 ,there is character in ,mr4 ,phil ,may's work1 and humour1 surprisingly set forth with a marvellous economy of line4 ,his is a gay and festive muse1 that is most at home where the tide of life runs strongest and deepest1 with wine-bubbles breaking 8most notoriously10 as ,mr4 ,kipling might say1 upon its surface2 with theatres1 music-halls1 and ,gaiety bars ranged along its banks in profusion4 ,there is much human nature in ,mr4 ,may4 ,also in ,mr4 ,greiffenhagen2 but a different kind4 ,he has gone chiefly to the boudoir and the drawing-room for his subjects1 and has rendered them with a resolute impressionism and a thorough discarding of cross-hatch that make a lasting impression with the beholder4 ,there is a certain ,christmas number1 #ahib1 of the ,lady's ,pictorial with memorable drawings by him2 they are in wash and lithographic crayon1 but may only be noted here in passing4 ,he has a gift of novel1 unhackneyed composition1 and he sees the figure for himself1 and draws it in with a daring but right and striking manner4 ,there has arisen of late years a school of illustration peculiarly ,english--the so to call it 8,decorative ,school40 ,it is a new and higher incarnation of the pre-,raphaelite movement4 ,the brotherhood did good work1 not at all commensurate with the amount of attention it received1 but beyond all praise in the conventions it founded2 and1 historically considered1 ,rossetti and his fellows are great1 and ,blake is greater1 because he was an inspired visionary with a kink in his brain1 out of which flowed imaginings the most gorgeous and original4 ,but the decorative men of to-day are doing even better work--masculine1 convincing1 racy of this soil4 ,it is chiefly admirable because it gives us1 in these days of 8actuality10 of photography1 and reproductions direct from photographs1 a new outlook upon life4 ,english decorative illustration is1 with but few exceptions1 possessed of a fine romantic fancy1 poetic1 and at the same time healthy and virile and eminently sane1 and it will live4 ,there is great hope for the future of this school1 while the imported styles of ,vierge and ,rico and other masters used to sunnier skies1 admirable beyond expression in their own places1 droop and languish in the nor'-easterly winds of ,england1 and their tradition becomes attenuated in passing through so many hands4 ,their descendants1 from ,abbey down to ,pennell and the whole crowd of those who love not wisely but too well1 have brought these fine exotic conventions down to the merest shadows of shades4 ,mr4 ,walter ,crane has1 any time these last ten years1 been the great ,apostle of ,decoration plus ,socialism4 ,it has been given him in this wise to make 7in theory7 the lion to lie down with the lamb 7and yet for the lamb to remain outside the lion with his destiny of mutton still in perspective71 and he has proclaimed in parables the possibility of mixing oil and water4 ,he has perpetrated a cartoon for the ,socialistic1 if not ,anarchist1 ,first of ,may1 and therein he has striven to decoratively treat the ,british ,workman4 ,but although ,mr4 ,crane has a pretty trick of decoration1 he was worsted in that bout1 for the ,british ,plumber or the ,irish ,hodman is stubborn material for decoration1 and their spouses as festal nymphs are not convincing visions4 ,again1 he has achieved a weird series of cartoons upon the walls of the ,red ,cross ,hall in praise of ,democratic ,valour1 in which he has unsuccessfully attempted to conventionalize rescuing firemen and heroic police4 ,such bravery deserved a better fate4 ,also ,mr4 ,crane has written much revolutionary verse in praise of brotherhood and equality1 and now he has accepted the mastership of a ,governmental art school1 under the direction of that not very revolutionary body1 the ,committee of ,council for ,education 7,science and ,art ,department74 ,decoration should be made of sterner stuff6 ,his industry has been prodigious4 ,even now a bibliography of him is in