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•

rAKD

I

r

RAVING

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

The

Institute of

Museum and

2011 with funding from

Library Services through an Indiana State Library

http://www.archive.org/details/drawingengravingOOhame

LSTA Grant

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING

PELEUS AND THETIS Lithograph from the Camirus Vase drawing was taken was found Salzmann and in the necropolis of Camirus, in Rhodes, by The subject height. in inches Biliotti in 1862, and is 1 foot 5] Peleus. by Thetis of seizure and surprise of the is the story and original is an admirable example of Greek design,

The amphora

from which

this

The

is fairly

represented in this copy.

DRAWING & ENGRAVING A BRIEF EXPOSITION

TECHNICAL PRINCIPLES & PRACTICE

BY

PHILIP GILBERT

HAMERTON

HONORARY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF PAINTER-ETCHERS HONORARY MEMBER OF THE BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB AUTHOR OF 'ETCHING AND ETCHERS,' 'THE GRAPHIC ART.--' ;

ETC. ETC. ETC.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS SELECTED OR COMMISSIONED BY THE AUTHOR

LONDON AND EDINBURGH

ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1892

TO

Sir

GEORGE

REID,

LL.D.,

PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL SCOTTISH ACADEMY; ETC. ETC. ETC.

Dear

Sir George,

An this little

book

old correspondent ot yours wishes to inscribe to you, as a tribute of respect to rare

plishments and sincerity

in various arts,

reterence to the subject of the

And

little

accom-

but particularly (having

book)

in that of

drawing.

he remains, sincerely yours,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE The

publishers

Encyclopedia

the

of

having thought that the

Britannica

articles in the ninth edition

on Drawing and Engraving might be acceptable a separate volume,

I

in

have revised them and made

certain additions, whilst

preserving the

style

and

treatment originally adopted.

There was very of treatment,

space

as

little

the

choice about the method

subjects were vast and

rigorously limited.

I

could only say what

was most important and say even that

The As

style of the papers

a rule,

I

am

else, after

to

laconically.

be simply didactic.

unwilling to assume an authoritative

may have

tone, but

had

the

as

much

right to

it

as

anybody

giving the best part of forty years to the

study of these or cognate subjects.

The

first

knowledge that ought

to

be acquired

PREFACE

viii

about drawing and engraving whether by critics,

or simple lovers of

contempt

for this practical

concerns technical

art,

Some

conditions and necessities.

artists

critics profess

knowledge, as

unworthy of a cultivated man's though

Yet

it

cannot do without

is

if

attention, it

limit their technical curiosity to their in art.

or

artists,

it

a

were

and

al-

they too often

own

speciality

easy to demonstrate that technical

conditions govern even genius

The whole

itself.

nature and inspiration of Rembrandt's production on

copper would have been changed

had compelled him

to

if

some authority

employ the slow and severe

burin instead of the free and rapid etching-needle. If the

criticism of Dlirer's

enough

to

day had been learned

impose upon him a demand

tone, that simple exigency

existence of his art

;

for truth of

would have forbidden the

he would have had

to learn

an entirely different kind of engraving which would

have required another condition of mind. antonio

had been forced

to

translate local colour into black

imitate

If

Marc-

texture

and

and white he could

never have occupied the position of a great

classical

master, the mere addition of these inferior truths

would have

sacrificed the dignity

and nobility of

his

PREFACE

The

style. in

the

genius of Turner, whose originality lay

expression

and simplicity of

engraved

his

own

and

of mystery

never have found utterance ness

ix

in the

fresco,

infinity,

could

compulsory

clear-

nor could he have

ideas with a burin as he did in

etching and mezzotint.

My own

belief in the closeness of the connection

between technic and mind lute that

them

if

He may

do not see how

I

an

artist is to

in the fine arts is so it is

possible to separate

express his ideas completely.

express a part of himself

as far as

it

abso-

in

an

art suitable

goes (Millet did so when he drew with

may assume

the pen) or he

a character that does

not properly belong to him and express what other

people ask for

in

an

art foreign to his nature, like a

schoolboy writing compulsory Latin, but

any strength of

own

artistic

idiosyncrasy

it

if

must

he has find

technical conditions.

