BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 B-ZJUX^.O. 9././y.../a..I.... !>. 351; Cornell University Library N 7430.G21 Practical hints on painting, composition 3 1924 020 704 270 DATE DUE i^i^^^Tur W rsr.r' •> ?. \ •"'■"' n.'--^ ■ ■ '" ■■ ' "' UU'U' J i^V,'i -.J ■ '■ ■ -• 1 GAYLORD PRINTED IN USA ! ■_ ">' '^&' ^^■^ ' '•■'■_*'" mm ^^^^^Kis >' * ^ j^i^^ .^, ^B- ',■ ) ^^■■^ i . . jI^^^H ^ fck,^ B.i iHH| 1 ■ 1 i •1 1 1 1 3 B ^H^E^ n ■ ^^1 ^^^^^^E: \^^ «.'• *!.'- ^B ^1 1 s ^^^K' ^'..li'^t^r*: *^^ ^^^^H B^' ^^1 1 > L^ ^P^l r A mi^^ *> study of a head from the oil painting (in direct method). BY HENRY F. W. GANZ. PRACTICAL HINTS ON PAINTING, COMPOSITION, LANDSCAPE, AND ETCHING HENRY F. W. GANZ " L^ dessin est la probiU de Part." Ingres. PHILADELPHIA J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY LONDON : GIBBINGS & COMPANY 1905 3' K 'xx^%\x:> TO M. LliONCE BliN]^DITE CURATOR OF THE LUXEMBOURG GALLERY PARIS Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020704270 INTRODUCTORY NOTE IN a practical treatise it is not possible to touch in any but the most superficial way on the theories and traditions of the " Old Masters.'' Yet it must be remembered that apart from the interest that is awakened in the student by the attention being drawn to fine works of art, a sense of Taste is thereby cultivated which will materially help his progress in learning painting, while the sight of beautiful statues and pictures of the great Masters will lead him to try and trace the methods by which ' Art ' has been practised and perfected in former periods. One fact which will be observed is, that there is a scientific basis to the study of Art, and another that Art was taught on a classical tradition from master to pupil in the early days. The result was that certain " schools " were founded^ — schools in which the several artists chose in common either the same method of painting or a similar point of view in looking at a subject. In drawing the student's attention to the general facts of Art, he will be led to interest himself in the outlook which English- men have exhibited in Art, and to note the causes which have prevented a British School from existing in the sense that one has existed abroad. We know that in Italy within the centuries that saw the growth and development of the great Renaissance, Dante and Giotto revived poetry and the art of design, Brunellesco built the dome of St. Maria del Fiore, Vlll INTRODUCTORY NOTE Ghilberti cast the gates of the Baptistery, and such great men in art as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio, and Michael Angelo Buonarotti created their immortal works, and were followed by Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese and others, themselves the outcome of a long-existing school. This period led to the artistic development of which the modern school of figure- designers have inherited the ideas and principles. Without tracing the eventual transition to later periods at all closely, it will suffice to say. Art eventually became conventionalised, and died out in Italy. In France, without going farther back than Poussin, we see a school based on classical tradition ; and this may still be said to exist. His influence followed later by that of Watteau, and then again by the classical talent of Ingres (to name only a few masters), was followed by J. F. Millet and Corot, showing genius under different manifestations. What has happened since ? Men acknowledging no school, such as Manet and Monet, appear, the former with unerring knowledge paint- ing his picture ' direct from life,' and the latter his original " Impressions " of Nature ; and another. Degas, building his ' new ' view of the figure on classical lines. W^e also find in Flanders, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, schools of painting in which one man, achieving perfection, passes away and gives place to another ; but in England, except fpr the efforts of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723) and Hogarth, no one before their time ever tried to make or found one. It is true that a certain decided although superficial art movement was at times created ; but it was by no means the result of native-born talent. From the fifteenth century onwards a long succession of painters came at the invitation of various kings and nobles, and lived and worked here, but till the end of the eighteenth century no artists, except those mentioned, stood forth independent of foreign influence. INTRODUCTORY NOTE ix Among the succession of painters, such men figured as Hans Holbein, Zucchero, Moro, Rubens, and Van Dyck. Rubens received the commission to decorate' Charles the First's banqueting-hall at Whitehall, and obtained for this art-loving king the Raphael cartoons as an addition to his collection, which numbered four hundred and sixty pictures, amongst them being eighty- two from the Duke of Mantua's collection, including , Mantegna's series of " The triumph of Julius Csesar." But their visits. Sir Anthony Van Dyck's excepted, pro- duced few pupils. Lely and Kneller followed, and it was left for Hogarth (1697) to break the spell. Since thqn certain artists have worked in groups, e.g. the Norwich School, with such men as John Crome and his son, G. Vincent, J. S. Cotman, and James Stark ; and later, the pre-Raphaelites, from 1 848 ; but no national tradition was formed. The development of the national character also had much to do with the matter. Like the nation itself, how many of our painters . seem to stand alone ! One consequence is, that the ' English . groups ' are full of originality of view. Each of our Masters seems to have made a study of Nature itself, as may be seen in the works of Hogarth (169 7- 17 64), Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gainsborough, Raeburn, Wilson, Constable, Lawrence, Girtin, Cozens, and Turner (1775-185 i), to name only a few. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS From Drawings and Paintings by the Author With four Reproductions from J. Muller, Andrew Geddes, H. GoLTzrus, and Marc Antonio. Study of Head {in direct method) (^Reproduction in Colors) Girl's Head (Method of Starting) Study of Head . Chart of Features of the Face . Drawing of Michael Angelo's ' Giuliano ' Study of Old East Anglian Fisherman . Study of Head [in four colors) (Reproduction in Colors) Preliminary Drawing of Head The ' Rub In ' of a Head (Reproduction in Colors) Study of a Head (indirect method) [Reproduction in Colors) General Lines of Figures . Study op Girl's Head in Solid-Oil Colors Giorgione's ' Concert ChampAtre ' . A Spanish Wineseller Don Quixote and the Goatherds . Sunday Morning, Harwich . Study of Don Quixote (Pencil study) The Storm Cloud (Pencil study) The Wood Sawyers .... 'The White Mill,' by John Muller Study for 'The Avenue' . Study of Tree Study of Trees and Water PAGE 'iece 3 S II . i6 Facing 21 ■ 23 Facing 26 29 • 42 • 49 • 51 55 • 57 59 . 61 ■ 63 ■ 6s ■ 69 ■ 70 ■ 71 ■ 72 XIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE First Oil Study of ' The Avenue ' . ■ • 75 'The Avenue'. ..... -77 Rain— Thames Dust Barges .... -79 Morning . ..... 8i Afternoon . ...... 83 Sky and Sea ......■■ 85 Study of Old Water Mills . . . . .86 Study of Old Water Mills . . . . .88 Study of Old Water Mills {Evening Effect) . . -89 H.M.S. Powerful off Durban . . -93 An Avenue in France . . . ■ -98 Study for an Avenue . ... 99 Study of a Head . ... ■ 103 Dusk : Leicester Square . . ■ 105 Specimen of Etching, etc. . . 108 Drawing on prepared Ground . . . 109 Hammersmith (.£fc/«2»^) . . . 11 1 Study for 'Dry-point' . . . . 116 The Fisherman's Hut (Dry-point) . . . .116 Solitude {Etching) ... . 117 Tower Bridge, London . . . . . . ii8r Mantegna's ' Mars and Venus,' engraved BY Marc Antonia . 119 ' Dry-point ' by Andrew Geddes . . . 121 Engraving by H. Goltzius ..... 