METHODS OF LINE REPRODUCTION.

To those who have not previously given the matter attention, it will be a source of some astonishment to find a wide range of tones, that is varying degrees of light and shade, may be suggested by so simple and unpromising a means as black lines on a white ground. Perhaps no better means exists for getting some insight of this than by careful and persistent study of the line illustrations constantly appearing in the better class periodicals, such as The English Illustrated, The Strand, Harper's, Sketch, Black and White, and many others. In these we get frequent examples of the work of different men, and shall soon begin to realise not only the wide possibilities of line work, but the extremely different styles of various artists; and so long as the practice is not too long continued, or too much relied on, some advantageous exercise may be found in carefully copying such examples; being watchful in so doing that, quite independent of outline, our copy suggests the same materials, fabrics, &c., as are suggested in the original, and that this suggestion be arrived at by the same kind of treatment.

In this kind of drawing there is obviously no such thing actually as "tone," everything being black or white, and yet it is possible to suggest every gradation and most delicate tonal relationships of colours by this elementary means; the varied textures of objects can also be most convincingly suggested.[4]

Probably one of the first things that will strike us, on inspecting many styles of drawing, is the fact that while some draughtsmen expend enormous labour in filling the whole design with multitudinous strokes of the pen, others obtain effect by a very few lines and great expanses of white paper. A great number of strokes rapidly put in, in the manner of shading with pencil, and a few bold lines slowly and deliberately drawn, constitute the two chief differences of style. In the latter, the principal study is perhaps to know what to leave out, and nowhere is the knowledge and skill of the artist better seen than when the subject is satisfactorily rendered with the least possible amount of labour, there being not one unnecessary or superfluous line. Such powerful sketches, by Mr. Reginald Cleaver, may be seen in The Daily Graphic, and by Mr. Phil May in The Sketch. In these drawings a maximum of effect is attained with a minimum of work, and one feels that every line is essential and not one can be spared.

In most cases, for all the purposes of illustration, a black coat need not be suggested by any more lines of shading than a white gown; but the artist who so determines may carry his work to a higher standard and, with greater labour, even succeed in giving a suggestion of colour in the objects portrayed. But, even in such elaborate work, there should be no more execution than is essential, and the finished drawing should in no case make its elaborate execution felt. The thing which must first impress the spectator is the success of the general effect; never should there be first awakened a feeling of astonishment at the extraordinary amount of patience bestowed, or labour expended. If the first remark called forth is one of admiration for the extraordinary dexterity, we may be pretty sure that the draughtsman has been betrayed into the commonly besetting sin of over-elaboration, and whatever success has been attained in the effect rendered it would have been probably better if produced with less effort. It would have been more forcible if not overwhelmed, as it were, with so much work.

Never, then, let the delight which we may feel in making a pretty "finished" drawing get the better of our judgment when drawing for reproduction. Remember that "prettiness" comes very near to "pettiness," and delicacy and fineness are apt to become "niggling" and pedantic; coarseness is a lesser danger than excessive neatness.

Much of this, as already suggested, may be more clearly learned from the careful examination and comparison of good published drawings.

Imitate, and copy if you like, up to a certain degree, remembering always that you are thus copying merely to ascertain by what means other men express their ideas in line, and not for your own practice.

In like manner etchings, engravings, and indeed every kind of print made up of lines, may be studied and, to some extent, copied; but only in order to familiarise oneself with what lines, and combinations of lines, may be made to do; but the danger of continuing such a practice cannot be too much emphasised. Every artist or draughtsman, be he beginner or expert, must draw for himself and according to his own feelings and promptings. In every department of art the successful have had their imitators, and these again their imitators, and at each successive stage the further one gets from originality, the more trammelled, the more impotent and hopelessly beyond the possibility of really great work.

That the drawing is not the end in view, but merely a means to an end (that end being the reproduction), is a matter to which I shall refer later on; but it should here be noted, and moreover the student may be reminded, that every line and every mark which he makes will be similarly reproduced by the process. When drawing for wood engraving, the engraver could be instructed to strengthen this or leave out that; not so the mechanical block, which is to be regarded as normally an untouched and purely mechanical thing, only to be altered by hand on the rarest possible occasions, and then only when time and circumstances permit. This character of indiscriminating facsimile is not to be considered as a disadvantage in any way; the good draughtsman is thankful for it, he knows what to reckon upon, and to all it must be an incentive to do one's best. It is the same difference as between a mirror and an average photographer's portrait: the mirror may show us all our faults and yet, if we have any beauty, it does not belie us; while we know how often the ordinary commercial carte-de-visite is unreliable.

