THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
BEQUEST
OF
Professor
Howard Moise
\
PEN DRAWING
AN ILLUSTRATED TREATISE
PEN DRAWING
AN ILLUSTRATED TREATISE
BY CHARLES D. MAGINNIS
ARCHITECT
FORMERLY INSTRUCTOR IN ILLUSTRATION, COWLES ART SCHOOL
INSTRUCTOR IN PEN DRAWING, BOSTON ARCHITECTURAL CLUB
1903
BATES & GUILD COMPANY
BOSTON
FOURTH EDITION
COPYRIGHT
BY
BATES & GUILD COMPANY
PRINTED BY
THE F. A. BA^SETTE COMPANY
SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
LOAN STACK
GIFT
At 70s-
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
To Mr. David A. Gregg and to Mr. Bert-
ram G. Goodhue, who have generously made
special drawings -for this little book, and to
the Publishers who have courteously allowed
me to make use of illustrations owned by
them, my thanks and my cordial acknowl-
edgments are due. c. D. M.
031
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1 . JOSEPH PENNELL. From The Century Magazine
(The Century Co: New York) 5
2. MAXIME LALANNE. From " La Hollande a Vol
d'Oiseau," by H. Havard (A. Quantin: Paris). 7
3. MAXIME LALANNE. From "La Hollande a Vol
d'Oiseau," by H. Havard (A. Quantin: Paris). 8
4. RESTORATION HOUSE, ROCHESTER, ENGLAND.
Drawing from a Photograph 9
5. JOSEPH PENNELL. From "Highways and By-
ways in North Wales " (Macmillan & Co: Lon-
don) 10
6. BERTRAM G. GOODHUE. Drawn for " Pen Draw-
ing" 20
7. HERBERT RAILTON. From "Coaching Days and
Coaching Ways," by W. Outram Tristram (Mac-
millan & Co: London) 21
8. BERTRAM G. GOODHUE. Drawn for " Pen Draw-
ing " 23
9. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing" . . 24
10. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing " . . 25
11. MARTIN Rico. From La Ilustracion Espanola y
Americana 26
12. C. D M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing " . . 28
13. DANIEL VIERGE. From "Pablo de Segovie," by
Francisco de Quevedo (Leon Bonhoure: Paris) . 29
14. MARTIN Rico. From La Ilustracion Espanola y
Americana 30
15. ALFRED BRENNAN. From St. Nicholas (The Cen-
tury Co: New York) 31
16. LESLIE WILLSON. From Pick- Me- Up (London) 32
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
17. DRAWING FROM PHOTOGRAPH. From Harper's
Magazine (Harper & Brothers: New York) . 34
18. JOSEPH PENNELL. From ' The Saone: A Summer
Voyage," by Philip Gilbert Hamerton (Seeley &
Co: London) 36
19. JOSEPH PENNELL. From ' The Saone: A Summer
Voyage," by Philip Gilbert Hamerton (Seeley &
Co: London) 37
20. JOSEPH PENNELL. From Harper' s Magazine (Har-
per & Brothers: New York) 38
21. E. DANTAN. From U Art (Paris) .... 39
22. J, F. RAFFAELLI. From Gazette des Beaux- Arts
(Paris) 40
23. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing " . . 45
24. D. A. GREGG. From "Architectural Render-
ing in Pen and Ink," by D. A. Gregg (Ticknor
& Co: Boston) 46
25. DANIEL VIERGE. From " Pablo de Segovie," by
Francisco de Quevedo (Leon Bonhoure: Paris) . 47
26. DANIEL VIERGE. From " Pablo de Segovie," by
Francisco de Quevedo (Leon Bonhoure: Paris) . 48
27. HARRY FENN. From The Century Magazine
(The Century Co: New York) 49
28. REGINALD BIRCH. From The Century Magazine
(The Century Co: New York) 51
29. JOSEPH PENNELL. From The Century Magazine
(The Century Co: New York) 53
30. BERTRAM G. GOODHUE. From The Architectural
Review (Bates & Guild Co: Boston) .... 54
31. JOSEPH PENNELL. From " Charing Cross to St.
Paul's," by Justin McCarthy (Seeley & Co:
London) 55
32. LEONARD RAVEN HILL. From Pick-Me- Up (Lon-
don) 57
33. DANIEL VIERGE From " Pablo de Segovie," by
Francisco de Quevedo (Leon Bonhoure: Paris) . 58
34. P. G. JEANNIOT. From La Vie Moderne (Paris) 59
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
35. PORCH OF AN ENGLISH CHURCH. From a Pho-
tograph 60
36. D. A. GREGG. Drawn for "Pen Drawing" . 61
37. NORMANDY MOAT-HOUSE. From a Photograph 63
38. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing" . . 65
39. STREET IN HOLLAND. From a Photograph . . 66
40. C. D. M. Drawn for "Pen Drawing" . . 69
41. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing" . . 76
42. GEORGE F. NEWTON. From " Catalogue of the
Philadelphia & Boston Face Brick Co." (Boston). 78
43. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing " . . 79
44. C. D. M. Drawn for "Pen Drawing" . . 83
45. FRANK E.WALLIS. From The Engineering Re 'cord 84
46. HARRY ALLAN JACOBS. From The Architectural
Review (Bates & Guild Co: Boston) .... 86
47. D, A. GREGG. From "Architectural Render-
ing in Pen and Ink," by D. A. Gregg (Ticknor
& Co: Boston) 87
48. D. A. GREGG. From The Erickbuilder (Rogers
& Manson: Boston) 90
49. HERBERT RAILTON. From " Coaching Days and
Coaching Ways," by W. Outram Tristram (Mac-
millan & Co: London) 91
50. D. A. GREGG. From The American Architect
(The American Architect and Building News
Co: Boston) 92
5 1 . WALTER M. CAMPBELL. From The American Archi-
tect (The American Architect and Building News
Co: Boston) 93
52. HERBERT RAILTON. From " Coaching Days and
Coaching Ways," by W. Outram Tristram (Mac-
millan & Co: London) 94
53. A. F. JACCACI. From The Century Magazine
(The Century Co: New York) 95
54. CLAUDE FAYETTE BRAGDON. From The Brick-
builder (Rogers & Manson: Boston) .... 96
55. HARVEY ELLIS. From The Inland Architect (The
Inland Publishing Co: Chicago) 97
x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
56. C. E. MALLOWS. From The British Architect
(London) 98
57. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing" . . 100
58. C. D. M. Drawn for "Pen Drawing" . . 101
59. C. D. M. Drawn for "Pen Drawing" . . 102
60. C. D. M. Drawn for " Pen Drawing " . . 104
61. A.B.FROST. From Scribner's Magazine (Charles
Scribner's Sons: New York) 109
62. ALFRED G. JONES. From a Book Plate . . . ill
63. WALTER APPLETON CLARK. From Scribner's
Magazine (Charles Scribner's Sons: New York) . 112
64. A. CAMPBELL CROSS. FromQuartier Latin (Paris) 1 1 3
65. MUCHA. From a Poster Design 114
66. HOWARD PYLE. From "Otto of the Silver
Hand," by Howard Pyle (Charles Scribner's
Sons: New York) 115
67. WILL H. BRADLEY. From a Poster Design for
The Chap- Book (Herbert S. Stone & Co: Chicago) 1 16
68. P. J. BILLINGHURST. From a Book Plate . .117
69. " BEGGARSTAFF BROTHERS." From a Poster De-
sign 1 1 8
70. EDWARD PENFIELD. From a Design for the
" Poster Calendar " (R. H. Russell & Son: New
York) 119
71. Louis J. RHEAD. From a Poster Design for
"Lundborg's Perfumes" 120
72. J. W. SIMPSON. From a Book Plate . . . .120
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I. Style in Pen Drawing . i
CHAPTER II. Materials 12
CHAPTER III. Technique .... 19
CHAPTER IV. Values 45
CHAPTER V. Practical Problems . . 60
CHAPTER VI. Architectural Drawing. 71
CHAPTER VII. Decorative Drawing . 106
CHAPTER I
STYLE IN PEN DRAWING
Art, with its finite means, cannot hope to re-
cord the infinite variety and complexity of
Nature, and so contents itself with a partial
statement, addressing this to the imagination
for the full and perfect meaning. This inad-
equation, and the artificial adjustments which
it involves, are tolerated by right of what is
known as artistic convention ; and as each art
has its own particular limitations, so each has
its own particular conventions. Sculpture re-
produces the forms of Nature, but discards the
color without any shock to our ideas of verity ;
Painting gives us the color, but not the third
dimension, 'and we are satisfied ; and Archi-
tecture is -purely conventional, since it does
not even aim at the imitation of natural form.
Of the kindred arts which group themselves
under the head of Painting, none is based on
such broad conventions as that with which we
are immediately concerned the art of Pen
Drawing. In this medium, Nature's variety
of color, when not positively ignored, is sug-
gested by means of sharp black lines, of varying
thickness, placed more or less closely together
2 PEN DRAWING
upon white paper; while natural form depends
primarily for its representation upon arbitrary
boundary lines. There is, of course, no au-
thority in Nature for a positive outline : we
see objects only by the difference in color of
the other objects behind and around them.
The technical capacity of the pen and ink
medium, however, does not provide a value
corresponding to every natural one, so that a
broad interpretation has to be adopted which
eliminates the less positive values; and, that
form may not likewise be sacrificed, the out-
line becomes necessary, that light objects may
stand relieved against light. This outline is
the most characteristic, as it is the most indis-
pensable, of the conventions of line drawing.
To seek to abolish it only involves a resort to
expedients no less artificial, and the results of
all such attempts, dependent as they necessarily
are upon elaboration of color, and a general
indirectness of method, lack some of the best
characteristics of pen drawing. More fre-
quently, however, an elaborate color-scheme is
merely a straining at the technical limitations
of the pen in an effort to render the greatest
possible number of values.
It may be worth while to inquire whether
excellence in pen drawing consists in thus dis-
pensing with its recognized conventions, or in
otherwise taxing the technical resources of the
instrument. This involves the question of
STYLE IN PEN DRAWING 3
Style, of what characteristic pen methods
are, a question which we will briefly con-
sider.
It is a recognized principle that every me-
dium of art expression should be treated with
due regard to its nature and properties. The
sculptor varies his technique according as he
works in wood, granite, or marble ; the painter
handles his water-color in quite another man-
ner than that he would employ on an oil-paint-
ing of the same subject ; and the architect, with
the subtle sense of the craftsman, carries this
principle to such a fine issue as to impart an
individual expression even to particular woods.
