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THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION.


  [Illustration: "THE TRUMPETER." (SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A.)

  (_Drawn in pen and ink, from his picture in the Royal Academy, 1883._)

  [Size of drawing, 5-1/2 by 4-3/4 in. Photo-zinc process.]]




  The Art of Illustration.

            BY
     HENRY BLACKBURN,

  _Editor of "Academy Notes," Cantor Lecturer on Illustration, &c._

            WITH
  NINETY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS.


       SECOND EDITION.


           LONDON:
  W. H. ALLEN & CO., LIMITED,
   13, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W.

            1896.




         PRINTED BY
  WYMAN AND SONS, LIMITED,
        LONDON, W.C.




            DEDICATED TO
       SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A.,
    ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL PIONEERS
  OF BOOK AND NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION.



  [Illustration: (PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FROM HIS PICTURE, BY MR. CHARLES
  COLLINS, 1892.)

  [Photo-zinc process.]]




PREFACE.


The object of this book is to explain the modern systems of Book and
Newspaper Illustration, and especially the methods of drawing for what
is commonly called "process," on which so many artists are now engaged.

There is almost a revolution in illustration at the present time, and
both old and young--teachers and scholars--are in want of a handbook for
reference when turning to the new methods. The illustrator of to-day is
called upon suddenly to take the place of the wood engraver in
interpreting tone into line, and requires practical information which
this book is intended to supply.

The most important branch of illustration treated of is _line drawing_,
as it is practically out of reach of competition by the photographer,
and is, moreover, the kind of drawing most easily reproduced and printed
at the type press; but wash drawing, drawing upon grained papers, and
the modern appliances for reproduction, are all treated of.

The best instructors in drawing for process are, after all, the
_painters of pictures_ who know so well how to express themselves in
black and white, and to whom I owe many obligations. There is a wide
distinction between their treatment of "illustration" and the so-called
"pen-and-ink" artist.

The "genius" who strikes out a wonderful path of his own, whose
scratches and splashes appear in so many books and newspapers, is of the
"butterfly" order of being--a creation, so to speak, of the processes,
and is not to be emulated or imitated. There is no reason but custom
why, in drawing for process, a man's coat should be made to look like
straw, or the background (if there be a background) have the appearance
of fireworks. No ability on the part of the illustrator will make these
things tolerable in the near future. There is a reaction already, and
signs of a better and more sober treatment of illustration, which only
requires a _better understanding of the requirements and limitations of
the processes_, to make it equal to some of the best work of the past.

The modern illustrator has much to learn--more than he imagines--in
drawing for the processes. A study of examples by masters of line
drawing--such as Holbein, Menzell, Fortuny or Sandys--or of the best
work of the etchers, will not tell the student of to-day exactly what he
requires to know; for they are nearly all misleading as to the
principles upon which modern process work is based.

In painting we learn everything from the past--everything that it is
best to know. In engraving also, we learn from the past the best way to
interpret colour into line, but in drawing for the processes there is
practically no "past" to refer to; at the same time the advance of the
photographer into the domain of illustration renders it of vital
importance to artists to put forth their best work in black and white,
and it throws great responsibility upon art teachers to give a good
groundwork of education to the illustrator of the future. In all this,
education--_general education_--will take a wider part.

The ILLUSTRATIONS have been selected to show the possibilities of
"process" work in educated, capable hands, rather than any _tours de
force_ in drawing, or exploits of genius. They are all of modern work,
and are printed on the same sheets as the letterpress.

_All the Illustrations in this book have been reproduced by mechanical
processes, excepting nine_ (marked on the list), which are engraved on
wood.

Acknowledgments are due to the Council of the Society of Arts for
permission to reprint a portion of the Cantor Lectures on "Illustration"
from their Journal; to the Editors of the _National Review_ and the
_Nineteenth Century_, for permission to reprint several pages from
articles in those reviews; to the Editors and Publishers who have lent
illustrations; and above all, to the artists whose works adorn these
pages.

     H. B.

  123, VICTORIA STREET, WESTMINSTER.

     _May, 1894._




CONTENTS.


                                                                    PAGE
  CHAPTER I.--INTRODUCTORY                                             1

  CHAPTER II.--ELEMENTARY ILLUSTRATION                                15

    Diagrams--Daily Illustrated Newspapers--Pictorial _v._ Verbal
      Description.

  CHAPTER III.--ARTISTIC ILLUSTRATIONS                                40

    Education of the Illustrator--Line Drawing for
      Process--Sketching from Life--Examples of Line Drawing.

  CHAPTER IV.--THE PROCESSES                                         102

    "Photo zinco"--Gelatine Process--Grained Papers--Mechanical
      Dots--"Half-tone" Process--Wash Drawing--Illustrations from
      Photographs--_Sketch_, _Graphic_, &c.--Daniel Vierge.

  CHAPTER V.--WOOD ENGRAVING                                         182

  CHAPTER VI.--THE DECORATIVE PAGE                                   197

  CHAPTER VII.--AUTHOR, ILLUSTRATOR, & PUBLISHER                     211

  STUDENTS' DRAWINGS                                                 223

  APPENDIX                                                           233




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.


[_The copyright of all pictures sketched in this book is strictly
reserved._]

                                                                    PAGE
  "The Trumpeter." Sir John Gilbert, R.A.              (_Process_)    vi
  Swans. Charles Collins                                    "         ix
  "Ashes of Roses." G. H. Boughton, A.R.A.                  "          5
  "Badminton in the Studio." R. W. Macbeth, A.R.A.          "          6
  "A Son of Pan." William Padgett                           "         11
  "Home by the Ferry." Edward Stott                         "         12
  Man in Chain Armour. Lancelot Speed                       "         14
  "Greeting." The Hon. Mrs. Boyle                           "         15
  Diagrams (5)                                              "      19-32
  View above Blankenburg                                 (_Wood_)     38
  The Curvature of the World's Surface                      "         39
  "Tiresome Dog." E. K. Johnson                        (_Process_)    43
  "Frustrated." Walter Hunt                                 "         44
  "On the Riviera." Ellen Montalba                          "         46
  "Landscape with Trees." M. R. Corbet                      "         47
  "An Odd Volume." H. S. Marks, R.A.                        "         49
  "A Select Committee." H. S. Marks, R.A.                   "         50
  "The Rose Queen." G. D. Leslie, R.A.                      "         52
  "Finding of the Infant St. George." C. M. Gere            "         56
  "A Ploughboy." G. Clausen                                 "     59, 61
  "Blowing Bubbles." C. E. Wilson                           "         65
  "Cathedral, from Ox Body Lane." H. Railton                "         69
  "By Unfrequented Ways." W. H. Gore                        "     70, 71
  "Adversity." Fred. Hall                                   "     73, 75
  "A Willowy Stream." Maud Naftel                           "         76
  "Twins." Stanley Berkeley                                 "         79
  "The Dark Island." Alfred East                            "         80
  "A Portrait." T. C. Gotch                                 "         83
  Sir John Tenniel. Edwin Ward                              "         87
  The Rt. Hon. John Morley. Edwin Ward                      "         90
  "Nothing venture, nothing have." E. P. Sanguinetti        "     92, 93
  "On the Terrace." E. A. Rowe                              "         94
  "For the Squire." Sir John Millais, Bart.,