In the course of studying various reproductions we shall probably have become aware that the same things may be very differently rendered by different hands. Thus trees and foliage in landscape may be represented by an outline, and a few black patches and dots, or by numerous clearly drawn parallel lines, or yet again by irregular strokes crossing and recrossing each other; evidently, then, there is no intention here of imitating nature. And so, throughout, the aim of the pen draughtsman is to suggest, rather than to portray things exactly as they are. Lines, scratches, or dots, cannot pretend to imitate leafy foliage; and, be it noted, the same lines, scratches, or dots, may be similarly employed, in the same drawing, to suggest something quite different. It is in this employment of various pen marks, to suggest the composition of distinct objects, that individuality of style reveals itself; as does the discreet using of white blanks to express or suggest widely different things.

I have presumed throughout these pages that I may be addressing many to whom the idea of drawing in pen and ink (or other material) for reproduction, is entirely a new one; hence it will be necessary to examine the pen strokes which go to make up a complete drawing. Let it be well understood that many things are possible to the accomplished artist which must not be attempted by the beginner; later on we may learn, from our own experience, little freaks and tricks of our own, but we must first of all content ourselves with simple conscientious work.

In the following examples of pen and ink shading we have first the kind of strokes which the pen would make if used rapidly, as in writing, and without any particular care. In bold sketchy work this sort of handling may be permissible, but the student should practise shading by such lines as in No. 2. These are drawn rapidly in succession, the wrist being rested firmly on the table and the hand quite free, as in rapid writing. Commence at the top left-hand corner and work downwards; notice that each stroke is equidistant, parallel, and of the same thickness throughout its length. Look at this from a little distance and it appears like a grey, flat, even tint. This simple "shading" should be tried many times until perfect ease and certainty is acquired, each stroke of the pen being firm, distinct, and black; each stroke intended and nothing uncertain about it.

A good exercise will be to draw a square, and practise filling it with a flat tint consisting of lines either in the same direction, or else of lines in varying directions, and then with lines crossing each other or "cross-hatching."

Having now discovered how a flat tint may be laid down, and how such may be made uniformly or gradually darker, we may apply such methods to simple objects as the cube and vase here shown.

By this time we may feel well on the road towards accomplishing any general subject which we are skilful enough to outline. Of the various mechanical helps to drawing outline, for those who lack the required skill, I shall speak hereafter.

It need hardly be pointed out that as there is, in nature, no such thing as outline: it is purely an arbitrary means of indicating form, and separating one space from another; whether such spaces be occupied with shading or not, but especially where there is no shading.

At first it may perhaps be best to make a clear sharp outline of uniform thickness; but later we shall find we may often advantageously dispense entirely with outline, letting the shading only distinguish one object from another. Notice the absence of outline in the hills in "Near Berry Head," page 94.

A little experience will show us that an imperfect outline, and one which varies in thickness with various objects, will greatly assist in the attractiveness of our sketches. A too rigid outline, as also a too close adherence to what has been said about the precision of the shading strokes, tends to a stiff formal appearance which is not to be desired, and destroys anything like originality and individuality of style.

In the accompanying drawing notice these points—the irregularity of outline, in some parts its entire absence, the value of white spaces, and the suggestive little dots on the white foreground.

I have already remarked that the drawing is only to be regarded as a means to an end, and must therefore be made not so as to give satisfaction in itself, but so as to produce a good mechanical reproduction. However irksome some artists may feel this working for process reproduction, it is not accompanied with any great difficulties, nor are its special requirements so very restricting, if only we understand what is wanted.

Two influences, for good or for evil, exist between the original and the reproduction (two influences to be taken into account, and reckoned with when we are drawing, so as to produce a definite effect in the reproduction), and these are reduction and thickening of the lines.