There

is

another matter that

I

desire

to insist

upon, in a few words, as ol extreme importance all

its

fine

art

That

whatever.

is

in

the necessity for

respecting individual liberty in the technical use of materials.

Every master must be permitted

work

own way.

in his

I

to

have a dread of fashions

PREFACE

x

in

execution imposed by clever experts and of their retro-active

evil

effect

masters

who were

serious,

and

the

on the modern criticism of

not clever, but only thoughtful,

Another deplorable

great.

modern display

of cleverness

the younger contemporary art

The

wins.

attained

In quieter times,

artists.

itself

dexterity, too, it

is

of one kind, so that

if

there would be a tiresome absence of effects of

modern cleverness

an evidence of much knowledge,

any depth of feeling) would be the greatest masters

if

(not in less ol

still

to exclude

some of

they could reappear amongst

Marcantonio would

starve

as

an

engraver

because he had neither texture, nor tone, nor colour,

has

it

a struggle in which manual dexterity

The

variety.

us.

power over

was an expression of individual sentiment,

now become

all

its

is

of

effect

and Titian as a pen-draftsman would

local

fail

for

similar reasons, and also for the lack of sparkle in his

way

of drawing.

The

last

great painter

who

was habitually a pen-draftsman and occasionally an etcher was

Millet.

sincerity of his

modern

art,

dexterity

Happily

for

the dignity and

he worked a few years before

became predominant.

Whilst preparing these sheets

for

the press

I

PREFACE

xi

received a letter from a drawing-master

who complained

portant college

value of drawing was so

asked

me

if

I

little

that the educational

appreciated, and he

could not write

some

why drawing

desirable as a part of

of the reasons

The

general education.

is

plain statement

present opportunity seems

a good one, as prefaces are often read of books

is

an im-

in

passed over

hastily, especially

Drawing

illustrations.

when

is

known

if

the text

there are

to be valuable as

a training for the eye, nobody disputes that, the

doubt concerns

its

value to the mind.

Mental education consists chiefly the faculties of to be accurate,

ordination.

training in

memory and and

all

these.

observation, in learning

acquiring the power of co-

in

Drawing,

in exercising

rightly pursued,

if

It

is

a constant

teaches us to observe, to

be accurate, to remember, to analyse by dividing

complex material

into

its

component

parts,

and

ordinate by putting material together so that

form a consistent whole.

Besides this

mind

by compelling us

to ideas of relation

it

to co-

it

shall

opens the to take

account of the laws of harmony and contrast which are

more conspicuously

than they are

visible

in literature

and

in the

graphic arts

in

though they

life,

PREFACE

xii

concern, in reality, everything that habit of looking

upon drawing

ment may be explained

way

idle

which

in

when they

are

The

often followed.

graphic

a part ol education

as

pursued seriously as a discipline

When

accuracy of observation.

drawing-master

as a small accomplish-

some measure by the

in

become valuable

arts only

in

it is

The

human.

is

is

the object of the

to enable pupils to

by producing a feeble imitation of

consummate manual

art that displays

his labour

skill,

seem "clever"

and

theirs are

equally vain and nugatory, he and they are wasting their time together, as

things

that

mimicked attained

it

great

executive

satisfactorily in their

w ith T

The

own

the

talent

can

persons.

nature of

ever

is

really

But drawing as a

always valuable

the eye, and learning to see with the

if

well-

fail

mind are

to help the other.

should say that the study of drawing, as

may be most intention

of

be

analogies between learning to see

so close that one cannot I

in

by those who have not

study (not as a display) directed.

not

is

it

wisely followed by those

using the

art

it

who have no

professionally,

would

cultivate rather the scientific or observant intellect

than the

artistic or creative.

