_TOOLS AND MATERIALS FOR LINE DRAWING._
To produce a line drawing which shall comprise such characteristics as
have now been enunciated, three essentials will be required: a white
surface, a black fluid, and a suitable instrument to convey the fluid at
will. These we will take _seriatim_, in their conventional
order--Papers, Inks, and Pens.
The material most largely used for drawing on is probably white Bristol
board, of four-sheet or six-sheet thickness, and this will answer better
than anything else in almost all cases. Some attention should be paid to
the tint of the card, many cardboards having a tendency to turn yellow
with age and exposure. A cardboard of a pure white, or a slight tendency
to a bluish tint, is what we require, a blue card being in photographic
reproduction practically the same as white. Upon the surface of the
cardboard will greatly depend the ease with which we shall get clean
sharp lines. With many cardboards, in which the surface is apparently
smooth, the pen finds irregularities and sometimes obstacles to its
smooth and even progress, catching and "spluttering" over little
particles of hard matter or hair.
A good Bristol board, such as is procurable at any artists' colourman,
presents no such difficulties, and the making of a fine smooth line
should be quite easy. Messrs. Reynolds and Sons supply various kinds of
boards equally suitable for pen work. The bank note Bristol manufactured
by F.W. Devoe & Co. is also especially adapted to this work.
The process man will very likely recommend you to use a "clay surface"
board, and no doubt in some instances these have their advantages. On
these clay boards the pen strokes are remarkably clean and crisp, and
have a good deal the appearance of having been produced mechanically
rather than by hand; a very fine line, however, is difficult to produce,
the result being rather like, but in a much less degree, drawing on an
enamelled card on which the ink spreads; at the same time, however,
there will be less liability to make grey lines. A further advantage of
a clay surface is that the surface is easily removable with the blade of
a penknife, so that faults may be scraped or cut away--a feature put to
very important use in boards specially made for scraping, which are
described on p. 96. For large, bold work a clay board is useful, but it
should not be too often used on account of the hard, mechanical
appearance of the drawing.
Whatman papers, or boards having a surface of Whatman paper, are also
much used, and these are procurable in two surfaces: H.-P., or
"Hot-pressed," the smoothest; and N., or "_Not_ hot-pressed," the
surface of which is sufficiently rough to make it very pleasant to work
on, but not too much so. If using the H.-P., the surface must be wiped
over with a clean wet sponge to remove a certain gloss which the process
of hot-pressing imparts to it.
There is no particular virtue in any special paper or board beyond
whiteness, evenness, and purity; any paper having these qualities may be
used with success. I should not recommend the beginner to experiment
with too many kinds; he will in the end be probably no nearer
satisfaction than at the outset. Start on ordinary white Bristol and
persevere, attributing failures to your own incompetence rather than to
any fault in the materials. Some of the very best things have been
produced on any scrap of notepaper or other white surface that has been
at hand.
Of suitable black fluids there are many varieties, and the beginner may
as easily concern himself a great deal too much about inks as about any
other part of the necessary materials.
Cakes or sticks of dry pigment, or pans and tubes of moist colour, may
be employed, but for general convenience a fluid black will be best.
These are of two kinds: "fixed," which is not removable by water, and
"ordinary"; and it may be well to consider beforehand the work we are
going to do, and use the indelible, or fixed, ink if necessary.
I mean by this that we may sometimes require to use Chinese white over
our black lines to produce whites, which could not easily be left as
blanks, in which case it will be necessary to use a fixed black, else
the Chinese white would smear and spoil the black.
The introduction of Chinese white is, however, an exception rather than
the rule, and when the use of an indelible ink is not important,
Stephens' Ebony Stain is admirable. It works easily, and although it
dries with a slight gloss, which is usually a disadvantage, it
reproduces well. It can be immediately thinned when becoming too thick
by the addition of a little water, care being taken not to dilute it
sufficiently to make it grey. It is sold in bottles at sixpence and a
shilling, and is manufactured by the well-known makers of writing ink,
but may be procured from the artists' colourmen. Messrs. Reeves and Sons
have introduced a fluid black, called Artists' Black; this is made both
"indelible" and "not indelible." This has become very popular of late,
and is largely used; the not indelible, with water, making fine greys
for wash drawing. Higgins' American "Waterproof" India Ink is also
extensively used, and has received high commendation. Fixed Indian Ink
is sold in fluid form, and Lampblack and Ivoryblack in tubes and cakes.
