PHOTO-ZINC PROCESS.[12]
In order to turn any of these drawings into blocks for the type press,
the first process is to have it photographed to the size required, and
to transfer a print of it on to a sensitized zinc plate. This print, or
photographic image of the drawing lying upon the zinc plate, is of
greasy substance (bichromate of potash and gelatine), and is afterwards
inked up with a roller; the plate is then immersed in a bath of nitric
acid and ether, which cuts away the parts which were left white upon
the paper, and leaves the lines of the drawing in relief. This "biting
in," as it is called, requires considerable experience and attention,
according to the nature of the drawing. Thus, the lines are turned into
metal in a few hours, and the plate when mounted on wood to the height
of type-letters, is ready to be printed from, if necessary, at the rate
of several thousands an hour.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT. (T. BLAKE WIRGMAN.)
(_From "Academy Notes."_)]
[This portrait was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1880. I reproduce
Mr. Wirgman's sketch for the sake of his powerful treatment of line.]
[Illustration: No. XV.
"_Forget-Me-Not_," by HENRY RYLAND.
(_From the "English Illustrated Magazine."_)
An unusually fine example of reproduction in line, by zinc process, from
a large pen-and-ink drawing. It serves to show how clearly writing can
be reproduced if done by a trained hand. Students should notice the
variety of "colour" and delicacy of line, also the brightness and
evenness of the process block throughout.
This illustration suggests possibilities in producing decorative pages
in modern books without the aid of printers' type, which is worth
consideration in art schools. It requires, of course, knowledge of the
figure and of design, and a trained hand for process. One obvious
preparation for such work, is an examination of decorative pages in the
Manuscript Department of the British Museum. (_See Appendix._)
It would be difficult, I think, to show more clearly the scope and
variety of line work by process than in the contrast between this and
the two preceding illustrations. Each artist is an expert in black and
white in his own way.]
[Illustration: "BABY'S OWN." (G. HILLYARD SWINSTEAD.)
(_From "Academy Notes," 1890._)]
A wonderful and startling invention is here, worthy of a land of
enchantment, which, without labour, with little more than a wave of the
hand, transfixes the artist's touch, and turns it into concrete; by
which the most delicate and hasty strokes of the pen are not merely
recorded in fac-simile for the eye to decipher, but are brought out in
sharp relief, as bold and strong as if hewn out of a rock! Here is an
argument for doing "the best and truest work we can," a process that
renders indestructible--so indestructible that nothing short of
cremation would get rid of it--every line that we put upon paper; an
argument for learning for purposes of illustration the touch and method
best adapted for reproduction by the press.[13]
[Illustration: "A SILENT POOL." (ED. W. WAITE.) (_From "Academy
Notes," 1891._)]
GELATINE PROCESS.
By this process a more delicate and sensitive method has been used to
obtain a relief block.
The drawing is photographed to the required size (as before), and the
_negative_ laid upon a glass plate (previously coated with a mixture of
gelatine and bichromate of potash). The part of this thin, sensitive
film not exposed to the light, is absorbent, and when immersed in water
swells up. The part exposed to the light (_i.e._, the lines of the
drawing) remains near the surface of the glass. Thus we have a sunk
mould from which a metal cast can be taken, leaving the lines in relief
as in the zinc process. In skilful hands this process admits of more
delicate gradations, and pale, uncertain lines can be reproduced with
tolerable fidelity. The blocks take longer to make, and are double the
price of the photo-zinc process first described. There is no process yet
invented which gives better results from a pen-and-ink drawing for the
type-press. These blocks when completed have a copper surface. The
reproductions of pencil, chalk, or charcoal drawings by the zinc, or
"biting-in" processes are nearly always failures, as we may see in some
of the best artistic books and magazines to-day.
[Illustration: No. XVI.
"_The Miller's Daughter_," by E. K. JOHNSON.
Another very interesting example of Mr. E. K. Johnson's drawing in pen
and ink. Nearly every line has the value intended by the artist.
The drawing has been largely reduced, and reproduced by the gelatine
relief process.]
[Illustration: "THE END OF THE CHAPTER." (FROM THE PAINTING BY W.
RAINEY.)
[_Royal Academy, 1886._]
(_Reproduced by the old Dawson process._)]
[Illustration: "IN THE PAS DE CALAIS." (JAS. PRINSEP BEADLE.)[14]]
GRAINED PAPERS.
For those who cannot draw easily with the pen, there are several kinds
of grained papers which render drawings suitable for reproduction. The
first is a paper with _black lines_ imprinted upon it on a material
suitable for scraping out to get lights, and strengthening with pen or
pencil to get solid blacks. On some of these papers black lines are
imprinted horizontally, some vertically, some diagonally, some in dots,
and some with lines of several kinds, one under the other, so that the
artist can get the tint required by scraping out. Drawings thus made can
be reproduced in relief like line drawings, taking care not to reduce a
fine black grain too much or it will become "spotty" in reproduction.
[Illustration: "GOLDEN DAYS." (F. STUART RICHARDSON.)
(_Black-grained paper._)]
This drawing and the one opposite by Mr. Hume Nisbet show the skilful
use of paper with vertical and horizontal black lines; also, in the
latter drawing, the different qualities of strength in the sky, and the
method of working over the grained paper in pen and ink.
[Illustration: No. XVII.