And

if it

is

objected

PREFACE

drawing leads the mind

habit of exact

the

that

away from

sentiment to a matter-of-fact

poetical

hardness and precision training

may be answered

it

makes even

observation

in

xiii

imagination more intelligible to so well

qualified

imagination

made

has

in

appreciate

to

Turner

feeling

No

us.

that a

and

one can be

the action of the

as a careful draftsman

who

accurate topographical drawings of the

localities that

he

No

illustrated.

one

better pre-

is

pared to enjoy poetry than a writer of sound and Besides,

well-constructed prose.

drawing a

to give to it is

first

for

not proposed

place in general education,

not proposed to occupy the pupil's time with

the exclusion of literature,

to

it is

is

all

that

it

we contend

the utility of drawing as one instrument of

education, and

anything

we

else.

say that

It

it

cannot be replaced by

would be better

to

learn

two

languages and drawing than to learn three languages without the

it,

same

because although drawing faculties of

may

exercise

memory, observation, and

co-

ordination that are exercised in acquiring a language it

employs them

in

a different way, and so gives a

certain refreshment to a studies,

besides which

it

mind occupied with other has a value peculiar to

PREFACE

xiv

itself in

the

educating the eye to finer perception, and

hand

to

operations

more

delicate

than

the

handling of dictionaries or the scribbling of free manuscript.

The

discipline

severe for

all

afforded

by engraving

too

is

but professional students, except

the case of picturesque etching which

in

in

a very few

instances has been successfully practised by amateurs.

An

engraver has to train himself

patience and to

by firmness of resolution an equality of

acquire

temper beyond what desirable. is

in

is

Engraving

is

generally either natural or

no doubt a

a culture for a specialist.

culture, but

There are a few

it

little

exercises in burin engraving on a single small plate in

this

volume which look very simple, but are

really difficult,

the

art.

and they are only the rudiments of

All that

line-engraving

is

we need

ever hope to do about

simply to appreciate

it.

CONTENTS Preface

..........

PAGE vii

DRAWI NG CHAPTER Etymology of the Word

I

......

CHAPTER

Primitive Drawing

Linear Drawing

in

in

the Middle Ages

6

III

Ancient Greece

CHAPTER Drawing

II

........ CHAPTER

i

.

.

.

.19

IV

......

30

CHAPTER V The Renaissance

4°

CHAPTER

The Picturesque

VI

........

47

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

VII PAGE

Landscape Design

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER The Law of Progress

5-

.

VIII

Drawing

in

.

.

.

CHAPTER

.

-57

.

IX

Drawing for Photographic Processes

.

.

.61

CHAPTER X Books on Drawing

.......

.

66

ENGRAVI NG CHAPTER Etymology of the Word

.

I

.

CHAPTER

Wood-engraving

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

7

l

II

Principal Varieties of Engraying

CHAPTER

.

-75

III .

CHAPTER Copper and Steel Plate-engraving

-79

IV

.104

CONTENTS

CHAPTER V PAGE

Etching

.

.

.

.

.

.

CHAPTER

.

.

.

VI

Mezzotint

148

CHAPTER

VII

Photographic Processes of Engraving

CHAPTER Books on Engraving

Appendix

.129

.

.

.

.

.

.

62

.

.

.

.

.151

VIII .

.

.

.

.

.

.155 .161

ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED IN THE TEXT PAGE

Geese (Ancient Egyptian)

9

Japanese Drawing (angular) Japanese Drawing

(in gentle curves)

An

Egyptian Queen

An

Assyrian King

A

I

.

13

.... ....

16 17

Foot Race (archaic Greek)

Peleus leading Thetis

home

2

20 .

Athena and Poseidon (from an amphora by Exekias) Penelope's

Loom

(from a Greek vase of the

The Arming Museum,

century

B.C.)

..... ......

William the Conqueror and his tapestry)

fifth

Knights (from

a manuscript

of a Knight (from

in

the

Bayeux

the British

thirteenth century)

Messenger bringing a Letter

to the

Royal

Army

script in the National Library, Paris, thirteenth century)

Mowers (from a manuscript

in

the

National

.

