In finishing the photograph commence on the hair by washing it all over (with the exception of the highest light) with a weak solution of the ink, using the brush in the same direction that the hair goes; after this has dried, indicate the half-shadow with a little stronger wash, and after drying it again put in the deeper shadows, then the eyebrows, eyes and beard, if the subject has one.
Faces are finished in India ink on the line principle,[D] which shows the grain of the flesh. Commence on the forehead with a very weak solution, and then continue it all over the face, repeatedly working and cross hatching with lines until the face is dark enough; then strengthen the shadows under the eyes, nose, mouth and chin. After the face is completed put in the clothes. This you do by washing them over with two or three solutions of the ink, and then producing the line effect as in work on crayon portraits, explained on page [76], the difference in the nature of the material used being always borne in mind. After the picture is otherwise completed, you can brighten up the eyes and some of the strongest shadows with a solution of gum arabic and water.
FOOTNOTES:
CONCLUSION.
While it is thought that all essential instructions on the topics treated of have been given in the foregoing pages, and that if faithfully followed they will lead the pupil to attain satisfactory results, it is hoped that my readers who have accompanied me thus far will not be content to continue to use a photograph as the basis of their work, but will advance to the pursuit of art in a broader and more scientific manner. As a step in this direction the study of form, and light and shade, by drawing from the cast should be taken up; and to this work the directions as to light and shade given in the foregoing pages fully apply, that requiring the object to be placed in such a position that the light will strike it at an angle of ninety degrees being always borne in mind.
The student will do well to gain all he can from the published works of the leaders in the profession, whose writings, both theoretical and practical, are invaluable. Three essays by John Burnet I can very heartily recommend. They are "Practical Hints on Light and Shade," "Practical Hints on Composition," and "The Education of the Eye." These are published in a single volume, which is illustrated with examples from the great masters of the Italian, Flemish and Dutch schools, and should be in the hands of every amateur. They will all repay perusal and study until their principles are mastered. An English edition of these books is published by James Carpenter, London, and in this country they have been reproduced by Edward L. Wilson, editor of the Philadelphia Photographer. Another book which abounds in valuable and practical information for the amateur and can be highly commended, is "Art Recreations, a Guide to Decorative Art," by Marion Kemble, published by S. W. Tilton & Co., Boston; also J. Bacon's "Theory of Coloring," issued by Geo. Rowney & Co., England.
Those who are disposed to treat disdainfully the work of finishing photographs in crayon and color as not demanding truly artistic qualities, should not forget that success here has still a real value in awakening in many who undertake it a feeling for art of a higher kind, and in developing a natural talent which otherwise might have been undiscovered. Many an artist now looks back with pleasure and gratitude to this sort of work, in which he received the first impetus toward higher effort.