THE EASEL.
In place of the drawing-board, many artists prefer to use a large pasteboard portfolio made with covers stiff enough to serve as a foundation in drawing, while its convenience as a receptacle for the reserve sheets of paper and finished work is obvious.
The portfolio which is now most in use, is generally covered with smooth mottled paper outside, and should be large enough to hold without folding the regular sheets of charcoal paper; 20×24 inches will be sufficient for this.
THE PAPER.
There are a great many varieties of charcoal and crayon paper, some smooth, some rough. For ordinary purposes, such as making studies and life drawings, the rough French charcoal paper is the best. That used in the French schools is of two kinds; the roughest is called the “Michelet” paper, and the other is known as “Lalanne.” They are, however, very similar in texture, and either one will serve the purpose. These come in sheets of uniform sizes, costing from three to six cents each.
For more careful drawings, such as finely finished portraits in charcoal and crayon, a more expensive paper is to be preferred. This comes in much larger sheets and should be stretched before using.
Whatman’s rough crayon paper is among the best for this purpose. In all cases, both for studies and finished portraits, the white paper, generally a yellow-white, being preferable to blue-white.
HOW TO STRETCH PAPER.
Paper is stretched and mounted for this work in the following manner: A simple frame of wood is made an inch or two wide and three-quarters of an inch or more in thickness, according to the size of the drawing to be made. This is covered with cotton cloth stretched as tight as possible and tacked all along the four sides. The cloth is turned over and tacked on the outside of the stretcher, not on the face of it, which should present a perfectly smooth, flat surface.