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MATERIALS

<< STYLE IN PEN DRAWING
TECHNIQUE >>
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,