Ordinary writing ink is quite unsuitable; it "runs" when fine lines
cross, and is either too blue or too brown in colour. Common Indian Ink
is also too brown to reproduce well, so that the beginner will do wisely
to use one of the above-named blacks, which are prepared for the
purpose, and so diminish his chances of failure. All are sold in bottles
at sixpence or one shilling.
Not taking account of eccentricities of accomplished artists, who may
use some special medium to their fancy, and whose very mastership
guarantees their success in whatever medium they may work, a dull
intense black line on a pure white surface is the ideal to be attained.
It may be mentioned that if for any exceptional purpose the reproduction
is to be printed in coloured ink, the original had better be drawn in a
like colour, always excepting blue or anything approaching thereto. But
brown, green, red, and orange are permissible, and will photograph
correctly. A black drawing, reproduced in brown or other colour, is apt
to give a very different impression, and still more so if a colour be
reproduced in black.
Chinese white has been referred to, and should certainly always be at
hand. If applied fairly thickly with a fine brush it will efface any
faulty ink marks, and may also be used to introduce lights into shading
which has been worked up too solid. It is also useful for putting in
small lights, as in windows, or longitudinal white streaks on water
which has been shaded in dark. It should be of good quality, and kept
well stoppered in a strong glass or stone bottle.
With regard to the pen to be used there is more latitude for individual
taste, as what one man can do with a given pen another cannot. The
manufacturers who have given most attention to the requirements of
draughtsmen are J. Gillott and Sons, the well-known makers of pens of
all kinds. Many kinds of Brandauer's and Blanzy Poure and Co.'s pens are
also very good.
It should not be supposed that a very fine-pointed pen is essential,
for on the contrary a small tool often seems to lead to the making of
small, niggling work. Mr. C.G. Harper finds a well-cut quill pen
delightful for making pen studies, and says "it flies over all
descriptions of paper, rough or smooth, without the least catching of
fibres or spluttering. It is the freest and least trammelling of pens,
and seems almost to draw of its own volition." A glass drawing-pen, such
as is used by mechanical designers, &c., has its uses, but it is only
capable of making a uniformly thick line.
An assortment of one dozen of Gillott's pens can be obtained for one
shilling, and from these our selection can be made. Brandauer's No. 515
and No. 342 E.F. are well spoken of, and have the advantage of not
becoming scratchy with use. A flexible pen, capable of making fine as
well as thick strokes, working evenly, and not soon worn out, is what
should be sought, and having found two or three kinds to suit, stick to
them, and make yourself thoroughly master of their capabilities. Should
any difficulty exist in obtaining a special pen, an ordinary "F" writing
nib will not lead you far wrong, while for bold vigorous drawing I
should prefer a gold "J"; it is clear from this that mere fineness of
point is not an essential matter.
The possibilities of a particular pen are not learnt all at once, it
should be persevered with and understood. It has been recommended that
two or three pens of different character should respectively be used on
different portions of the same drawing. There may be advantages in this,
especially if a drawing contain a very wide variation in quality of its
lines. It may sometimes be that very bold thick work in foreground is
associated with fine delicate work in distance and sky.
Some artists prefer to use a fine brush instead of a pen. A small sable
brush, having the outside hairs cut away, or a long hair brush known as
"tracer" or "rigger," is capable of making fine lines hardly to be
distinguished from pen strokes. At first they are slow to work with,
but considerable rapidity may be acquired with practice. The lines are
rounder and not so harsh as those made with the pen, and it is said that
an artist who has once accustomed himself to use a brush never goes back
to pens.
[Illustration: A FIELD PATH.
_Bitumen process._ (_Original 7-1/2 x 6-1/2_).
[_See p. 86._]
]
The foregoing materials and pens are for the production of simple black
line drawings on a white ground, and it is in this direction that I
should advise the student to persevere and cultivate himself. All the
beauty and expressiveness of lines is only realised after long practice;
and, of the many ways of illustrating by line process, it is the best
means of self-education, compared with which all others are flippant and
inconsequent.
[Illustration: A FIELD PATH.
_Swelled gelatine._ (_Original 7-1/2 x 6-1/2._)
[_See p. 86._]]
Still, with some truth it has been said that it is only by experiment
that we learn to achieve distinction, and so after a while we may
indulge in experiments in other directions, and try our hand at the
various tricks which the ingenious have placed within our reach. These
will be described in Chapter XI.
[Illustration]