123 PRACTICAL HINTS ON PAINTING METHOD IN PAINTING ANY treatise which should profess to set forth a method or system of painting, and claim for it exclusive recognition, would misread all the teachings of modern artistic progress, and be misleading to the seekers after a proper understanding of the subject. I do not therefore claim on behalf of the present sugges- tions towards a method that they in any way are better than others which have been put to the practical test. At the present day old methods have given place to new, and the whole attitude of mind of the artist towards the subject is changed. There has been a loosening of all ties which in former days were supposed to bind the artist in the practice of his art. This is apparent, not only in the choice of subjects, but in their treatment. Much valuable time is lost by the student when he leaves his Academy, as — except for his materials and technique, which he has at his fingers' ends-^he has no knowledge of the art of making pictures, or experience of the different arts and crafts that exist. This slender equip- ment is all he has with which to face the difficulties that meet him at the start of his life. The few theoretical text-books on Art and exploded theories of color are 2 PRACTICAL HINTS not as useful to him as theoretical books are to the officer who leaves the Staff College, the doctor or the lawyer. I contend that something more than mere technique, important as this is, is necessary to him. He should know Art out and out, and the why and where- fore of all that has preceded him, so that he may go forth, as the hunter does, with a trusty weapon in his hand, and his mind free to develop the originality he has in him. What would one not give for a book on Art by say Whistler, whose axioms on etching are in- valuable, and Rosetti, Hunt, or Millais, who one and all started their careers with a perfect technical equipment. If I -may claim on behalf of my suggestions that they can be put to the practical test, or that they can in any way meet with the demands of the modern idea for an enlarged field for practical workers, I should be satisfied that I have achieved my purpose. I have found that these hints at the analysis of a Method of Art were of some use to my pupils, and I therefore venture to believe that they may be of interest to others, as well as to the young, in whose hands the future of Art lies. With such subjects around him as the superb beauty of English life, nature, and womanhood, the artist will be able to make ' Art ' live, and contribute to a collec- tion of pictures which the intelligent foreigner may find as interesting as the modern collection in the Luxeinbourg. The greater the interest taken in Art the better for the artist. In view of the importance of figure-painting, and the value which the study of this branch of the Art has as an introduction to other fields, I have chosen it for a special description. PAINTING LESSON I The Essentials in Painting Let us consider what painting means. Painting is the art of representing by pigments the appearance of reality ; that is to say, it seeks to depict not so much realism, as the impression conveyed to the artist's eye. Painting consists in the juxtaposition of certain tones to one another ; thus, paint a round dab of yellow and it would not be an orange, but direct the attention to the effect of light and shade on the object, and means will be found of giving the " appearance '' of an orange. The next fact to be deduced, is that the essentials of painting may be divided into three things — L Drawing. IL Light and Shade. in. Color. Therefore to go straight on to our sub- ject we begin with a demonstration on draw- ing, which is the founda- tion to painting. L Drawing Choose some simple object by itself for study ; this will give an insight into the qualities of form. To save time use char- 4 PRACTICAL HINTS coal, and the stump or chalk for shading. Take a sheet oi paper and a stick of charcoal sharpened. Establish either a real or imaginary perpendicular and horizontal line on your paper. By this means, by holding up a ruler, whether upright or slanting, you will be able to compare the bearing of the parts of the figure in relation to these lines, and thus get yo\xt proportions correct. With your charcoal, held by the thumb and first finger, indicate your model by slight points, and draw lines, connecting the dots, which will at once give you the outline. Your aim should be to draw in pure outline in as direct a way as possible. The expressional power of line can suggest modelling in the blank spaces it encloses. II. Light and Shade The object of first studies being simple effects of light and shade, you will now look at the model through half-closed eyes. (This enables you to observe breadth of effect, and causes details to disappear.) Direct attention to the larger divisions of ' light and shade,' which you will now draw. They are — 1. Shadow. 2. Half-tint. 3. High light. 1. The Shadow will give and explain the shape of the object. 2. The Half -tint modifies the shadow, and by joining with the light helps the modelling of the form. 3. The High light you easily obtain by leaving the white of your paper. These will constitute the chief elements of your drawing. STUDY OF A HEAD. From a Chalk Drawing by H. F. W. Ganz. DRAWING 7 Next observe where are the highest light and the strongest dark. These, when once put down, riiust never be exceeded. In regard to the shadow, in order to give it depth, it should be put in with decided touches. Having got so far, you now look at the model with open eyes, and add — 4. The details to your drawing, and then introduce more — 5 . Delicate gradations between the shadow, the half- tint, and the high light. 6. The reflected light must also be shown ; that is to say, the reflection of a neighbouring object in the shadow of your model. This reflected light may be added by rubbing the shadow with a wash leather or a little bread, ' and the modelling of the object should now be nearly \ complete. 7. The cast shadow can then be marked. This is the shadow that falls from the object you are drawing on to a neighbouring surface, either behind, on either side, or below. '' ' - It .only remains to note the — 8. Texture of the model, for which purpose your touch must vary — according as you wish to give a representation of smooth plaster, rough cloth, flesh, silk, or stone. The taste of the artist must suggest to what extent the drawing should be carried out. To acquire fapility in your art it is highly important from the . first to make life-size studies direct from the living model. This gives insight into qualities of form. Before attempting color, apply the foregoing hints, and be careful to observe the process explained in the next lesson. Fixitive may be used to fix a drawing, and for safety should be sprayed on the back of the paper. PRACTICAL HINTS THE FEATURES OF THE FACE DESCRIBED To explain how to draw a head we will take the different features first separately, i.e. the nose, eyes, ears, mouth, chin, forehead, etc., and find what lines, they are composed of. Nose. — The nose (the front view) starts from the eyebrows with two lines, which curve inwards and then outwards over the bony part of the ' nasal bone ' down to the bridge, under which they curve gently inwards. The cartilaginous part below follows, the lines curving slightly inwards and then outwards, circling down to the point where they meet. On either side are the wings (alee), composed of curved lines, which run rather straighter along the nostrils, giving them in this view a rather small elliptical shape. The profile of the nose consists of a short straight and- then two slightly outward curved lines (as the case may be). DRAWING 9 The nostrils are of a longer elliptical shape, and the top. edge is rather straighter than the lower edge, being slightly hidden by the wing of the nose; under the nostril is a slightly rounded line from the tip of the nose to its base. Eye. — From the front view the eye is composed of a globe — the eyeball with the pupil and iris. The iris is a circle of various tinted colors, which slightly deepen towards the edge (outside). It sur- rounds the pupil, this being a circular black spot in the centre of the eye. The pupil contracts in the light. Above the eyelid a curved form exists, along which the eyebrow grows, the hairs running transversely across it. The complete circle of the pupil is partly broken above and below by the eyelids. The top eyelid (the njore important one) is composed of two lines : the upper »i>e — the top of the lid — is formed by a slightly raised curved line ; and the lower one begins with an arched line near the nose, where it springs from the corner of the eye {caruncula lachrymalis'), and then follows a long curved line. Under this line (as it were) the thickness of the skin gives the lower edge, from which the eyelashes spring, cortiposed of slightly upward- curved hairs. The lower lid consists of a more gently rounded line, with a fuller one below it (formed by a little fulness of skin), arid a small upper surface (the thickness of the flesh) above this. The eyelashes curve slightly down- wards. In the profile the circular form of the eyeball and pupil, under the eyelids, is well brought out. The upper and lower lids having their outlines more in perspective, follow two short full-curved lines. Ear. — The ear is a cartilaginous substance. In profile it consists of several rims (called the helix and anti- tragus), inner and outer gently curved surfaces. The 10 PRACTICAL HINTS helix is composed of a circular curve, and then a longer curve running down to the lobe of the ear, and has two little thicknesses to it. The anti-helix has a circular curve and then a longer curve running downwards, forming the one side of the hollow, making a nearly circular line. The hollow {concha) is bounded by a prominence called the tragus on the side near the cheek (a slightly rounded line). The anti-tragus, in a circular line, also forms part of the lobe (lobule). The lobule