Studio: international art (62.1914)

The Colour-Prints of II. L. Laic yen son

"kew bridge from brentford" l!v k. l. lawrenson

foremost, he has been for some years expressing his could Rabelais's house, which stands in a narrow

landscape visions upon metal plates with tones ol street, be seen bathed in sunlight. Three plates

aquatint printed in colours. When last I spoke of his went to the making of this print. In the first arc

prints, in The Studio of August 1911, he was using a the outlines in soft-ground etching, and all the

single plate only, and painting it with all the colours darker aquatint tones deeply bitten. The second

of his design : but his own artistic sense was rarely plate contains the blue of the glimpse of sky and of

satisfied. He found his intended colour-harmonies the shadows on the house, as well as some of the

seldom quite came off witli the single printings. So dark green of the door. The third plate adds all the

he made further experiments, distributing his yellows of the walls, the red of the woman's skirt, and

colours on two or more plates, and printing these the pink of her lace and arms. It will he seen that

one over the other, somewhat in the manner of Mr. Lawrenson works little with composite tones, and

the old French colour-engravers. At the same so far he has found a maximum of three plates suffi-

time, he addressed himself to obtaining a more cient for his simple colour-schemes. This number he

sure control of his aquatint grounds, being greatly used also for Acre Bridge from Brentford, a happily

aided in this by the masterly guidance of Sir Frank composed bit of that historic part of the Thames,

Short at the School of Engraving. The happy subtly atmospheric in tone. The darks of the trees

result of this may be seen in Mr. Lawrenson's latest and the boats, excepting the blues, were printed

print, Gatetvay of the House of Rabelais, Chiiion, in from the first plate; all the grey and the blue of

which the hot sunlight playing upon the venerable the sky and the water from the second, and all the

stone walls is depicted with admirably balanced yellows of the sky and the craft as well as the red of

gradations of tone. Mr. Lawrenson made his study one of the boats, from the third, for the finely

for this interesting print from a point of view close conceived landscape, The Gorges of the Tarn,

under the walls of the ancient Chateau of ('hinon, reproduced here in colours, Mr. Lawrenson worked

at six o'clock in the morning, for only at that hour with only two plates, the first being a simple