the making2 and yet shall it be said that it is difficult in the great mass of his work to find many items altogether satisfactory8 ,it may be feared it is so4 ,for one thing1 his anatomy is habitually at fault2 and yet has he not informed an interviewer from the ,pall ,mall ,gazette that long years since he had ceased to draw from the model8 ,that wheel within wheels1 the so-called ,birmingham ,school1 is attracting attention just now1 and men begin to prophesy of deeds from out the midlands4 ,but once upon a time there was a ,newlyn ,school1 was there not8 ,where is that party now8 ,its foremost members have won to the honours of the ,royal ,academy1 and its mission is done4 ,but it is time to talk of schools when work has been done4 ,of course it is very logical that good work should come from ,birmingham4 ,the sense of beauty is stronger in those who live in midst of dirt and grime4 ,instance the ,glasgow school of impressionists4 ,but the evidence of ,birmingham at present is but a touching follow-on to the styles of ,mr4 ,crane and ,mr4 ,sumner1 and to the ornament of ,mr4 ,lewis ,day4 ,indeed1 the decorative work of the students at the ,national ,art ,training ,schools may be put in the formula of one-third ,crane1 and the remaining two-thirds ,heywood ,sumner and ,lewis ,day1 an amalgam ill-considered and poorly wrought4 ,but indeed ,mr4 ,heywood ,sumner's work has a note of distinction4 ,he does not confuse ,socialist propaganda with ornament1 and is not always striving to show with emphasis of line in pen and ink that ,capital is the natural enemy of ,labour1 and that a silk hat on a rich man's head may justly be defined as so many loaves of bread 7or pots of beer7 in the wrong place4 ,that is for ,mr4 ,crane and ,mr4 ,william ,morris to prove2 and1 really1 anything wicked can be proven of such a hideous object4 ,but the onus of bringing the guilt home to it and the wearer of it does not produce good art4 ,indeed1 decorative art is not catholic2 it has no sort of commerce with everyday life or with the delineation of any times so recent as the early years of the ,victorian era4 ,its field lies only in poetic imaginings1 in fancy1 and1 most emphatically1 not in fact4 ,when ,mr4 ,crane1 for instance1 takes to idealising the heroic acts of policemen1 the impulse does credit to his heart1 but the results are not flattering to his head4 ,fortunately he does not often go these lengths1 and no one else of the decorative idea has been equally courageous1 save indeed a ,mr4 ,beardsley1 who 8decoratively0 illustrated ,orpheus at the ,lyceum ,theatre2 and those illustrations in the ,pall ,mall ,budget1 ,march #af1 #ahic1 certainly were very dreadful4 ,an exception to the general beauty of recent decorative work is the incomprehensible and at the same time unlovely practice of this eccentric4 ,mr4 ,charles ,ricketts' work1 although its meaning may often be so subtly symbolical that it is not to be understood except by the elect1--never without the aid of a glossary of symbolism1--is always graced with interesting technicalities1 and his draughtsmanship is of the daintiest2 but what of meaning is conveyed to the mind and what of beauty to the eye in this work of ,mr4 ,beardsley's1 that has been somewhat spoken of lately8 ,it has imagination certainly1 but morbid and neurotic1 with a savour of ,bethlehem ,hospital and the charnel-house2 it is eccentric apparently with an eccentricity that clothes bad draughtsmanship1 and incongruous with an incongruity that suggests the uninstructed enthusiasm of the provincial mind4 ,it exhibits a patchwork-quilt kind of eclecticism1 born of a fleeting glance at ,durer2 of a nodding acquaintance with all prominent modern decoration and an irrelevant soupon of ,renaissance ornament2 like the work of a lithographic draughtsman1 a designer of bill-heads1 roaming fancy free4 ,the practice of ,mr4 ,selwyn ,image has a devotional and meditative cast4 ,he has made some remarkable drawings for the ,hobby ,horse