consists of a line slightly curved downwards, and then circling upwards to the first line (the helix'). The joint of the jaw is above the top oiXn^ tragus. From the back view the ear forms a round and longer curved line, with a second circular surface inside it, the underneath of the concha joining it to the head. _ MoUT-H. — The. fronJ view of the mouth, taking , the right half,, is composed of four lines, one above and one below each lip. The bow-shape, formed on the upper edge of the top lip, consists of a line making a short curve upwards, followed by a rounded part, and then a gr'adual curve downwards to the corner of the mouth. The lower line of the upper lip is straighter than the previous one, and consists of a short curve up and a gentle curve to the corner. The. upper line of the lower lip runs in a full curve downwards at each end. The lower line has a slightly fuller curve upwards, and then goes upward again to the corner of the mouth. Above the mouth, a slight hollow hdcvjc^n two columnar forms is found, and the surface then runs to either cheek. Below the mouth another concave surface is found, which then gets fuller and runs downwards from the top of the chin. In profile the mouth follows similar lines a little more in perspective. Chin,— The chiniixom the front view) is formed CI»SSi< » n H 63 COMPOSITION 65 OLD AND MODERN OUTLOOK The great originators and masters in their own time were — Michael Angelo, who delighted in the display of human form. His works are epics of humanity and expression. Titian, who painted " The Entombment," for the effect of a white body of the Dead Christ in contrast to the robust, auburn-locked Italians, and for the idea of ' beauty,' not for the sake of anything new. Velasquez himself learned something from Rubens, as may be seen in his early picture of " Los Borrachos." After his sojourn in Italy, the, influence of Poussin and Reni (whom he met in Rome), and of Titian and Tintoretto, whom he greatly admired, is clearly noticeable in the pictures of " Mercury, Vulcan, and the Blacksmiths," " The Siege of Breda," and his later biblical subjects. His greatest originality was in the way he looked at things. What ,'t,--.€»S^J!n 66 PRACTICAL HINTS he may have thought of " plein air " we do not know, for the fact remains that there is no evidence of it in the landscape backgrounds of his large pictures of mounted noblemen. His great sense of realism, truth of value, and of interior lighting and tone are unsurpassable, as may- be seen in " The Tapestry Weavers " and " Los Meninas " (Maids of Honour). In the same respect Ver Meer of Delft was a great master. Amongst men of our time we find important innovators, such as Manet, Whistler, Cezanne, Degas, and Renoir, while in the extension of light and color, Turner and Monet saw fresh beauties. Ingres, Puvis de Chavannes, and Fantin-Latour have carried on classical composition to further limits. Puvis not only painted mural decoration, but made his pictures form part of the wall, by harmonising them to the surrounding stone by the use of grey-blue and white tones, thus obtaining decorative unity and completeness of drawing. We find also the realism of Adolph Menzel, J. S. Sargent, and Charles Furse, and the idealism of Flaxman, Alfred Stevens (sculptor) Diaz, Rousseau, Decamps, T. Couture, Segantini, Carri^re, and A. Rodin. The pre- Raphaelite choice of subject was the painting with great finish of marble, gold, and flowers ; while the work-a-day life is depicted with much mystery of light and shade by J. F. Millet, who gave the note of the never-ending labour of the peasant, an entirely new idea in art. Both these styles of painting are appropriate in their way of technique and handling of paint to their different subjects. This last artist, Corot, and Courbet are the three nature-loving Realists of the middle of the nineteenth century. A curious modern influence, in that it is an intro- duction of ' Eastern ' into ' Western ' art, has been the adaptation of the decorative method of the old Japanese colored woodblocks. With their spots of color and simple style of drawing, these, though not 'childlike,' have re- tained the clear outline of early art, and their beauty and COMPOSITION 67 delicacy of line show a power of interpretation of natural truth with utmost simplicity. The influence of Japanese decorative spacing of color may be noted in Whistler's work ; and in some modern French dry points the influence of the Japanese delicacy of line can be clearly noted. The first lessons learnt from Japan were applied to decorative art — lacquering, enamelling, china-making, etc. Starting in Europe about the middle of the nine- teenth century, this influence led to the abandonment of some old traditions. This movement was the forerunner of the " Modern Style," which, with a tendency to exaggeration that is not in the models of the Japanese masterpieces of flowers and animals (painted or carved with a beautiful realism), has helped certain artists to develop their individuality and expression of original thought. In contrast to ancient art, there is a tendency in the art of to-day to become less national and more cosmo- politan. It is a fight not so much of national expression as of principle, in beauty of form, and mystery and intensity of light and color. 68 PRACTICAL HINTS LANDSCAPE PAINTING Notwithstanding the impatience of modern artists with many of the old masters' traditions, due to their being based more on convention than nature, it still remains a matter of interest to note how far they really ignored " nature " in their landscape work and how far they submitted themselves to custom. Allowing for the fact that the old masters delighted in the display of human form as their chief motive, it was, of course, of paramount importance to attach most study to that side of their art. Soon, however, it was found that hardly any single figure or study could be painted without some principle of " landscape " coming into the background, and on these landscapes they often lavished the utmost skill. That they constantly painted their figures in one effect of light and the landscape in another, without due reference the one to the other, is not of much importance, for the study of " open-air " atmosphere had not been taken up as yet, and even men who looked at things with what may be called a " modem outlook," such as Velasquez and Goya, often did the same thing in their landscapes. We know how even later on Turner " built "■ himself on the works of the old masters before allowing his genius full play, and how Constable in his Lectures on Landscape Painting insisted on the fact that a land- scape artist should study his art scientifically through the art that had gone before, and traced the historical origin and progress of landscape painting from the early attempts in Italy, in the backgrounds of old ''altar- pieces," down to the work of the French and Dutch schools. I can barely touch upon more than the fringe of this interesting speculation, nor can I follow it through the different works mentioned in this chapter. Suffice LANDSCAPE PAINTING 69 it to mention one early picture in our National Gallery, which seems to be essentially the work of a landscape painter pure and simple ; I mean Patinir's picture (No. 1298, date 1489-1524). Other beautiful landscapes exist in the work of Giorgione, Titian, Mantegna, and Albrecht DUrer. As Turner himself (i 775— 1 85 i) worked on the " Roman " model of Claude and Poussin, it is interesting to compare the result of his studies with those of Corot, who, although he also formed his style of composition on these masters, had no desire to express anything but beauty and rhythm of lines. Turner worked from the grey, brown, and blue of the Dutch school until 1 805. Then he felt the influence of Claude's work (in mellow tones and classical composition) c. 1 8 1 9. His middle period dates from his return from Italy to 1823— 29, " Ulysses deriding Polyphemus." The last phase from then till 1 843, " Approach to Venice." In this period he heightened the scale of his color scheme in his search for the power of giving luminous effect. F7'- THE WHITE MILL. By William Muller. 