_METHODS OF LINE REPRODUCTION._
To those who have not previously given the matter attention, it will be
a source of some astonishment to find a wide range of tones, that is
varying degrees of light and shade, may be suggested by so simple and
unpromising a means as black lines on a white ground. Perhaps no better
means exists for getting some insight of this than by careful and
persistent study of the line illustrations constantly appearing in the
better class periodicals, such as _The English Illustrated_, _The
Strand_, _Harper's_, _Sketch_, _Black and White_, and many others. In
these we get frequent examples of the work of different men, and shall
soon begin to realise not only the wide possibilities of line work, but
the extremely different styles of various artists; and so long as the
practice is not too long continued, or too much relied on, some
advantageous exercise may be found in carefully copying such examples;
being watchful in so doing that, quite independent of outline, our copy
suggests the same materials, fabrics, &c., as are suggested in the
original, and that this suggestion be arrived at by the same kind of
treatment.
In this kind of drawing there is obviously no such thing actually as
"tone," everything being black or white, and yet it is possible to
suggest every gradation and most delicate tonal relationships of
colours by this elementary means; the varied textures of objects can
also be most convincingly suggested.[4]
Probably one of the first things that will strike us, on inspecting many
styles of drawing, is the fact that while some draughtsmen expend
enormous labour in filling the whole design with multitudinous strokes
of the pen, others obtain effect by a very few lines and great expanses
of white paper. A great number of strokes rapidly put in, in the manner
of shading with pencil, and a few bold lines slowly and deliberately
drawn, constitute the two chief differences of style. In the latter, the
principal study is perhaps to know _what to leave out_, and nowhere is
the knowledge and skill of the artist better seen than when the subject
is satisfactorily rendered with the least possible amount of labour,
there being not one unnecessary or superfluous line. Such powerful
sketches, by Mr. Reginald Cleaver, may be seen in _The Daily Graphic_,
and by Mr. Phil May in _The Sketch_. In these drawings a maximum of
effect is attained with a minimum of work, and one feels that every line
is essential and not one can be spared.
In most cases, for all the purposes of illustration, a black coat need
not be suggested by any more lines of shading than a white gown; but the
artist who so determines may carry his work to a higher standard and,
with greater labour, even succeed in giving a suggestion of colour in
the objects portrayed. But, even in such elaborate work, there should be
no more execution than is essential, and the finished drawing should in
no case make its elaborate execution felt. The thing which must first
impress the spectator is the success of the general effect; never should
there be first awakened a feeling of astonishment at the extraordinary
amount of patience bestowed, or labour expended. If the first remark
called forth is one of admiration for the extraordinary _dexterity_, we
may be pretty sure that the draughtsman has been betrayed into the
commonly besetting sin of over-elaboration, and whatever success has
been attained in the effect rendered it would have been probably better
if produced with less effort. It would have been more forcible if not
overwhelmed, as it were, with so much work.
[Illustration: DRAWING BY MR. PHIL. MAY.
_From "English Illustrated Magazine". An example of bold open drawing._]
Never, then, let the delight which we may feel in making a pretty
"finished" drawing get the better of our judgment when drawing for
reproduction. Remember that "prettiness" comes very near to "pettiness,"
and delicacy and fineness are apt to become "niggling" and pedantic;
coarseness is a lesser danger than excessive neatness.
Much of this, as already suggested, may be more clearly learned from the
careful examination and comparison of good published drawings.
Imitate, and copy if you like, up to a certain degree, remembering
always that you are thus copying merely _to ascertain by what means
other men express their ideas in line, and not for your own practice_.
In like manner etchings, engravings, and indeed every kind of print made
up of _lines_, may be studied and, to some extent, copied; but only in
order to familiarise oneself with what lines, and combinations of lines,
may be made to do; but the danger of continuing such a practice cannot
be too much emphasised. Every artist or draughtsman, be he beginner or
expert, must draw for himself and according to his own feelings and
promptings. In every department of art the successful have had their
imitators, and these again their imitators, and at each successive stage
the further one gets from originality, the more trammelled, the more
impotent and hopelessly beyond the possibility of really great work.
That the drawing is not the end in view, but merely a means to an end
(that end being the reproduction), is a matter to which I shall refer
later on; but it should here be noted, and moreover the student may be
reminded, that every line and every mark which he makes will be
_similarly reproduced_ by the process. When drawing for wood engraving,
the engraver could be instructed to strengthen this or leave out that;
not so the mechanical block, which is to be regarded as normally an
untouched and purely mechanical thing, only to be altered by hand on the
rarest possible occasions, and then only when time and circumstances
permit. This character of indiscriminating _facsimile_ is not to be
considered as a disadvantage in any way; the good draughtsman is
thankful for it, he knows what to reckon upon, and to all it must be an
incentive to do one's best. It is the same difference as between a
mirror and an average photographer's portrait: the mirror may show us
all our faults and yet, if we have any beauty, it does not belie us;
while we know how often the ordinary commercial _carte-de-visite_ is
unreliable.