He knows that what may be an admirable de-
sign when executed in brass may be a very bad
one in wrought-iron and is sure to be an ab-
surdity in wood. An artistic motive for a
silver flagon, too, is likely to prove ugly for
pottery or cut-glass, and so on. There is
a genius, born of its particular properties,
in every medium, which demands individual
expression. Observe, therefore, that Art is
not satisfied with mere unrelated beauty of
form or color. It requires that the result con-
fess some sensible relation to the means by
which it has been obtained ; and in proportion
as it does this, it may claim to possess that
individual and distinctive charm which we call
"Style." It may be said, therefore, that the
technical limitations of particular mediums im-
4 PEN DRAWING
pose what might properly be called natural
conventions; and while misguided ambition
may set these conventions aside to hammer out
effects from an unwilling medium, the triumph
is only mechanical ; Art does not lie that way,
The Ought the pen, then, to be persuaded into the
""? province of the brush ? Since the natures of
the two means differ, it does not stultify the
water-color that it cannot run the deep gamut
of oil. Even if the church-organ be the grand-
est and most comprehensive of musical instru-
ments we may still be permitted to cherish our
piano. Each has its own sphere, its own rea-
son for being. So of the pen, the piccolo
flute of the artistic orchestra. Let it pipe its
high treble as merrily as it may, but do not
coerce it into mimicking the bassoon.
Pen drawing is most apt to lose its individ-
uality when it begins to assume the character-
istics of wash-drawing, such as an elaborate
massing of grays, small light areas, and a gen-
eral indirectness of method. A painter once
told me that he was almost afraid to handle
the pen, " It is so fearfully direct," he said.
He understood the instrument, certainly, for
if there is one characteristic more than another
which should distinguish pen methods it is Di-
rectness. The nature of the pen seems to
mark as its peculiar function that of picking
out the really vital features of a subject. Pen
drawing has been aptly termed the " shorthand
FIG. I
JOSEPH PENNELL
6 PEN DRAWING
of Art;" the genius of the pen-point is essen-
tially epitome.
If we turn to the brush, we find its capacity
such that a high light may be brought down
to a minute fraction of an inch with a few
swift strokes of it; whereas the tedious labor,
not to speak of the actual technical difficulties,
encountered in attempting such an effect of
color with pen and ink, indicates that we are
forcing the medium. Moreover, it is techni-
cally impossible to reproduce with the pen the
low values which may be obtained with the
brush; and it is unwise to attempt it. The
way, for example, in which Mr. Joseph Pen-
nell handles his pen as compared with that in
which he handles his brush is most instructive
as illustrating what I have been maintaining.
His pen drawings are pitched in a high key,
brilliant blacks and large light areas, with often
just enough half-tone to soften the effect.
His wash-drawings, on the contrary, are so
utterly different in manner as to have nothing
in common with the others, distinguished as
they are by masses of low tone and small light
areas. Compare Figs, i and 5. Observe that
there is no straining at the technical capacity
of the pen or of the brush; no attempt to ob-
tain an effect in one medium which seems to
be more naturally adapted to the other. Indi-
viduality is imparted to each by a frank con-
cession to its peculiar genius.
STYLE IN PEN DRAWING
<..;r>
t"
ffi
FIG. 2
MAXIME LALANNE
I have said that the chief characteristic of pen Examples
methods is Directness. I think I may now
say that the chief element of style is Economy
of Means. The drawing by M. Maxime La-
lanne shown in Fig. 2 is an excellent example
of this economy carried to its extreme. Not a
stroke could be spared, so direct and simple is
it, and yet it is so complete and homogenous
that nothing could be added to make it more
so. The architecture is left without color, and
yet we are made to feel that it is not white
this subtle suggestion of low color being ob-
tained by a careful avoidance of any strong
black notes in the rendering, which would have
intensified the whites and lighted up the pic-
ture. Fig. 3, by the same artist, is even more
STYLE IN PEN DRAWING
FIG. 4
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
notable by reason of the masterly breadth
which characterizes the treatment of a most
complicated subject. A comparison of these
with a drawing of the Restoration House, at
Rochester, England, Fig. 4, is instructive. In
the latter the method is almost painfully elab-
orate ; nothing of the effect is obtained by
suggestion. The technique is varied and in-
10
PEN DRAWING
teresting, but the whole drawing lacks that
individual something which we call Style. In
the Lalanne drawings we see foliage con-
vincingly represented by means of the mere
outlines and a few subtle strokes of the pen.
There is no attempt at the literal rendering of
natural objects in detail, all is accomplished
by suggestion : and while I do not wish to be
understood as insisting upon such a severely
simple style, much less upon the purist theory
that the function of the pen is concerned with
form alone, I would impress upon the student
that Lalanne's is incomparably the finer man-
ner of the two.
Between these two extremes of method there
is a wide latitude for individual choice. Con-
trast with the foregoing the accompanying pen
drawing by Mr. Pennell, Fig. 5, which gives a
FIG. 5
JOSEPH PENNELL
STYLE IN PEN DRAWING n
fair idea of the manner of this admirable sty-
list. Compared with the sketches by Lalanne
it has more richness of color, but there is the
same fine restraint, the same nice regard for
the instrument. The student will find it most
profitable to study the work of this masterly
penman. By way of warning, however, let me
remind him here, that in studying the work of
any accomplished draughtsman he is selecting
a style for the study of principles, not that he
may learn to mimic somebody, however excel-
lent the somebody may be; that he must, there-
fore, do a little thinking himself; that he has an
individuality of his own which he does not con-
fess if his work looks like some one's else;
and, finally, that he has no more right to con-
sciously appropriate the peculiarities of an-
other's style than he has to appropriate his
more tangible property, and no more reason to
do so than he has to walk or talk like him.
J
CHAPTER II
MATERIALS
Every illustrator has his special predilections
in the matter of materials, just as he has in the
matter of methods. The purpose of this chap-
ter is, therefore, rather to assist the choice of
the student by limiting it than to choose for
him. It would be advisable for him to be-
come acquainted with the various materials
that I may have occasion to mention (all of
them are more or less employed by the promi-
nent penmen ), and a partiality for particular
ones will soon develop itself. He is reminded,
however, that it is easily possible to exaggerate
the intrinsic values of pens and papers ; in
fact the beginner invariably expects too much
from them. Of course, he should not use any
but the best, even Vierge could not make
a good drawing with a bad pen, but the ar-
tistic virtues of a particular instrument are not
likely to disclosethemselves in the rudescratch-
ings of the beginner. He has to master it, to
"break it in/' ere he can discover of what ex-
cellent service it is capable.
The student will find that most of the steel
pens made for artists have but a short period
MATERIALS 13
of usefulness. When new they are even more Pens
unresponsive than when they are old. At first
they are disposed to give a hard, wiry line, then
they grow sympathetic, and, finally, lose their
temper, when they must be immediately thrown
away. As a general rule, the more delicate
points are better suited to the smooth surfaces,
where they are not likely to get tripped up and
"shaken" by the roughness in the paper.
To begin with the smaller points, the " Gil-
lott Crow-quill" is an excellent instrument.
The normal thickness of its line is extremely
small, but so beautifully is the nib made that
it will respond vigorously to a big sweeping
stroke. I say a u sweeping stroke," as its
capacity is not to be taxed for uniformly big
lines. An equally delicate point, which sur-
passes the crow-quill in range, is " Gillott's
Mapping-pen." It is astonishing how large a
line may be made with this instrument. It
responds most nimbly to the demands made
upon it, and in some respects reminds one of
a brush. It has a short life, but it may be a
merry one. Mr. Pennell makes mention of a
pen, " Perry's Auto-Stylo," which seems to
possess an even more wonderful capacity, but
of -this I cannot speak from experience. A
coarser, but still a small point, is the " Gillott
192 " a good pen with a fairly large range ;
and, for any others than the smooth papers, a
pen smaller than this will probably be found
i 4 PEN DRAWING
undesirable for general use. A shade big-
ger than this is the " Gillott 303," a very good
average size. Neither of these two possesses
the sensitiveness of those previously men-
tioned, but for work demanding more or less
uniformity of line they will be found more
satisfactory. The smaller points are liable
to lead one into the quagmire of finicalness.
When we get beyond the next in size, the
"Gillott 404," there is nothing about the coarse
steel points to especially commend them for
artistic use. They are usually stupid, un-
reliable affairs, whose really valuable existence
is about fifteen working minutes. For deco-
rative drawing the ordinary commercial "stub"
will be found a very satisfactory instrument.
Of course one may use several sizes of pens in
the same drawing, and it is often necessary to
do so.
Before leaving the steel pens, the " double-
line pen'' may be mentioned, though it has only
a limited sphere. It is a two-pointed arrange-
ment, practically two pens in one, by means of
which parallel lines may be made with one
stroke. Rather interesting effects can be ob-
tained with it, but on the whole it is most val-
uable as a curiosity. Though somewhat out of
fashion for general use, the quill of our fathers
is favored by many illustrators. It is splen-
didly adapted for broad, vigorous rendering of
foreground effects, and is almost dangerously
MATERIALS 15
easy to handle. Reed pens, which have some-
what similar virtues, are now little employed,
and cannot be bought. They have to be cut
from the natural reed, and used while fresh.
For many uses in decorative drawing one of
the most satisfactory instruments is the glass
pen, which gives an absolutely uniform line.
The point being really the end of a thin tube,
the stroke may be made in any direction, a
most unique characteristic in a pen. It has,
however, the disadvantages of being friable and
expensive ; and, as it needs to be kept clean,
the patent water-proof ink should not be used
with it unless absolutely necessary. A flat
piece of cork or rubber should be placed in-
side the ink-bottle when this pen is used, other-
wise it is liable to be smashed by striking the
bottom of the bottle. The faculty possessed
by the Japanese brush of retaining its point
renders it also available for use as a pen, and
it is often so employed.
In drawing for reproduction, the best ink is inks
that which is blackest and least shiny. Until
a few years ago it was the custom of penmen
to grind their India ink themselves ; but, be-
sides the difficulty of always ensuringtheproper
consistency, it was a cumbersome method, and
is now little resorted to, especially as numerous
excellent prepared inks are ready to hand. The
better known of these prepared inks are, " Hig-
gins' American " (general and waterproof),
16 PEN DRAWING
Bourgeois' "Encre de Chine Liquide," "Car-
ter's," " Winsor &f Newton's," and " Row-
ney's." Higgins' and Carter's have the ex-
trinsic advantages of being put up in bottles
which do not tip over on the slightest provo-
cation, and of being furnished with stoppers
which can be handled without smearing the
fingers. Otherwise, they cannot be said to
possess superiority over the others, certainly
not over the " Encre de Chine Liquide."
Should the student have occasion to draw over
salt-prints he will find it wise to use water-
proof ink, as the bleaching acid which is used
to fade the photographic image may otherwise
cause the ink to run.
Bristol-board is probably the most popular
of all surfaces for pen drawing. It is certainly
that most approved by the process engraver,
whose point of view in such a matter, though
a purely mechanical one, is worthy of consid-
eration. It has a perfectly smooth surface,
somewhat difficult to erase from with rubber,
and which had better be scratched with a knife
when any considerable erasure is necessary.
