The Art of Illustration Part 5

It is the exception to get good printing in England, under present conditions of haste and cheapening of production, and therefore the best drawings for rapid reproduction are those that require the least touching on the part of the engraver, as _a touched-up process block is troublesome to the printer_; but it is difficult to impress this on the artistic mind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. XIII.

"_Nothing venture, nothing have_," by E. P. SANGUINETTI.

Pen-and-ink drawing from the picture by E. P. Sanguinetti, exhibited at the Nineteenth Century Art Society's Gallery, 1888.

The large block is suitable for printing on common paper, and by fast machines. The little block is best adapted for bookwork, and is interesting as showing the quality obtained by reduction. It is an excellent example of drawing for process, showing much ingenuity of line. The tone and shadows on the ground equal the best fac-simile engraving. (Size of original drawing, from which both blocks were made, 15 10 in.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "ON THE TERRACE." (E. A. ROWE.) _From his water-colour in the New Gallery, 1894._

Size of Pen Drawing, 5-3/4 x 7-1/2 in.]

Some people cannot draw firm clean lines at all, and _should not attempt them_. Few allow sufficiently for the result of reduction, and the necessary thickening of some lines. The results are often a matter of touch and temperament. Some artists are naturally unfitted for line work; the rules which would apply to one are almost useless to another.

Again, there is great inequality in the making of these cheap zinc blocks, however well the drawings may be made; they require more care and experience in developing than is generally supposed.

As line drawing is the basis of the best drawing for the press, I have interspersed through these pages examples and achievements in this direction; examples which in nearly every case are the result of knowledge and consideration of the requirements of process, as an antidote to the sketchy, careless methods so much in vogue. Here we may see--as has probably never been seen before in one volume--what harmonies and discords may be played on this instrument with one string.

One string--no "messing about," if the phrase may be excused--pure black lines on Bristol board (or paper of the same surface), photographed on to a zinc plate, the white parts etched away and the drawing made to stand in relief, ready to print with the letterpress of a book; every line and touch coming out a black one, or rejected altogether by the process.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. XIV.

"_For the Squire_," by SIR JOHN MILLAIS, BART., R. A.

This is an example of drawing for process for rapid printing. The accents of the picture are expressed firmly and in the fewest lines, to give the effect of the picture in the simplest way. Sir John Millais' picture, which was exhibited in the Grosvenor Gallery in 1883, was engraved in mezzotint, and published by Messrs. Thos. Agnew & Sons. (Size of pen-and-ink drawing, 7-1/4 5-1/2 in.) It is suitable for much greater reduction.]

Drawings thus made, upon Bristol board or paper of similar surface, with lamp black, Indian ink, or any of the numerous inks now in use, which dry with a dull, not shiny, surface, will always reproduce well. The pen should be of medium point, or a brush may be used as a pen. The lines should be clear and sharp, and are capable of much variation in style and treatment, as we see in these pages. I purposely do not dwell here upon some special surfaces and papers by which different tones and effects may be produced by the line processes; there is too much tendency already with the artist to be interested in the mechanical side. I have not recommended the use of "clay board," for instance, for the line draughtsman, although it is much used for giving a crisp line to process work, and has a useful surface for sc.r.a.ping out lights, &c.

The results are nearly always mechanical looking.[10]

On the next page are two simple, straightforward drawings, which, it will be observed, are well suited to the method of reproduction for the type press. The first is by Mr. H. S. Marks, R. A. (which I take from the pages of _Academy Notes_), skilfully drawn upon Bristol board, about 7 5 in.

Here every line tells, and none are superfluous; the figure of the monk, the texture of his dress, the old stone doorway, the creeper growing on the wall, and the basket of provisions, all form a picture, the lines of which harmonise well with the type of a book.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE STOPPED KEY." (H. S. MARKS, R. A.)]

In this deliberate, careful drawing, in which white paper plays by far the princ.i.p.al part, the background and lighting of the picture are considered, also the general balance of a decorative page.[11]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "NYMPH AND CUPID." SMALL BAS-RELIEF. (H. HOLIDAY.)

(_From "Academy Notes."_)]

FOOTNOTES:

[7] No one artist can teach drawing in line without a tendency to mannerism, especially in art cla.s.ses.

[8] One of the most accomplished of English painters told me the other day that when he first drew for ill.u.s.tration, the wood engraver dictated the angle and style of cross-hatching, &c., so as to fit the engraver's tools.