"TWILIGHT." (SPECIMEN OF BLACK-GRAINED PAPER.)
(_From "Lessons in Art," by Hume Nisbet, published by Chatto &
Windus._)]
[Illustration: No. XVIII.]
"_Le Dent du Geant_," by E. T. COMPTON.
Another skilful use of the black-grained paper to represent snow,
glacier, and drifting clouds. The original tone of the paper may be
seen in the sky and foreground.
The effect is obtained by scraping out the lighter parts on the paper
and strengthening the dark with pen and pencil.
It is interesting to compare the two blocks made from the same
drawing. (Size of drawing 7-3/4 x 4 in.)]
[Illustration: No. XIX.
_Landscape_, by A. M. LINDSTROM.
Example of bold effect by scraping out on the black-lined paper, and
free use of autographic chalk.
This drawing shows, I think, the artistic limitations of this process
in the hands of an experienced draughtsman.
The original drawing by Mr. Lindstrom (from his painting in the Royal
Academy) was the same size as the reproduction.]
Other papers largely used for illustration in the type press have a
_white grain_, a good specimen of which is on page 123; and there are
variations of these white-grained papers, of which what is known in
France as _allonge_ paper is one of the best for rough sketches in books
and newspapers.
The question may arise in many minds, are these contrivances with their
mechanical lines for producing effect, worthy of the time and attention
which has been bestowed upon them? I think it is very doubtful if much
work ought to be produced by means of the black-grained papers;
certainly, in the hands of the unskilled, the results would prove
disastrous. A painter may use them for sketches, especially for
landscape. Mr. Compton (as on p. 116) can express very rapidly and
effectively, by scraping out the lights and strengthening the darks, a
snowdrift or the surface of a glacier. In the drawing on page 123, Mr.
C. J. Watson has shown us how the grained paper can be played with, in
artistic hands, to give the effect of a picture.
The difference, artistically speaking, between sketches made on
black-grained and white-grained papers seems to me much in favour of the
latter.
[Illustration: No. XX.
"_Volendam_," by C. J. WATSON.
Example of white-lined paper, treated very skilfully and
effectively--only the painter of the picture could have given so much
breadth and truth of effect.
This _white_ paper has a strong vertical grain which when drawn upon
with autographic chalk has the same appearance as black-lined paper;
and is often taken for it.
(Size of drawing 6 x 4-1/2 in.)]
But at the best, blocks made from drawings on these papers are apt to be
unequal, and do not print with the ease and certainty of pure line work;
they require good paper and careful printing, which is not always to be
obtained. The artist who draws for the processes in this country must
not expect (excepting in very exceptional cases) to have his work
reproduced and printed as in America, or even as well as in this book.
[Illustration: "AND WEE PEERIE WINKIE PAYED FOR A'." (FROM THE
PAINTING BY HUGH CAMERON.)
_Example of a good chalk drawing too largely reduced._]
[Illustration: No. XXI.
"_An Arrest_," by MELTON PRIOR.
This is a remarkable example of the reproduction of a pencil drawing.
It is seldom that the soft grey effect of a pencil drawing can be
obtained on a "half-tone" relief block, or the lights so successfully
preserved.
This is only a portion of a picture by Mr. Melton Prior, the
well-known special artist, for which I am indebted to the proprietors
of _Sketch_.
The reproduction is by Carl Hentschel.]
The reproduction on the previous page owes its success not only to good
process, paper, and printing, but also to _the firm, decisive touch of
an experienced illustrator_ like Mr. Melton Prior. A pencil drawing in
less skilful hands is apt to "go to pieces" on the press.
Mr. C. G. Harper, in his excellent book on _English Pen Artists_, has
treated of other ways in which drawings on prepared papers may be
manipulated for the type press; but not always with success. In that
interesting publication, _The Studio_, there have appeared during the
past year many valuable papers on this subject, but in which the
_mechanism_ of illustration is perhaps too much insisted on. Some of the
examples of "mixed drawings," and of chalk-and-pencil reproductions,
might well deter any artist from adopting such aids to illustration.
The fact is, that the use of grained papers is, at the best, a makeshift
and a degradation of the art of illustration, if judged by the old
standards. It will be a bad day for the art of England when these
mechanical appliances are put into the hands of young students in art
schools.
For the purposes of ordinary illustrations we should keep to the simpler
method of line. All these contrivances require great care in printing,
and the blocks have often to be worked up by an engraver. _The material
of the process blocks is unsuited to the purpose._ In a handbook to
students of illustration this requires repeating on nearly every page.
As a contrast to the foregoing, let us look at a sketch in pure line by
the landscape painter, Mr. M. R. Corbet, who, with little more than a
scribble of the pen, can express the feeling of sunrise and the still
air amongst the trees.
[Illustration: "SUNRISE IN THE SEVERN VALLEY." (MATTHEW R. CORBET.)]
MECHANICAL DOTS.
Amongst the modern inventions for helping the hurried or feeble
illustrator, is the system of laying on mechanical dots to give shadow
and colour to a pure line drawing, by process. It is a practice always
to be regretted; whether applied to a necessarily hasty newspaper
sketch, or to one of Daniel Vierge's elaborately printed illustrations
in the _Pablo de Segovia_. One cannot condemn too strongly this system,
so freely used in continental illustrated sheets, but which, in the most
skilful hands, seems a degradation of the art of illustration. These
dots and lines, used for shadow, or tone, are laid upon the plate by the
maker of the block, the artist indicating, by a blue pencil mark, the
parts of a drawing to be so manipulated; and as the illustrator _has not
seen the effect on his own line drawing_, the results are often a
surprise to everyone concerned. I wish these ingenious contrivances were
more worthy of an artist's attention.
