|
|||||
studythe
work of this masterlypenman.
By way of
warning,however,
let me
remind him here, that in
studying the work of
anyaccomplished
draughtsman
he is selecting a style
forthe study of principles,
notthat he
maylearn
to mimic somebody,however
excellent thesomebody may
be;
that he
must, therefore, do a
littlethinking himself; that
he has an
individuality
of his own which he
doesnot confess if his
worklooks like
someone's
else; and, finally,that he
has no more right to
consciously
appropriate
the peculiarities of
another'sstyle than he has
to appropriate
hismore
tangible property, and no more
reason to do so than he has
to
walk
or talk like him.
CHAPTER
II
MATERIALS
Everyillustrator
has his special predilections in
the matter of
materials,
just
as he has in the matter of
methods. The purpose of
thischapter is,
therefore,rather
to assist the choice of the
student by limiting it than
to
choosefor
him. It would be advisable for
him to become acquainted
with
thevarious
materials that I mayhave
occasion to mention (all of
them
aremore
or less employed by
theprominent penmen), and a
partialityfor
particularones
will soon develop itself. He is reminded,
however, that it
is
easily possible to exaggerate
theintrinsic values of pens
and papers; in
factthe
beginner invariably expects too
much from them. Of course,
he
shouldnot
use any butthe
best,--even Vierge couldnot
make a good
drawingwith
a bad pen,--but theartistic
virtues of a particular
instrumentare
not likely to disclose themselves in
the rudescratchings
of
thebeginner.
He has to master it, to "break it
in," ere he can discover
of
whatexcellent
service it is capable.
Thestudent
will find that most of the
steel pens made forartists
have Pens
but
a short period of
usefulness.When new they
areeven more
unresponsivethan
when they areold. At
first they aredisposed to
give a
hard,wiry
line, then theygrow
sympathetic, and,finally, lose
their
temper,when
they must be immediately
thrown away. As a general
rule,
themore
delicate points arebetter
suited to the smooth surfaces,
where
theyare
not likely to get tripped up and
"shaken" by theroughness in
the
paper.
To
begin with the
smallerpoints, the
"GillottCrow-quill" is an
excellentinstrument.
The normalthickness of its
line is extremely
small,
but
so beautifully is the
nibmade that it will respond
vigorously to a big
sweepingstroke.
I say a "sweeping stroke," as its
capacity is not to be
taxedfor
uniformly big lines. An
equally delicate point,which
surpasses
thecrow-quill
in range, is "Gillott'sMapping-pen." It is
astonishinghow
large
a line may be made
withthis instrument. It
respondsmost nimbly
to
the demands made
uponit, and in some
respectsreminds one of a
brush.
It has a short life, but it
may be a merry one. Mr.
Pennell makes
mention
of a pen, "Perry's
Auto-Stylo,"which seems to
possess an even
morewonderful
capacity, but of this I
cannot speak fromexperience.
A
coarser,
but still a small point, is
the "Gillott 192"--a good pen
with a
fairlylarge
range; and, forany
others than thesmooth
papers, a pen
smallerthan
this will probably be found
undesirable forgeneral use.
A
shadebigger
than this is the"Gillott
303," a very good average
size.
Neither
of these two possesses the
sensitiveness of those previously
mentioned,but
for work demandingmore or
less uniformity of line
they
will
be found more
satisfactory.The smaller
points areliable to lead
one
intothe
quagmire of finicalness.When we get
beyond the next in
size,
the"Gillott
404," there is nothing about
the coarse steel points
to
especiallycommend
them for artisticuse.
They are
usuallystupid,
unreliableaffairs,
whose reallyvaluable
existence is
aboutfifteen
workingminutes.
For decorativedrawing the
ordinarycommercial
"stub"
will
be found a very
satisfactoryinstrument. Of course one
mayuse
severalsizes
of pens in the samedrawing,
and it is often necessary to do
so.
Beforeleaving
the steel pens,
the"double-line pen" may be
mentioned,
though
it has only a
limitedsphere. It is a
two-pointedarrangement,
practicallytwo
pens in one, by means of
which parallel lines may
be
madewith
one stroke. Ratherinteresting
effects can be obtainedwith
it,
but
on the whole it is
mostvaluable as a curiosity.
Thoughsomewhat out
of
fashion for general
use,the quill of our
fathers is favored by
many
illustrators.
It is splendidly adapted
forbroad, vigorous rendering
of
foregroundeffects,
and is almost dangerouslyeasy to
handle. Reed pens,
whichhave
somewhat similarvirtues, are
now littleemployed,
and
cannot
be bought. They have to be
cut from the
naturalreed, and used
whilefresh.