A diminishing glass, used to examine any drawings, will at once show the effect of reduction or diminishing, and in rough and rapid drawing this reduction is depended upon to remove irregularities and coarseness.[5]

It may be taken for granted that nearly every reproduction we see has been reduced from the original, some more, some less, and while generally speaking we may say that the effect of reduction is to refine and soften; the beginner, however, will sometimes be troubled by finding an increase in the thickness of the lines which is less agreeable, and is very fickle, and can only to a limited degree be counted upon as to the result. Hence the need for keeping darkly shaded portions as open as possible: that is to say, when lines are very close together, or there is cross-hatching, see that the lines do not needlessly run into each other, but that the little white interstices are well preserved. Keep the shading open (the rough net-like effect can be got rid of by reduction), and remember that not only do some lines thicken up, and so engulf the intervening white, but in reduction the white spaces reduce as well as the black lines, and may be reduced into invisibility.

Some definite rules have sometimes been suggested to guide the process man as to the amount of reduction best suited for average work; these, however, like many other rules of the kind, are quite arbitrary. On this subject Mr. Henry Blackburn says, with an authority based upon the experience of reducing, to various scales, some thousands of drawings: "As to the amount of reduction that a drawing will bear in reproduction, it cannot be sufficiently widely known that in spite of rules laid down there is no rule about it."

In some instances no reduction is required, and the reproduction is so exact a replica of the original that it can hardly be distinguished, yet, "On the other hand, the value of reduction for certain styles of drawing can hardly be over-estimated"; and again, "Every drawing has its scale, to which it is best reduced."

The effect of the reduction may be seen in the accompanying three examples, the first being the same size as the original, and the others reduced as marked.

Until some experience has been gained in this direction, and apart from the exigencies of the space the illustration is required to fill, the process engraver will probably be the best authority for us to consult as regards the amount of reduction suitable to each individual drawing. A reduction of one-third is a very usual one, so long as the drawing is not unusually rough or clumsy.

Referring to the effect of reduction upon lines laid down to express a flat tint, Mr. H.R. Robertson gives some interesting notes upon the number of lines required to be drawn in an inch square to produce an even grey tint. I do not think too much importance should be attached to such calculations, as they are likely to embarrass the draughtsman and make him far too much concerned with the mere mechanism of his work; still, the matter is an interesting one. He says that from experiment he finds it will usually require about 108 to 120 lines within an inch to give to the naked eye the idea of a flat tint or wash, but that about 80 to an inch is as many as can be drawn to the inch by unaided vision; eighty lines to the inch gives 120 in 1½ inches, which, if reduced in reproduction by one-third, will give the requisite number of 120 to the inch which Mr. Robertson finds desirable. The effect produced, however, by parallel lines of shading alters considerably when the direction of the lines alters, and I think it is only necessary for us to glance through "Academy Notes," or any similar collection of sketches made by artists who understand the importance of conveying suggestions with pencil or pen, to assure us that far fewer lines are in many cases quite capable of giving the idea of an even tint. Such rules and figures are interesting, and perhaps useful, but they are certainly dangerous if the student places himself too much in subjection to their influence.

The beginner in pen drawing is probably destined to meet with severe disappointments at first from the manner in which the process will reproduce his work, and the inclination is to blame the process as unsympathetic, or the process man as incompetent, whereas the fault lies with the drawing, which is unsuitable through a want of proper regard for the requirements of process.

For instance, nothing is commoner with the student than to find such portions of our drawing as distance, sky, and the more delicate shading come up heavy and black—quite different to the original, and robbing such parts of it of all delicacy; or it may be that lines which we believed to be fine, smooth, flowing lines, reproduce as broken and irregular.

The root of both these evils will probably be found in the fact that in our drawing we have been producing light and distant effects by grey lines instead of fine black ones. Drawing with the pen insufficiently charged with ink, or with ink diluted with water, will give these grey lines; but the line process, recognising nothing but black and white, either reproduces the grey lines as black, or reproduces them imperfectly as broken and irregular. Here, then, will be another matter for the beginner to exercise himself in: namely, the drawing of good black lines and an avoidance of grey ones. With drawings made on a fairly large scale, so that every line can be made firmly and boldly, we are less likely to fall into making grey lines.

With etchings, in which the image is in intaglio, gradation in the lines is possible; because, according to the depth of the etched line, a greater or less amount of ink is contained, and a grey line can be printed therefrom. And so, for this reason, etchings are misleading if used as copies or examples from which to draw in pen and ink.

When the drawing has been first drawn in with pencil and inked over, every vestige of pencil marks must be carefully removed, otherwise the process reproduces them, not as soft grey marks, but as black as those made in ink, and some very unpleasant surprises will be the result.