Library, Paris,

twelfth century)

.........

Ornamental Writing (from a century)

manuscript

of

34

(from a manu-

the

fourteenth

34

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE St.

John the Evangelist (from an English mural painting of the fifteenth century)

The Antiquary Virgin

and

in his

Child

century) Christ

after

.

.

.

.

.

.38

.

Sanctum (pen-drawing by Hugh Thomson)

(facsimile

.

the

.

of

.

.

a

woodcut

.

.

of the .

.

.82

.

........

Flagellation

before 1440)

(woodcut executed

in

Flanders

Star Drift

The Old

Woman

(from Holbein's Dance of Death) J.

Amman)

.

.

.

89

.

.

graved on wood by

Edmund Evans) ;

.

;

en-

-97

engraved on wood by

Capture of Cleveland (from The Pirate).

Dadd

.

........

Loch Achray (drawn by Birket Foster

W. Whymper)

.

go

.

Roderick Dhu's Fleet of Boats (drawn by Birket Foster

The

84 85

Weaving (woodcut by

J.

63

fifteenth

99

Drawn by Frank 101

ILLUSTRATIONS PRINTED SEPARATELY FROM THE TEXT

....

The Camirus Vase (Lithograph)

Frontispiece

TO FACE PAGE

Landscape with a Square Tower (Etching by Rembrandt, produced

A Head

in

in

Wax

Heliogravure by Amand-Durand) (in the

F. Gaillard)

A

Wicar Museum

.

.

at

Lille,

.

.

.

52

engraved by

.

.

.

-59

Religious Procession (Pen Sketch by Vierge, Heliogravure

by

P.

Dujardin)

.

An Ornamental Design

.

.

.

.

.

.

.65

....

(Line Engraving by Lucas of Leyden,

Heliogravure by Amand-Durand)

Strength (Line Engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi) St.

re-

.

.

70 75

Martin and the Beggar (Line Engraving by Martin Schongauer)

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.117

Christ before Pilate (Line Engraving by Albert Diirer, Helio-

gravure by Amand-Durand)

Man

Sleeping near a

Wood

.

.

.

The Simplon (Engraving by W.

.

after

Turner)

Engraving by T. .

.

Miller after Turner)

Verona (Engraving by W. Miller

Meissonier)

.118

(Line Engraving by Marcantonio

Raimondi, Heliogravure by Amand-Durand)

Portrait of Meissonier (Line

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.120 .126 .126

C. Regnault after .

.

.

.128

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO FACE PAGE

A Head An

Old

with a Ruff,

Man

three Stages (Etching by Henri Manesse)

in

wearing

a

Velvet

rich

Cap (Etching

Rembrandt, Heliogravure by Amand-Durand)

A

by Amand-Durand)

by

.138

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Evening Tide Short)

at .

.

.

Rye

.

.

.

Engraving

(Original

.

.

.

.

.

in

.142

.

of Mezzotint (Engraving in Mezzotint by

Short)

Frank .

.148

Mezzotint by

.

.

.

.

St.

Cloud, Turnerian Topography (Pen Sketch by the Author

St.

Cloud from the River, Simple Topography (Pen Sketch by

after Turner, Heliogravure

by

P.

Dujardin)

the Author, Heliogravure by P. Dujardin)

Germain, Turnerian

Author St.

30

Beggar and His Dog (Etching by Rembrandt, Heliogravure

The Elements

St.

i

after Turner,

.

.

Topography (Pen Sketch Heliogravure by P. Dujardin)

.

.

by .

1

50

.162 .162 the

.164

Germain from the Terrace, Simple Topography (Pen Sketch by the Author, Heliogravure by

The Seine from

St.

Flameng)

of

Dujardin)

.

.166

Germain, Simple Topography (Pen Sketch

by the Author, Heliogravure by

The Elements

P.