For many uses in decorative
drawing one of
themost
satisfactoryinstruments
is the glasspen, which
gives an absolutely
uniformline.
The point beingreally
the end of a thintube, the
stroke
may
be made in any direction, a
most unique characteristic in a
pen. It
has,however,
the disadvantages of being
friable and expensive;and,
as it
needs
to be kept clean, the
patentwater-proof ink should
not be used
with
it unless absolutely necessary. A
flatpiece of cork or
rubbershould
be
placed inside the
ink-bottlewhen this pen is used,
otherwise it is
liable
to be smashed by striking
thebottom of the bottle.
Thefaculty
possessed
by the Japanese brush of
retaining its point renders it
also
availablefor
use as a pen, and it is often so
employed.
In
drawing for reproduction,the
best ink is thatwhich is
blackest and Inks
least
shiny. Until a few years ago
it was the custom of penmen
to grind
theirIndia
ink themselves; but,besides
the difficulty of always
ensuring
theproper
consistency, it was a cumbersome method,
and is nowlittle
resorted
to, especially as
numerousexcellent prepared
inks areready to
hand.The
better known of
theseprepared inks
are,"Higgins'
American"(general
and waterproof), Bourgeois'"Encre de
Chine
Liquide,""Carter's,"
"Winsor & Newton's," and "Rowney's."
Higgins'
and
Carter's have the
extrinsicadvantages of being
put up in bottles
which
do not tip over on
theslightest provocation, and of
being
furnishedwith
stoppers which can be
handled without
smearingthe
fingers.Otherwise,
they cannot be said to
possess superiorityover
the
others,certainly
not over the"Encre de
Chine Liquide."Should
the
studenthave
occasion to draw oversalt-prints he will
find it wise to use
waterproofink,
as the bleaching acid which is
used to fade the
photographic
image may otherwise
causethe ink to
run.
Bristol-board
is probably the most
popular of all surfaces for pen
Papers
drawing.
It is certainly that
mostapproved by the
processengraver,
whosepoint
of view in such a matter,
though a purelymechanical
one, is
worthy
of consideration. It has a
perfectlysmooth
surface,somewhat
difficult
to erase from with rubber,
and which had better be scratched
with
a knife when any considerable
erasure is necessary. As
thecheap
boardsare
merely a padding veneered on either
side with a
thincoating
of
smooth paper, little scraping is
required to develop a
fuzzysurface
uponwhich
it is impossible to work.Only
the best board,such
as
Reynolds',therefore,
should be used. Bristol-board can be
procured in
sheets
of various thicknesses as well as in
blocks.
Whatman's"hot-pressed"
paper affordsanother
excellent surface and
possessessome
advantages over
theBristol-board. It comes in
sheets of
varioussizes,
which may be either tacked
down on a board or else
"stretched."Tacking
will be satisfactory enough if the
drawing is small
and
is to be completed in a few
hours;otherwise the paper is
sure to
"humpup,"
especially if theweather be
damp. The process of
stretching
is
as follows: Fold up
theedges of the sheet
allaround, forming a
margin
about
an inch wide.
Aftermoistening the
paperthoroughly with a
damp
sponge,
cover the under side of
this turned-up margin
withphotographic
paste
or strong mucilage.
Duringthis operation the
sheet will have
softened
and "humped up," and will admit of
stretching. Now
turndown
the
adhesive margin and press it
firmlywith the fingers,
stretchingthe
papergently
at the same time. As this
essential part of theprocess
must
be
performed quickly, an assistant is
requisite when the sheet is
large.
Careshould
be taken that thepaper is
not strained toomuch, as it
is then
likely
to burst when it again
contracts.
Althoughgenerally
employed forwatercolor
drawing,Whatman's
"cold-pressed"paper
has some advantages as a pen
surface. Slightly
roughish
in texture, it gives an
interestingbroken line,
which is at times
desirable.
A
peculiar paper which has
considerable vogue, especially in
France
and
England, is what is known as
"clay-board." Its surface is
composed
of
China clay, grained in
various ways, the top of
the grain
beingmarked
withfine
black lines whichgive a
gray tone to the paper,
darker or
lighteraccording
to the character of the
pattern. This toneprovides
the
middle-tintfor
the drawing. By
lightlyscraping with a sharp
penknife or
scratcher,before
or after the pen work is
done, a more delicategray
tone
may
be obtained, while
vigorousscraping will produce an
absolute
white.With
the pen work added, it will be
seen that a good
manyvalues
are
possible; and, if the drawing be
not reduced more
thanone-third, it
will
print excellently. Thegrain,
running as it does in straight
lines,
|
|||||