As the cheap boards are merely a padding
veneered on either side with a thin coating of
smooth paper, little scraping is required to
develop a fuzzy surface upon which it is impos-
sible to work. Only the best board, such as
Reynolds', therefore, should be used. Bristol-
board can be procured in sheets of various
thicknesses as well as in blocks.
MATERIALS 17
Whatman's " hot-pressed " paper affords
another excellent surface and possesses some
advantages over the Bristol-board. It comes
in sheets of various sizes, which may be either
tacked down on a board or else " stretched."
Tacking will be satisfactory enough if the draw-
ing is small and is to be completed in a few
hours ; otherwise the paper is sure to "hump
up," especially if the weather be damp. The
process of stretching is as follows: Fold up the
edges of the sheet all around, forming a margin
about an inch wide. After moistening the pa-
per thoroughly with a damp sponge, cover the
under side of this turned-up marginwith photo-
graphic paste or strong mucilage. During this
operation the sheet will have softened and
"humped up," and will admit of stretching.
Now turn down the adhesive margin and press
it firmly with the fingers, stretching the paper
gently at the same time. As this essential
part of the process must be performed quickly,
an assistant is requisite when the sheet is large.
Care should be taken that the paper is not
strained too much, as it is then likely to burst
when it again contracts.
Although generally employed for water-
color drawing, Whatman's "cold-pressed" pa-
per has some advantages as a pen surface.
Slightly roughish in texture, it gives an inter-
esting broken line, which is at times desirable.
A peculiar paper which has considerable
i8 PEN DRAWING
vogue, especially in France and England, is
what is known as "clay-board." Its surface
is composed of China clay, grained in various
ways, the top of the grain being marked with
fine black lines which give a gray tone to the
paper, darker or lighter according to the char-
acter of the pattern. This tone provides the
middle-tint for the drawing. By lightly scrap-
ing with a sharp penknife or scratcher, before
or after the pen work is done, a more delicate
gray tone may be obtained, while vigorous
scraping will produce an absolute white. With
the pen work added, it will be seen that a good
many values are possible ; and, if the drawing
be not reduced more than one-third, it will
print excellently. The grain, running as it
does in straight lines, offers a good deal of ob-
struction to the pen, however, so that a really
good line is impossible.
Thin letter-paper is sometimes recommend-
ed for pen and ink work, chiefly on account of
its transparency, which obviates the necessity
of re-drawing after a preliminary sketch has
been worked up in pencil. Over the pencil
study a sheet of the letter-paper is placed on
which the final drawing may be made with
much deliberation. Bond paper, however,
possesses the similar advantage of transparency
besides affording a better texture for the pen.
CHAPTER III
TECHNIQUE
The first requirement of a good pen tech-
nique is a good Individual Line, a line of _ J be .
r \. IT T 11 ' Individual
reeling and quality. It is usually a surprise UM
to the beginner to be made aware that the in-
dividual line is a thing of consequence, a
surprise due, without doubt, to the apparently
careless methods of some successful illustra-
tors. It is to be borne in mind, however,
that some illustrators are successful in spite
of their technique rather than because of it ;
and also that the apparently free and easy
manner of some admirable technicians is in
reality very much studied, very deliberate,
and not at all to be confounded with the
unsophisticated scribbling of the beginner.
The student is apt to find it just about as
easy to draw like Mr. Pennell as to write like
Mr. Kipling. The best way to acquire such
a superb freedom is to be very, very careful
and painstaking. To appreciate how beauti-
ful the individual line may be one has but to
observe the rich, decorative stroke of Howard
Pyle, Fig. 66, or that of Mucha, Fig. 65, the
tender outline of Boutet de Monvel, the tell-
2O
PEN DRAWING
of
Line
FIG. 6
B. G. GOODHUE
Copyright iSgc) by the Life Publishing Company
ing, masterly sweep of Gibson, or the short,
crisp line of Vierge or Rico. Compared with
any of these the line of the beginner will be
either feeble and tentative, or harsh, wiry, and
coarse.
The second requisite is Variety of Line,
not merely variety of size and direction, but,
since each line ought to exhibit a feeling for
the particular texture which it is contributing
tp express, variety of character. Mr. Gib-
bon's manner of placing very delicate gray
lines against a series of heavy black strokes
exemplifies some of the possibilities of such
variety. Observe, in Fig. 6, what significance
is imparted to the heavy lines on the roof of
FIG.
HERBERT RAILTON
22 PEN DRAWING
the little foreground building by the foil of
delicate gray lines in the sky and surrounding
roofs. This conjunction was employed early
by Mr. Herbert Railton, who has made a
beautiful use of it in his quaint architectural
subjects. Mr. Railton's technique is remark-
able also for the varied direction of line and
its expression of texture. Note this charac-
teristic in his drawing of buttresses, Fig. 7.
Economy The third element of good technique is
-X , Economy and Directness of Method. A tone
Method ,..,*,., r i r
should not be built up or a lot or meaning-
less strokes. Each line ought, sensibly and
directly, to contribute to the ultimate result.
The old mechanical process of constructing
tones by cross-hatching is now almost obso-
lete. It is still employed by modern pen
draughtsmen, but it is only one of many re-
sources, and is used with nice discrimination.
At times a cross-hatch is very desirable and
very effective, as, for example, in affording a
subdued background for figures having small,
high lights. A very pretty use of it is seen
in the tower of Mr. Goodhue's drawing, Fig.
8. Observe here how the intimate treatment
of the roofs is enhanced and relieved by the
foil of closely-knit hatch on the tower-wall,
and how effective is the little area of it at the
base of the spire. The cross-hatch also af-
fords a satisfactory method of obtaining deep,
quiet shadows. See the archway " B " in Fig. 9.
Xir-
FIG. 8
G. GOODHUE
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 9
C. D. M.
On the whole, however, the student is ad-
vised to accustom himself to a very sparing
use of this expedient. Compare the two ef-
fects in Fig. 9. Some examples of good and
bad cross-hatching are illustrated in Fig. 10.
Those marked "I" and "J" may be set
down as bad, being too coarse. The only
satisfactory cross-hatch at a large scale would
seem to be that shown in " N," where lines
cross at a sharp angle ; and this variety is
effectively employed by figure illustrators.
Perhaps no better argument against the ne-
cessity for thus building up tones could be
adduced than the little drawing by Martin
Rico, shown in Fig. n. Notice what a
beautiful texture he gives to the shadow where
FIG. I
MARTIN RICO
T E C H N I QJJ E 27
it falls on the street, how it differs from that
on the walls, how deep and closely knit it all
is, and yet that there is absolutely no cross-
hatching. Remark, also, how the textures of
the walls and roof and sky are obtained.
The student would do well to copy such a
drawing as this, or a portion of it, at least, on
a larger scale, as much can be learned from it.
I have shown various methods of making Methods
a tone in Fig. 12. It will be observed that ^^~
Rico's shadow, in Fig. 11, is made up of a
combination of " B " and " C," except that he
uses " B " horizontally, and makes the line
heavy and dragging. The clear, crisp shadows
of Vierge are also worthy of study for the sim-
plicity of method. This is beautifully illus-
trated in the detail, Fig. 13. It would be
impossible to suggest atmosphere more vi-
brating with sunlight ; a result due to the
transparency of the shadows, the lines of
which are sharp and clean, with never a sug-
gestion of cross-hatch. Notice how the lines
of the architectural shadows are stopped ab-
ruptly at times, giving an emphasis which adds
to the brilliancy of the effect. The drawing of
the buildings on the canal, by Martin Rico,
Fig. 14, ought also to be carefully studied in
this connection. Observe how the shadow-
lines in this drawing, as in that previously
mentioned, are made to suggest the direction
of the sunlight, which is high in the heavens.
\
FIG. I 3
DANIEL VIERCE
3 2
PEN DRAWING
16
LESLIE WILLSON
An example of all that is refined and excellent
in pen technique is the drawing by Mr. Alfred
Brennan, Fig. 15. The student would do
T E C H N I Q_U E 33
well to study this carefully for its marvellous
beauty of line. There is little hatching, and
yet the tones are deep and rich. The wall
tone will be found to be made up similarly to
" A " and " H " in Fig. 12. The tone " B " in
the same Figure is made up of lines which are
thin at the ends and big in the middle, fitting
into each other irregularly, and imparting a
texture somewhat different from that obtained
by the abrupt ending of the strokes of " A."
This method is also employed by Brennan >
and is a very effective one. A good example
of the use of this character of line (unknitted,
however) is the drawing by Mr. Leslie Will-
son, Fig. 1 6. The irregular line " C ' :> has
good possibilities for texture, and the wavy
character of " D " 'is most effective in the
rendering of shadows, giving a certain vibra-
tion to the atmosphere. " E " and " F " sug-
gest a freer method of rendering a tone ; while
" G " shows a scribbling line that is some-
times employed to advantage. The very in-
teresting texture of the coat, Fig. 17, is made
with a horizontal line having a similar return
stroke, as may be noticed where the rendering
ends. There are times when an irresponsible
sort of line is positively desirable, say for
rough foreground suggestion or for freeing
the picture at the edges.
I have invariably found that what presents
the chief difficulty to the student of pen and
34
PEN DRAWING
FIG. I/ DRAWING FROM PHOTOGRAPH
From Harper's Magaxine, by permission. Copyright, l8()2, by Harper Sr" Brothers
ink is the management of the Outline. When
Outline it is realized that, by mere outline, one may
express the texture of a coat or a tree or a wall
without any rendering whatever, it will be seen
that nothing in pen drawing is really of so
much importance. Notice, for example, the
wonderful drawing of the dog in Fig. 34.
Again, if a connected line had been used to
define the corners of Railton's buttresses in
Fig. 7 all the texture would have been de-
T E C H N I Q_U E 35
stroyed. Instead of this he has used a broken
outline, sometimes omitting it altogether for
a considerable space. On the ledges, too, the
lines are broken. In Rico's drawing, Fig. n,
all the outlines may be observed to have a
break here and there. This broken line is par-
ticularly effective in out-door subjects, as it
helps to suggest sunlit atmosphere as well as
texture.