in the manner of the missal-painters1 both in spirit and execution1 and he steadfastly keeps the art of the monkish scriptorium in view1 and seems to echo the sentiments of the rapturous maidens in ,patience1 8,let us be ,early ,english ere it is too late40 ,and he is ,early ,english to excellent purpose4 ,it is a gross error to hold that decorative art is impossible under present social conditions1 and unpardonable to attempt to link decoration and design to ,socialist propaganda4 ,art of all possible application never flourished so well as under the feudal system1 and never sank so low as it did when ,democracy and the ,trouser came in together4 ,the great advantages of ,art over ,photography are its personal qualities4 ,the camera is impersonal1 and will ever be a scientific instrument4 ,you can1 like the ingenious ,mr4 ,h4 ,p4 ,robinson1 pose figures1 and with a combination of negatives concoct a composition which is some sort of cousin-german to a picture2 but if you can do all this1 you might go a little farther and make a picture without the aid of a camera4 ,it would be personal1 and1 without a signature1 signed all over with the unmistakable mark of style or manner1 like ,constable's paintings4 ,it seems unlikely that any mechanical processes1 save the strictly autographic1 which reproduce line1 will be of permanent artistic value4 ,no photogravure will be sought for and prized in years to come as the old etchings and mezzotints are valued4 ,those elaborate photogravure plates from popular or artistic pictures 7the terms are not synonymous7 which crowd the print-sellers' shops to-day1 at five or ten guineas1 will not long hence be accounted dear at so many shillings1 simply because they lack the personal note4 ,meanwhile1 mezzotints and etchings1 other than the 8commercial0 etching1 will become inversely expensive4 ,in that brackish flood of 8bitter cries0 to which we have been subjected of late years1 the wail of the wood-engraver was easily to be distinguished1 and we heard that his occupation was gone4 ,but has it8 ,no1 nor will it go4 ,no tint nor half-tone process can ever render sufficiently well the wash drawings that the best engravers render so admirably1 with an entire subjection of their own individuality unthought of twenty years ago4 ,the wood-engraver1 as one who imposes restrictions upon technique1 has had his day2 but as a conscientious and skilful workman1 who renders faithfully the personality of the artist he engraves1 he flourishes1 and will continue to flourish4 ,otherwise1 there is no hope for him1 let ,mr4 ,linton say what he will4 ,he will remain because he can preserve the personal note4 ,half-tone processes are as tricky as ,puck and as inconstant4 ,you never know the exact result you will get from any given drawing4 ,half a dozen blocks from the same drawing will give1 each one1 a different result1 because so much depends upon the fraction of a second1 more or less1 in making the negative2 but all of them agree in presenting an aspect similar to that obtained on looking through the wire blind of some ,philistine window upon the street4 ,in all cases the edge1 the poignancy of the subject1 is taken off1 and1 in the case of the process-block1 several intermediate tones go as well1 with1 frequently1 the result of an unnatural lighting 8that never was on land or sea10 and it may be hoped never will be4 ,no doubt half-tone processes will continue to be more and more widely used1 chiefly because they are several times cheaper than a good wood engraving1 and because1 so far as mere documentary evidence goes1 they are good enough for illustrated journalism4 ,but for bookwork1 for anything that is not calculated for an ephemeral consideration1 half-tone processes are only to be used with the most jealous care4 ,as regards the half-tone processes employed to reproduce photographs1 ,i take leave to say that no one will1 a hundred years hence1 prize them for any quality4 ,the necessary reticulation of their