70 PRACTICAL HINTS LESSON IN STARTING A LANDSCAPE STUDY One of the most important points to consider in starting a landscape is to find the lines that will give a notion of the planes of the ground. Upon these the rounded or square surfaces of the objects to be represented can be placed, attention at the same time being paid to the atmosphere they live in. Having built up the ground- surface organically, one has to notice how the tree-trunks grow out of the ground, how they are lost at their base, and show most distinctly as a mass against the sky. Trees. — It will be found that more character is given to a tree by the few lines suggesting the trunk than by an elaboration of the foliage in detail. The leaves should be treated as a mass in the centre of the tree, and modified or lost at the " edges." (i.) THE AVENUE. FOUNDATION STUDY FOR PICTURE. LANDSCAPE PAINTING 71 Further, they alter in perspective as the point of view is from below or above.. The principal trunk has the thickness that the sum of all its branches added together would have, and as much root as the size of the whole tree. The complete tree follows in general line the same form as a single leaf. Leaves grow out of the stem either alter- nately or opposite. They may be in bunches of four (horse- chestnut), five, (oak), six, (rhododendron), or more. At the end of the spray they fall y ' in groups. ■^/'■^y Leaves curve ;>?f^; « upwards from '.' ' the law of de- flection. The stem will be found to dim- inish in size only after the separation of each branch. In the oak and chestnut the trunk appears lost among the branches. In the fir, the trunk and branches can be traced through- out. The branches of some trees are sub- divided, as in the oak, beech, birch, etc., while the poplar possesses but a few small twigs. ''fi'-Vn^'f^r',' 72 PRACTICAL HINTS The angles at which the branches shoot forth from the parent trunk must be noted. In the oak they make abrupt curves, in the ash they start at smaller angles, and so on. The foliage is usually grouped in round or oval shapes ; but such trees as the beech and the cedar have twigs in the form of layers. It will be observed that single trees often show well-defined roots. The light spaces between the leaves and boughs should be darker than the sky in tone. Taking a landscape as made up of shade, half-tone, and light, one will notice where these tones are, and how they come in relation to one another. For instance, the sky from whence the light emanates is usually lighter in tone than anything else in the whole landscape, although other parts may appear more brilliant from contrast to their surroundings. Noticing the larger division of light and shade will give you — (i.) the \'i Ati m - v^ LANDSCAPE PAINTING 73 shadows, which explain the shape of the object; (ii.) the half-tint and (iii.) the high light ; (iv.) the reflected light and (v.) the cast shadow. As drawing is the foundation of painting, a certain correctness and facility should be arrived at by the student before going to painting or color. In landscape painting 'CasxQ will be found more grada- tion and a wider range of colour than in figure painting. The effect of the play of light will alter the tones and colors of objects, and should be carefully studied, colors in painting appearing as such only in relation to the colors surrounding them. The first studies in landscape should be careful pencil outline drawings, followed by studies in charcoal in a few tones. The general shapes and masses of the forms should be drawn and put in, with the principal shadows well marked, and the mass of the landscape should be blocked in in full tones in contrast to the sky. Suggestions as to kinds of studies to do will be found- in the various illustrations to this book. The original studies by Constable may be seen in South Kensington Museum, and the drawings and proofs of Turner's " Liber Studiorum " will be found in the National Gallery and Print Room of the British Museum respectively. Lessons can be learned from the collection of Cotman's water- colors and sketches in the latter place. To the more advanced students the principles of the art of landscape painting will appeal in Hobbema's " Avenue, Dortrecht " (National Gallery), in the works of Corot, Decamps, Rousseau, Cazin, and Daubigny ; in the decorative landscape work of George Mason, Lord Leigh- ton, the German artist Arnold Bocklin, and the pictures of Cecil Lawson and Whistler. If it is allowable to mention the names of living men, the poetical works of Alfred East have a fine sense of composition in them, and those of F. Thaulow of the ' life ' and ' movement ' of funning water. 74 PRACTICAL HINTS LESSON IN THE PROGRESSION OF PAINTING A LANDSCAPE STUDY The following colours will be found useful : cadmium yellow (Nos. i and 2), yellow ochre, Naples yellow, Venetian red, raw and burnt sienna, burnt umber, golden ochre, crimson lake or rose madder, Vandyck brown, vermilion, cobalt, terre vert, emerald oxide of chromium, French ultramarine, indigo, white, and ivory black. Brushes should be of hog's hair, round and flat, of various sizes. One should also have several sables. Spirits of turpentine, linseed oil, poppy oil, a dipper, a palette, and a palette knife will be wanted. Having drawn in a charcoal sketch, the general masses and shapes of the forms and shadows should be painted in, in simple colors, with large brushes, different ones being used for the various tones. The general colors of the objects may be rubbed in, leaving the sky till 'the end, special attention being paid to effect. Methodical habits must be cultivated, for it will be found that, as a rule, it is not possible to work for more than two hours at a sitting out of doors, without the effect changing. For this reason it will be necessary to make drawings and memoranda. The sky, for instance, to a great extent must be. done from pencil sketches, and in many parts of England only foreground subjects, and trees that are not in the farthest distance, can be completely painted in on the spot. Memoranda can be made on tinted paper, which stands for the middle tint, the darks being put in with chalk or charcoal, and the lights noted with white chalk. Pastels are useful for making ' rapid ' notes of effect and finished studies in colour. As regards the technique of landscape painting in oil, one finds that certain small touches give a more (ii.) THE AVENUE. OIL SKETCH OF THE SAME. (iii.) THE AVENUE. FINISHED, COMPOSITION FOUNDED ON THE TWO FORMER STUDIES (i.) AND (ii.). B3' H. F. W. Ganz. 77 LANDSCAPE PAINTING 79 just effect of the texture of trees, sky, ground, etc., than the full solid tones used in flesh painting. Effect. — It will be remarked how sunlight shows up the forms of shadows on objects, and give them character, and how useful cast-shadows are in indicating the shape of the surface on which they are thrown, and the undulation of the ground. This assists in the effect of aerial perspective. It will be noticed, when looking from a shaded place into the sunlit part, that the shadow one sits in seems warmer in comparison to the cast-shadows of the objects in full sunshine. These, in painting, must not be forced, or they will look like pools of water. The effects of ' twilight,' ' afterglow,' ' grey days,' ' rain,' and ' snow,' which will be observed to reflect tints from many sources on its white colour, will be separately studied and noted. At sunrise, when there is a certain density of atmo- sphere, the disk of the sun is visible in a yellowish light tempered with grey. The scheme of color playing round THAMES DUST BARGES. By H. F. W. Gan?. 80 PRACTICAL HINTS the sun at sunrise often takes tints radiating from white, pale yellow, and vermilion, to pale cobalt and ultramarine. 'At sunset, when the atmosphere is less dense, the color of the light is more brilliant and less interrupted, and tinges every object placed within its influence with the same hue. The copper sun may be surrounded by cold green-grey blue tones, or the red sun by a grey tint, the clouds being all the colors of the rainbow. The 'rays' of the sun are visible only when the sun is half-hidden by a cloud, a hill, or trees. The Sky should be taken last in painting, in order to keep it higher in tone than anything else in a picture. One can start the effect of a tree against the sky by first painting in a tint made up of these two subjects combined. On this preparation one can get the sky up to height of value in repainting without making a hard edge to the tree. It will often be found necessary to keep a warm tone in the sky, for the patch of blue paint will not give any idea of the effect of light in the sky (the blue is warm, as well as ' blue ' in color). The blue of the sky is occasioned by minute reflec- tions and refractions of the sun from particles of vapour, more subtle than those that compose the clouds, and but for which, in place of the azure, there would be a void of darkness. Clouds. — It will be observed that clouds in their positions and forms follow the laws of rectilinear and ■ curvilinear perspective. Clouds are visible vapours at a height. In their shapes, which, with their shadows, must be carefully studied, variety of cloud -forms will be noted. The Cirrus, which is a thin cloud on the blue sky, is seen at a great elevation in fine weather. The Cumulus, of dense mass, a cloud of rounded, well-defined shape, towers in form on a horizontal base, and moves with the wind. Stratus, the lowest, is often a low, flat mist. MORNING. Effect on a Grey Day. AFTERNOON. Effect on a Grey Day. LANDSCAPE PAINTING 85 i i j ^,^ jm$^mm^^^^ - ^"- ' m SKY AND SEA : CUMULUS CLOUDS MOVING WITH WIND. Cirro-cumulus is a united mass of cirrus and