On the opposite page is an example taken from an English magazine, by
which it may be seen that all daylight has been taken ruthlessly from
the principal figure, and that it is no longer in tone with the rest of
the picture, as an open air sketch. The system is tempting to the
hurried illustrator; he has only to draw in line (or outline, which is
worse) and then mark where the tint is to appear, and the dots are laid
on by the maker of the blocks.
[Illustration: "THE ADJUTANT'S LOVE STORY." (H. R. MILLAR.)
(_Example of mechanical grain._)
No. XXII.]
In the illustration on the last page (I have chosen an example of
fine-grain dots; those used in newspapers and common prints are much
more unsightly, as everyone knows), it is obvious that the artist's
sketch is injured by this treatment, that, in fact, the result is not
artistic at all. Nothing but high pressure or incompetence on the part
of the illustrator can excuse this mechanical addition to an incomplete
drawing; and it must be remembered that these inartistic results are not
the fault of the process, or of the "process man." But the system is
growing in every direction, to save time and trouble, and is lowering
the standard of topical illustrations. And it is this system (_inter
alia_) which is taught in technical schools, where the knowledge of
process is taking the place of wood engraving.
The question is again uppermost in the mind, are such mechanical
appliances ("dodges," I venture to call them) worthy the serious
attention of artists; and can any good arise by imparting such knowledge
to youthful illustrators in technical schools? Wood engraving was a
craft to be learned, with a career for the apprentice. _There is no
similar career for a lad by learning the "processes;" and nothing but
disappointment before him if he learns the mechanism before he is an
educated and qualified artist._
Mention should be made here (although I do not wish to dwell upon it) of
drawing in line on prepared transfer paper with autographic ink, which
is transferred to zinc without the aid of photography, a process very
useful for rapid and common work; but it is seldom used for good book
illustration, as it is irksome to the artist and not capable of very
good results; moreover, the drawing has often to be minute, as the
reproduction will be the same size as the original. It is one of the
processes which I think the student of art had better not know much
about.[15]
That it is possible, by the common processes, to obtain strong effects
almost equal to engraving, may be seen in some process illustrations by
Mr. Lancelot Speed, in which many technical experiments have been made,
including the free use of white lining.
Mr. Speed is very daring in his experiments, and students may well
puzzle over the means by which he obtains his effects by the line
processes.
[Illustration]
The illustration opposite from Andrew Lang's _Blue Poetry Book_, shows a
very ingenious treatment of the black-lined papers. Technically it is
one of the best examples I know of,--the result of much study and
experiment.
[Illustration: _From Andrew Lang's "Blue Poetry Book."_ (LANCELOT
SPEED.)
No. XXIII.]
[Illustration: No. XXIV.
"_The Armada_," by LANCELOT SPEED.
This extraordinary example of line drawing for process was taken from
Andrew Lang's _Blue Poetry Book_, published by Messrs. Longmans.
In this illustration no wash has been used, nor has there been any
"screening" or engraving on the block. The methods of lining are, of
course, to a great extent the artist's own invention. This
illustration and the two preceding lead to the conclusion that there
is yet much to learn in _drawing for process_ by those who will study
it. The achievements of the makers of the blocks, with difficult
drawings to reproduce, is quite another matter. Here all is easy for
the reproducer, the common zinc process only being employed, and the
required effects obtained without much worrying of the printer, or of
the maker of the blocks.
* * * * *
Thus far all the illustrations in this book have been produced by the
common line process.]
[Illustration: "SEINE BOATS." (FROM THE PAINTING BY LOUIS GRIER.)]
"HALF-TONE" PROCESS.
The next process to consider is the method of reproducing wash drawings
and photographs on blocks suitable for printing at the type press,
commonly known as the Meisenbach or "half-tone process;" a most
ingenious and valuable invention, which, in clever hands, is capable of
artistic results, but which in common use has cast a gloom over
illustrations in books and newspapers.
First, as to the method of making the blocks. As there are no lines in a
wash drawing or in a photograph from nature, it is necessary to obtain
some kind of grain, or interstices of white, on the zinc plate, as in a
mezzotint; so between the drawing or photograph to be reproduced and the
camera, glass screens, covered with lines or dots, are interposed,
varying in strength according to the light and shade required; thus
turning the image of the wash drawing practically into "line," with
sufficient interstices of white for printing purposes.
[Illustration: "THERE IS THE PRIORY!"]
Thus, all drawings in wash, chalk, pencil, etc., that will not reproduce
by the direct line processes, already referred to, are treated for
printing at the type press; and thus the uniform, monotonous dulness,
with which we are all familiar, pervades the page.
The conditions of drawing for this process have to be carefully studied,
to prevent the meaningless smears and blotches (the result generally of
making too hasty sketches in wash) which disfigure nearly every magazine
and newspaper we take up. There is no necessity for this degradation of
illustration.