Architectural outlines, however, are not
particularly subtle ; it is when we come to
render anything with vague boundaries, such
as foliage or clouds for example, that the chief
difficulties are encountered. Foliage is an
important element of landscape drawing and
deserves more than passing consideration. To
make a successful rendering of a tree in pen
and ink the tree must be first well drawn in pen-
cil. It is absolutely impossible to obtain such
a charming effect of foliage as that shown in
Mr. Pennell's sketch, Fig. 18, without the
most painstaking preparation in pencil. The
success of this result is not attributable mere-
ly to the difference in textures, nor to the di-
rection or character of the line ; it is first of
all a matter of good drawing. The outline
should be free and subtle so as to suggest
the edges of leafage, and the holes near the
edges should be accented, otherwise they will
be lost and the tree will look solid and char-
acterless. Observe, in the same drawing, how
TECHNIQUE
37
FIG. 19
JOSEPH PENNELL
Mr. Pennell sug-
gests the structure
of the leafage by
the irregular out-
lines which he gives
to the different se-
ries of lines, and
which he empha-
sizes by bringing
the lines to an
abrupt stop. Ob-
serve also how the
stronger texture of
the tree in Fig. 19
is obtained by mak-
ing the lines with greater abruptness. Com-
pare both of these Figures with the fore-
ground trees by the same artist in Fig. 20.
The last is a brilliant example of foliage draw-
ing in pen and ink
The matter of Textures is very important,
and the student should learn to differentiate
them as much as possible. This is done, as I
have already said, by differences in the size
and character of the line, and in the closeness
or openness of the rendering. Observe the
variety of textures in the drawing of the
sculptor by Dan tan, Fig. 21. The coat is
rendered by such a cross-hatch as "N" in Fig.
10, made horizontally and with heavy lines.
In the trousers the lines do not cross but fit in
Textures
FIG. 20
From Harper'' s Magaxine, by
JOSEPH PENNELL
Copyright, l8Q3, by Harper & Brothers
TECHNIQUE
39
together. This
is an excellent
example for
study, as is also
the portrait by
Raffaelli, Fig.
22. The tex-
tures in the lat-
ter drawing are
wonderfullywell
conveyed, the
hard, boriy face,
the stubby
beard, and the
woolen cap with
its tassel in sil-
houette. For
the expression
of texture with
the least effort
the drawings of
Vierge are in-
comparable.
The architec-
tural drawing by
Mr. Gregg in
Fig. 50 is well
worth careful
study in this
connection, as
are all of H er-
ne. 21
E. DA NT AN
4 o
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 22
J. F. RAFFAELLl
bert Railton's admirable drawings of old Eng-
lish houses. (I recommend the study of Mr.
Railton's work with a good deal of reser-
vation, however. While it is admirable in
respect of textures and fascinating in its col-
or, the values are likely to be mo*st unreal,
TECHNIQUE 41
and the mannerisms are so pronounced and
so tiresome that I regard it as much inferior
to that of Mr. Pennell, whose architecture al-
ways appears, at least, to have been honestly
drawn on the spot.)
The hats in Fig. 10 are merely suggestions
to the student in the study of elementary
combinations of line in expressing textures.
As the mechanical processes of Reproduc- Drawing
tion have much to do with determining pen Rep ^ uction
methods they become important factors for
consideration. While their waywardness and
inflexibility are the cause of no little distress
to the illustrator, the limitations of processes
cannot be said, on the whole, to make for in-
ferior standards in drawing, as will be seen by
the following rules which they impose, and for
which a strict regard will be found most advis-
able.
First : Make each line clear and distinct.
Do not patch up a weak line or leave one which
has been broken or blurred by rubbing, for how-
ever harmless or even interesting it may seem
in your original it will almost certainly be
neither in the reproduction. When you make
mistakes, erase the offensive part completely,
or, if you are working on Bristol-board and
the area of unsatisfactoriness be considerable,
paste a fresh piece of paper over it and re-
draw.
Second : Keep your work open. Aim for
42 PEN DRAWING
economy of line. If a shadow can be rendered
with twenty strokes do not crowd in forty, as
you will endanger its transparency. Remem-
ber that in reproduction the lines tend to
thicken and so to crowd out the light between
them. This is so distressingly true of news-
paper reproduction that in drawings for this
purpose the lines have to be generally very
thin, sharp, and well apart. The above rule
should be particularly regarded in all cases
where the drawing is to be subject to much
reduction. The degree of reduction of which
pen drawings are susceptible is not, as is com-
monly supposed, subject to rule. It all de-
pends on the scale of the technique.
Third: Have the values few and positive.
It is necessary to keep the gray tones pretty
distinct to prevent the relation of values being
injured, for while the gray tones darken in
proportion to the degree of reduction, the
blacks cannot, of course, grow blacker. A
gray tone which may be light and delicate in
the original, will, especially if it be closely knit,
darken and thicken in the printing. These
rules are most strictly to be observed when
drawing for the cheaper classes of publications.
For book and magazine work, however, where
the plates are touched up by the engraver, and
the values in a measure restored, the third rule
is not so arbitrary. Nevertheless, the begin-
ner who has ambitions in this direction will
TECHNIQUE 43
do well not to put difficulties in his own way
by submitting work not directly printable.
There are a number of more or less fanciful F s a fu ,
expedients employed in modern pen work Expedients
which may be noted here, and which are illus-
trated in Fig. 10. The student is advised,
however, to resort to them as little as possi-
ble, not only because he is liable to make in-
judicious use of them, but because it is wiser
for him to cultivate the less meretricious pos-
sibilities of the instrument.
" Spatter work " is a means of obtaining a
delicate printable tone, consisting of innumer-
able little dots of ink spattered on the paper.
The process is as follows : Carefully cover
with a sheet of paper all the drawing except
the portion which is to be spattered, then take
a tooth-brush, moisten the ends of the bristles
consistently with ink, hold the brush, back
downwards, in the left hand, and with a wooden
match or tooth-pick rub the bristles toward
you so that the ink will spray over the paper.
Particular care must be taken that the brush
is not so loaded with ink that it will spatter
in blots. It is well, therefore, to try it first
on a rough sheet of paper, to remove any su-
perfluous ink. If the spattering is well done,
it gives a very delicate tone of interesting
texture, but if not cleverly employed, and es-
pecially if there be a large area of it, it is very
likely to look out of character with the line
portions of the drawing.
44 PEN DRAWING
A method sometimes employed to give a
soft black effect is to moisten the lobe of the
thumb lightly with ink and press it upon the
paper. The series of lines of the skin make
an impression that can be reproduced by the
ordinary line processes. As in the case of
spatter work, superfluous ink must be looked
after before making the impression so as to
avoid leaving hard edges. Thumb markings
lend themselves to the rendering of dark
smoke, and the like, where the edges require
to be soft and vague, and the free direction of
the lines impart a feeling of movement.
Interesting effects of texture are sometimes
introduced into pen drawings by obtaining
the impression of a canvas grain. To produce
this, it is necessary that the drawing be made
on fairly thin paper. The modus operandi is as
follows : Place the drawing over a piece of
mounted canvas of the desired coarseness of
grain, and, holding it firmly, rub a lithographic
crayon vigorously over the surface of the
paper. The grain of the canvas will be found
to be clearly reproduced, and, as the crayon is
absolutely black, the effect is capable of repro-
duction by the ordinary photographic proc-
esses.
CHAPTER IV
VALUES
After the subject has been mapped out in pen-
cil, and before beginning the pen work, we
have to consider and determine the proper dis-
position of the Color. By "color" is meant,
in this connection, the gamut of values from
black to white, as indicated in Fig. 23. The
success or failure of the drawing will largely
depend upon the disposition of these
elements, the quality of the tech-
nique being a matter of secondary
concern. Beauty of line and texture
will not redeem a drawing in which
the values are badly disposed, for
upon them we depend for the effect
of unity, or the pictorial quality.
If the values are scattered or patchy
the drawing will not focus to any
central point of interest, and there
will be no unity in the result.
Fic.a3 C.D.M. There are certain general laws by
which color may be pleasingly disposed, but it
must be borne in mind that it ought to be
disposed naturally as well. By a " natural "
scheme of color, I mean one which is consis-
The
4 6
PEN DRAWING
tent with a natural effect
of light and shade. Now
the gradation from black
to white, for example, is a
pleasing scheme, as may
be observed in Fig. 24,
yet the effect is unnatu-
ral, since the sky is black.
In a purely decorative il-
lustration like this, how-
ever, such logic need not
be considered.
FIG. 24 D. A. GREGG
Principality
in the
Since, as I said before, color is the factor
Coior~&beme wn i cn niakes for the unity of the result, the
first principle to be regarded in its arrangement
is that of Principality, there must be some
dominant note in the rendering. There should
not, for instance, be two principal dark spots
of equal value in the same drawing, nor two
equally prominent areas of white. The Vierge
drawing, Fig. 25, and that by Mr. Pennell, Fig.
5, are no exceptions to this rule ; the black fig-
ure of the old man counting as one note in the
former, as do the dark arches of the bridge in
the latter. The work of both these artists is
eminently worthy of study for the knowing
manner in which they dispose their values.
variety The next thing to be sought is Variety.
Too obvious or positive a scheme, while pos-
sibly not unsuitable for a conventional deco-
rative drawing, may not be well adapted to a
VALUES
47
FIG. 25
DANIEL VIERGE
perspective subject. The large color areas
should be echoed by smaller ones throughout
the picture. Take, for example, the Vierge
drawing shown in Fig. 16. Observe how the
mass of shadow is relieved by the two light
holes seen through the inn door. Without
4 8
PEN DRAWING
26
DANIEL VIERCE
this repetition of the white the drawing would
lose much of its character. In Rico's drawing,
Fig. n, a tiny white spot in the shadow cast
over the street would, I venture to think,
be helpful, beautifully clear as it is; and the
black area at the end of the wall seems a defect
as it competes in value with the dark figure.
VALUES
49
Lastly, Breadth of Effect has to be consid-
ered. It is requisite that, however numerous Breadth
the tones are (and they should not be too nu- ^J
merous), the general effect should be simple
and homogeneous. The color must count to-
gether broadly, and not be cut up into patches.
It is important to remember that the gamut
from black to white is a short one for the pen.
One need only try to faithfully render the high
lights of an. ordinary table glass set against a
gray background, to be assured of its limi-
tations in this re-
spect. To represent
even approximate-
ly the subtle values
would require so
much ink that
nothing short of a
positively black
background would
suffice to give a
semblance of the
delicate transparent
effect of the glass as
a whole. The gray
background would,
therefore, be lost,
and if a really black
object were also
part of the picture
it could not be rep-
FIG. 27
HARRY FENN
50 PEN DRAWING
resented at all. Observe, in Fig. 27, how just
such a problem has been worked out by Mr.
Harry Fenn.
It will be manifest that the student must
learn to think of things in their broad rela-
tion. To be specific, in the example just
considered, in order to introduce a black ob-
ject the scheme of color would have needed
broadening so that the gray background could
be given its proper value, thus demanding
that the elaborate values of the glass be ig-
nored, and just enough suggested to give the
general effect. This reasoning would equally
apply were the light object, instead of a glass,
something of intricate design, presenting posi-
tive shadows. Just so much of such a design
should be rendered as not to darken the ob-
ject below its proper relative value as a whole.
In this faculty of suggesting things without
literally rendering them consists the subtlety
of pen drawing.
It may be said, therefore, that large light
areas resulting from the necessary elimination
of values are characteristic of pen drawing.