[9] Special interest attaches to the examples in this book from the fact that they have nearly all been _drawn on different kinds of paper_, and _with different materials_; and yet nearly all, as will be seen, have come out successfully, and give the spirit of the original.

[10] For description of the various grained papers, &c., see page 113, also _Appendix_.

[11] The young "pen-and-ink artist" of to-day generally avoids backgrounds, or renders them by a series of unmeaning scratches; he does not consider enough the true "lighting of a picture," as we shall see further on. The tendency of much modern black-and-white teaching is to ignore backgrounds.

CHAPTER IV.

PHOTO-ZINC PROCESS.[12]

In order to turn any of these drawings into blocks for the type press, the first process is to have it photographed to the size required, and to transfer a print of it on to a sensitized zinc plate. This print, or photographic image of the drawing lying upon the zinc plate, is of greasy substance (bichromate of potash and gelatine), and is afterwards inked up with a roller; the plate is then immersed in a bath of nitric acid and ether, which cuts away the parts which were left white upon the paper, and leaves the lines of the drawing in relief. This "biting in," as it is called, requires considerable experience and attention, according to the nature of the drawing. Thus, the lines are turned into metal in a few hours, and the plate when mounted on wood to the height of type-letters, is ready to be printed from, if necessary, at the rate of several thousands an hour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PORTRAIT. (T. BLAKE WIRGMAN.)

(_From "Academy Notes."_)]

[This portrait was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1880. I reproduce Mr. Wirgman's sketch for the sake of his powerful treatment of line.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. XV.

"_Forget-Me-Not_," by HENRY RYLAND.

(_From the "English Ill.u.s.trated Magazine."_)

An unusually fine example of reproduction in line, by zinc process, from a large pen-and-ink drawing. It serves to show how clearly writing can be reproduced if done by a trained hand. Students should notice the variety of "colour" and delicacy of line, also the brightness and evenness of the process block throughout.

This ill.u.s.tration suggests possibilities in producing decorative pages in modern books without the aid of printers' type, which is worth consideration in art schools. It requires, of course, knowledge of the figure and of design, and a trained hand for process. One obvious preparation for such work, is an examination of decorative pages in the Ma.n.u.script Department of the British Museum. (_See Appendix._)

It would be difficult, I think, to show more clearly the scope and variety of line work by process than in the contrast between this and the two preceding ill.u.s.trations. Each artist is an expert in black and white in his own way.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "BABY'S OWN." (G. HILLYARD SWINSTEAD.)

(_From "Academy Notes," 1890._)]

A wonderful and startling invention is here, worthy of a land of enchantment, which, without labour, with little more than a wave of the hand, transfixes the artist's touch, and turns it into concrete; by which the most delicate and hasty strokes of the pen are not merely recorded in fac-simile for the eye to decipher, but are brought out in sharp relief, as bold and strong as if hewn out of a rock! Here is an argument for doing "the best and truest work we can," a process that renders indestructible--so indestructible that nothing short of cremation would get rid of it--every line that we put upon paper; an argument for learning for purposes of ill.u.s.tration the touch and method best adapted for reproduction by the press.[13]

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A SILENT POOL." (ED. W. WAITE.) (_From "Academy Notes," 1891._)]

GELATINE PROCESS.

By this process a more delicate and sensitive method has been used to obtain a relief block.

The drawing is photographed to the required size (as before), and the _negative_ laid upon a gla.s.s plate (previously coated with a mixture of gelatine and bichromate of potash). The part of this thin, sensitive film not exposed to the light, is absorbent, and when immersed in water swells up. The part exposed to the light (_i.e._, the lines of the drawing) remains near the surface of the gla.s.s. Thus we have a sunk mould from which a metal cast can be taken, leaving the lines in relief as in the zinc process. In skilful hands this process admits of more delicate gradations, and pale, uncertain lines can be reproduced with tolerable fidelity. The blocks take longer to make, and are double the price of the photo-zinc process first described. There is no process yet invented which gives better results from a pen-and-ink drawing for the type-press. These blocks when completed have a copper surface. The reproductions of pencil, chalk, or charcoal drawings by the zinc, or "biting-in" processes are nearly always failures, as we may see in some of the best artistic books and magazines to-day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: No. XVI.