DOI Heft:
No. 11 (February, 1894)
DOI Artikel:Harper, Charles George: Drawing for reproduction: Impressionism in black and white
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0188
Drawing for Reproduction
The drawing was made on rough paper in the the sky and on the hillside, and by a judicious
medium of charcoal grey. burnishing down, the dark masses of the trees were
The night aspects of London are happy themes rendered darker,
for the impressionist in black and white : the wonder When everything has been said and done with
is that they have not yet been exploited for a tithe relation to half-tone reproduction, the fact remains
of their artistic value. Clifford's Inn, for instance, that half-tone processes are always tricky and un-
is one that lends itself excellently well to this treat- certain, and no one can absolutely foresee results,
ment. The block below is frankly an impression, So very much depends upon an infinitesimal
recorded immediately upon returning home after fraction of time more or less in the making of the
viewing the Inn on such a night as shown here, but, photographic negative.
for the sake of ensuring accuracy of outline, a pencil But, to turn from half-tone to the more certain
sketch had been personally made in daylight, processes of line-reproduction.
This drawing was an experiment in methods : a On the next page is an impression of a lonely sea-
mixture of pen-and-ink and crayon, worked upon shore, taken on the South Wales coast, just where
with a stump and then lightly brushed over with a the Severn sea becomes known as the Bristol Chan-
damp (not a full) brush : the lights in the windows nel. The drawing was made upon HP Whatman
and the reflections being taken out with the point paper, entirely in pen-and-ink, the ink diluted to
of an eraser. all manner of intensities and the lines run together.
It should be said that in working thus for half- In every way this drawing was extremely difficult
tone process the drawing should be made much for reproduction by line-process. The block was
more emphatic than the reproduction
is intended to appear. That is to say,
the deepest shadows should be given
.an. additional depth and the lighter
shading should be made a shade
lighter than you would in a drawing
not prepared with a view to reproduc-
tion. If these points are not borne in
mind, the result is apt to be flat and
featureless. If a half-tone block ex-
hibits these disagreeable peculiarities,
lights may always be created with the
aid of a chisel used upon the metal
surface of the block. The more im-
portant process-firms usually employ a
staff of competent engravers who, now
that wood-engraving is less widely
used, have turned their attention to
this particular craft—the correcting of
process-blocks. The artist has but to
mark his proof with the corrections
and alterations he requires.
The sketch of the ruins of Gros-
mo?it Castle by Moonlight (p. 178) was
made presentable in this fashion; al-
though the drawing had been prepared
with due care for sufficient emphasis.
Yet the first result was an entirely
unlooked-for flatness that, by all the
rules and canons of drawing for re-
production, should not have appeared ;
although this was disappointing, yet
by an instructed use of the graver and Clifford's inn : night." drawn (9j x 6}) in pen, ink, and crayon,
the chisel, lights were taken out in and brushed over, reproduced by half-tone, medium grain
176
The drawing was made on rough paper in the the sky and on the hillside, and by a judicious
medium of charcoal grey. burnishing down, the dark masses of the trees were
The night aspects of London are happy themes rendered darker,
for the impressionist in black and white : the wonder When everything has been said and done with
is that they have not yet been exploited for a tithe relation to half-tone reproduction, the fact remains
of their artistic value. Clifford's Inn, for instance, that half-tone processes are always tricky and un-
is one that lends itself excellently well to this treat- certain, and no one can absolutely foresee results,
ment. The block below is frankly an impression, So very much depends upon an infinitesimal
recorded immediately upon returning home after fraction of time more or less in the making of the
viewing the Inn on such a night as shown here, but, photographic negative.
for the sake of ensuring accuracy of outline, a pencil But, to turn from half-tone to the more certain
sketch had been personally made in daylight, processes of line-reproduction.
This drawing was an experiment in methods : a On the next page is an impression of a lonely sea-
mixture of pen-and-ink and crayon, worked upon shore, taken on the South Wales coast, just where
with a stump and then lightly brushed over with a the Severn sea becomes known as the Bristol Chan-
damp (not a full) brush : the lights in the windows nel. The drawing was made upon HP Whatman
and the reflections being taken out with the point paper, entirely in pen-and-ink, the ink diluted to
of an eraser. all manner of intensities and the lines run together.
It should be said that in working thus for half- In every way this drawing was extremely difficult
tone process the drawing should be made much for reproduction by line-process. The block was
more emphatic than the reproduction
is intended to appear. That is to say,
the deepest shadows should be given
.an. additional depth and the lighter
shading should be made a shade
lighter than you would in a drawing
not prepared with a view to reproduc-
tion. If these points are not borne in
mind, the result is apt to be flat and
featureless. If a half-tone block ex-
hibits these disagreeable peculiarities,
lights may always be created with the
aid of a chisel used upon the metal
surface of the block. The more im-
portant process-firms usually employ a
staff of competent engravers who, now
that wood-engraving is less widely
used, have turned their attention to
this particular craft—the correcting of
process-blocks. The artist has but to
mark his proof with the corrections
and alterations he requires.
The sketch of the ruins of Gros-
mo?it Castle by Moonlight (p. 178) was
made presentable in this fashion; al-
though the drawing had been prepared
with due care for sufficient emphasis.
Yet the first result was an entirely
unlooked-for flatness that, by all the
rules and canons of drawing for re-
production, should not have appeared ;
although this was disappointing, yet
by an instructed use of the graver and Clifford's inn : night." drawn (9j x 6}) in pen, ink, and crayon,
the chisel, lights were taken out in and brushed over, reproduced by half-tone, medium grain
176