The degree of such elimination depends, of
course, upon the character of the subject, this
being entirely a matter of relation. The more
black there is in a drawing the greater the
number of values that can be represented.
Generally speaking, three or four are all that
can be managed, and the beginner had better
VALUES
FIG. 28
REGINALD BIRCH
get along with three, black, half-tone, and
white.
While it is true that every subject is likely rarious
to contain some motive or suggestion for its j es
appropriate color-scheme, it still holds that,
many times, and especially in those cases
where the introduction of foreground features
at considerable scale is necessary for the inter-
est of the picture, an artificial arrangement has
to be devised. It is well, therefore, to be ac-
quainted with the possibilities of certain color
52 PEN DRAWING
combinations. The most brilliant effect in
black and white drawing is that obtained by
placing the prominent black against a white
area surrounded by gray. The white shows
whiter because of the gray around it, so that
the contrast of the black against it is extremely
vigorous and telling. This may be said to be
the illustrator's tour de force. We have it il-
lustrated by Mr. Reginald Birch's drawing,
Fig. 28. Observe how the contrast of black
and white is framed in by the gray made up of
the sky, the left side of the building, the horse,
and the knight. In the drawing by Mr. Pen-
nell, Fig. 29, we have the same scheme of
color. Notice how the trees are darkest just
where they are required to tell most strongly
against the white in the centre of the picture.
An admirable illustration of the effectiveness
of this color-scheme is shown in the " Becket "
poster by the " Beggarstaff Brothers," Fig. 69.
Another scheme is to have the principal black
in the gray area, as in the Vierge drawing, Fig.
26, and in Rico's sketch, Fig. n.
Still another and a more restful scheme is
the actual gradation of color. This gradation,
from black to white, wherein the white occu-
pies the centre of the picture, is to be noted
in Fig. 20. Observe how the dark side of the
foreground tree tells against the light side of
the one beyond, which, in its turn, is yet so
strongly shaded as to count brilliantly against
FIG. 30
VALUES
55
FIG. 31
JOSEPH PENNELL
the white building. Still again, in Mr. Good-
hue's drawing, Fig. 30, note how the transition
from the black tree on the left to the white
building is pleasingly softened by the gray
shadow. Notice, too, how the brilliancy of
the drawing is heightened by the gradual em-
phasis on the shadows and the openings as
they approach the centre of the picture. Yet
another example of this color-scheme is the
drawing by Mr. Gregg, Fig. 50. The grada-
56 PEN DRAWING
tion here is from the top of the picture down-
wards. The sketch of the coster women by
Mr. Pennell, Fig. 31, shows this gradation re-
versed.
The drawing of the hansom cab, Fig. 32, by
Mr. Raven Hill, illustrates a very strong
color-scheme, gray and white separated by
black, the. gray moderating the black on the
upper side, leaving it to tell strongly against
the white below. Notice how luminous is
this same relation of color where it occurs in
the Venetian subject by Rico, Fig. 14. The
shadow on the water qualifies the blackness of
the gondola below, permitting a brilliant con-
trast with the white walls of the building above.
It is interesting to observe how Vierge and
Pennell, but chiefly the former, very often de-
pend for their grays merely upon the delicate
tone resulting from the rendering of form and
of direct shadow, without any local color. This
may be seen in the Vierge drawing, Fig. 33.
Observe in this, as a consequence, how bril-
liantly the tiny black counts in the little figure
in the centre. Notice, too, in the drawing of
the soldiers by Jeanniot, Fig. 34, that there
is very little black; and yet see how bril-
liant is the effect, owing largely to the figures
being permitted to stand out against a white
ground in which nothing is indicated but the
sky-line of the large building in the distance.
FIG. 32
L. RAVEN HILL
M
~KjSfc
>
CHAPTER V
First
Problem
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 famil-
iarize the student with the practical applica-
tion of some of the principles previously laid
down.
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 orig-
inal composition
presents nothing
essentially unpleas-
ant. Where the
strong accent of a
picture occurs in the
centre, however, it
is generally desira-
ble to avoid much
pio>
FROM A PHO TOCRAPH
PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 61
FIG. 36
D. A. GREGG
emphasis at the
edges. For this rea-
son the pen drawing
has been "vignet-
ted," that is to
say, permitted to fade
away irregularly at
the edges. Regard-
ing 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 re-
sult of light and shade, and is therefore logic-
ally adopted as the principal note of Mr.
Gregg's sketch also. The wall at this point
is made perfectly white to heighten the con-
trast. To still further increase the light area,
the upper part of the porch has been left al-
most white, the markings suggesting the con-
struction of the weather-beaten timber serving
62 PEN DRAWING
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 excel-
lent handling of the old woodwork of the porch
is well worthy of study.
Second Let us take another example. The photo-
m graph in Fig. 37 shows a moat-house in Nor-
mandy ; and, except that the low tones of the
foliage are exaggerated by the camera, the con-
ditions 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 build-
ing. The trees on the right might be lowered
also, but otherwise permitted to retain their
present relation. The growth of ivy on the
The student is advised to consult "Composition," by Arthur \V. Dow.
[New York, iSoS ]
PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 63
37
FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
tower takes an ugly outline, and might be
made more interestingly irregular in form.
The next consideration is the disposition
of the values. In the photograph the whites
are confined to the roadway of the bridge and
64 PEN DRAWING
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 be-
ing 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 sug-
gest 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.
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 unpleas-
ant if the shading were uniform, and partly to
carry the gray around to the entrance. It
was thought advisable, also, to cut from the
PRACTICAL PROBLEMS
FIG. 38 C. D. M.
foreground, raising the upper limit of the pic-
ture correspondingly. (It is far from my in-
tention, 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 dis-
66
PEN DRAWING
covered a position for his camera which would
have obviated the necessity for any change
whatever; a near-
er view of the build-
ing, for one thing,
would have consid-
erably lowered the
trees.)
Third We will consider
Problem st jn anothersubject.
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 fig-
ures. 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
FIG. 39 FROM A PHOTOGRAPH
PRACTICAL PROBLEMS 67
important elements of the picture. The nearer
buildings present nothing intrinsically inter-
esting, 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 useful-
ness in this regard can, therefore, be changed
or actually ignored without affecting the in-
tegrity 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 ob-
jected, however, that it is natural that the con-
trasts 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 every-
thing, 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
68 PEN DRAWING
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 empha-
sis 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 differ-
ences 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 em-
phasis 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 em-
phasis toward the centre.
FIG. 40
C. D. M.
7 o PEN DRAWING
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.
CHAPTER VI
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING
It is but a few years since architects' perspec-
tives were " built up " ( it would be a mistake
to say "drawn " ) by means of a T-square and
the ruling pen ; and if architectural drawing
has not quite kept pace with that for general
illustration since, a backward glance over the
professional magazines encourages a feeling of
comparative complacency. That so high a
standard or so artistic a character is not observ-
able in architectural as in general illustration
is, I think, not difficult to explain. Very few
of the clever architectural draughtsmen are
illustrators by profession. Few, even of those
who are generally known as illustrators, are
anything more I should perhaps say any-
thing less than versatile architects; and yet
Mr. Pennell, who would appear to assume, in
his book on drawing, that the point of view of
the architect is normally pictorial, seems at a
loss to explain why Mr. Robert Blum, for in-
stance, can illustrate an architectural subject
more artistically than any of the draughtsmen
in the profession. Without accepting his
premises, it is remarkably creditable to archi-
72 PEN DRAWING
tecture that it counts among its members in
this country such men as Mr. B. G. Goodhue
and Mr. Wilson Eyre, Jr., and in England
such thorough artists as Mr. Prentice and
Mr. Ernest George men known even to
distinction for their skill along lines of purely
architectural practice, yet any one of whom
would, I venture to say, cause considerable dis-
placement did he invade the ranks of magazine
illustrators. Moreover (and the suggestion
is not unkindly offered), were the architects
and the illustrators to change places architec-
ture would suffer most by the process.
The That the average architect should be in-
capable of artistically illustrating his own de-
sign, ought, I think, to be less an occasion for
surprise than that few painters, whose point of
view is essentially pictorial, can make even a
tolerable interpretation in line of their own
paintings. Be it remembered that the pictures
made by the architect are seldom the records
of actualities. The buildings themselves are
merely contemplated, and the illustrations
are worked up from geometrical elevations
in the office, very, very far from Nature.
Moreover, the subjects are not infrequently
such as lend themselves with an ill grace to
picturesque illustration, The structure to be
depicted may, for instance, be a heavy cubical
mass with a bald uninteresting sky-line ; or it
may be a tall office building-, impossible to
Architects*
Case
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 73
reconcile with natural accessories either in pic-
torial scale or in composition. These natural
accessories, too, the draughtsman must, with
an occasional recourse to his photograph al-
bum, evo/lve out of his inner consciousness.
When it is further considered that such struc-
tures, even when actualities, are uncompromis-
ingly stiff and immaculate in their newness,
presenting absolutely none of those interesting
accidents so dear to the artist, and perhaps with
nothing whatever about them of picturesque
suggestion, we have a problem presented which
is somewhat analogous to that presented by
the sculpturesque possibilities of " fashionable
trousering." That, with such uninspiring con-
ditions, architectural illustration does not de-
velop so interesting a character nor attain to
so high a standard as distinguishes general
illustration is not to be wondered at. It is
rather an occasion for surprise that it exhibits
so little of the artificiality of the fashion-plate
after all, and that the better part of it, at least,
is not more unworthy than figure illustration
would be were it denied the invaluable aid of
the living model. So much by way of apology.
The architectural perspective, however, is The
not to be regarded purely from the pictorial ^ rchitect *'
r T -11 - r Potnt J
point of view. It is an illustration first, a
picture afterwards, and almost invariably deals
with an individual building, which is the es-
sential subject. This building cannot, there-
74 PEN DRAWING
fore, be made a mere foil for interesting " pic-
turesqueries," nor subordinated to any scenic
effect of landscape or chiaroscuro. Natural
accessories or interesting bits of street life may
be added to give it an appropriate setting ;
but the result must clearly read " Building,
with landscape," not " Landscape, with build-
ing.
Much suggestion for the sympathetic hand-
ling of particular subjects may be found in
the character of the architecture itself. The
illustrator ought to enter into the spirit of the
designer, ought to feel just what natural ac-
cessories lend themselves most harmoniously
to this or that particular type. If the archi-
tecture be quaint and picturesque it must not
have prosaic surroundings. If, on the other
hand, it be formal or monumental, the char-
acter and scale of the accessories should be
accordingly serious and dignified. The ren-
dering ought also to vary with the subject,
a free picturesque manner for the one, a more
studied and responsible handling for the other.
