Of Sketches, Drawings, Cartoons, and Schemes of Perspective; how they
are made, and to what use they are put by the Painters.
§ 77. _Sketches, Drawings, and Cartoons of different kinds._
Sketches, of which mention has been made above, are in artists’ language
a sort of first drawing made to find out the manner of the pose, and the
first composition of the work. They are made in the form of a blotch,
and are put down by us only as a rough draft of the whole. Out of the
artist’s impetuous mood they are hastily thrown off, with pen or other
drawing instrument or with charcoal, only to test the spirit of that
which occurs to him, and for this reason we call them sketches. From
these come afterwards the drawings executed in a more finished manner,
in the doing of which the artist tries with all possible diligence to
copy from the life, if he do not feel himself strong enough to be able
to produce them from his own knowledge. Later on, having measured them
with the compasses or by the eye, he enlarges from the small to a larger
size according to the work in hand. Drawings are made in various
materials,[189] that is, either with red chalk, which is a stone coming
from the mountains of Germany, soft enough to be easily sawn and reduced
to a fine point suitable for marking on leaves of paper in any way you
wish; or with black chalk that comes from the hills of France, which is
of the same nature as the red. Other drawings in light and shade are
executed on tinted paper which gives a middle shade; the pen marks the
outlines, that is, the contour or profile, and afterwards half-tone or
shadow is given with ink mixed with a little water which produces a
delicate tint: further, with a fine brush dipped in white lead mixed
with gum, the high lights are added. This method is very pictorial, and
best shows the scheme of colouring. Many work with the pen alone,
leaving the paper for the lights, which is difficult but in effect most
masterly; and innumerable other methods are practised in drawing, of
which it is not needful to make mention, because all represent the same
thing, that is drawing.
The designs having been made in this way, the artist who wishes to work
in fresco, that is, on the wall, must make cartoons; many indeed prepare
them even for working on panel. The cartoons are made thus: sheets of
paper, I mean square sheets, are fastened together with paste made of
flour and water cooked on the fire. They are attached to the wall by
this paste, which is spread two fingers’ breadth all round on the side
next the wall, and are damped all over by sprinkling cold water on them.
In this moist state they are stretched so that the creases are smoothed
out in the drying. Then when they are dry the artist proceeds, with a
long rod, having a piece of charcoal at the end, to transfer to the
cartoon (in enlarged proportions), to be judged of at a distance, all
that in the small drawing is shown on the small scale. In this manner
little by little he finishes, now one figure and now another. At this
point the painters go through all the processes of their art in
reproducing their nudes from the life, and the drapery from nature, and
they draw the perspectives in the same schemes that have been adopted on
a small scale in the first drawing, enlarging them in proportion.
If in these there should be perspective views, or buildings, these are
enlarged with the net, which is a lattice of small squares that are made
large on the cartoon, reproducing everything correctly, for of course
when the artist has drawn out the perspectives in the small designs,
taking them from the plan and setting up the elevations with the right
contours, and making the lines diminish and recede by means of the
intersections and the vanishing point, he must reproduce them in
proportion on the cartoon. But I do not wish to speak further of the
mode of drawing these out, because it is a wearisome theme and difficult
to explain. It is enough to say that perspectives are beautiful in so
far as they appear correct when looked at, and diminish as they retire
from the eye, and when they are composed of a varied and beautiful
scheme of buildings. The painter must take care too, to make them
diminish in proportion by means of delicate gradations of colour that
presuppose in the artist correct discretion and good judgement.[190] The
need of this is shown in the difficulty of the many confused lines
gathered from the plan, the profile, and the intersection; but when
covered with colour everything becomes clear, and in consequence the
artist gains a reputation for skill and understanding and ingenuity in
his art.
Many masters also before making the composition on the cartoon, adopt
the plan of fashioning a model in clay on a plane and of setting up all
the figures in the round to see the projections,[191] that is, the
shadows caused by a light being thrown on to the figures, which
projections correspond to the shadow cast by the sun, that more sharply
than any artificial light defines the figures by shade on the ground;
and so portraying the whole of the work, they have marked the shadows
that strike across now one figure, now another, whence it comes that on
account of the pains taken the cartoons as well as the work reach the
most finished perfection and strength, and stand out from the paper in
relief. All this shows the whole to be most beautiful and highly
finished.
§ 78. _The Use of Cartoons in Mural and Panel Painting._
When these cartoons are used for fresco or wall painting, every day at
the junction with yesterday’s work a piece of the cartoon is cut off and
traced on the wall, which must be plastered afresh and perfectly
smoothed.[192] This piece of cartoon is put on the spot where the figure
is to be, and is marked; so that next day, when another piece comes to
be added, its exact place may be recognized, and no error can arise.
Afterwards, for transferring the outlines on to the said piece, the
artist proceeds to impress them with an iron stylus upon the coat of
plaster, which, being fresh, yields to the paper and thus remains
marked. He then removes the cartoon and by means of those marks traced
on the wall goes on to work with colours; this then is how work in
fresco or on the wall is carried out. The same tracing is done on panels
and on canvas, but in this case the cartoon is all in one piece, the
only difference being that it is necessary to rub the back of the
cartoon with charcoal or black powder, so that when marked afterwards
with the instrument it may transmit the outlines and tracings to the
canvas or panel. The cartoons are made in order to secure that the work
shall be carried out exactly and in due proportion. There are many
painters who for work in oil will omit all this; but for fresco work it
must be done and cannot be avoided. Certainly the man who found out such
an invention had a good notion, since in the cartoons one sees the
effect of the work as a whole and these can be adjusted and altered
until they are right, which cannot be done on the work itself.