cumulus. Cirro-stratus, called mackerel sky, is the precursor of tempestuous weather. Nimbus is a very dense cloud, and covers everything till it breaks into rain or storm ; when broken, the flying clouds are called " scud." Clouds must have movement in painting. The Moon's illuminating power is very much smaller than that of the sun's, and its shape when seen in daylight is smaller and fainter. A man about twenty-five yards off would cover its disk with his' head. In ^he foreground a tree trunk may run right out of the top of the picture with more advantage than in the middle distance, and the laws of perspective will not be broken. A small tree may be placed in the fore- ground, and the place for the complete tree will be found to be about the middle distance. Farness and nearness have to be pictorially felt, and there is often less to be noted in the foreground than in the distance. The selection of effect in a landscape is essential, and in composition there is a way of concentrating or of scatter- 86 PRACTICAL HINTS ing light which is of great importance. The painter must also study the construction of buildings and their effect as masses. See illustrations of same subject MORNING and EVENING on sunny day, and TWO EFFECTS on GREY DAY. As to values, the white house over a stream in the distance may have 'grey' walls, and still tell bright amongst its surroundings by contrast, and . may have a light reflection in the water, all these lights being of different 'values' of white. Water in certain lights reflects in a lower tone everything over it; that is to say, everything over the OLD WATER MILLS. From the Crayon Study by H. F. W. Ganz. OLD WATER MILLS. Morning Effect on a Sunny Day. OLD WATER MILLS. Evening Effect. 89 LANDSCAPE PAINTING 91 horizontal line is reflected in still water the same size and the same distance below this line as they are above it. The horizontal line should indicate the height of the eye, and should not be too high in landscape-painting. (The point of sight is on the horizontal line.) It is an elaborate study to notice the effect and variety which the ' current ' gives a stream, the ' density ' and ' color ' of water, and the effect of ' sunlight,' ' cast shadows,' and ' wind ' on water, and the " oily quality " may also be noted. The Sea has its own peculiarities, which include forms of various shaped waves. Waves are " natural " or accidental ; the surface-water is only influenced by the inequalities on the shore ; waves are urged on by wind till broken into breakers and surf. When water is agitated or meets impediments, the waves are higher. The horizon and roundness of the globe must be noted. If the water of the sea were motionless we should see the sun's disk exactly reflected, and once only, the rest of the water would reflect the sky ; but as such stillness seldom occurs, the light of the sun is spread on the surface by. innumerable reflections, the spaces between them reflecting the sky. The clouds also reflect the sun and portions of the .sea. When' clouds intercept the reflections of the sun, the reflection of the sky re- mains, causing patches of shade which stripe the sea with blue shadows. A similar effect can be seen in a meadow, the light of the sun being refracted from every blade of grass, and where intercepted, showing the reflec- tion of the sky. Ships. — The laden mark in the hull of a ship is the point of equilibrium of a vessel. When heavily laden it has less buoyancy, and the waves pass over the decks. In calm weather certain upright lines describe tranquillity, while the masts will be out of the perpendicular in agitated water. 92 PRACTICAL HINTS With advanced study out-of-doors it will be noted that except the distant tone of a landscape, which is of a bluish tint, on a moderately bright day a great part has a decided violet tone, from the atmospheric effect. In painting, this will give the suggestion of aerial perspective. This must not be confused with the condition of atmosphere, or the ' key of color.' Values and the play of light on color must be continually studied ; this will show that the sky-line is more ac- centuated than the foreground. Thus the tree on the top of the hill may tell darker against the luminosity of the sky than a tree lower down the hill, which may itself be lighter than its background. Harmony may be obtained by contrasting hot and cold colors, and modifying them by neutral tints. Aerial perspective shows that a man on the road near at hand is stronger in ' value ' than one farther off. The aerial perspective of all receding roads or streams is greatly assisted by shadows thrown across them. Corot often rubbed in a grey over his foreground, and- led the eye to the middle distance to give reality to the place. His color was got by careful distribution of values, and he often blended grey and green with half-tints, in which the color disappeared. Without ' atmosphere ' a landscape becomes a mosaic. Figures may often be introduced into landscape as notes of color; they also form valuable upright lines and dark values. In composition, greater beauty is to be found in certain lines which flow past in the foreground instead of coming straight out of the picture ; for example, a winding road or the bank at the side of a stream so treated. A feeling of repose will also be obtained by the employment of horizontal lines. To give breadth of effect, gne or more spots of light or a light - colored object may be introduced to connect mcisses of light separated from one another. Water and moving objects can only be carried out .,--' LANDSCAPE PAINTING 95 by means of notes, assisted by the memory. The French have a method of drawing from memory, on the prin- ciple that as drawing is memory of what you study, you can with practice learn to retain the image for any length of time, and not only its form, but also its tone, color, and effect. Landscape painting must be the record of a mood, impression playing an important part. The effect of a church in a dull grey street will suggest nothing unless the painting is interesting; a railway train, from the association of ideas connected with it, without the effect of steam and the play of light in the atmosphere, will not make a picture. It will therefore be seen that the particular effect of the selected subject must be suitable for painting. A grey effect in a street may suggest nothing all day, till the lamps are lit, and give small glimmering dots of yellow on the blue. The row of dingy houses opposite may look ultramarine against the sunrise; the hideous gas-works and chimneys may be red against the crimson sunset, or purple against the yellow afterglow. In pure landscape a meadow that looks uninteresting in the twilight may sing in the morning from the illumination of the sun, and a small stream wandering through it may appear in jewelled light at sunset. Again, the leafless tree has its beauty. The French Impressionist School. — The term derived from the title of a picture by C. Monet of a sunset exhibited in 1863 as " An Impression." When Monet and Pissarro, in 1870-71, came to London, the study of the works of Turner, Constable, and the Norwich School gave them or developed their idea of heightening the pitch of light and effect in landscape painting. These ideas were developed from the theory of the analysis of color into six pure colors — red, yellow, blue, and their contrasting colors — green, purple, and orange ; white being included, but not black. These 96 PRACTICAL HINTS colors are put on unmixed, and the eye is suppos.ed to reunite them when seen at a certain distance. The idea germinated in the principle of abolishing the conventional brown of the shadows, and using only those colors mentioned. Their aim was brilliancy of light and illumination observed at certain times of day and season, painted on the spot, and only during the effect. They noted chiefly elusive effects, and treated form in a summary fashion, especially water in movement. C. Monet and the Impressionists knew all art that had gone before their own time, before they worked out their personal views founded on the impression that Nature made on them. The subjects chiefly chosen were — Monet. — ' Trees,' ' water,' ' floods,' ' workers on the river-sides,' ' railway stations,' ' snow,' and the effect of sun on cathedral buildings. i PISSARRO. — ' Water,' ' roads in sunlight,' ' flowers,' and ' Paris views.' Cezanne and STsley. — Landscape and 'flower pieces.' Renoir and Madame Morisot. — Figure subjects, portraits, and flowers. BOUDIN. — River scenes and seascapes. YONGKIND. — Landscapes. Manet. — Portraits, figure subjects in Spain and France, and some landscapes. E. Degas. — Portraits, figures in ' interiors,' ' racing scenes.' And in pastels, chiefly subjects of the theatres, ballet girls, and ' work-women ' in the laundries, etc. This school or group were followed by the Pointil- lists, who continued with the same set of colors unmixed, and put the paint