surface subtracts from them something of the documentary value of the photograph1 and1 deriving directly from photographs1 they have no personal or artistic interest4 ,but their present use touches the professional draughtsman nearly1 for in illustrated journalism half-tone is very frequently used in reproducing photographs of places and people without the aid of the artist1 and it is no consolation for a man who finds his occupation going for him to consider that these direct photographic processes have no permanent interest4 ,it is the new version of the old tale of the stage-coach versus the railway engine1 to his mind1 and he is apt to think that as a craftsman he is fast following the wood-engraver4 ,but it is safe to say that although the mediocrities will suffer1 or be forced1 like the miniature-painter who turned daguerrotypist and then blossomed forth as a photographer1 to study practical evolution1 the artists of style and distinction will rather gain than lose by a further popularity of cheap photographic blocks4 ,the illustrated papers and magazines will not be so freely open to them as before1 but in the illustration of books will lie their chief field1 and who knows but that by such a time the pen-drawing and the drawing in wash will have won at last to the picture-frame and the art galleries4 ,there's distinction for you6 ,so much to show the value of personality4 ,still it remains that1 although the personal element will always be valued1 the fact--to paraphrase a sounding ,ruskinian anathema--gives no reason for flinging your identity in the face of your contemporaries1 or even of posterity 7this last a long shot which few1 with all the will in the world1 will be able to achieve74 ,you may be startlingly original and brilliant in technique1 and be received with the acclaim that always awaits a novelty2 but if your personality be so exaggerated that you allow it to override the due presentment of your subject1 why1 then1 your plaudits will not be of very long continuance4 ,,painters' ,,pen-,,drawings4 ,it is to the painters that we owe some curious and original effects in pen-drawing1 that no professional pen-draughtsman who has studied the science of reproduction could have given us1 however independent his attitude towards process4 ,illustration3 #g #e4 ,,pasturage4 ,from a drawing by ,mr4 ,alfred ,hartley4 ,illustration3 ,,portrait ,,of ,,mr4 ,,bonnat1 ,,by ,,himself4 ,painters who have known nothing whatever of processes have from time to time been called upon to make pen-drawings from their paintings for reproduction in illustrated exhibition catalogues1 and their drawings have frequently been both of the most ludicrously impossible character from the process point of view1 and bad from the independent penman's standpoint4 ,but a percentage of this painters' pen-work1 done as it was with a free hand and an unprejudiced brain1 is curiously instructive4 ,a very great number of painters' pen-drawings have been made up to within the last few years 7since which time half-tone process blocks produced from photos of their pictures have superseded them71 and painters have in no small measure helped to advance the science of process-work1 merely by reason of the difficulty of reproducing their drawings adequately1 and the consequent renewed efforts of the process-man toward the adequate translation of their frequently untranslateable qualities4 ,the graver has been pressed into the service of process partly on their account1 and the roulette has been used freely to assuage the crudities resulting on the block from drawings utterly unsuitable for straight-away processing4 ,in this connection half-tone processes have done inestimable harm1 for1 to-day1 the catalogues and the illustrated papers are filled with photographic reproductions of paintings where in other days autographic sketches by the painters themselves were used to give a value that is now lacking to these records of exhibitions4 ,they have frequently a heavy