The artist who draws in wash with body colour, or paints in oils in
monochrome, for this process, soon learns that his high lights will be
lost and his strongest effects neutralised, under this effect of gauze;
and so for pictorial purposes he has to _force his effect_ and
exaggerate lights and shades; avoiding too delicate gradations, and in
his different tones keeping, so to speak, to one octave instead of two.
Thus, also for this process, to obtain brightness and cheap effect, the
illustrator of to-day often avoids backgrounds altogether.
In spite of the uncertainty of this system of reproduction, it has great
attractions for the skilful or the hurried illustrator.
[Illustration: No. XXV.
"Helga rode without a saddle as if she had grown to her horse--at full
speed."
("_Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales._")]
[Illustration: No. XXVI.
"_The Storks_," by J. R. WEGUELIN.
"And high through the air came the first stork and the second stork;
a pretty child sat on the back of each."
Example of half-tone process applied to a slight wash drawing. The
illustration is much relieved by vignetting and _leaving out_: almost
the only chance for effect that the artist has by the screened
process. It suggests, as so many of the illustrations in this book do,
not the limits but the scope and possibilities of process work for
books.
This and the preceding illustration by Mr. Weguelin are taken from
_Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales_ (Lawrence & Bullen, 1893).]
That this "half-tone" process is susceptible of a variety of effects and
results, good and bad, every reader must be aware.
The illustrations in this book, from pages 138 to 165, are all
practically by the same process of "screening," a slight difference only
in the grain being discernible.
The wash drawing on page 139 suffers by the coarse grain on it, but the
values, it will be seen, are fairly well preserved. The lights which are
out of tone appear to have been taken out on the plate by the maker of
the block, a dangerous proceeding with figures on a small scale. Mr.
Louis Grier's clever sketch of his picture in wash, at the head of this
chapter, gives the effect well.
Mr. Weguelin's illustrations to _Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales_ have been,
I understand, a great success, the public caring more for the spirit of
poetry that breathes through them than for more finished drawings. This
is delightful, and as it should be, although, technically, the artist
has not considered his process enough, and from the educational point of
view it has its dangers. The "process" has been blamed roundly, in one
or two criticisms of Mr. Weguelin's illustrations, whereas _the process
used is the same as on pages 149 and 157_.
However, the effect on a wash drawing is not satisfactory in the best
hands. So uncertain and gloomy are the results that several well-known
illustrators decline to use it as a substitute for wood engraving. We
shall have to improve considerably before wood engraving is abandoned.
We _are_ improving every day, and by this half-tone process numberless
wash drawings and photographs from nature are now presented to the
public in our daily prints.
Great advances have been made lately in the "screening" of pencil
drawings, and in taking out the lights of a sketch (as pointed out on
page 127), and results have been obtained by careful draughtsmen during
the last six months which a year ago would have been considered
impossible. These results have been obtained principally by good
printing and paper--allowing of a fine grain on the block--but where the
illustration has to be prepared for printing, say 5,000 an hour, off
rotary machines, a coarser grain has to be used, producing the "Berlin
wool pattern" effect on the page, with which we are all familiar in
newspapers.
Let us now look at two examples of wash drawing by process, lent by the
proprietors of _Black and White_.
[Illustration: No. XXVII.
This is a good average example of what to expect by the half-tone
process from a wash drawing. That the result is tame and monotonous is
no fault of the artist, whose work could have been more brightly
rendered by wood engraving.
That "it is better to have this process than bad wood engraving" is
the opinion of nearly all illustrators of to-day. The artist _sees his
own work_, at any rate, if through a veil of fog and gloom which is
meant for sunshine!
But the time is coming when the public will hardly rest content with
such results as these.]
[Illustration: No. XXVIII.
_Illustration from_ "_Black and White_," by G. G. MANTON.
This is a good example of wash drawing for process; that is to say, a
good example from the "process man's" point of view.
Here the artist has used his utmost endeavours to meet the process
half-way; he has been careful to use broad, clear, firm washes, and
has done them with certainty of hand, the result of experience. If, in
the endeavour to get strength, and the _best results out of a few
tones_, the work lacks some artistic qualities, it is almost a
necessity.
Mr. Manton has a peculiar method of lining, or stippling, over his
wash work, which lends itself admirably for reproduction; but the
practice can hardly be recommended to the attention of students. It is
as difficult to achieve artistic results by these means, as in the
combination of line and chalk in one drawing, advocated by some
experts.
At the same time, Mr. Manton's indication of surfaces and textures by
process are both interesting and valuable.]
[Illustration: "A SUNNY LAND." (FROM THE PAINTING BY GEORGE WETHERBEE.)
(_New Gallery, 1891._)]
[Illustration: DECORATIVE DESIGN BY RANDOLPH CALDECOTT.]
(The above design, from the _Memoir of R. Caldecott_, is lent by
Messrs. Sampson Low & Co.)
One of the many uses which artists may make of the half-tone process is
suggested by the reproduction of one of Mr. Caldecott's decorative
designs, drawn freely with a brush full of white, on brown paper on a
large scale (sometimes two or even three feet long), and reduced as
above; the reduction refining and improving the design.
This is a most legitimate and practical use of "process" for
illustrating books, architectural and others, which in artistic hands
might well be further developed.
Of the illustrators who use this process in a more free-and-easy way we
will now take an example, cut out of the pages of _Sketch_ (_see_
overleaf, p. 155).