on in small dots. Their aim was to obtain light in all its phases, and the power of making pigment give the " impression " of luminous effects. AN AVENUE IN FRANCE. WATER-COLOR STUDY FROM NATURE. WATER-COLOR 99 LESSON IN METHOD OF PAINTING IN WATER COLOR, IN REFERENCE TO LANDSCAPE There are various qualities of paper employed in water-color painting. They vary from rough hand-made to ' hot-pressed,' which is very smooth, A paper of medium surface is best, such as the Whatman's "Imperial," "O and W," etc. The paper, if not. ready strained on cardboard, has to be well sponged with 100 PRACTICAL HINTS water and then stretched on a drawing - board, and pasted or pinned down at the edges. A variety of brushes, sable and camel-hair, round and flat, will be necessary ; also a sponge. In general, the following will be found a useful list of safe colors : aureolin, cadmium yellow, yellow ochre, Venetian red, burnt sienna, crimson lake or red madder, brown madder, Vandyck brown, vermilion, cobalt, emerald green, emerald oxide of chromium, French ultramarine, indigo, and black. An outline having been drawn with a hard lead- pencil or piece of charcoal, a faint tint may be used (as yellow ochre or Venetian red) for painting in the outline and shadows (Turner sometimes introduced red outlines) ; and slight tones, which will give the values of light and shade, can now be painted in in a few big washes of flat tints. This will slightly cover the paper, and counteract the effect of too much blank white paper, which has such a distracting effect when working from nature. Certain lights must be left, for the peculiar whiteness of the water - color paper leiFt untouched cannot be rivalled by body color. In continuing, big washes of color and plenty of water can now be used, and the darker tones added over the first faint ones (keeping gradations with the handling). Some painters prefer to keep their tones darker from the first, and wash them down, to lighten them, with a sponge, rag, blotting-paper, etc. Fine brushes can be used to add the drawing when the water - color is dry, and lights can be rubbed out by first damping the paper and then rubbing with indiarubber or a rag. It will be found in painting " water " that broad flat washes, leaving a decided edge of the right form, can be used, as softness of outline prevents transparency. The " art of summary expres- sion " in drawing must be practised, because the effects of nature pass quickly. WATER-COLOR 101 Colors should suggest themselves to the artist, but in order to facilitate the first endeavours of the beginner, the following are a few mixtures which can be used in different tones as required : — For Sky. — Cobalt may be mixed with crimson lake or Venetian red, or brown madder or Venetian red and black. French ultramarine may be mixed with crimson lake or Venetian red, or brown madder or Venetian red and black. Indigo may be mixed with cobalt, crimson lake, or with Venetian red or brown madder, or cobalt and black. For Lighter Clouds. — Red madder or crimson lake, Venetian or Indian red, brown madder, French ultramarine, and cobalt. For Twilight. — French blue, indigo, crimson lake, brown madder, ivory black. For Trees. — Indigo, cobalt, French ultramarine, with various yellows, gamboge, Indian yellow, burnt sienna, red sienna, and brown madder, and sepia with Indian yellow. For Buildings — Roofs. — Burnt sienna, yellow ochre, 'greys', brown madder, indigo, cobalt, and black. Tiles. — Burnt sienna, yellow ochre, red lake, and sepia. Light Buildings. — Yellow ochre, brown madder, sepia, indigo, cobalt, and black. Stone BUILDINGS. — Red lake, burnt sienna, brown madder, French ultramarine, indigo, black, Venetian brown, and French blue. SHADOWS'. — Burnt sienna, Venetian brown, indigo, and grey-blues. For Woodwork. — Yellow ochre, sepia, indigo, black, and Venetian red. For Thatch. Roof. — Yellow . ochre, sepia, indigo, black, raw sienna, cobalt, and brown madder. 'For Water. — Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, indigo, Venetian brown, brown madder, cobalt, and French blue. For Boats. — Raw sienna and Venetian brown. For Sails. — Colors from light grey, yellow, to rich burnt sienna, brown madder, or Vandyck brown. 102 PRACTICAL HINTS FIGURE PAINTING IN WATER-COLORS The flesh is carried out in a modified method of the ' oil ' process already explained, and similar tints may be used. Attention must be paid to the effect of the ' white ' ground of the water-color paper and to the distinction in the use of water, which takes the place of the white pigment that is used in ' oil.' Discretion will suggest where and when ' Chinese white ' should be used in all water-color work. STUDY OF A HEAD FROM LIFE IN WATER-COLORS. 105 ETCHING 107 PRACTICAL LESSON IN THE ART OF ETCHING Unlike painting, etching does not concern itself with the actual ' color ' of the object you wish to represent. It notes principally 'lines' and 'black-and-white' effect The drawing must be good, as the work on the copper is reversed in the print that is taken from it. It is more suited for character than fleeting effect. For etching on copper you require certain materials. A ground of wax, which must be laid on the plate to resist the action of the acid. A needle, or several of varying degrees of thickness, to execute the drawing. In preparing the plate the liquid ground now generally used is poured on gently, the plate being evenly and thinly covered and then allowed to dry naturally. According to the older process, the plate is heated by being held with a handrvice over a gas- jet or ' printer's stove,' then laid flat and the black wax (wrapped in silk) rubbed all over, and equalised with a dabber. This ground is at once smoked with lighted tapers (this is to take the pencil drawing later on), and allowed to dry cool. On these grounds you transfer your drawing with tracing-paper, or you draw the line straight in (the needle should just feel the surface of the copper). These " scratches " are afterwards bitten-in with acid, hence the word etch (Dutch " etsen " = to bite). In etched work, in the drawing, attention must be paid chiefly to — (i.) the outline, which can be modified ; (ii.) the light -and shade, beginning with the shadows, which can be drawn either with lines close together or crossed ; and (iii.) the texture. 108 PRACTICAL HINTS Progression of Etching. — Having made a draw- ing you can either copy it on to the prepared plate, or trace it by means of tracing-paper. For this purpose you' use a black-lead pencil or red chalk, and go over the line on the reverse side of the paper. This side you lay on the plate, and then you rub over the surface with a burnisher or piece of used yellow soap. A sheet of gelatine and a sharp-pointed needle could also be used, and black lead rubbed on the reverse side will answer a similar purpose; both will give you a faint outline on the prepared ground upon which to work. Except for portraits or copying a picture, a " reverse " is optional in drawing on the plate. The kind of line must have reference to the biting ; for if a slight effect of " pen and ink " is sought for, the lines must be close together and laid on with slight pressure equally all over. For deep shade the darkest lines may be kept apart and very deeply bitten, for in biting the lines widen. The white spaces between them will vary in proportion to the biting. The medium and lighter lines may be ' drawn ' near together, slightly bitten, and stopped out. Having com- pleted your drawing with the needle on the ' copper,' the back and afterwards the sides of the plate are then covered with brunswick black applied with a paint-brush, to prevent the mordant eating into them, and then FROM PLATE SHOWING SPECIMENS OF MEZZOTINT, AQUATINT, AND THE BITING OF NITRIC ACID, FROM I TO S AND 20 TO 30 MINUTES. ETCHING 109 PREPARATORY DRAWING WITH NEEDLE ON PREPARED GROUND. left to cool naturally. When quite dry the plate is laid face upwards in a porcelain bath. Nitric acid (a poison) is used in proportion of I part to 3 parts of water ; this is gently poured over the plate, just covering it, and the action of the acid on the copper is soon apparent. The biting-in takes from seven to thirty minutes (or longer). The longer the plate is left in the, bath the 'brighter' (and broader) the lines will become, that is to say, the darker the lines will eventually print. With experi- ence in biting the plate can be taken out and the more delicate gradations (which may be bitten enough) can be stopped out with brunswick black applied with a brush. When this is dry the plate can be put back for the " darker " lines to be more' deeply bitten, and so on till the " darkest " are bitten deeply enough. It is well not to bend too much over the bath ; and a splash from the 110 PRACTICAL HINTS acid must be avoided, as it will spoil the clothes or burn the skin. In taking the plate out of the bath, either dip the hands first in cold water and