Technique is the language of art, and a stiff
pompous phraseology will accord ill with a
story of quaint humor or pathos, while the
homely diction that might answer very well
would be sure to struggle at a disadvantage
with the stately meanings and diplomatic sub-
tleties of a state document.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 75
It would be well for the student, before
, . | . Rendering
venturing upon whole subjects, to learn to O f D eta ii
render details, such as windows, cornices, etc.
Windows are a most important feature of the
architectural drawing, and the beginner must
study them carefully, experimenting for the
method which will best represent their glassy
surfaces. No material gives such play of light
and shade as glass does. One window is never
absolutely like another ; so that while a certain
uniformity in their value may be required for
breadth of effect in the drawing of a building,
there is plenty of opportunity for incidental
variety in their treatment.
A few practical hints on the rendering of
windows may prove serviceable. Always em-
phasize the sash. Where there is no recess,
as in wooden buildings, strengthen the inner
line of sash, as in Fig. 41. In masonry build-
ings the frame and sash can be given their
proper values, the area of wood being treated
broadly, without regard to the individual
members. The wood may, however, be left
white if required, as would be the case in Co-
lonial designs. In either case the dark shadow
which the sash casts on the glass should be
suggested, if the scale of the drawing be such
as to permit of it. Do not try to show too
much. One is apt to make a fussy effect, if,
for instance, one insists on always shading the
soffit of the masonry opening, especially if the
7 6
PEN DRAWING
scale of the drawing be small. Besides, a white
soffit is not a false but merely a forced value,
as in
light
t=r._
n strong sun-
the reflected
light is considera-
ble. If the frame
be left white, how-
ever, the soffit
oughttobe shaded,
otherwise it will
be difficult to keep
the values distinct.
In respectof wood-
en buildings there
is no need to al-
ways complete the
mouldings of the
architrave. Notice
in Fig. 41 that, in
the window with-
out the muntins,
the mouldings
have been carried round the top to give color,
but that in the other they are merely suggested
at the corners so as to avoid confusion. Care
should be taken to avoid mechanical rendering
of the muntins. For the glass itself, a uni-
formly flat tone is to be avoided. The tones
should soften vaguely. It will be found, too,
that it is not advisable to have a strong dark
effect at the top of the window and another at
the bottom ; one should predominate.
3?*l
FIG. 41
C. D. M.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 77
The student after careful study of Fig. 41
should make from it enlarged drawings, and
afterwards, laying the book aside, proceed to
render them in his own way. When he has
done so, let him compare his work with the
originals. This process ought to be repeated
several times, the aim being always for similar-
ity, not for liter alness of effect. If he can get
equally good results with another method he
need not be disconcerted at the lack of any
further resemblance.
The cornice with its shadow is another sa-
lient feature. In short shadows, such as those
cast by cornices, it is well, if a sunny effect be
desired, to accent the bottom edge of the
shadow. The shadow lines ought to be gen-
erally parallel, but with enough variation to
obviate a mechanical effect. They need not
be vertical lines, in fact it is better that they
should take the same slant as the light. If
they are not absolutely perpendicular, how-
ever, it is well to make them distinctly oblique,
otherwise the effect will be unpleasant. A
clever sketch of a cornice by Mr. George F.
Newton is shown in Fig. 42. Notice how
well the texture of the brick is expressed by
the looseness of the pen work. Some of the
detail, too, is dexterously handled, notably the
bead and button moulding.
The strength of the cornice shadow should
be determined by the tone of the roof above
PEN DRAWING
IT "Z
it. To obtain for this
shadow the very dis-
tinct value which it
ought to have, how-
ever, does not require
that the roof be kept
always much lighter
than it. In the gable
roof in Fig. 57, the
tone of the roof is
shaded lighter as it
approaches the eaves,
so that the shadow
may count more em-
phatically. This or-
der may be reversed,
as in the case of a
building with dark
roof and light walls, in
which case the shadow
may be grayer than
the lower portion of
the roof, as in "B " in
Fig. 44 .
But the beginner
should not yet hurry
on to whole subjects.
A , , J FIG. 42 GEORGE F. NEWTON
A church porch, as in
Fig. 35, or a dormer with its shadow cast on
a roof, as in Fig. 43, will be just as beneficial
a study for him as an entire building, and
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 79
will afford quite as good an opportunity for
testing his knowledge of the principles of
pen drawing, with the
added advantage that
either of the subjects
mentioned can be
mapped out in a few
minutes, and that a
failure or two, there-
fore, will not prove so
discouraging as if a
more intricate subject
had to be re-drawn. I
have known promis-
ing beginners to give
up pen and ink draw-
ing in despair because
they found themselves
unequal to subjects
which would have
presented not a few
difficulties to the ex-
perienced illustrator.
When the beginner
grows faint-hearted,
let him seek consola-
tion and encouragement in the thought that
were pen drawing something to be mastered
in a week or a month there would be small
merit in the accomplishment.
It is a common fault of students to dive
FIG. 43
C. D. M.
8o PEN DRAWING
into the picture unthinkingly, beginning any-
A General where, without the vaguest plan of a general
System e ff ec ^ whereas it is of the utmost importance
that every stroke of the pen be made with in-
telligent regard to the ultimate result. The
following general method will be found valua-
ble.
Pencil the outline of the entire subject be-
fore beginning the pen work. It will not do
to start on the rendering as soon as the build-
ing alone is pencilled out, leaving the acces-
sories to be put in as one goes along. The
adjacent buildings, the foliage, and even the
figures must be drawn carefully drawn -
before the pen is taken up. The whole sub-
ject from the very beginning should be under
control, and to that end it becomes necessary
to have all the elements of it pre-arranged.
Arrangement Next scheme out the values. This is the
Falun time to do the thinking. Do not start out
rashly as soon as everything is outlined in
pencil, confident in the belief that all windows,
for instance, are dark, and that you may as
well make them so at once and be done with
them. This will be only to court disaster.
Besides, all windows are not dark ; they may
be very light indeed. The color value of
nothing is absolute. A shadow may seem al-
most black till a figure passes into it, when it
may become quite gray by comparison. So a
window with the sun shining full upon it, or
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 81
even one in shade, on which a reflected light
is cast, may be brilliantly light until the next
instant a cloud shadow is reflected in it, mak-
ing it densely black. Arrange the values,
therefore, with reference to one general effect,
deciding first of all on the direction of the
light. Should this be such as to throw large
areas of shadow, these masses of gray will be
important elements in the color-scheme. An
excellent way to study values is to make a
tracing-paper copy of the line drawing and to
experiment on this for the color with charcoal,
making several sketches if necessary. After
having determined on a satisfactory scheme,
put fixatif on the rough sketch and keep it in
sight. Otherwise, one is liable, especially if
the subject is an intricate one, to be led astray
by little opportunities for interesting effects
here and there, only to discover, when too late,
that these effects do not hang together and
that the drawing has lost its breadth. The
rough sketch is to the draughtsman what man-
uscript notes are to the lecturer.
Do not be over-conscious of detail. It Treatment of
is a common weakness of the architectural Detatl
draughtsman to be too sophisticated in his
pictorial illustration. He knows so much
about the building that no matter how many
thousand yards away from it he may stand he
will see things that would not reveal them-
selves to another with the assistance of a field-
82 PEN DRAWING
glass. He is conscious of the fact that there
are just so many brick courses to the foot,
that the clapboards are laid just so many
inches to the weather, that there are just so
many mouldings in the belt course, that
everything in general is very, very mathe-
matical. This is not because his point of
view is too big, but because it is too small.
He who sees so much never by any chance
sees the whole building. Let him try to think
broadly of things. Even should he succeed
in forgetting some of these factitious details,
the result will still be stiff enough, so hard is
it to re-adjust one's attitude after manipulating
the T-square. I strongly recommend, as an
invaluable aid toward such a re-adjustment, the
habit of sketching from Nature, from the
figure during the winter evenings, and out of
doors in summer.
The beginner is apt to find his effects at
first rather hard and mechanical at the best,
because he has not yet attained that free-
dom of handling which ignores unimportant
details, suggests rather than states, gives in-
teresting variations of line and tone, and
differentiates textures. A good part of the
unpleasantness of effect will undoubtedly be
found to be due to a mistaken regard for
accuracy of statement, individual mouldings
being lined in as deliberately as in the geo-
metrical office drawings, and not an egg nor a
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 83
dart slighted. Take, for example, the case of
an old Colonial building with its white cor-
nice, or any building with white trimmings.
See the effect of such a one in an " elevation "
where all the detail is drawn, as in " A," Fig.
44. Observe that the amount of ink neces-
^.-^ : E=^ E>
FIG. 44
C. D. M.
sary to express this detail has made the cor-
nice darker than the rest of the drawing, and
yet this is quite the reverse of the value which
it would have in the actual building, see " B."
To obtain the true value the different mould-
ings which make up the cornice should be
merely suggested. Where it is not a question
of local color, however, this matter of elimina-
tion is largely subject to the exigencies of re-
production ; the more precisely and intimately
one attempts to render detail, the smaller the
scale of the technique requires to be, and the
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 85
greater the difficulty. Consequently, the more
the reduction which the drawing is likely to
undergo in printing, the more one will be
obliged to disregard the finer details. These
finer details need not, however, be absolutely
ignored. Notice, for instance, the clever sug-
gestion of the sculpture in the admirable draw-
ing by Mr. F. E. Wallis, Fig. 45. The con-
ventional drawing of the facade, Fig. 46, is a
fine illustration of the decorative effect of color
obtainable by emphasizing the organic lines of
the design.
The elements in a perspective drawing which Foliage am
present most difficulties to the architectural Figur "
draughtsman are foliage and figures. These
are, however, most important accessories, and
must be cleverly handled. It is difficult to say
which is the harder to draw, a tree or a human
figure ; and if the student has not sketched
much from Nature either will prove a stum-
bling-block. Presuming, therefore, that he has
already filled a few sketch-books, he had
better resort to these, or to his photograph
album, when he needs figures for his perspec-
tive. Designing figures and trees out of one's
inner consciousness is slow work and not very
profitable; and if the figure draughtsman may
employ models, the architect may be per-
mitted to use photographs.
Unhappily for the beginner, no two illus-
trators consent to render foliage, or anything
86
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 46
HARRY ALLAN JACOBS
else for that matter, in quite the same way,
and so I cannot present any authoritative
formula for doing so. This subject has been
treated, however, in a previous chapter, and
nothing need be added here except to call at-
tention to an employment of foliage peculiar
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 87
to architectural drawings. This is the broad
suggestive rendering of dark leafage at the sides
of a building, to give it relief. The example
shown in Fig. 47 is from one of Mr. Gregg's
drawings.