Here truths of light and shade are disregarded, the figure stands out in
unnatural darkness against white paper, and flat mechanical shadows are
cast upon nothing. Only sheer ability on the part of a few modern
illustrators has saved these coarse ungainly sketches from universal
condemnation. But the splashes, and spots, and stains, which are taking
the place of more serious work in illustration, have become a vogue in
1894. The sketch is made in two or three hours, instead of a week; the
process is also much cheaper to the publisher than wood engraving, and
the public seems satisfied with a sketch where formerly a finished
illustration was required, if the subject be treated dramatically and in
a lively manner. If the sketch comes out an unsightly smear on the page,
it at least answers the purpose of topical illustration, and apparently
suits the times. It is little short of a revolution in illustration, of
which we do not yet see the end.[16]
The bookstalls are laden with the daring achievements of Phil May, Raven
Hill, Dudley Hardy, and others, but it is not the object of this book to
exhibit the works of genius, either for emulation or imitation. It is
rather to suggest to the average student what he may legitimately
attempt, and to show him the possibilities of the process block in
different hands. It may be said, without disparagement of the numerous
clever and experienced illustrators of the day, that they are only
adapting themselves to the circumstances of the time. There is a
theory--the truth of which I do not question--that the reproductions of
rapid sketches from the living model by the half-tone process have more
vitality and freedom, more feeling and artistic qualities than can be
obtained by any other means. But the young illustrator should hesitate
before adapting these methods, and should _never have anything
reproduced for publication which was "drawn to time" in art classes_.
One thing cannot be repeated too often in this connection: that the
hastily produced blotches called "illustrations," which disfigure the
pages of so many books and magazines, are generally the result of want
of care on the part of the artist rather than of the maker of the
blocks.
[Illustration: No. XXIX.
This is part of a page illustration lent by the proprietors of
_Sketch_. It does not do justice to the talent (or the taste, we will
hope), of the illustrator, and is only inserted here to record the
kind of work which is popular in 1894. (Perhaps in a second edition we
may have other exploits of genius to record.)
It should be noted that this and the illustration on p. 149 are both
reproduced by the same hal-ftone process, the difference of result
being altogether in the handling of the brush. This sketch would have
been intolerable in less artistic hands. Artists will doubtless find
more feeling and expression in the broad washes and splashes before
us, than in the most careful stippling of Mr. Manton.
Students of wash drawing for process may take a middle course.]
A word here on the influence of
PROCESS-BLOCK MAKERS
on the young illustrator. The "process man," the teacher and inciter to
achievements by this or that process, is not usually an "artist" in the
true sense of the word. He knows better than anyone else what lines he
can reproduce, and especially what kind of drawing is best adapted for
his own process. He will probably tell the young draughtsman what
materials to use, what amount of reduction his drawings will bear, and
other things of a purely technical not to say businesslike character.
Let me not be understood to disparage the work of photo-engravers and
others engaged on these processes; on the contrary, the amount of
patience, industry, activity, and anxious care bestowed upon the
reproduction of drawings and paintings is astonishing, and deserves our
gratitude.[17] This work is a new industry of an important kind, in
which art and craft are bound up together. The day has past when
"process work" is to be looked down upon as only fit for the cheapest,
most inferior, and inartistic results.
[Illustration: "THE BROOK." (FROM A PAINTING BY ARNOLD HELCKE.)]
PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATIONS.
One result of hasty work in making drawings, and the uncertainty of
reproduction, promises to be a very serious one to the illustrator, as
far as we can see ahead, viz.: the gradual substitution of photographs
from life for other forms of illustration. The "Meisenbach" reproduction
of a photograph from life, say a full length figure of an actress in
some elaborate costume, seems to answer the purpose of the editor of a
newspaper to fill a page, where formerly artists and engravers would
have been employed. One reason for this is that the details of the dress
are so well rendered by photography on the block as to answer the
purpose of a fashion plate, an important matter in some weekly
newspapers. The result is generally unsatisfactory from an artist's
point of view, but the picture is often most skilfully composed and the
values wonderfully rendered, direct from the original.
In the case of the reproduction of photographs, which we are now
considering, much may be done by working up a platinotype print before
giving it out to be made into a block. Much depends here upon the
artistic knowledge of editors and publishers, who have it in their power
to have produced good or bad illustrations from the same original. The
makers of the blocks being confined to time and price, are practically
powerless, and seldom have an opportunity of obtaining the best results.
It should be mentioned that blocks made from wash drawings, being
shallower than those made from line drawings, suffer more from bad
printing and paper.
A good silver print (whether from a photograph from life or from a
picture), full of delicate gradations and strong effects, appears on the
plate through the film of gauze, dull, flat, and comparatively
uninteresting; but _the expression of the original is given with more
fidelity_ than could be done by any ordinary wood engraving. This is
the best that can be said for it, it is a dull, mechanical process,
requiring help from the maker of the blocks; and so a system of touching
on the negative (before making the block) to bring out the lights and
accents of the picture is the common practice. This is a hazardous
business at the best, especially when dealing with the copy of a
painting. I mention it to show where "handwork" in the half-tone process
first comes in. The block, when made, is also often touched up by an
engraver in places, especially where spotty or too dark; and on this
work many who were formerly wood-engravers now find employment.