Line .

P. Dujardin)

.

.166

Engraving (Engraving by Leopold .

.

.

.

.

.

.

1

70

DRAWING ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD

Although

the verb to

draw has various meanings,

Derivation.

the substantive drawing that of design,

of design.

and

is

confined

is

treated as

to

were a synonym

if it

The word comes from

by usage

the Latin trakere,

or from a kindred Gothic word, so that traction and

drawing are nearly

same meaning when applied or machines, as so

many

tons.

we

and preserve

related,

It

the

work of animals

to the

say that a traction engine draws

Another form of the same word

dray, the strong low vehicle used carriers.

still

may

is

by brewers and

be worth while to inquire what

is

the connection between the idea of a dray horse

and that of a drawing-master.

The

primitive idea, which

is

the

common

origin The primitive idea.

of both

senses

of the

word

to

draw,

is

that of

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING moving- something;

in

ones own

horse draws a plough

draw

his plane

— he

was

in

same idea

is

pushes

but not

front,

but a carpenter does not

;

drew a

that a locomotive

preserved

is

it

train

when in

and we should say

;

when

it

the locomotive

was behind.

The

We

do not

the fine arts.

usually say, or think, that

when he

Thus, a

direction.

sculptor

a

drawing

is

using his chisel, although he

may be

expressing or defining forms, nor that an engraver is

drawing when he

is

pushing the burin with the

palm of the hand, although the rendering of a design. artist is

here

drawing when he uses the lead

we have

a motion bearing

be the

pencil,

may be

clearly

stances.

When

the North

seen

camps they frequently

The

fingers of the

The

in

certain

circum-

American Indians tie

and

some resemblance

draw the pencil point along the paper.

analogy

their

may

But we do say that an

to that of the horse or engine. artist

result

shift

a tent-pole on each

side of the horse, like a shaft, leaving the ends to

drag along the ground, whilst their baggage

on cross logy with

pieces. artistic

Here we have a very drawing.

on the ground as a pencil

The is

is

laid

close ana-

poles are

drawn

on paper, and they

leave marks behind them corresponding to the lines of the pencil.

DRA WING

The same analogy may be observed between

The French

two of the senses

in

which the French verb tirer

This verb

frequently employed.

may be

trahere, but

verb

to tear, to

by good writers

in

Thus Lafontaine un coche

;"

and

temps que je

tire,

own

was formerly used

It

Setpco.

verb

not derived from

is

ultimately traced, like our

the Ionic

is

the two senses of our verb says, " Six forts

to

draw.

chevaux tiraient

Caillieres wrote, "II n'y a pas long-

me

suis fait tirer par

Rigaud," mean-

ing that Rigaud had drawn or painted his portrait.

At the present day the verb drawing and painting, but

used for

it

into

is

universally

still

kinds of design and even for photo-

all

graphy by the common people. it still

fallen

amongst cultivated Frenchmen with regard

disuse to

tirer has

The

example,

for printing, as, for

cultivated use

" cette

gravure

sera tiree a cent exemplaires," but here rather in the

sense of pulling than of drawing.

A

verb much more nearly related to the English •

/

i

verb

to

arazv

participle.

is

It

traire,

i-ii which has

comes from

•

r

trait for

its

past

and

so

little

trahere,

is

altered as to be scarcely even a corruption of the original Latin form. for milking

between first

;

Traire

is

now used

exclusively

cows and other animals, and the analogy

this

and

artistic

nevertheless there

drawing is

a

is

not obvious at

certain

The French

•

analogy of

verb train

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING motion, the hand passing

The word

milk downwards. familiar

in

down

the teat draws the trait

much more

is

" les

connection with art as

visage," the natural markings of the face,

very often used " traits

a figurative sense,

in

of character."

du

traits

and

we

as

it

is

say

quite familiar in portrait,

It is

derived from protrahere.