The rendering of the human figure need not
be dealt with under this head, as figures in an
architectural subject are
of necessity relatively
small, and therefore have
to be rendered very
broadly. Careful draw-
ing is none the less es-
sential, however, if their
FIG. 47
D. A. GREGG
presence is to be justified; and badly drawn fig-
ures furnish a tempting target for the critic of
architectural pictures. Certainly, it is only too
evident that the people usually seen in such
pictures are utterly incapable of taking the
slightest interest whatever in architecture, or in
anything else; and not infrequently they seem
88 PEN DRAWING
to be even more immovable objects than the
buildings themselves, so fixed and inflexible are
they. Such figures as these only detract from
the interest of the drawing, instead of adding
to it, and the draughtsman who has no special
aptitude is wise in either omitting them al-
together, or in using very few, and is perhaps
still wiser if he entrusts the drawing of these
to one of his associates more accomplished in
this special direction.
The first thing to decide in the matter of
figures is their arrangement and grouping, and
when this has been determined they should be
sketched in lightly in pencil. In this connec-
tion a few words by way of suggestion may be
found useful. Be careful to avoid anything
like an equal spacing of the figures. Group the
people interestingly. I have seen as many as
thirty individuals in a drawing, no two of whom
seemed to be acquainted, a very unhappy
condition of affairs even from a purely picto-
rial point of view. Do not over-emphasize the
base of a building by stringing all the figures
along the sidewalks. The lines of the curbs
would thus confine and frame them in unpleas-
antly. Break the continuity of the street lines
with figures or carriages in the roadway, as in
Fig. 55. After the figures have been satisfac-
torily arranged, they ought to be carefully
drawn as to outline. In doing so, take pains
to vary the postures, giving them action, and
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 89
avoiding the stiff, wooden, fashion-plate type
of person so common to architectural draw-
ings. When the time comes to render these
accessories with the pen (and this ought, by the
way, to be the last thing done) do not lose the
freedom and breadth of the drawing by dwell-
ing too long on them. Rise superior to such
details as the patterns of neckties.
We will . now consider the application to
architectural subjects of the remarks on tech-
nique and color contained in the previous
chapters.
To learn to render the different texcures of Architectur
the materials used in architecture, the student
would do well to examine and study the meth-
ods of prominent illustrators, and then pro-
ceed to forget them, developing meanwhile a
method of his own. It will be instructive for
him, however, as showing the opportunity for
play of individuality, to notice how very dif-
ferent, for instance, is Mr. Gregg's manner of
rendering brick work to that of Mr. Railton.
Compare Figs. 48 and 49. One is splendidly
broad, almost decorative, the other inti-
mate and picturesque. The work of both
these men is eminently worthy of study. For
the sophisticated simplicity and directness of
his method and the almost severe conscien-
tiousness of his drawing, no less than for his
masterly knowledge of black and white, no
safer guide could be commended to the young
90 PEN DRAWING
architectural pen-man for the study of princi-
ples than Mr. Gregg. Architectural illustra-
tion in America owes much to his influence
FIG. 48
D. A. GREGG
and, indeed, he may be said to have furnished
it with a grammar. Take his drawing of the
English cottages, Fig. 50. It is a masterly
piece of pen work. There is not a feeble or
tentative stroke in the whole of it. The color
is brilliant and the textures are expressed with
wonderful skill. The student ought to care-
fully observe the rendering of the various roofs.
Notice how the character of the thatch on the
second cottage differs from that on the first,
and how radically the method of rendering of
either varies from that used on the shingle
roof at the end of the picture. Compare also the
two gable chimneys with each other as well as
with the old ruin seen over the tree-tops. Here
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING. 91
FIG. 49
HERBERT RAILTON
is a drawing by an architectural draughtsman
of an architectural actuality and not of an arti-
ficial abstraction. This is a fairer ground on
which to meet the illustrators of the pictur-
esque.
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 50
D. A. GREGG
Examples Mr. Campbell's drawing, Fig. 51, is a very
*< good example of the rendering of stone tex-
tures. The old masonry is capitally expressed
by the short irregular line. The student is
FIG.
WALTER M. CAMPBELL
94
PEN DRAWING
HERBERT RAILTON
advised to select some portion of this, as well
as of the preceding example to copy, using,
no matter how small the drawings he may
make, a pen not smaller than number 303.
I know of no architectural illustrator who hits
stonework off quite so cleverly as Mr. Good-
hue. Notice, in his drawing of the masonry,
in Fig. 8, how the stones are picked out and
rendered individually in places and how this
intimate treatment is confined to the top of
9 6
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 54
C. F. BRAGDON
the tower where it tells against the textures of
the various roofs and how it is then merged
in a broad gray tone which is carried to the
street. Mr. Railton's sketches are full of
clever suggestion for the architectural illus-
trator in the way of texture. Figs. 7 and 52
show his free rendering of masonry. The lat-
ter is an especially very good subject for study.
Observe how well the texture tells in the high
portion of the abutment by reason of the thick,
broken lines. For a distant effect of stone
texture, the drawing by M r. J accaci, Fig. 53 , is a
fine example. In this the rendering is confined
merely to the organic lines of the architecture,
and yet the texture is capitally expressed by
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 56
C. E. MALLOWS
the quality of the stroke, which is loose and
much broken. The general result is extremely
crisp and pleasing. For broad rendering of
brick textures, perhaps there is no one who
shows such a masterly method as Mr. Gregg.
As may be seen in his sketch of the blacksmith
shop, Fig. 48, he employs an irregular drag-
ging line with a great deal of feeling. The
brick panel by Mr. Bragdon, Fig. 54, is a neat
piece of work. There is excellent texture, too,
in the picturesque drawing; by Mr. Harvey
T7ii' i-f- 1 11- r i
Jims, b ig. 55 : observe the rendering or the
rough brick surface at the left side of the build-
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 99
ing. A more intimate treatment is that illus-
trated in the detail by Mr. C. E. Mallows,
the English draughtsman, Fig. 56. In this
drawing, however, the edges of the building
are unpleasantly hard, and are somewhat out
of character with the quaint rendering of the
surfaces. Mr. Goodhue uses a similar treat-
ment, and, I think, rather more successfully.
On the whole, the broader method, where the
texture is carried out more uniformly, is more
to be commended, at least for the study of the
beginner. Some examples of shingle and slate
textures are illustrated by Fig. 57. It is ad-
visable to employ a larger pen for the shingle,
so as to ensure the requisite coarseness of
effect.
To favorably illustrate an architectural sub-
ject it will be found generally expedient to give
prominence to one particular elevation in the
perspective, the other being permitted to van-
ish sharply. Fig. 58 may be said to be a
fairly typical problem for the architectural pen-
man. The old building on the right, it must
be understood, is not a mere accessory, but is
an essential part of the picture. The matter
of surroundings is the first we have to decide
upon, and these ought always to be disposed
with reference to the particular form of com-
position which the subject may suggest. Were
we dealing with the foreground building alone
there would be no difficulty in adjusting the
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 101
FIG. 58
C. D. M.
oval or the diamond form of composition to
it.* As it is, the difficulty lies in the long
crested roof-line which takes the same oblique
angle as the line of the street, and the influ-
ence of this line must be, as far as possible,
counteracted. Now the heavy over-hang of
the principal roof will naturally cast a shadow
which will be an important line in the compo-
sition, so we arrange our accessories at the
right of the picture in reference to this. Ob-
serve that the line of the eaves, if continued,
would intersect the top of the gable chimney.
The dwelling and the tree then form a focus
* See footnote on page 62.
102
PEN DRAWING
FIG. 59
C. D. M,
for the converging lines of sidewalk and roof,
thus qualifying the vertical effect of the build-
ing on the right. As the obliquity of the
composition is still objectionable, we decide
to introduce a foreground figure which will
break up the line of the long sidewalk, and
place it so that it will increase the influence of
some contrary line, see Fig. 59. We find that
by putting it a little to the right of the en-
trance and on a line with that of the left side-
walk, the picture is pleasingly balanced.
We are now ready to consider the disposi-
tion of the values. As I have said before,
these are determined by the scheme of light
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 103
and shade. For this reason any given subject
may be variously treated. We do not neces-
sarily seek the scheme which will make the
most pictorial effect, however, but the one
which will serve to set off the building to the
best advantage. It is apparent that the most
intelligible idea of the form of the structure
will be given by shading one side ; and, as the
front is the more important and the more in-
teresting elevation, on which we need sunlight
to give expression to the composition, it is
natural to shade the other, thus affording a
foil for the bright effects on the front. This
bright effect will be further enhanced if we
assume that the local color of the roof is darker
than that of the walls, so that we can give it a
gray tone, which will also make the main build-
ing stand away from the other. If, however,
we were to likewise assume that the roof of
the other building were darker than its walls,
we should be obliged to emphasize the objec-
tionable roof line, and as, in any case, we want
a dark effect lower down on the walls to give
relief to our main building, we will assume
that the local color of the older walls is darker
than that of the new. The shadow of the main
cornice we will make quite strong, emphasis
being placed on the nearer corner, which is
made almost black. This color is repeated in
the windows, which, coming as they do in a
group, are some of them more filled in than
104
PEN DRAWING
others, to avoid an effect of monotony. The
strong note of the drawing is then given by
the foreground figure.
Another scheme for the treatment of this
same subject is illustrated by Fig. 60. Here,
FIG. 60
by the introduction of the tree at the right of
the picture,a triangular composition is adopted.
Observe that the sidewalk and roof lines at the
left side of the building radiate to the bottom
and top of the tree respectively. The shadow
of the tree helps to form the bottom line of
the triangle. In this case the foreground fig-
ure is omitted, as it would have made the tri-
angularity too obvious, In the color-scheme
the tree is made the principal dark, and this
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING 105
dark is repeated in the cornice shadow, win-
dows and figures as before. The gray tone of
the old building qualifies the blackness of the
tree, which would otherwise have made too
strong a contrast at the edge of the picture,
and so detracted from the interest of the main
building.
CHAPTER VII
DECORATIVE DRAWING
In all modern decorative illustration, and, in-
deed, in all departments of decorative design,
the influences of two very different and dis-
tinct points of view are noticeable ; the one
demanding a realistic, the other a purely con-
ventional art. The logic of the first is, that
all good pictorial art is essentially decorative ;
that of the second, that the decorative subject
must be designed in organic relation to the
space which it is to occupy, and be so treated
that the design will primarily fulfil a purely
ornamental function. That is to say, what-
ever of dramatic or literary interest the deco-
rative design may possess must be, as it were,
woven into it, so that the general effect shall
please as instantly, as directly, and as inde-
pendently of the meaning, as the pattern of
an Oriental rug. The former, it will be seen,
is an imitative, the latter an inventive art. In
the one, the elements of the subject are ren-
dered with all possible naturalism ; while, in
the other, effects of atmosphere and the acci-
dental play of light and shade are sacrificed to
a conventional rendering, by which the design
DECORATIVE DRAWING 107
is kept flat upon the paper or wall. One
represents the point of view of the painter and
the pictorial illustrator ; the other that of the
designer and the architect. The second, or
conventional idea, has now come to be widely
accepted as a true basic principle in decorative
art.
