_THE PREPARATION OF ORIGINALS FOR HALF-TONE REPRODUCTION._
II. WASH DRAWINGS, OIL PAINTINGS, PENCIL AND OTHER DRAWINGS.
Of the remaining methods, whereby originals for reproduction by
half-tone process may be made, much less need be said. The same
principles of avoiding too fine and delicate gradations of tone apply as
when making a simple photogram, and the methods of brush and pencil
appeal almost exclusively to the naturally artistic.
The wash drawing, which is practically water-colour painting in
monochrome, is the most popular, and, in the hands of those artists who
have applied themselves to illustration for photo-reproduction, some
very wonderful achievements are possible. Avoiding blue, green, red,
orange, or colours approaching thereto, it matters little what colour is
used, but probably black, such as Indian ink, or a good neutral grey or
sepia, is the best to use. In any case, body colour reproduces better
than transparent washes, the delicacy of which are wasted. Hence a
liberal use of Chinese white to lighten the tints is preferable to
making the colour thinner with water. Lamp black and Chinese white work
well together and reproduce excellently. In using Indian ink, or indeed
any colour, successive washes should not be made until each preceding
one is dry, thereby escaping a "messy" effect and securing greater
vigour.
The brush-work must be bold and strong, and, as was said with regard to
photograms, include as little of the softer half-tones as possible, the
contrasts of light and shade must be accentuated and effect exaggerated
to compensate for the degradation of contrast brought about by the
process. Unless this be remembered, the result can hardly fail to give
anything but a very flat poor copy of the original. The artist should
hold himself under restraint, and instead of blending one tone with
another keep them nicely distinct, limiting himself to some half-dozen
different shades or tones between the extremes of white and black, and
even then some portions of the white may require to be cut away on the
block.
Many illustrations from wash drawings of to-day are of a daring,
spirited style in which figures are drawn with or without backgrounds,
and when _well_ done they are undeniably attractive, and may be
abundantly met with in such publications as _The Graphic_, _Illustrated
London News_, _Sketch_, _In Town_, _St. Paul's_, and many others. Were
we considering the subject of art in illustrations, comment on this sort
of work not wholly in approbation might be made, but that it is
thoroughly up to date, effective, and in ready demand cannot be denied,
and it should be carefully studied by the student, who will no doubt
profit by the suggestions of technique without necessarily copying or
being unduly influenced by the style.
Some capital effects may be obtained by making a wash drawing on
grey-tinted paper and putting in the lights with white, an example of
which is here given. Decorative designs done in Chinese white on
dark-brown paper may be successfully produced, but should be made
several times larger than required; the reduction in size usually
improving the effect.
Painting in oil in monochrome will offer a welcome field for
illustration work to those who are more accustomed to use this medium.
A smooth surface canvas or board should be chosen, however, and the
painting should be smooth, all _strong_ brush marks, especially in the
whites, being omitted or softened out with a badger. In thus softening,
however, care should be exercised not to graduate one tone into another,
but leave everything firm and distinct, the same restriction of tones
being observed as in the other methods referred to previously. In using
oil colours, turpentine must be liberally used, or benzine, as this will
destroy the excessive gloss on the surface, a feature not liked by the
process worker.
[Illustration: ON THE RIVER ROTHER.
_Half-tone from Indian-ink wash drawing on grey paper._ (_Original 5-5/8
x 3-7/8._)]
Either water colour or oil may be worked upon a photographic basis in
order to save labour or difficulties in drawing. In such cases the
photographic print should be as faint as possible; any photographic
paper may be used for water colour, but smooth platinotype will probably
be the most pleasant. The surfaces to which oil colour may be applied
will be naturally more limited, but ready-sized canvas for printing in
bromide by artificial light is made, and is largely used for oil
painting for the commoner kind of portraits.
[Illustration: DESIGN--CHINESE WHITE ON ORDINARY BROWN PAPER--HALF-TONE.
