PRACTICAL PROBLEMS
I have thought it advisable in this chapter to select, and to work
out in some detail, a few actual problems in illustration, so as
to familiarize the student with the practical application of some
of the principles previously laid down.
[Illustration: FIG. 35 FROM A PHOTOGRAPH]
[Illustration: FIG. 36 D. A. GREGG]
[Side note: _First Problem_]
In the first example the photograph, Fig. 35, shows the porch of
an old English country church. Let us see how this subject has
been interpreted in pen and ink by Mr. D. A. Gregg, Fig. 36. In
respect to the lines, the original composition presents nothing
essentially unpleasant. Where the strong accent of a picture occurs
in the centre, however, it is generally desirable to avoid much
emphasis at the edges. For this reason the pen drawing has been
"vignetted,"--that is to say, permitted to fade away irregularly
at the edges. Regarding the values, it will be seen that there is
no absolute white in the photograph. A literal rendering of such
low color would, as we saw in the preceding chapter, be out of
the question; and so the essential values which directly contribute
to the expression of the subject and which are independent of local
color or accidental effect have to be sought out. We observe, then,
that the principal note of the photograph is made by the dark part
of the roof under the porch relieved against the light wall beyond.
This is the direct result of light and shade, and is therefore
logically adopted as the principal note of Mr. Gregg's sketch also.
The wall at this point is made perfectly white to heighten the
contrast. To still further increase the light area, the upper part
of the porch has been left almost white, the markings suggesting
the construction of the weather-beaten timber serving to give it
a faint gray tone sufficient to relieve it from the white wall.
The low color of the grass, were it rendered literally, would make
the drawing too heavy and uninteresting, and this is therefore only
suggested in the sketch. The roof of the main building, being equally
objectionable on account of its mass of low tone, is similarly
treated. Mr. Gregg's excellent handling of the old woodwork of the
porch is well worthy of study.
[Side note: _Second Problem_]
Let us take another example. The photograph in Fig. 37 shows a
moat-house in Normandy; and, except that the low tones of the foliage
are exaggerated by the camera, the conditions are practically those
which we would have to consider were we making a sketch on the spot.
First of all, then, does the subject, from the point of view at
which the photograph is taken, compose well?* It cannot be said that
it does. The vertical lines made by the two towers are unpleasantly
emphasized by the trees behind them. The tree on the left were
much better reduced in height and placed somewhat to the right,
so that the top should fill out the awkward angles of the roof
formed by the junction of the tower and the main building. The
trees on the right might be lowered also, but otherwise permitted
to retain their present relation. The growth of ivy on the tower
takes an ugly outline, and might be made more interestingly irregular
in form.
[Footnote *: The student is advised to consult "Composition," by
Arthur W. Dow. [New York, 1898]]
[Illustration: FIG. 37 FROM A PHOTOGRAPH]
The next consideration is the disposition of the values. In the
photograph the whites are confined to the roadway of the bridge
and the bottom of the tower. This is evidently due, however, to
local color rather than to the direction of the light, which strikes
the nearer tower from the right, the rest of the walls being in
shadow. While the black areas of the picture are large enough to
carry a mass of gray without sacrificing the sunny look, such a
scheme would be likely to produce a labored effect. Two alternative
schemes readily suggest themselves: First, to make the archway the
principal dark, the walls light, with a light half-tone for the
roof, and a darker effect for the trees on the right. Or, second,
to make these trees themselves the principal dark, as suggested by
the photograph, allowing them to count against the gray of the
roof and the ivy of the tower. This latter scheme is that which
has been adopted in the sketch, Fig. 38.
[Illustration: FIG. 38 C. D. M.]
It will be noticed that the trees are not nearly so dark as in
the photograph. If they were, they would be overpowering in so
large an area of white. It was thought better, also, to change the
direction of the light, so that the dark ivy, instead of acting
contradictorily to the effect, might lend character to the shaded
side. The lower portion of the nearer tower was toned in, partly
to qualify the vertical line of the tower, which would have been
unpleasant if the shading were uniform, and partly to carry the
gray around to the entrance. It was thought advisable, also, to
cut from the foreground, raising the upper limit of the picture
correspondingly. (It is far from my intention, however, to convey
the impression that any liberties may be taken with a subject in
order to persuade it into a particular scheme of composition; and
in this very instance an artistic photographer could probably have
discovered a position for his camera which would have obviated the
necessity for any change whatever;--a nearer view of the building,
for one thing, would have considerably lowered the trees.)
[Illustration: FIG. 39 FROM A PHOTOGRAPH]
[Side note: _Third Problem_]
We will consider still another subject. The photograph, Fig. 39,
shows a street in Holland. In this case, the first thing we have
to determine is where the interest of the subject centres. In such
a perspective the salient point of the picture often lies in a
foreground building; or, if the street be merely a setting for the
representation of some incident, in a group of foreground figures.
In either case the emphasis should be placed in the foreground,
the distant vanishing lines of the street being rendered more or
less vaguely. In the present subject, however, the converging sky
and street lines are broken by the quaint clock-tower. This and the
buildings underneath it appeal to us at once as the most important
elements of the picture. The nearer buildings present nothing
intrinsically interesting, and therefore serve no better purpose
than to lead the eye to the centre of interest. Whatever actual
values these intermediate buildings have that will hinder their
usefulness in this regard can, therefore, be changed or actually
ignored without affecting the integrity of the sketch or causing
any pangs of conscience.
The building on the extreme left shows very strong contrasts of
color in the black shadow of the eaves and of the shop-front below.
These contrasts, coming as they do at the edge of the picture,
are bad. They would act like a showy frame on a delicate drawing,
keeping the eye from the real subject. It may be objected, however,
that it is natural that the contrasts should be stronger in the
foreground. Yes; but in looking straight at the clock-tower one does
not see any such dark shadow at the top of the very uninteresting
building in the left foreground. The camera saw it, because the
camera with its hundred eyes sees everything, and does not interest
itself about any one thing in particular. Besides, if the keeper
of the shop had the bad taste to paint it dark we are not bound
to make a record of the fact; nor need we assume that it was done
out of regard to the pictorial possibilities of the street. We
decide, therefore, to render, as faithfully as we may, the values
of the clock-tower and its immediate surroundings, and to disregard
the discordant elements; and we have no hesitation in selecting
for principal emphasis in our drawing, Fig. 40, the shadow under
the projecting building. This dark accent will count brilliantly
against the foreground and the walls of the buildings, which we
will treat broadly as if white, ignoring the slight differences
in value shown in the photograph. We retain, however, the literal
values of the clock-tower and the buildings underneath it, and
express as nearly as we can their interesting variations of texture.
The buildings on the right are too black in the photograph, and
these, as well as the shadow thrown across the street, we will
considerably lighten. After some experiment, we find that the building
on the extreme left is a nuisance, and we omit it. Even then, the
one with the balcony next to it requires to be toned down in its
strong values, and so the shadows here are made much lighter, the
walls being kept white. It will be found that anything like a strong
emphasis of the projecting eaves of the building would detract
from the effect of the tower, so that the shadow under the eaves
is, therefore, made grayer than in the photograph, while that of
the balcony below is made stronger than the shadow of the eaves,
but is lightened at the edge of the drawing to throw the emphasis
toward the centre.
[Illustration: FIG. 40 C. D. M.]
To add interest to the picture, and more especially to give life
to the shadows, several figures are introduced. It will be noticed
that the cart is inserted at the focal point of the drawing to
better assist the perspective.