hand1 these painters1 and are prodigal of their ink2 moreover1 they have not the paralyzing dread of an immaculate sheet of white cardboard that seizes upon the black-and-white man 7so to call the illustrator71 who is brought up with the fear of the process-man before him4 ,thus you will find ,mr4 ,wyllie make pen-sketches from his pictures with a masterful hand1 and a pen 7apparently a quill7 that plumbs the deepest depths of the inkpot1 and produces a robustious drawing that wrings conviction out of one by the thickness and surety of its lines2 or again1 ,mr4 ,blake ,wirgman shows equal vigour and directness with portraits in pen-and-ink1 replicas in little of his oil-paintings4 ,one could desire nothing more masculine than the accompanying illustration from his hand4 ,illustration3 #ah #aj4 ,,towing ,,path1 ,,abingdon4 ,from a drawing by ,mr4 ,david ,murray4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,portrait ,,from ,a ,,drawing ,,by ,,mr4 ,t4 ,,blake ,,wirgman4 ,a striking exception to these is seen in ,mr4 ,alfred ,hartley's drawing of a pasturage4 ,it is full of tender1 pearly greys1 and is drawn with the lightest of hands1 but with a peculiar disposition of pen-strokes that no professional pen-draughtsman would employ1 because of his constant care to give the process-man the easiest of problems4 ,and the autocrat of the rocking-bath and the etching-room would veto such work as this2 yet1 you will observe1 it comes excellently well by the ordinary zinc processes4 ,but with ,mr4 ,david ,murray's large pen-drawing it was another matter4 ,the greyness of the ink with which it was drawn and the extreme tenuity of its lines rendered it impossible of adequate reproduction except by the swelled gelatine process which has been employed4 ,the result is admirable2 all the fine grey lines in the sky are reproduced and give an excellent effect4 ,the portrait of the painter1 ,mr4 ,bonnat1 by himself1 is one of the most suggestive pen-drawings that can be found anywhere4 ,it shows what admirable effects of light and shade and modelling can be obtained even with the heavy hand1 and it is worthy careful study4 ,unfortunately the illustrations in the long series of ,academy ,notes1 in which so many autographic sketches by painters appear1 are almost useless for study and comparison1 because of the extreme reduction to which they have been subjected4 ,this is greatly to be deplored1 for the tendency of the times is more and more towards drawing for the limitations of process1 not only in journalism1 but in the more permanent illustrations of magazines and books4 ,all this tends to bring about a hard and formal line1 to establish a dry and unsatisfactory academic manner1 of which the painter's pen sketches are the very antithesis4 ,it is always well to remember that the only valid reason why process should live is that it enables the draughtsman to live his life at first hand2 that is the first and last argument in favour of modern methods of reproduction4 ,illustration ,,printed ,,by ,,william ,,clowes ,,and ,,sons1 ,,limited1 ,,london ,,and ,,beccles4 ,,reeves ,,sons1 ,ltd41 ,,supply ,,artists ,,with ,,all ,,requisites ,,for ,,process4 ,,special ,,catalogue ,,in ,,the ,,press4 ,telegraphic ,address1 8,likajoko1 ,london40 #bc1 ,,st4 ,,edmund',s ,,terrace1 ,,regent',s ,,park4 ,london1 ,n4,w4 ,nov #afth #ahic4 #ahi ,illustration3 ,harry ,furniss's ,illustrated ,weekly ,london ,letter ,appearing in ,dear ,sirs1 ,st ,james's ,budget ,after working exclusively with your 8,artist's ,london4 ,black0 ,ink for some weeks ,i have great pleasure in testifying to its excellence2 indeed it is just ,new ,york ,world what is wanted by black and white artists now that they have to work almost solely for process4 ,weekly ,scotsman ,faithfully yours1 ,yorkshire ,harry ,furniss ,weekly ,post4 ,liverpool ,weekly ,post4 ,nottinghamshire ,guardian4 ,south ,wales ,daily ,news4 ,best ,anglian ,news ,messrs ,reeves ,sons4 and in ,australia1 ,india1 ,the ,cape1 