(_Original 7-1/4 x 4-3/4._)]
It will, however, sometimes be found desirable to economise labour by
using a photogram to paint on, thus saving time in re-drawing and
ensuring accuracy of elaborate details. Moreover, paint may be put upon
a photogram, and much matter that is not required, or which may be
judged as injurious to the pictorial effect, can be omitted. After the
painting is finished, the photographic basis or original will then
require to be removed.
Almost any photographic print may be prepared to receive oil paint by
giving it a coating of common "size," and drying it _slowly_ by a fire
or otherwise. The painting-on being then proceeded with, and the paint
dry, the _back_ of the print is to be sponged or brushed with the iodine
solution mentioned on page 114. Platinotype paper being already sized
requires no further sizing, and by making a weak under-exposed print the
subsequent reduction or bleaching of the image can be rendered
unnecessary.
[Illustration: _By permission of the proprietors of "The English
Illustrated Magazine"._
_Engraved from pencil sketch by The Meisenbach Co., Ltd., West
Norwood._]
Many illustrators are fond of making wash drawings and then
strengthening them with pen or pencil. The advantage is not easy to see,
a mixed and indifferent character being usually felt.
Pencil drawing with a reinforcement of a few ink lines, or pencil by
itself, is a method which appears to me to be deserving of much more
attention and cultivation than it has usually received.
[Illustration: EVENING AT WEST MERSEA.
_Half-tone from pencil drawing._ (_Original 4-1/2 x 3-1/2._)]
Average pencil drawing is inclined to be too weak, and wanting in those
characteristics which have been already pointed out as essential in wash
drawings, but if the drawing be vigorous, and the pencil strokes clean
and distinct, some capital results may be obtained. In order to procure
the grey of pencil work a very fine screen is used, and the printing
carefully attended to, so that pencil sketches are hardly suitable for
the cheaper and more rapid class of printing. The lights should be cut
away on the block.
The accompanying sketch of a cottage is simply torn from the leaf of a
sketch-book in which it was made without any regard for the requirements
of the process; the strong shadows were slightly reinforced with pen
and ink, and the whole carefully reproduced.
[Illustration: COTTAGE AT HERONGATE.
_Half-tone from pencil sketch slightly strengthened with pen and ink._
(_Original 4-1/2 x 3-1/2._)]
It seems scarcely necessary to refer to the use of water colour and oil
paintings in colour as illustrations, inasmuch as if produced for
purposes of reproduction, colour would hardly be employed. Occasionally,
however, one may require to make a photogram of a painting for some such
purpose, in doing which it will be best to employ a professed
photographer who is accustomed to copying, and this because the
photographing of coloured objects possesses peculiar difficulties.
Plates known as "Isochromatic" are used, these having certain dyes mixed
with the sensitive film which makes them more sensitive to the least
active colours, such as reds and yellows, and in addition a stained film
of gelatine or glass is introduced into the lens to further correct the
action of the colours. Special care, too, in lighting the picture to be
copied is requisite, some experts recommending the use of coloured
reflectors.
If the greens, reds, and yellows are not very pronounced, or the effect
is not greatly dependent upon blue and such hues which by reason of
their great light activity photograph as white, a fair copy photogram
may be produced under ordinary circumstances; but where any doubt
exists, I should recommend that the work be done by an experienced
operator.
Throughout the foregoing remarks on the half-tone process, it will have
been gathered that its inherent defects constantly stand in the way of
our giving it unqualified approval. A recent writer on the subject, Mr.
C.G. Harper, says of half-tone process that it is "inconstant and for
ever incapable of rendering wash drawings as well as the wood-engraver."
Be this as it may--and it may not be possible to gainsay it--each day
sees such improvements made in the processes, that even before these
sheets are in my reader's hands circumstances may require a change of
opinion, and prejudices may have given way under the convincing
influences of modern improvements.
We may now turn our attention to the more direct processes of
reproducing in _line_, in which, more than in any other direction, the
revolution which photography has brought about in the art of
illustration is evident.
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