There is no doubt that the makers of process blocks are the best
instructors as to the results to be obtained by certain lines and
combinations of lines; but in the majority of cases they will tell the
artist too much, and lead him to take too much interest in the
mechanical side of the business. The illustrator's best protection
against this tendency, his whole armour and coat of mail, is to be _an
artist first and an illustrator afterwards_.
This is the sum of the matter. Perhaps some of the examples in this book
may help us, and lead to a more thorough testing of results by capable
men.
"SKETCH."
It will be interesting here to consider the material of which one number
of an illustrated paper (_Sketch_) is made up, and how far the artist
and wood engraver have part in it. From an economic point of view it
will be instructive. I take this "newspaper" as an example, because it
is a typical and quite "up-to-date" publication, vieing, in circulation
and importance, with the _Illustrated London News_, both published by
the same proprietors. In one number there are upwards of 30 pages, 10
being advertisements. There are in all 151 illustrations, of which 63
appear in the text part, and 88 in the advertisement pages. Out of the
text illustrations, 24 only are from original drawings or sketches. Next
are 26 _photographs from life_ (several being full pages), and 13
reproductions from engravings, etc., reproduced by mechanical
processes--in all 63. Some of the pages reproduced from photographs are
undeniably good, and interesting to the public, as is evidenced by the
popularity of this paper alone. In the advertisement portion are 88
illustrations (including many small ones), 85 of which have been
engraved on wood; a number of them are electrotypes from old blocks, but
there are many new ones every week. The reason for using wood engraving
largely for advertisements is, that wood blocks print more easily than
"process," when mixed with the type, and print better (being cut deeper
on the block) where inferior paper and ink are employed. But this class
of wood engraving may be summed up in the words of one of the craft to
me lately:--"It is not worth _L_2 a week to anybody."
[Illustration: No. XXX.
MISS KATE RORKE. (FROM "SKETCH.")
(_Photographed from life by H. S. Mendelssohn_. _Reproduced by
half-tone process_)]
Thus it will be seen that in the "text" part of this newspaper
two-thirds of the illustrations are produced without the aid of artist
or wood engraver!
To turn to one of the latest instances where the photographer is the
illustrator. A photographer, Mr. Burrows, of Camborne, goes down a lead
mine in Cornwall with his apparatus, and takes a series of views of the
workings, which could probably have been done by no other means. Under
most difficult conditions he sets his camera, and by the aid of the
magnesium "flash-light," gives us groups of figures at work amidst
gloomy and weird surroundings. The results are exceptionally valuable as
"illustrations" in the true meaning of the word, on account of the clear
and accurate definition of details. The remarkable part, artistically,
is the good colour and grouping of the figures.[18]
Another instance of the use of photography in illustration. Mr.
Villiers, the special artist of _Black and White_, made a startling
statement lately. He said that out of some 150 subjects which he took at
the Chicago Exhibition, not more than half-a-dozen were drawn by him;
all the rest being "snap-shot" photographs. Some were very good, could
hardly be better, the result of many hours' waiting for the favourable
grouping of figures. That he would re-draw some of them with his clever
pencil for a newspaper is possible, but observe the part photography
plays in the matter.
In America novels have been thus illustrated both in figure and
landscape; the weak point being the _backgrounds_ to the figure
subjects. I draw attention to this movement because the neglect of
composition, of appropriate backgrounds, and of the true lighting of the
figures by so many young artists, is throwing illustrations more and
more into the hands of the photographer. Thus the rapid "pen-and-ink
artist," and the sketcher in wash from an artificially lighted model in
a crowded art school, is hastening to his end.
[Illustration: No. XXXI.
(_A Photograph from life, by Messrs. Cameron & Smith. Reproduced by
half-tone process._)]
The time is coming fast when cheap editions of popular novels will be
illustrated--and many in the following way. The artist, instead of being
called upon to draw, will occupy himself in setting and composing
pictures through the aid of models trained for the purpose, and the
ever-ready photographer. The "process man" and the clever manipulator on
the plates, will do the rest, producing pictures vignetted, if desired,
as overleaf. Much more the makers of blocks can do--and will do--with
the photographs now produced, for they are earnest, untiring, ready to
make sacrifices of time and money.
The cheap dramatic illustrations, just referred to, which artists'
models in America know so well how to pose for, may be found suitable
from the commercial point of view for novels of the butterfly kind; but
they will seldom be of real artistic interest. And here, for the
present, we may draw the line between the illustrator and the
photographer. But the "black and white man" will obviously have to do
his best in every branch of illustration to hold his own in the future.
It may be thought by some artists that these things are hardly worth
consideration; but we have only to watch the illustrations appearing
week by week to see whither we are tending.[19]
The last example of the photographer as illustrator, which can be given
here, is where a photograph from life engraved on wood is published as a
vignette illustration.[20] It is worth observing, because it has been
turned into line by the wood engraver, and serves for printing purposes
as a popular illustration. The original might have been more
artistically posed, but it is pretty as a vignette, and pleases the
public. (_See_ opposite page.)
There are hundreds of such subjects now produced by the joint aid of the
photographer and the process engraver. It is not the artist and the wood
engraver who are really "working hand-in-hand" in these days in the
production of illustrations, but _the photographer and the maker of
process blocks_. This is significant. Happily for us there is much that
the photographer cannot do pictorially. But the photographer is, as I
said, marching on and on, and the line of demarcation between handwork
and photographic illustrations becomes less marked every day.