lift it out, or with a small piece of wood guide the plate to the side of the bath and then take it out. The plate is now laid in a basin of water or under cold running water, and after- wards dried with blotting-paper. The acid is poured back through a glass funnel into a bottle with glass stopper, and should be left standing, locked up for safety. The ground is now washed off the plate with turpen- tine and a rag, when the etched work will be apparent. The back and sides are cleaned in the same way, and the plate will be ready for printing. A proof having been taken, the plate can then be carried further, either by regrounding with a transparent - ground, worked on as before and rebitten by the same processes just explained, or the shadows can be darkened with djy- point with the edge of the " bur " which is ploughed up, scraped down with a scraper. To lighten lines that are too dark, the scraper and burnisher with olive oil can be employed, or charcoal and oil may be used. The printing wants great experience, and it is well to go to a specialist printer for this purpose. The paper is damped with water and blotted. The plate has to be heated on a printer's stove, and the ink (which is mixed with burnt linseed oil) has to be ground together with it, and applied with a dabber to the plate all over, and then rubbed off with a canvas cloth. Sometimes the lines are " dragged up " with a finer canvas or cloth, which gives them a richer blackness ; this is called retroussage. Whiting is also used on a cloth to clean the lights, (the margin, if any) and sides of the plate, which is then slightly reheated and placed on the bed of the press. The proper pinch being adjusted, according to the thickness of the plate and quality of the lines, the paper ETCHING 111 is then laid on the plate, covered with blankets, and run through the rolling press. The blankets are turned back, the paper carefully lifted up, and the first proof will be "pulled" Each further copy will go through the same inking process and printing, after which the plate is cleaned with a rag dipped in turpentine. HAMMERSMITH. PROOF FROM PLATE BITTEN, STOPPED OUT, AND REBITTEN. 112 PRACTICAL HINTS LIST OF MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED IN ETCHING Copper and zinc plates. — These metals being of a porous nature are peculiarly susceptible to rapid action of the acid. On the zinc plates the lines will be coarser .in character. Before grounding, a plate should be cleaned with a soft cotton rag dipped in turpentine, and finished with whiting applied with a dry clean rag, as it is essential that all metals should be properly cleaned in order to take the ground evenly. Copper, for instance (a highly porous ;metal), which has a greasy surface, can be cleaned with lo per cent, of ammonia and whiting. Zinc may be cleaned with benzine and whiting. Copper and zinc plates should never be stored together, as chemical action will ensue. Use diluted weaker acid to etch on zinc. Liquid etching ground is poured in the middle of the plate in a small pool, and the plate is then inclined so that it may run to the sides and corners. Superfluous ground may be poured back through its ' proper ' glass funnel into the bottle. Mixed as it is with chloroform, it dries rapidly naturally. It must never be heated. Rhind's transparent liquid-ground, for rebiting, is applied in the same way. Another ground is made of oil vf spike, which may be mixed with wax and put on a separate cold plate, rolled with a ' roller ' and applied to the plate, and then smoked with lighted tapers and allowed to cool naturally. Tracing-paper or gelatine, on which black lead or red chalk may be used after reversing the drawing. Etching needles of various sizes (fine and thick points). — To sharpen a needle, pass it backwards and forwards on an oil-stone, holding it slightly inclined, and turning it continually. ETCHING 113 A bottle of stopping-out varnish, which may be slightly diluted with spirits of turpentine if too thick. Porcelain baths. Nitric acid in a bottle with a glass stopper. IN USE, nitric acid may be in proportion of i to 3 of water ; in the action the bubbles must be removed with a feather ; for they may, with action of air, break the ground away from the sides of the lines. The test for the action of the acid varies according to its strength and temperature. The actual test is the number of bubbles that come up from the continuation of action. Among other acids employed are — (i) Nitrous acid. Similar to nitric, it is one-tenth less powerful, and may be used in proportion of 10 to 9 parts of water. It gives forth disagreeable fumes and bites in half a minute to four minutes. (The plate may be bitten up to about twenty minutes.) The m.ixing of add with water produces heat, which must subside before the mordant is poured on the plate ; never mix water with acid. (2) Hydrochloric acid; (3) Perchloride of iron ; and (4) Dutch mordant. In the event of a splash, spirit of hartshorn or common soda will neutralise the effect of the acid. White blotting-paper. A bottle of turpentine. A scraper. A burnisher. Gravers. A burin. A roulette, used to obtain tone in little dots. A hand rest. Several camel-hair prushes. An oil-stone. A blind or paper-shade to work under (made of tissue paper), stretched on a wooden frame. 8 114 PRACTICAL HINTS The finest emery paper, and crocus powder. Clean old rags. A steel anvil, hammer, and calipers, to knock up from the back of the plate any lines too deeply bitten. Some large pieces of charcoal. Copper plates can be hardened for printing a large number of copies by a deposit of iron, applied electrically. (This is called steel-facing^ ETCHING 115 VARIOUS FORMS OF ETCHING Sand-Grain. — A method for obtaining, tone (used by- Professor A. Legros). It is applied after the ground is laid and dried, by placing a piece of sand-paper face downwards on the plate. This is then passed through the press, when the effect of the grains of sand is obtained, and will give tone. When, accompanied by ' needle '-work, it is bitten in. Soft-ground Etching (to imitate pencil-work). — Tallow is added to the etching ground, and a damped piece of tracing-paper is laid upon it and allowed to dry. The drawing is then made with a pencil. When the paper is lifted up it will be found that you have taken the ground off with the ' pencil marks,' and exposed the copper in these parts, which is then bitten in the usual way. Aquatint. — The copper plate is either sprinkled with resinous powder, then warmed and allowed to cool ; or the resin may be dissolved in spirits of wine poured on to the plate (the less resin the finer the grain), and allowed to dry. The lights are stopped out, and it is immersed in the acid bath. The forms are obtained in this process by stopping out, etc. (there are no lines). The ink-holding capacity of the plate is obtained from the acid biting between the specks formed by the powder- ing on' of resin. Soft-ground' and etched lines maybe mixed, if desired, with aquatint. First aquatinter, Le Prince. Dry-point. — As the point of the needle, held slightly inclined, scratches on the copper, it raises a ' bur,' which retains ink in printing. This, if the darkest 'velvety' effect is not wanted, can be reduced by the 116 PRACTICAL HINTS PRELIMINARY STUDY FOR 'DRY-POINT.' scraper. Dry-point work soon wears out in printing. It is, however, useful to sharpen the paler passages, should they want strengthening. Colored Etch- ings are printed with colored inks on a plate prepared with a mixture of etching and aquatint. The different tints are put on with little dabbers or stumps. The plate has to be specially cblored for each proof. Monotypes are ■ ' printed with the ink ': . put on and rubbed with rags and brushes to obtain the effect. In Etching pure and simple, the line is the reverse of the wood- cutting method, in which the surface only prints, the engraved parts producing 'white.' The section of an etched line on copper is U- shape ; it will hold a greater quantity of ink than the V-shape one ploughed by the burin in engraving. Rem- brandt, it seems, often FISHERMAN'S HUT : FROM THE started hisetchings with 'DRY-POINT.' . dry-point. Whistler, for ETCHING 117 fear of breaking the ground with the mordant in the bath, frequently used a brush, applying weak diluted acid for his delicate work. Mdryon bit his plates from seven to sixty-five minutes ; and Sir Seymour Haden, it is said, bites from three to fifty-five minutes. For alterations in etched plates, the deeper lines may be burnished smooth. If very deep, they can be scraped and then polished ; or the places may be ground into a smooth hollow, and the part afterwards measured with the calipers, the plate reversed, laid on a small anvil, the spot marked and knocked up with a steel hammer and punches. This requires extreme care and skill. To make certain passages /a/?r, you can either burnish them, or use charcoal and oil. To efface them