c4 ,no ,agents4 ,all ,communications direct4 ,all ,rights ,reserved4 ,,reeves ,,sons1 ,ltd41 #aac1 ,cheapside1 ,london2 #h1 ,exhibition ,rd41 ,s4 ,kensington2 and #ai1 ,lower ,phillimore ,place1 ,kensington4 ,london ,boards4 ,crayons of all ,whatman ,descriptions4 ,boards4 ,gillott's ,reeves' ,m ,pens4 ,boards4 ,stumps4 ,bristol ,boards4 ,reeves' ,black ,white ,sable ,boards4 ,brushes4 ,gillot ,papers4 ,pyramid ,papers4 ,,reeves' ,,artists' ,,black1 ,,fixed ,,artists' ,,black1 ,,fixed ,,indian ,,ink1 ,,and ,,ebony ,,stain ,,in ,,bottles4 ,artists' ,black1 in ,tubes1 ,pans1 and ,sticks4 ,,reeves' ,,chinese ,,white4 8,the best ,i have ever used40--,,dudley ,,hardy4 ,,photo-,,engravers ,,by ,,all ,,the ,,latest ,,processes4 ,,hare ,,co41 ,ltd41 #ba1 ,essex ,street1 ,strand1 ,,london4 ,,send ,,for ,,samples4 ,established a ,quarter ,century #c1 ,ludgate ,circus ,buildings4 #ast ,january1 #ahid4 ,london1 ,e4,c4 ,illustration ,,business is conducted nowadays on many different principles4 ,ours is to supply only the highest class of artistic engraving of every description at the lowest price admitting of fair payment to all concerned in its production4 ,all special methods are within our scope1 and will be employed when called for by the exceptional requirements of any order entrusted to us4 ,,swelled ,,gelatine ,,photo-,,relief ,,blocks4 ,wax ,engravings of ,maps1 ,diagrams1 c4 ,,photogravure ,,intaglio ,,plates4 ,,waterlow ,,sons1 ,,limited1 ,photographic ,art ,printers and ,engravers1 ,,finsbury ,,works1 ,,london1 ,e4,c4 ,photo-,zincography4 ,photo-,lithography4 ,photo-,mechanical ,printing4 ,collotype4--,hand and ,machine ,printing for ,art ,publications1 ,scientific and ,antiquarian ,periodicals1 ,machinery1 ,landscapes1 ,portraits1 ,pottery1 ,furniture ,designs1 ,trade ,advertisements1 c4 ,the superior results given by this process1 and the rapidity and cheapness by which the prints are produced1 together with the advantage of printing with or without margins1 place it in the first rank of processes for commercial purposes4 ,,messrs4 ,,waterlow ,,sons1 ,,limited1 have given this branch of the ,photo-,printing ,department special facilities for the production of good work1 and have introduced the most perfect machinery and plant obtainable4 ,woodbury ,prints4--,high-class permanent copies1 equal in appearance to the best ,silver ,prints1 of ,portraits1 ,landscapes1 ,furniture1 ,pottery1 c4 ,prints may be obtained in almost any colour from ,customers' own ,negatives1 or from the original objects4 ,these reproductions are specially suitable for ,portrait work1 and are valuable for every description of ,artistic or ,commercial ,illustrations4 ,photo-,binco ,engraving4--,blocks for ,surface ,printing1 from ,line and ,grained-paper ,drawings1 ,steel and ,copper ,plates1 ,wood ,engravings1 c41 c4 ,letter-press ,blocks in 8,half-tint0 7stipple or dot7 direct from ,photographs from ,nature1 without drawing4 ,accurately registered ,blocks for ,chromographic ,printing4 ,intaglio ,engraving in ,line and ,half-tone on ,copper and ,zinc4 ,the greatest care and skill is employed in the production of these ,blocks1 and the results are the finest which it is possible to obtain4 ,the new and extensive ,photographic ,works being fitted with ,modern ,appliances1 ,machinery1 ,electric ,lighting1 c41 rapid and accurate work is always obtainable1 irrespective of weather or season4 ,,price ,,lists1 ,,estimates1 and full particulars on application4 ,,waterlow ,,sons1 ,limited1 ,finsbury ,works1 ,e4,c4 ,,art ,,publications ,,the ,,theory ,,and ,,practice ,,of ,,design4 ,an advanced ,text-book on ,decorative ,design4 ,being a sequel to the ,author's 8,lessons on ,decorative ,design40 ,by ,,frank ,g4 ,,jackson4 ,with #gjj ,illustrations4 ,large crown #hvo4 #is4 ,a ,,text-,,book ,,of ,,elementary ,,design4 ,by ,,richard ,g4 ,,hatton1 ,durham ,college of ,science4 ,fully ,illustrated4 ,crown #hvo4 #bs4 #f;d4 ,,egyptian ,,art4 ,by ,,charles ,,ryan1 late ,head ,master of the ,ventnor ,school of ,art4 ,with #ef ,illustrations4 ,crown #hvo4 #bs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,street ,,of ,,human ,,habitations4 ,by ,mrs4 ,,ray ,s4 ,,lineham4 ,fully ,illustrated4 ,crown #hvo4 #fs4 ,,elementary ,,art ,,teaching4 ,by ,,edward ,r4 ,,taylor1 ,head ,master of ,birmingham ,municipal ,school of ,art4 ,with over #fjj ,diagrams and ,examples4 ,second ,edition4 #hvo4 #ajs4 #f;d4 ,,principles ,,of ,,ornament4 ,by ,,james ,,ward4 ,edited by ,g4 ,,aitchison1 ,a4,r4,a4 ,fully ,illustrated4 ,crown #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,elementary ,,principles ,,of ,,ornament4 ,by ,,james ,,ward1 ,head ,master of the ,macclesfield ,school of ,art4 #hvo4 #es4 ,,sciography2 or1 ,parallel and ,radial ,projection of ,shadows4 ,being a ,course of ,exercises for the use of ,students in ,architectural and ,engineering ,drawing1 and for ,candidates preparing for the ,examinations in this subject and in ,third ,grade ,perspective conducted by the ,science and ,art ,department4 ,by ,,robert ,,pratt4 ,with numerous ,plates4 ,oblong #dto4 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,wood-,,carving ,,in ,,practice ,,and ,,theory1 as applied to the ,home ,arts1 with ,notes on ,design having ,special ,application to ,carved ,wood in ,different ,styles4 ,by ,,fran,,ois ,,louis ,,schauermann4 ,preface by ,,walter ,,crane4 ,with #abd ,illustrations4 ,second ,edition4 #hvo4 #es4 ,,decorative ,,design4 ,an ,elementary ,text-book of ,principles and ,practice4 ,by ,f4 ,g4 ,,jackson4 ,fully ,illustrated4 ,second ,edition4 ,large crown #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,handbook ,,of ,,perspective4 ,by ,h4 ,a4 ,,james1 ,m4,a4 ,cantab4 ,with #ge ,diagrams4 ,crown #hvo4 #bs4 #f;d4 ,,life ,,in ,,ancient ,,egypt ,,and ,,assyria4 ,by ,g4 ,,masp,,ro4 ,translated by ,a4 ,p4 ,,morton4 ,with #ahh ,illustrations4 ,third ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo4 #es4 ,,raphael3 ,his ,life1 ,works1 and ,times4 ,by ,,eugene ,,muntz4 ,imperial #hvo4 #bes4 ,,ten ,,lectures ,,on ,,art4 ,by ,e4 ,j4 ,,poynter1 ,r4,a4 ,third ,edition4 ,large crown #hvo4 #is4 ,,the ,,sculptor ,,and ,,art ,,student',s ,,guide to the ,proportions of the ,human ,form1 with ,measurements in feet and inches of ,full-,grown ,figures of ,both ,sexes and of ,various ,ages4 ,translated by ,j4 ,j4 ,,wright4 ,plates reproduced by ,j4 ,,sutcliffe4 ,oblong ,folio4 #cas4 #f;d4 ,,outlines ,,of ,,historic ,,ornament4 ,by ,g4 ,,redgrave4 ,translated from the ,german4 ,edited by ,g4 ,,redgrave4 ,crown #hvo4 #ds4 ,,the ,,characteristics ,,of ,,styles4 ,an ,introduction to the ,study of the ,history of ,ornamental ,art4 ,by ,r4 ,n4 ,,wornum4 ,ninth ,edition4 ,royal #hvo4 #hs4 ,,the ,,mythology ,,of ,,greece ,,and ,,rome1 with ,special ,reference to its ,use in ,art4 ,from the ,german4 ,edited by ,g4 ,h4 ,,bianchi4 #fd ,illustrations4 ,new ,edition4 ,crown #hvo4 #es4 ,g4 ,,perrot and ,c4 ,,chipiez4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,,in ,,greece4 ,with about #ejj ,illustrations4 #b vols4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,,in ,,ph,,nicia1 ,,cyprus1 ,,and ,,asia ,,minor4 #ejj ,illustrations4 #b vols4 ,imperial #hvo4 #dbs4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,art ,,in ,,ancient ,,egypt4 ,with #faf ,illustrations4 #b vols4 ,imperial #hvo4 #dbs4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,art ,,in ,,chald,a ,,and ,,assyria4 ,with #deb ,illustrations4 #b vols4 ,imperial #hvo4 #dbs4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,,in ,,sardinia1 ,,jud,a1 ,,syria1 ,,and ,,asia ,,minor4 ,with #cie ,illustrations4 #b vols4 ,imperial #hvo4 #cfs4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,,in ,,persia4 ,with #bed ,illustrations1 and #ab ,steel and ,coloured ,plates4 ,imperial #hvo4 #bas4 ,a ,,history ,,of ,,ancient ,,art ,,in ,,phrygia-,,lydia ,,and ,,caria-,,lycia4 ,with #bhj ,illustrations4 ,imperial #hvo4 #aes4 ,,london3 ,,chapman ,,hall1 ,,ld4