The photographer's daughter goes to an art school, and her influence is
shown annually in the exhibitions of the photographic societies.
[Illustration: No. XXXII.
(_A Photograph from life, engraved on wood._)]
This influence and this movement is so strong--and vital to the
artist--that it cannot be emphasised too much. The photographer is ever
in our midst, correcting our drawing with facts and details which no
human eye can see, and no one mind can take in at once.
On the obligations of artists to photographers a book might be written.
The benefits are not, as a rule, unacknowledged; nor are the bad
influences of photography always noticed. That is to say, that before
the days of photography, the artist made himself acquainted with many
things necessary to his art, for which he now depends upon the
photographic lens; in short, he uses his powers of observation less than
he did a few years ago. That the photographer leads him astray sometimes
is another thing to remember.
The future of the illustrator being uppermost in our thoughts, let us
consider further the influences with which he is surrounded. As to
photography, Mr. William Small, the well-known illustrator (who always
draws for wood engraving), says:--"it will never take good work out of a
good artist's hands." He speaks as an artist who has taken to
illustration seriously and most successfully, having devoted the best
years of his life to its development. The moral of it is, that in
whatever material or style newspaper illustrations are done, to hold
their own they must be of the best. Let them be as slight as you please,
if they be original and good. In line work (the best and surest for the
processes) photography can only be the servant of the artist, not the
competitor--and in this direction there is much employment to be looked
for. At present the influence is very much the other way; we are casting
off--ungratefully it would seem--the experience of the lifetime of the
wood engraver, and are setting in its place an art half developed, half
studied, full of crudities and discords. The illustrations which succeed
in books and newspapers, succeed for the most part from sheer ability on
the part of the artist; _they are full of ability_, but, as a rule, are
bad examples for students to copy. "Time is money" with these brilliant
executants; they have no time to study the value of a line, nor the
requirements of the processes, and so a number of drawings are handed to
the photo-engravers--which are often quite unfitted for mechanical
reproduction--to be produced literally in a few hours. It is an age of
vivacity, daring originality, and reckless achievement in illustration.
"Take it up, look at it, and throw it down," is the order of the day.
There is no reason but an economic one why the work done "to look at"
should not be as good as the artist can afford to make it. The
manufacturer of paperhangings or printed cottons will produce only a
limited quantity of one design, no matter how beautiful, and then go on
to another. So much the better for the designer, who would not keep
employment if he did not do his best, no matter whether his work was to
last for a day or for a year. The life of a single number of an
illustrated newspaper is a week, and of an illustrated book about a
year.
The young illustrators on the _Daily Graphic_--notably Mr. Reginald
Cleaver--obtain the maximum of effect with the minimum of lines. Thus
Caldecott worked, spending hours sometimes studying the art of leaving
out. Charles Keene's example may well be followed, making drawing after
drawing, no matter how trivial the subject, until he was satisfied that
it was right. "Either right or wrong," he used to say; "'right enough'
will not do for me."
[Illustration: No. XXXIII.
"PROUD MAIRIE." (LANCELOT SPEED.)
(_From "The Blue Poetry Book." London: Longmans._)
Pen-and-ink drawing by line process.]
Another influence on modern illustration--for good or bad--is the
electric light. It enables the photographic operator to be independent
of dark and foggy days, and to put a search-light upon objects which
otherwise could not be utilised. So far good. To the illustrator this
aid is often a doubtful advantage. The late Charles Keene (with whom I
have had many conversations on this subject) predicted a general
deterioration in the quality of illustrations from what he called
"unnatural and impossible effects," and he made one or two illustrations
in _Punch_ of figures seen under the then--(10 or 15 years ago)--novel
conditions of electric street lighting, one of which represented a man
who has been "dining" returning home through a street lighted up by
electric lamps, tucking up his trowsers to cross a black shadow which he
takes for a stream. Charles Keene's predictions have come true, we see
the glare of the magnesium light on many a page, and the unthinking
public is dazzled every week in the illustrated sheets with these
"unnatural and impossible effects."
Thus it has come about that what was looked upon by Charles Keene as
garish, exaggerated, and untrue in effect, is accepted to-day by the
majority of people as a lively and legitimate method of illustration.
DANIEL VIERGE.
One of the influences on the modern illustrator--a decidedly adverse
influence on the unlearned--is the prominence which has lately been
given to the art of Daniel Vierge.
There is probably no illustrator of to-day who has more originality,
style, and versatility--in short more genius--than Vierge, and none
whose work, for practical reasons, is more misleading to students.
As to his illustrations, from the purely literary and imaginative side,
they are as attractive to the scholar as drawings by Holbein or Menzell
are to the artist. Let us turn to the illustration on the next page,
from the _Pablo de Segovia_ by Quevedo; an example selected by the
editor, or publisher, of the book as a specimen page.
First, as to the art of it. Nothing in its own way could be more
fascinating in humour, vivacity, and character than this grotesque duel
with long ladles at the entrance to an old Spanish posada. The sparkle
and vivacity of the scene are inimitable; the bounding figure haunts the
memory with its diaphanous grace, touched in by a master of expression
in line. In short, we are in the presence of genius.
[Illustration: No. XXXIV.