In the course of studying various reproductions we shall probably have
become aware that the same things may be very differently rendered by
different hands. Thus trees and foliage in landscape may be represented
by an outline, and a few black patches and dots, or by numerous clearly
drawn parallel lines, or yet again by irregular strokes crossing and
recrossing each other; evidently, then, there is no intention here of
_imitating_ nature. And so, throughout, the aim of the pen draughtsman
is to _suggest_, rather than to portray things exactly as they are.
Lines, scratches, or dots, cannot pretend to imitate leafy foliage; and,
be it noted, the same lines, scratches, or dots, may be similarly
employed, in the same drawing, to suggest something quite different. It
is in this employment of various pen marks, to suggest the composition
of distinct objects, that individuality of style reveals itself; as does
the discreet using of white blanks to express or suggest widely
different things.
I have presumed throughout these pages that I may be addressing many to
whom the idea of drawing in pen and ink (or other material) for
reproduction, is entirely a new one; hence it will be necessary to
examine the pen strokes which go to make up a complete drawing. Let it
be well understood that many things are possible to the accomplished
artist which must not be attempted by the beginner; later on we may
learn, from our own experience, little freaks and tricks of our own, but
we must first of all content ourselves with simple conscientious work.
In the following examples of pen and ink shading we have first the kind
of strokes which the pen would make if used rapidly, as in writing, and
without any particular care. In bold sketchy work this sort of handling
may be permissible, but the student should practise shading by such
lines as in No. 2. These are drawn rapidly in succession, the wrist
being rested firmly on the table and the hand quite free, as in rapid
writing. Commence at the top left-hand corner and work downwards; notice
that each stroke is equidistant, parallel, and of the same thickness
throughout its length. Look at this from a little distance and it
appears like a grey, flat, even tint. This simple "shading" should be
tried many times until perfect ease and certainty is acquired, each
stroke of the pen being firm, distinct, and black; each stroke intended
and nothing uncertain about it.
[Illustration: No. I. No. II. No. III.
EXAMPLES OF PEN AND INK SHADING.
_Reduced to about half the size of original._]
A good exercise will be to draw a square, and practise filling it with a
flat tint consisting of lines either in the same direction, or else of
lines in varying directions, and then with lines crossing each other or
"cross-hatching."
Having now discovered how a flat tint may be laid down, and how such may
be made uniformly or gradually darker, we may apply such methods to
simple objects as the cube and vase here shown.
[Illustration: (_Original 1-1/2 x 1-1/4._)]
By this time we may feel well on the road towards accomplishing any
general subject which we are skilful enough to outline. Of the various
mechanical helps to drawing outline, for those who lack the required
skill, I shall speak hereafter.
[Illusutration: (_Original 4 x 2-1/4._)]
It need hardly be pointed out that as there is, in nature, no such thing
as outline: it is purely an arbitrary means of indicating form, and
separating one space from another; whether such spaces be occupied with
shading or not, but especially where there is no shading.
At first it may perhaps be best to make a clear sharp outline of uniform
thickness; but later we shall find we may often advantageously dispense
entirely with outline, letting the shading only distinguish one object
from another. Notice the absence of outline in the hills in "Near Berry
Head," page 94.
A little experience will show us that an imperfect outline, and one
which varies in thickness with various objects, will greatly assist in
the attractiveness of our sketches. A too rigid outline, as also a too
close adherence to what has been said about the precision of the shading
strokes, tends to a stiff formal appearance which is not to be desired,
and destroys anything like originality and individuality of style.
In the accompanying drawing notice these points--the irregularity of
_outline_, in some parts its entire absence, the value of white spaces,
and the suggestive little dots on the white foreground.
I have already remarked that the drawing is only to be regarded as a
means to an end, and must therefore be made not so as to give
satisfaction in itself, but so as to produce a good mechanical
reproduction. However irksome some artists may feel this working for
process reproduction, it is not accompanied with any great difficulties,
nor are its special requirements so very restricting, if only we
understand what is wanted.
Two influences, for good or for evil, exist between the original and the
reproduction (two influences to be taken into account, and reckoned with
when we are drawing, so as to produce a definite effect in the
reproduction), and these are reduction and thickening of the lines.
A diminishing glass, used to examine any drawings, will at once show the
effect of reduction or diminishing, and in rough and rapid drawing this
reduction is depended upon to remove irregularities and coarseness.[5]
[Illustration: IN HARBOUR.
