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.
CHAPTER IX.
TOOLS AND MATERIALS FOR LINE DRAWING.
To produce a line drawing which shall comprise such characteristics as have now been enunciated, three essentials will be required: a white surface, a black fluid, and a suitable instrument to convey the fluid at will. These we will take seriatim, in their conventional order—Papers, Inks, and Pens.