The idea is not by any means novel ; it has ne
always been the fundamental principle of Jap- Dec
anese art ; but its genesis was not in Japan.
The immediate inspiration of the new Decora-
tive school, as far as it is concerned with the
decoration of books, at least, was found in the
art of Diirer, Holbein, and the German en-
gravers of the sixteenth century, interest in
which period has been lately so stimulated by
the Arts and Crafts movement in England.
This movement, which may fairly be regarded
as one of the most powerful influences in lat-
ter-day art, was begun with the aim of restor-
ing those healthy conditions which obtained
before the artist and the craftsman came to be
two distinct and very much extranged work-
ers., The activities of the movement were at
first more directly concerned with the art of
good book-making, which fructified in the fa-
mous Kelmscott Press (an institution which,
while necessarily undemocratic, has exerted a
tremendous influence on modern printing),
and to-day there is scarcely any sphere of in-
dustrial art which has not been influenced by
the Arts and Crafts impetus.
io8 PEN DRAWING
This modern decorative renaissance has a
Criticisms root in sound art principles, which promises
&&oot ^ or ^ a v ig orous vitality; and perhaps the only
serious criticism which has been directed against
it is, that it encourages archaic crudities of tech-
nique which ignore the high development of
the reproductive processes of the present day ;
and, moreover, that its sympathies tend towards
mediaeval life and feeling. While such a crit-
icism might reasonably be suggested by the
work of some of its individual adherents, it
does not touch in the least the essential prin-
ciples of the school. Art cannot be said to
scout modernity because it refuses to adjust
itself to the every caprice of Science. The
architect rather despises the mechanically per-
fect brick (very much to the surprise of the
manufacturer) ; and though the camera can re-
cord more than the pencil or the brush, yet
the artist is not trying to see more than he
ever did before. There are, too, many dec-
orative illustrators who, while very distinctly
confessing their indebtedness to old examples,
are yet perfectly eclectic and individual, both
in the choice and development of motive.
Take, for example, the very modern subject
of the cyclist by Mr. A. B. Frost, Fig. 61.
There are no archaisms in it whatever. The
drawing is as naturalistic and just as careful as
if it were designed for a picture. The shad-
ows, too, are cast, giving an effect of strong
DECORATIVE DRAWING 109
FIG. 6l
A. B. FROST
outdoor light; but the treatment, broad and
beautifully simple so as to be reconcilable with
the lettering which accompanied it, is well
within conventional lines. That the character
of the technical treatment is such as to place
no tax on the mechanical inventiveness of the
processman is not inexcusable archaeology.
A valuable attribute of this conventional
art is, that it puts no bounds to the fancy of
the designer. It is a figurative language in
which he may get away from commonplace
statement. What has always seemed to me a
very logical employment of convention ap-
pears in the Punch cartoons of Sir John Ten-
niel and Mr. Lindley Sambourne. Even in
no PEN DRAW ING
those cartoons which are devoid of physical
caricature (and they are generally free from
this), we see at a glance that it is the political
and not the personal relations of the personae
that are represented ; whereas in the natural-
istic cartoons of Puck, for example, one cannot
resist the feeling that personalities are being
roughly handled.
A chief principle in all decorative design
Relation and treatment is that of Relation. If the space
to be ornamented be a book-page the design
and treatment must be such as to harmonize
with the printing. The type must be consid-
ered as an element in the design, and, as the
effect of a page of type is broad and uniformly
flat, the ornament must be made to count as
broad and flat likewise. The same principle
holds equally in mural decoration. There the
design ought to be subordinate to the general
effect of the architecture. The wall is not to
be considered merely as a convenient place on
which to plaster a picture, its structural pur-
pose must be regarded, and this cannot be
expressed if the design or treatment be purely
pictorial if vague perspective distances and
strong foreground accents be used without
symmetry or order, except that order which
governs itself alone. In other words, the dec-
oration must be organic.
Decorative illustrations may be broadly
classified under three heads as follows: First,
EXL
G.
OLIVER
mows.
FIG. 62
ALFRED G. JONES
112
PEN DRAWING
Decorative
Design
those wherein the composition and the treat-
ment are both conventional, as, for example,
in the ex-libris by
Mr. A. G.Jones, Fig.
62. Second, where the
composition is natu-
ralistic, and the treat-
ment only is conven-
tional, as in Mr.
Frost's design. Third,
where the composi-
tion is decorative but
not conventional, and
the treatment is semi-
natural, as in the draw-
ing by Mr. Walter
Appleton Clark, Fig.
63. (The latter sub-
ject is of such a char-
acter as to lend itself
without convention to ,
FIG. 63
a decorative effect;
and, although the figure is modeled as in a
pictorial illustration, the organic lines are so
emphasized throughout as to preserve the dec-
orative character, and the whole keeps its place
on the page.) Under this third head would
be included those subjects of a pictorial nature
whose composition and values are such as to
make them reconcilable to a decorative use by
means of borders or very defined edges, as in
W. APPLETON CLARK
Outline
DECORATIVE DRAWING 113
the illustration by Mr. A. Campbell Cross,
Fig. 64.
Another essential characteristic of decora- Tht
tive drawing is the emphasized Outline. This Decorat '" ve
may be heavy or delicate, according to the
nature of the subject or individual taste. The
designs by Mr. W. Nicholson and Mr. Sel-
wyn Image, for in-
stance, are drawn with
a fatness of outline
not to be obtained
with anything but a
brush ; while the out-
lines of M. Boutet
de Monvel, marked
as they are, are evi-
dently the work of a
more than usually
fine pen. In each
case, however, every-
thing is in keeping
with the scale of the
outline adopted, so
that this always re-
tains its proper em-
phasis. The deco-
rative outline should
never be broken, but
should be kept firm,
positive, and uni-
form. It may be
FIG. 64
A. CAMPBELL CROSS
PEN DRAWING
heavy, and yet be rich and feeling, as may be seen
in the Mucha design, Fig. 65. Generally speak-
ing, the line ought
not to be made with
a nervous stroke, but
rather with a slow,
deliberate drag. The
natural wavering of
the hand need occa-
sion no anxiety, and,
indeed, it is often
more helpful to the
line than otherwise.
Perhaps there is
no more difficult
thing to do well than
to model the figure
while still preserving
MUCHA
FIG. 65
the decorative outline. Several examples of
the skilful accomplishment of this problem
are illustrated here. Observe, for instance,
how in the quaint Diirer-like design by Mr.
Howard Pyle, Fig. 66, the edges of the
drapery-folds are emphasized in the shadow
by keeping them white, and see how wonder-
fully effective the result is. The same device
is also to be noticed in the book-plate design
by Mr. A. G. Jones, Fig. 62, as well as in the
more conventional treatment of the black fig-
ure in the Bradley poster, Fig. 67.
In the rendering of decorative subjects, the
FIG. 66
HOWARD PYLE
FIG. 67
WILL H. BRADLEY
DECORATIVE DRAWING 117
Color should be, as
much as possible, Color
designed. Whereas
a poster, which is
made with a view to
its entire effect be-
ing grasped at once,
may be rendered in
flat masses of color,
the head- or tail-
piece for a decora-
tive book-page
should be worked
out in more detail,
and the design
should be finer and
more varied in col-
or. The more the
color is attained by
means of pattern,
instead of by mere
68
P. J. B1LLINGHURST
irresponsible lines, the more decorative is the
result. Observe the color-making by pattern
in the book-plate by Mr. P. J. Billinghurst,
Fig. 68. A great variety of textures may be
obtained by means of varied patterns without
affecting the breadth of the color-scheme.
This may be noticed in the design last men-
tioned, in which the textures are extremely well
rendered, as well as in the poster design by Mr.
Bradley for the Chap-Book, just referred to.
u8
PEN DRAWING
Modern
Decorative
Draughts-
The color-scheme ought to be simple and
broad. No set rules can be laid down to gov-
ern its disposition,
which must always
have reference to the
whole design. The
importance of em-
ploying such a broad
and simple scheme
in decorative draw-
ing needs no better
argument than the
effective poster de-
sign by the " Beggar-
staff Brothers," Fig.
69, and that by Mr.
Penfield, Fig.yo. Of
course the more con-
ventional the design
the less regard need
be paid to anything FIG - 6 9" :
like a logical disposition of color. A figure
may be set against a black landscape with white
trees without fear of criticism from reasonable
people, provided it looks effective there.
A word or two, in conclusion, concerning
some of the modern decorative draughtsmen.
Of those who work in the sixteenth century
manner, Mr. Howard Pyle is unquestionably
the superior technician. His line, masterly
in its siireness, is rich and charged with feel-
BEGGARSTAFF BROTH]
DECORATIVE DRAWING 119
FIG. 70
EDWARD PENFIELD
ing. Mr.'H. Ospovat, one of the younger
group of English decorators, has also a charm-
ing technique, rather freer than that of Mr.
Pyle, and yet reminding one of it. Mr. Louis
Rhead is another of the same school, whose
designs are deserving of study. The example
of his work shown in Fig. 71 excellent both
120
PEN DRAWING
In color and in draw-
ing is one of his
earlier designs. Mr.
J. W. Simpson, in
the book-plate, Fig.
y2,shows the broad-
est possible deco-
rative method ; a
method which,while
too broad for any-
thing but a poster
or a book-label, is
just what the stu-
dent should aim at
being able to attain.
Some of those F1C
decorators whose
work shows a Japanese
UDDBOR
CRFUTne
7 1
LOUIS J. RHEAD
FIG. 72
J. W. SIMPSON
influence have a most
exquisite method.
Of these, that re-
markable draughts-
man, M. Boutet de
Monvel, easily
takes the first place.
Those who have
had the good for-
i
tune to see his orig-
inal drawings will
not easily forget the
delicate beauty of
outline nor the won-
DECORATIVE DRAWING 121
derfully tender coloring which distinguishes
them. Mr. Maxfield Parrish is another mas-
terly decorator who is noted for his free use
of Japanese precedent as well as for the re-
sourcefulness of his technique. The drawings
of Mr. Henry McCarter, too, executed as
they are in pure line, are especially valuable
to the student of the pen. In respect both of
the design and treatment of decorative sub-
jects, the work of the late Aubrey Beardsley
is more individual than that of any other mod-
ern draughtsman. That of our own clever and
eccentric Bradley, while very clearly confessing
its obligations, has yet a distinctive character
of its own. The work of the two latter
draughtsmen, however, is not to be recom-
mended to the unsophisticated beginner for
imitation, for it is likely to be more harmful
than otherwise-. Nevertheless, by steering clear
of the grotesque conventions with which they
treat the human figure, by carefully avoiding
the intense blacks in which a great deal of their
work abounds, and by generally maintaining
a healthy condition of mind, much is to be
learned from a study of their peculiar methods.
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