International studio (32.1907)

LEAVES FROM THE SKETCH-BOOK
OF W. H. CHARLTON

GENUINE talent is displayed in the
sketches by Mr. W. H. Charlton re-
presented here. An artist with a
remarkable gift for depicting his sur-
roundings in a manner simple and unaffected, his
work possesses a charm of quality and an air of
distinction which please the eye and satisfy the
artistic sense. In these chalk and pencil drawings
he combines freedom of execution with a sensitive-
ness of line, showing complete mastery of his
medium and due appreciation of its limits. And it
is through a medium like that employed here that
Mr. Charlton is best able to express himself, for the
decision and vigour necessary to attain a successful
result thereby form the most characteristic features
of his art. His most notable drawings are those
which have been executed rapidly, for his observa-
tion is true, and he is able to render his subjects

with unusual facility. He has, moreover, a keen
and ready appreciation of the decorative arrange-
ment of his compositions. In the coloured chalk
drawing, of which a facsimile reproduction is given,
the artist has again obtained his effect by simple
and direct means. He has blended his colours
with remarkable skill, producing an impression at
once satisfying and agreeable.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Charlton became
a student of art comparatively late in life. Receiv-
ing a limited amount of training in Paris, first in
the atelier of M. Rollin and later under M. Chartran,
he has relied to a great extent upon his own artistic
instincts and a close and intelligent study of the
drawings of the old masters, with the result that his
individual talent has been allowed to develop free
from those restraints which so often accompany the
training of a younger artist.

“ MONTREUIL-SUR-MER, FRANCE1
l82

FROM AN INK DRAWING BY W. H. CHARLTON