CHAPTER XIII.

STUDY OF PEN TECHNIC CONTINUED — THE PRINTER MUST NOT EXPECT THE KNOWLEDGE OF PEN TECHNIC TO TAKE THE PLACE OF KNOWLEDGE OF DRAWING — EXAMPLES CONSIDERED — THE GRANDMOTHER BY RENARD — THE MARCHETTI, THE VIERGE, THE ST. ELME, ARE GOOD EXAMPLES OF PEN DRAWING — THE GUILLAUME AN AMUSING EXAMPLE OF USE OF PARALLEL LINES — THE FORAIN A GOOD EXAMPLE OF NEWSPAPER CARTOON STYLE; THE VALLET, OF NEWSPAPER NEWS STYLE — THE MOULLIER AN EXAMPLE OF ECCENTRIC USE OF DOTS — METHOD OF PEN PRACTICE SUGGESTED.

INITIAL LETTER BY MARCHETTI. Pen drawing from Paris Illustré.

study of pen technic is helpful to the printer-designer. I use the adjective “judicious” because I need a word beginning with J for our initial letter. What I mean is, that just so far as the printer studies drawing, he may study pen technic, but he must not expect to progress further in the latter than he has progressed in the former; so while this chapter will be exceedingly helpful to the reader who has followed the previous ones, it will only lead to failure

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ILLUSTRATION TO PABLO DE SEGOVIE. Pen drawing by Daniel Vierge, one of the most celebrated of modern pen-draftsmen. If you will scrutinize this drawing under a magnifying glass you can examine this technic with more ease than with the naked eye. [see larger]

{123} if the reader does not follow our advice in regard to training the eyes to see as well as in regard to pen technic.

We said in our last chapter that the parallel lines in the background of “The Grandmother,” by Renard, showed the foundation of pen drawing. The same is

Illustration (pen drawing);
chapter heading, but without
initial letter, by Marchetti.
From Paris Illustré.

true of our initial letter, in which we find a set of parallel lines which, contrasted with the white of the illumination thrown by the lantern, gives us an effect of gray. This is found again in the other drawing by Marchetti; and if you will study these two drawings, and then turn to the Vierge, you will find that nine-tenths of it is drawn in the same way. Here and there to get a certain vibration of tone, Vierge uses crosshatch, but you will notice that the lightest gray and the intensest dark are got without crosshatching.

In the St. Elme you may also distinguish very clever use of parallel lines, without much crosshatching. We have purposely reproduced this, together with the page it decorated, so that you may see the artist had a good reason for not crosshatching; he wished his drawing to form a decoration about the page, and he did not want it to be too heavy, so he abstained from crosshatching. {124}

Pen drawing by St. Elme, decorating a page of a French journal, 9 ¹/₂ by 13, showing a clever use of parallel lines, and a method of decorating a printed page, which will be considered later on. [see larger]

{125} The best practice for you is to make drawings for your publication in any manner you see fit, and after you have had experience in printing the same, you can tell very well how much crosshatching is advisable, and how much clogs up in the printing. There are

Caricature of the French painter (whose works are somewhat dark and misty in effect) Eugène Carrière at work. By Guillaume. From the French daily, Gil Blas.

several caricaturists in this country whose work is printed in daily papers in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, and yet they use a great deal of crosshatching, but of course they know just how open to keep the lines, for they know just what results their printer can {126} get and what not. But we would say it is a good principle, to begin with, that the less crosshatching in your work the better it will print. Hence the Marchetti and St. Elme drawings are given as examples.

In the portrait of the painter Carrière, we have an amusing example of the effective use of parallel lines. Instead of giving us a black silhouette, the artist—Guillaume—has given us a gray one, which suggests the subject seen through a fog. Had the artist wished to represent the palette as being of dark wood he could have pressed on his pen lines and thus given us that effect. Had he wished to show that the canvas was lighter than the figure, he could have refrained from pressing so heavily on his pen lines, or, better still, distributed his lines farther apart and thus obtained the effect of a lighter tone. Bear in mind, however, that I used the term pen lines in speaking of this drawing because the original was made in that medium, but the same graduation or contrast of lines is applicable to nearly all methods of line drawing; to etching and chalk plate as well. You will, perhaps, have a better grasp of the subject by thinking of it as—the theory of tone imitation by lines.