Example of DANIEL VIERGE'S illustrations to _Pablo de Segovia_, the
Spanish Sharper, by Francisco de Quevedo-Villegas, first published in
Paris, in 1882; afterwards translated into English (with an Essay on
Quevedo, by H. E. Watts, and comments on Vierge's work by Joseph
Pennell), and published by Mr. T. Fisher Unwin, in 1892.
Vierge was born in 1851, and educated in Madrid, where he spent the
early years of his life. Since 1869 he has lived in Paris, and
produced numerous illustrations for _Le Monde Illustre_ and _La Vie
Moderne_, and other works. His fame was made in 1882 by Quevedo's
_Pablo de Segovia_, the illustrations to which he was unable to
complete owing to illness and paralysis. About twenty of these
illustrations were drawn with the left hand, owing to paralysis of the
right side. His career, full of romantic interest, suggests the future
illustrator of _Don Quixote_.
These drawings were made upon white paper--Bristol board or drawing
paper--with a pen and Indian ink; but Vierge now uses a glass pen,
like an old stylus. The drawings were then given to Gillot, the
photo-engraver of Paris, who, by means of photography and _handwork_,
produced metal blocks to be printed with the type.]
But the whole effect is obviously untrue to nature, and the tricks--of
black spots, of exaggerated shadows on the ground, of scratchings (and
of carelessness, which might be excused in a hasty sketch for _La Vie
Moderne_)--are only too apparent.
In nearly every illustration in the _Pablo de Segovia_ (of which there
are upwards of one hundred), the artist has relied for brilliancy and
effect on patches of black (sometimes ludicrously exaggerated) and other
mannerisms, which we accept from a genius, but which the student had
better not attempt to imitate. To quote a criticism from the
_Spectator_, "There is almost no light and shade in Vierge. There is an
ingenious effect of dazzle, but there is no approach attempted to truth
of tone, shadows being quite capriciously used for decoration and
supplied to figures that tell as light objects against the sky which
throws the shadows." And yet in these handsome pages there are gems of
draughtsmanship and extraordinary _tours de force_ in illustration.
In the reproduction of these drawings, I think the maker of the blocks,
M. Gillot, of Paris, would seem to have had a difficult task to perform.
The fact is, that Vierge's wonderful line drawings are sometimes as
difficult to reproduce for the type press as those of Holbein or
Menzell, and could only be done satisfactorily by one of the intaglio
processes, such as that employed by the Autotype Company in _editions de
luxe_. That Vierge's drawings were worthy of this anyone who saw the
originals when exhibited at Barnard's Inn would, I think, agree.
It is the duty of any writer or instructor in illustration, to point out
these things, once for all. That Vierge could adapt himself to almost
any process if he pleased, is demonstrated repeatedly in the _Pablo de
Segovia_, where (as on pages 63 and 67 of that book) the brilliancy and
"colour" of pure line by process has hardly ever been equalled. That
some of his illustrations are impossible to reproduce well, and have
been degraded in the process is also demonstrated on page 199 of the
same book, where a mechanical grain has been used to help out the
drawing, and the lines have had to be cut up and "rouletted" on the
block to make them possible to print.
Of the clever band of illustrators of to-day who owe much of their
inspiration (and some of their tricks of method) to Vierge, it is not
necessary to speak here; we are in an atmosphere of genius in this
chapter, and geniuses are seldom safe guides to students of art.
Speaking generally (and these remarks refer to editors and publishers as
well as draughtsmen), the art of illustration as practised in England is
far from satisfactory; we are too much given to imitating the tricks and
prettinesses of other nations, and it is quite the exception to find
either originality or individuality on the pages which are hurled from
the modern printing press; individuality as seen in the work of Adolphe
Menzell, and, in a different spirit, in that of Gustave Dore and Vierge.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[12] The heading to this chapter was drawn in line and reproduced by
photo-zinc process. (See page 134.)
[13] The mechanical processes, neglected and despised by the majority
of illustrators for many years, have, by a sudden freak of fashion,
apparently become so universal that, it is estimated, several
thousand blocks are made in London alone every week.
[14] This excellent drawing was made on rough white paper with
autographic chalk; the print being much reduced in size. It is seldom
that such a good grey block can be obtained by this means.
[15] The young artist would be much better occupied in learning
_drawing on stone_ direct, a branch of art which does not come into
the scope of this book, as it is seldom used in book illustration,
and cannot be printed at the type press. Drawing on stone is well
worthy of study now, for the art is being revived in England on
account of the greater facilities for printing than formerly.
[16] The evil of it is that _we are becoming used to black blots_ in
the pages of books and newspapers, and take them as a matter of
course; just as we submit to the deformity of the outward man in the
matter of clothing.
[17] On the opposite page is an excellent reproduction of a painting
from a photograph by the half-tone process.
[18] "_'Mongst Mines and Miners_," by J. C. Burrows and W. Thomas.
(London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.)
[19] Both Mr. Cameron's and Mr. Mendelssohn's photographs have had to
be slightly cut down to fit these pages. But as illustrations they
are, I think, remarkable examples of the photographer's and the
photo-engraver's art.
[20] From the _Graphic_ newspaper, 28th October, 1893.
[Illustration: FROM "GRIMM'S HOUSEHOLD STORIES." (WALTER CRANE.)]