The

Delinea-

ancient

Romans used words which

ex-

tion.

pressed more clearly the conception that drawing

was done

in line [delineare) or in

though there are reasons

words

were

believing

indiscriminately

often

though the modern tretrre,

for

shade (adumbrare),

they use delineare

still

in the

t retire

sense of

the

Al-

applied.

have both

Italians

that

and

artistic

drawing, and also adombrare.

The Greek verb

The Greek

ypdtyeiv is familiar to the

reader in " graphic," and in as photograph, etc.

Greeks seem

to

It is

same word

identity of the

of writing,

many compounds,

same

for both.

two

arts

"

This points

to the early

when drawing was

a kind

men had what we should

and when such writing

as

drawing, though of a rude and simple

The

writ-

process, since they used

learned to practise was essentially call

such

worth observing that the

have considered drawing and

ing as essentially the the

English

origin of the hieroglyphics of

kind.

Egypt," says

DRA WING Wilson

Dr.

{Prehistoric

clearly traceable

Man,

chap,

" is

xviii.),

the simplest form of picture-

to

Picturewriting,

writing, the literal figuring of the objects designed to

be

Through

expressed.

a

natural

series

progressive stages this infantile art developed

day picture-writing by

travellers as a

telligible.

There

writing in the

same

time,

is

Even

in

the present

not unfrequently resorted to

means of making themselves is

also a

kind of art which

modern sense and drawing

such

itself

symbols of

into a phonetic alphabet, the arbitrary

sounds of the human voice."

as

of

the

work of the

illuminators in their manuscripts.

at

inis

the

mediaeval

II

PRIMITIVE DRAWING

The

mental processes by which

become word,

chicken

in

followed, like the development of a

the

by examining specimens

egg,

His

various stages of formation.

Abstract

has gradually

modern sense of the

able to draw, in our

may be

man

at

first

efforts are

abstract

character,

cho.rn.cter

remarkable

of earliest

for

their

highly

art.

because

the

undeveloped

intellect

simple ideas, and takes what

it

has

perceives

few in

nature

without being embarrassed by the

rest.

upon

and the primi-

facts rather than appearances,

tive artist

is

satisfied

stated or conveyed

later is

;

when

It

seizes

the fact has been clearly

by him.

ances, and the effort

The

study of appear-

to render them,

come much

and the complete knowledge of appearances

the sign of a very high state of civilisation, im-

plying most advanced artistic culture both .

and

artist

and

in

the public to

whom

in

the

he addresses him-

DRA WING

The work

self.

of the primitive artist

tion of the realities that

In

or confusion.

once what the

at

often so mysterious as

is

who have

be most obscure to those

The

special study of the fine arts.

knew

that his

work was

his

read,

so

plain in order

letters

the

not

a

primitive artist

and

day takes care that they

Egyptian draftsman

early

made

really that of a writer,

as the sign-painter of the present

make

work you see

intended to draw, whereas

artist

modern drawing

the finest to

he knew without mystery

early Egyptian

all

an affirma-

is

to

may be had

no

thought of any more delicate truth of appearance than that which sufficed to

people clearly under-

let

stand what his figures and symbols were intended

There was no conception of what

for.

which enters into

"effect,"

modern drawing,

We tive

until a

may mention

art

in

our

purpose a high

own

day,

degree of

ciples, art,

and

is

done,

is

part

of

later period.

two survivals of primiwhich

have

legibility.

coats-of-arms and trade-marks.

when properly

greater

the

very much

briefly

artists call

for

their

These

are

Heraldic drawing,

executed on primitive prin-

a survival of the earliest uses of graphic

being really a kind of writing intended to be

recognisable by the shield or

banner.

illiterate

when they saw

Modern trade-marks,

it

on

of which

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING the use has greatly extended of late years, are of

same

the

and are often designed with a

class,

simplicity of intention like that of remote antiquity. Archaic forms of drawing,

Archaic forms of drawing are thus not

even

our

in

among

own

effort

the

modern mind

to re-

and study something of that sim-

and decision which were

plicity

extinct

day, and certain arts are practised

us which compel

cover by

all

instinctive in earlier

Bookbinding, illuminating, and designing

ages.

for

pottery are often rightly practised in these days in

an archaic

spirit.