When you have grasped the theory of this pen technic, alias the representing of tone by lines, you will be prepared to make your own deductions from various specimens of illustration.

Some of our friends, for example, who might have been interested in our first chapters and the specimens of caricature given therein, may have been disappointed {127} that we have given so much attention to portraiture recently, so we have made an effort in this chapter to give a mélange that will cover many fields of newspaper illustration. In the Forain we have a splendid example of such work. It was printed on very poor paper stock, but it came out admirably, harmonizing with the type, which is larger than that used in this country, long

NEWSPAPER CARICATURE. By Forain, from Figaro. This composition evidently makes fun of Mr. Berthelot, who has had, or expects to have, some dealings with England, for the visitor says, “May I see my honorable master?” and the maid responds, “Mr. Berthelot is not receiving; he is taking an English lesson.” The cut in Figaro was 8 by 8, and it represents an excellent method of newspaper drawing, and one that could be easily imitated in chalk plate. We would also call attention to the drawing of the broom. Our readers who followed the directions of our first chapters will see that the silhouette of the broom is indicated in a masterly manner.

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Example of news drawing, by L. Vallet, from a French periodical.

{129} primer predominating. The drawing of the still-life objects is particularly interesting. Look at the duster the woman holds: is not its form exactly what you would see if it were held up against the window and viewed in silhouette?

A good example of a news illustration is given in the Vallet page, which could easily be imitated in chalk plate. The artist viewed a collection of English army costumes, or witnessed a drill, and he shows us in very simple lines the style of accouterment. Any newspaper editor who could sketch tolerably well could do the same thing for his county fair.

In the Moullier we have a specimen that is well-nigh as amusing as the artist in the fog, for here we have a pen drawing that is not made by lines, but by a series of stipples. While the newspaper tyro should not employ this technic too frequently in his practice, still, realizing that the tone effect is graphically gained without the use of the conventional line, it must quickly dawn upon him that there are many technics, and, having practiced drawing mantelshelves according to the instructions in our early chapters, he will also appreciate the fact that the artist was in front of this mantelshelf, as the horizontal lines do not tip, and that the shelf was higher than his eye, as the top of the mantel is not shown. This knowledge gathered allows the student to see that various technics may represent the same truth in nature.

A good method of practice for pen work is as follows: Take a wood engraving or half-tone from some {130}

Pen drawing by Marc Moullier, for La Plume, showing a clever and eccentric use of dots. It may be remarked that since the mantelpiece is above the eye we cannot see the top of it. It is parallel to the artist’s eyes, and so is represented as a horizontal line. So far as correct drawing is concerned, it makes no difference how that line is made. One artist makes it a thick line with a blunt pen, another a thin line with a fine pen, and another, like Moullier, makes it with a series of dots, but each of these methods is a matter of technic, and the rules of technic are arbitrary, not fixed as are the rules for drawing. You may invent your own technic, but you cannot invent perspective.

{131} periodical, the larger the better, go over the back of it with a blue pencil, lay it on a sheet of bristol board or paper, face upward, and go over the outline with a hard pencil, using such a pressure as will transfer to the bristol board a blue outline. The object in using blue is, that you do not have to erase it, but may work over it with a pen, as the blue does not photograph. Besides transferring the outline it is also advisable to outline the shape of any of the shadows you intend to introduce. You then endeavor with the pen lines to imitate the delicate shadows of the half-tone or wood cut. Perhaps instead of saying imitate, we would better say approximate, for you must not expect to be able to imitate with pen the extreme delicacy of a half-tone.

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DES GUEULES (STUDIES OF MOUTHS, JAWS) BY HERMAN PAUL.