_Pen drawing._ (_Original 7 x 6._)]
It may be taken for granted that nearly every reproduction we see has
been reduced from the original, some more, some less, and while
generally speaking we may say that the effect of reduction is to refine
and soften; the beginner, however, will sometimes be troubled by finding
an increase in the thickness of the lines which is less agreeable, and
is very fickle, and can only to a limited degree be counted upon as to
the result. Hence the need for keeping darkly shaded portions as open as
possible: that is to say, when lines are very close together, or there
is cross-hatching, see that the lines do not needlessly run into each
other, but that the little white interstices are well preserved. Keep
the shading open (the rough net-like effect can be got rid of by
reduction), and remember that not only do some lines thicken up, and so
engulf the intervening white, but in reduction the white spaces reduce
as well as the black lines, and may be reduced into invisibility.
Some definite rules have sometimes been suggested to guide the process
man as to the amount of reduction best suited for average work; these,
however, like many other rules of the kind, are quite arbitrary. On this
subject Mr. Henry Blackburn says, with an authority based upon the
experience of reducing, to various scales, some thousands of drawings:
"As to the amount of reduction that a drawing will bear in reproduction,
it cannot be sufficiently widely known that in spite of rules laid down
there is no rule about it."
[Illustration: _Same size as original._]
In some instances no reduction is required, and the reproduction is so
exact a replica of the original that it can hardly be distinguished,
yet, "On the other hand, the value of reduction for certain styles of
drawing can hardly be over-estimated"; and again, "Every drawing has its
scale, to which it is best reduced."
The effect of the reduction may be seen in the accompanying three
examples, the first being the same size as the original, and the others
reduced as marked.
[Illustration: (_Original 4-3/4 x 4-1/4._)]
Until some experience has been gained in this direction, and apart from
the exigencies of the space the illustration is required to fill, the
process engraver will probably be the best authority for us to consult
as regards the amount of reduction suitable to each individual drawing.
A reduction of one-third is a very usual one, so long as the drawing is
not unusually rough or clumsy.
Referring to the effect of reduction upon lines laid down to express a
flat tint, Mr. H.R. Robertson gives some interesting notes upon the
number of lines required to be drawn in an inch square to produce an
even grey tint. I do not think too much importance should be attached
to such calculations, as they are likely to embarrass the draughtsman
and make him far too much concerned with the mere mechanism of his work;
still, the matter is an interesting one. He says that from experiment he
finds it will usually require about 108 to 120 lines within an inch to
give to the naked eye the idea of a flat tint or wash, but that about 80
to an inch is as many as can be drawn to the inch by unaided vision;
eighty lines to the inch gives 120 in 1-1/2 inches, which, if reduced in
reproduction by one-third, will give the requisite number of 120 to the
inch which Mr. Robertson finds desirable. The effect produced, however,
by parallel lines of shading alters considerably when the direction of
the lines alters, and I think it is only necessary for us to glance
through "Academy Notes," or any similar collection of sketches made by
artists who understand the importance of conveying suggestions with
pencil or pen, to assure us that far fewer lines are in many cases quite
capable of giving the idea of an even tint. Such rules and figures are
interesting, and perhaps useful, but they are certainly dangerous if the
student places himself too much in subjection to their influence.
The beginner in pen drawing is probably destined to meet with severe
disappointments at first from the manner in which the process will
reproduce his work, and the inclination is to blame the process as
unsympathetic, or the process man as incompetent, whereas the fault lies
with the drawing, which is unsuitable through a want of proper regard
for the requirements of process.
For instance, nothing is commoner with the student than to find such
portions of our drawing as distance, sky, and the more delicate shading
come up heavy and black--quite different to the original, and robbing
such parts of it of all delicacy; or it may be that lines which we
believed to be fine, smooth, flowing lines, reproduce as broken and
irregular.
[Illustration: THE WILLOW HARVEST.
(_Original 7 x 14._)]
The root of both these evils will probably be found in the fact that
in our drawing we have been producing light and distant effects by
_grey_ lines instead of fine black ones. Drawing with the pen
insufficiently charged with ink, or with ink diluted with water, will
give these grey lines; but the line process, recognising nothing but
black and white, either reproduces the grey lines as black, or
reproduces them imperfectly as broken and irregular. Here, then, will be
another matter for the beginner to exercise himself in: namely, the
drawing of good _black_ lines and an avoidance of _grey_ ones. With
drawings made on a fairly large scale, so that every line can be made
firmly and boldly, we are less likely to fall into making grey lines.
With etchings, in which the image is in intaglio, gradation in the lines
is possible; because, according to the depth of the etched line, a
greater or less amount of ink is contained, and a grey line can be
printed therefrom. And so, for this reason, etchings are misleading if
used as copies or examples from which to draw in pen and ink.
When the drawing has been first drawn in with pencil and inked over,
every vestige of pencil marks must be carefully removed, otherwise the
process reproduces them, not as soft grey marks, but as black as those
made in ink, and some very unpleasant surprises will be the result.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]