FOUR METHODS OF MAKING THE BACKGROUND.
The background can be made first, with the crayon sauce and the use of the large gray stump and rubber eraser; second, with the cotton and rubber, by using the cotton in applying the crayon sauce to put in the dark places in the background, and then finishing with the rubber; third, by the use of the line effect; and fourth, by the stipple effect, produced by the use of pumice stone. This last I consider far superior to any of the others, as it changes the appearance of the surface of the paper entirely, and produces an effect altogether different from that ordinarily shown in a background. It is also free from the mussy, dirty appearance which is produced by the use of the cotton and crayon sauce alone. I have been repeatedly asked by both amateurs and professionals what kind of paper I use in free-hand crayons. The inquiry arose from the fact that treating the paper by the fourth method changes the appearance of the surface of the paper and also its color. I have never before, however, given to the public, nor even to my pupils, the secret of this process. When the pupil has mastered it so as to once produce the satisfactory effect of which it is capable, he will find that it has all the advantages I claim for it and is a secret well worth knowing, in fact, what would be termed one of the tricks of the profession, and a very valuable one. I must confess, however, that I discovered it by an accident. I had been experimenting for years in making backgrounds in order to produce an effect that was entirely satisfactory to me, and had failed to reach just what I wanted. One day, however, I was at work on a portrait that I was very particular with, but the background of which proved quite unsatisfactory to me. In despair I threw on a handful of pumice stone, intending to entirely remove the background by its aid, when, to my surprise and delight, I found I was producing the very effect that I had been seeking for years, namely, one rendering the background of a different color from the face and giving it a clear, transparent appearance, so that the eye seemed to penetrate it, quite different from the opaque, almost dirty backgrounds, resulting from the use of other methods.
I will treat each of these methods in separate chapters further on.
FREE-HAND CRAYONS AND THOSE MADE FROM
PHOTOGRAPHIC ENLARGEMENTS.
The principal difference between the appearance of free-hand crayons and those that are made over a photographic enlargement, is that in the former the shadows are lighter and more transparent. In the matter of feeling, however, the free-hand crayon is much more satisfactory to the artist for he knows it is all his own work, and that he has not depended on the photographic enlargement to help him make the portrait.
After the outline has been drawn, in making a free-hand crayon, the portrait is still not yet in the same state of advancement as a silver, platinum or bromide enlargement; for the reason that the latter not only has the outline, but also the faint impression in light and shade of the rest of the portrait. I will, therefore, in the next chapter, give instructions for filling in the free-hand crayon up to such a degree of light and shade as shall put it in the same condition as the enlargement. From that point on the same directions (to be subsequently given) for finishing the portrait will apply equally to both the free-hand crayons and the enlargements, except that the bromide is understood to require special treatment.
The [frontispiece] was made from a free-hand crayon which was executed on Steinbach crayon paper with a magic lantern outline. This shows the stipple effect in the face and drapery, and a broken line effect in the background. The student will notice the difference between this illustration and that facing page [81], which was made from a bromide crayon. In the bromide crayon the shadows are dark and strong, while in this they are lighter and more transparent.