entirely the scraper and charcoal can be used. To darken, a transparent ground can be applied, the ' work ' relined and then rebitten to the required strength. It will be found that ' fine ' lines and dots make a better effect than heavy lines, for while the ' thick ' line agrees with the nature of a wood- cut, it often gives an unpleasant heavi- ness to the etched plate, and reveals the means by which the 'effect' is ob- tained, which is bad art. Employing as you do a ' fine ' point, it is therefore no use whatever using too large a solitude: (second state). ^^;2i-zi:--v^-'-. Bd' ^^ ^^^^P w% H W- ~ i 1 : l^f" -' Wwk 1 ^^lnj^ in 1 P^^^^^bB ^^^9 I ^^^^^ B^ 1^ 118 PRACTICAL HINTS plate. The plate ends at the border of the picture, and a margin is unnecessary, and if wanted may be obtained afterwards by laying a cut-mount over the print. To the inexperienced the chief difficulties in etching are technical, in that the artist cannot see his work properly as it proceeds, and the result is not known until the print is pulled. Mistakes are also liable to occur in biting. Etching lends itself more than any art to spontaneity of impression. The directness and sensitive rapidity of the . process enables the red-hot impulse to be re- presented with great facility upon the copper. The capabilities of the etched line are infinite. The chief difference between etching and engraving is, that in the first the copper is eaten by acid to any depth required without hand-pressure, while in engraving the burin ploughs the furrow. The origin of line-engraving, and etching, which was probably derived from it, is doubtful. Some say that it was practically invented by the fifteenth-century goldsmiths of Florence, who ornamented their wares with engraved spaces in which enamel was applied. In " Neillo " work, the space was often filled in with printers' ink and impressions were taken on paper. The Italians claim Tommaso Finiguerra (1400) and Francesco Mazzuolo (i 504) as the first practisers of the art. THE TOWER BRIDGE, LONDON : FROM PROOF OF PLATE BITTEN FOR 20 MINUTES WITH NITRIC ACID (DIL.). ETCHING 119 MARS, AND VENUS. BY MANTEGNA. Portion of Plate etched by Marc Antonio (dated 150B). Third State. Mantegna (1431 — 1506) did much skilful work, using a style of shading in straight diagonal lines on a thick outline, a ' method ' quite his own. Albrecht DUrer ( 1 47 1 - 1 5 2 8) is also regarded by many as the inventor of etching. He followed Schongauer in his method of shading in curved lines, a method quite different from the earlier Italian one ; and he certainly used the burin himself, although he did not engrave all his plates or cut all his wood-blocks. He first tried etching by drawing with dry-point on his engraving- plates. The first known by him are dated 1 5 10; "The Knight," 1512; his plate of "The Canon," 1518 (size. 12-1 by i8| inche§). Etching, being chiefly concerned with the "picturesque" 120 PRACTICAL HINTS spirit, which is tolerant and observant, the exact opposite to the ' severe ' and ' academic ' view, had its principal development in the Dutch School of the seventeenth century, which included the names of Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Vander Does, A. v. Ostade, K. du Jardin, P. Potter, A. van Der Velde, and a host of others. In later times one finds (in Spain) works by Goya ; in < the early part of the nineteenth century works by Andrew Geddes (40 plates), Sir David Wilkie (14), Crome (30), Constable (2), Cotman (who used soft ground). Turner (in the outlines for the aquatints of his " Liber Studiorum "), and Samuel Palmer. About 1859, Whistler, Hamerton, Sir F. Haden, and others revived the art in England, and in France it is perhaps to be seen at its highest in the etched work of C. M^ryon, J. F. Millet, C. Jaque, Appian, etc., and in later days, in plates by Bracquemond, Lalanne, Rajon, Jacquemart, A. Legros, and others. Other Methods of Engraving, — Some of which may be combined with Etching, are — Line Engraving. — The plate, generally of steel or copper, rests slantingly on a cushion. The burin is used with the palm of the hand (the engraver pushing it away from him). Engraving is often started either with biting, or the lines are cut in very slightly with dry-point. By a later process the engraver can pull the tool towards him, the cutting point of the burin having been turned back. Mezzo-tint Engraving is a process by which the plate is prepared by rocking on it with a ' rocking-tool ' or ' cradle,' the ground being made in lines crossed in all directions, uhtil the requisite effect of ' bur ' is produced, so as to print a rich black. Unlike etching, in this process of work you scrape the lights out of a dark ground. It is a ' positive ' process. After indicating the drawing on the rocked plate with red chalk, the dry point is lightly used for drawing in ; but nearly all the work remains in tones. STUDY IN DRY-I'OINT : (FIRST STATE). By Andrew Geddes. 121 EARLY DUTCH LINE ENGRAVING. By H. GoLTZius. 123 ETCHING 125 For the lighter tones the ' bur ' is quite scraped away to the ground, and for the higher lights the plate is polished with the burnisher. The strongest light will be obtained with the scraper and the use of the smaller burnisher. The first Mezzotinters were Prince Rupert and Lewis Siegen, 1641. Lithography. — The drawing may be done direct on to a lithographic stone with a prepared pencil, or it may be drawn with the same ' greasy ' pencil on lithographic transfer paper, which is then laid, face downwards on the stone, pressed, and the paper washed, off. This drawing is then bitten in with nitric acid. From this stone the prints are taken. Lithography was invented by Aloys Senefelder in 1 796. INDEX DRAWING AND PAINTING Angles, i8. Background, 1 8, 27, 29, 36. Bases, 34. Brushes, 21. Canvas, 21. Cast shadow, 7. Cheek, 18, 36. Chiaroscuro, ig. Classical drawing, 20. Color, 3. Color, appearance of, 22, 33-38. Color, contrasts of, 34. Color, different flesh, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 33. Color, first attempt in oil, 21. Color in nature, 22. Color of light, 22, 33-38. Composition, 51, 67. Costume, 36. Delicate gradations, 7. Dessication, 30, Difficult forms,, 18. Drawing, 3, 18, 42. Drawing head, 1,7, 17, 25. Drawing, history of, 19. Drawing, materials, 3, 7, 19. Ear, 10, 17. Effect, 18, 27, 34, 42, 44. Effect in portrait, 33-39. Execution by different artists, 38, 39- Eye, 9, 17, 36. • Features described, 8-13. Grey in flesh color, 28, 29. Hair, 27. Harmony by contrast, 34. High light, 4, 17, 31. Impression to eye, 3. Ingredients of pigments, 47. Leading lines, 17. Light and shade, 3, 4, 13, 17, 22, 27, 29, 31. Lines, important, 18. Local color, 2i. Method of drawing, 3-19. Method of painting, 21, 26, 27- 3S-. Materials for drawing, 3, 25. Materials for painting, 31. Materials used in oil painting, 21, 32. Modem progress, 40. Mouth, II, 36. ■ Nose, 8, 36. Out-of-doors effect, 22, 34. Outline, 4, 17, 29, 31. Painting from life, 25, 26, 27. Painting, meaning of, 3. Palette, 21. Palette for flesh, 27, 28. Proportion, 4, 14, 17. Quality in painting, 39. Realism, 3. Shadows, 4, 17, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 38. Solid-oil colors, 48. Study of value, 33, 38. Styles, 19. Technique of painting, 29, 38, 39- Texture, 7, 39. Under-painting, 29. Use of materials in oil, 45. Value, 33-38, Varnish, 45. Woman's head, 18. 127 128 INDEX LANDSCAPE AND WATER-COLOR DRAWING Afterglow, 79. Atmosphere, 70, 92, Blue of sky, 80. Boats, loi. Branches of tree, 70, 71. Buildings, loi. Charcoal study, 73, 74. Clouds, 80, 85, loi. Clouds, reflection in water, 91. Color, appearance of, 79, 91. Color, effect of sun on, 79, 91, 95. Color, list of oil, 74. Color, list of water (color) 97, 98, loi. Composition, 92. Distance, 85, 92. Drawing from memory, 95, Effect, 73, 79, 85, 86, 92, 95, 98. Evening, 86. Execution, 72, 79. Figure study, 92. Figure study in water-color, 102. Foliage, 70-73. Grey day, 79, 95 Ground plan, 70. Harmony, 92. Horizontal line, 91, 92. Impressions, 96. Lessons, 70, 73, 74. Light, 72, 92, 95. List of color for oil, 74. List of color for water-color, loi. Materials, 73, 74, 97, 102. Memoranda, 74-77. Morning, 86. Out-of-door study, 91. Outline, 70. Perspective, aerial, 79, 92. Play of light, 91. 'Rain, 79. Rays of sun, 80. Record, 95. Reflections, '86, 91, 92. Roundness of globe, 91. Sails, loi. Sea, 91. Ships, 91. Sketching from nature, 70. Sky, 70, 73, 74, 80, loi. Sky-line, 91. Snow, 79. Sun, 79. Sunlight, 91, 95. Sunset, 80, 95. Technique, 73, 74, 97. Thatch, loi. Tint of sky, 80. Trees, 70, 71, 72, 85, 92, 95, loi. Twilight, 79, 95, loi. Value, 70, 73, 91, 92. Water, 86, 91, 92, 98, loi. Waves, 91. Weather, calm, 91. Wood, color of, loi. ETCHING Etching, historical note, 118- 120. Lesson, 108-111. Materials, 107-116. Other forms of etching, etc., 120-125. Technique, 107-109. 112-117 The art of etching, 107. "S, Printed by MoKKisoN & Gibb Limited, Edinburgh