In

some

modern

of the best

caric-

atures there are peculiarities which belong to early

which, as Dr. Wilson says,

" the

symbolic drawing,

in

figures are for the

most part grotesque and monstrous

from the very necessity of giving predominance the special feature in which the symbol

The

Deiinea-

first

idea of drawing

is

to

embodied."

is

always delineation,

tion

the marking out of the subject by lines, the notion

of drawing without lines being of later development.

In primitive work the outline interior

markings are given

it

in

with

many flat

cases to

fill

hard and

When

also.

was complete, the primitive once

is

artist

firm, but

the outline

would proceed

at

up the space inclosed by

colour, but he did not understand light

and shade and gradation.

The

historical develop-

ment of drawing may always be seen

in

the practice

DRA WING ot

children

They

when

left

draw

human

begin, as the

outlines,

representing

profile.

The

instincts, is to

to

race began, with firm

men and

animals, usually in

next thing they do,

if left

and

art,

of perfection in

to their

own

up the spaces so marked out with

fill

This

colours, the brightest they can get.

primitive

amusement.

for their

it

its

may be

is

genuine

carried to a high degree

own way

without ceasing to be

Geese (Ancient Egyptian).

in

complete subordination to the

For example, here

principles.

strictest primitive

a decorative re-

is

presentation of geese from an Egyptian wall-paint-

ing of the ancient empire in the Bulak is

admirably drawn, and seems

advanced

art,

perspective,

but there

and

the

is

birds

at

Museum.

first

no attempt are

in

It

sight very at effect or

profile.

The

markings of the feathers are beautifully given, but there

is

no modelling.

DRA WING AND ENGRA VING

By

referring in

in

ciated with

We

without certain

exist

modern times

elements which it.

very early art we

to

how drawing may

perceive

in

way

this

are usually asso-

generally conceive of drawing

close association with

perspective,

and

at least

with some degree of light and shade, but

Difficulties

may

This may perhaps

independently of both.

exist

it

Such a

help us to a definition of drawing.

definition

of a definition,

would need else

it

would certainly exclude some of the many

arts into

A

which drawing more or

modern

fioure

be exceedingly comprehensive, or

to

was

critic

would be very

deficient in

drawing

perspective, and yet the for

example,

man

;

in

the

We

of ornamental that

easily separable, as,

associated with a kind

moment's

does

in

designers.

reflection

of forms which are not

curved surfaces, as flat

in

would

may create forms withmany fanciful conceptions

it

It

might be

drawing was the representation on a

upon, and

drafts-

might say that drawing was the

enable us to perceive that it

deficient in

visually false, as isometric

is

imitation of form, but a

out imitating, as

was

work of the mechanical

of perspective which perspective.

likely to say that a

if it

two are

may be

or drawing

less visibly enters.

flat,

suo-o-ested flat

surface

but the most variously

vases, are frequently

drawn

objects are sometimes represented on

DRA WING

The Greeks were

rounded surfaces.

drawing and writing

their use of ypdfeiv for both

that

possible

not

is

it

comprehensive enough

so logical in

construct

to

to include

a

definition

the varieties

all

of drawing without including writing also.

drawing

say that

Jicant marks,

we

a

is

motion which

we

If

leaves signi-

Definition.

numerous

are as precise as the

varieties of the art will permit us to be.

The

first

step in the arts of design

a resolute Convex

is

tionalism.

and

decided

begins with

The

Drawing

conventionalism.

line,

and there are no

natural world presents

itself

lines

always nature.

in

an

to the eye as

assemblage of variously-coloured patches or spaces, always but in

Even

full

of gradation both in shade and colour,

all this

there

the sea-horizon, which

as a line,

is

not so in reality

a coloured space.

The

being once admitted,

good nor bad yond

no such thing as a

is

this,

it

in itself,

however,

in

:

is

real line.

commonly spoken

it is

of

only the ending of

conventionalism of the line

may

be considered as neither

but a simple necessity. the use of the line

has once been adopted, there

may be

Be-

when

artistic

it

merit

or demerit. All natural other,

primitive

line-drawing gives

truth which

and

it

is

is

a

idealised in one

always conventional

version of

way not

or the

only in

X

>

"J

X

/

e

-V"

ftilfitl

Japanese Drawing (angular).

35

A

,",

X

Japanese Drawing

(in gentle curves).

R

(r

X

DRAM VNG A ND ENGRA VING

14

the sense of using conventional means, but also in that

of interpreting

The temper

tional amplifications or omissions.

a primitive civilisation always led

expression thing's

of

conven-

forms with

natural

its

artists to

customary ways of

certain

the

seeing

which were transmitted traditionally by

so that the artists in their turn

of

art,

became the means

of imposing the authority of public sentiment upon

The liberty of individual artists, even to draw what may seem such a simple thing as the outline of a human figure, is dependent upon their successors.

the decree in which the

they live

To

is

or

is

civilisation

under which

not traditional.

understand the

effect of

customary ways of

seeing things on the use of pure line the reader

is

recommended

of early design as in

Egypt,

it

to study

was practised

in Assyria,

and

in

in

in

drawing,

some specimens China,

Greece.

in

Japan,

easy, in

It is

these days, to procure photographic reproductions of ancient

design

near a museum.

for

They

students will

who do

not

live

perceive at once in the

five countries four entirely different

and designing the curvature of

ways of seeing

lines,

although the

Chinese and Japanese ways are nearer to each other than they are to the Egyptian or the Greek

on the other hand, different as the two

;

whilst

latter

may

DRA WING be, they are nearer to

1

each other than to the art

oi

China or Japan.

A

Chinese easily

curvature

recognisable forms. are

more audacious chose to

dominant

is

in

along with the preference for certain

art,

curves

the

kind of

certain

make

;

Japanese drawings

In

more unexpected,

bolder,

wilder,

design.

•

i

Chinese and Japanese

and when the Japanese designer

use of angles he was, from the same

tendency to vivacity and exaggeration, disposed to In both Chinese and Japanese

prefer acute angles.

work,

when

at

best,

its

there

is

the most

often

exquisite beauty and delicacy of line, especially in

the contours of female faces

;

and there

is

frequently

a masterly power in the interpretation of natural

by means

truth, or certain portions of natural truth,

of the utmost simplicity. In ancient

Egypt the

was quieter and

line

less Egyptiian design.

"tormented

more

"

than

restrained,

in

China or Japan, the curvature

and the

artistic

expression generally

rather that of calm dignity than of vigorous action.

Egyptian

art

was kept within the

strictest limits

by

the most powerful conventionalism that ever existed,

but the student of drawing is

well worth his attention.

men

much

will find

in

The Egyptian

attained to a most noble use of

line,

a serious and disciplined reserve with

it

that

drafts-

combining

much

delicacy

PR A WING AND ENGRA VING

i6

The

of modulation.

grandeur of Egyptian

true

work has only been apprehended of because

it

tionalism

was formerly supposed

was due

and want of of excellence,

art.

in

skill

It

that

conven-

its

ignorance of nature

simple

to

years,

late

is

and there were

of various degrees

inferior artists in the

early Egyptian schools, as

others

startled

we

but

;

often

are

by magnificent power

conventionalising

in

in

and

material,

natural

by a peculiar

sense of beauty.

There

Egyptian

a

design

is

in

singular

combination of tranquil strength with

The

ex-

herewith,

an

refinement.

ample

given

Egyptian Queen, decorative

out

at the

An

giving a front

evidently

but

elegance,

same time

it

betrays the

wished to do

and legs and profile.

the

The

feet

he

girdle

breast

by the early

artist

He

had

by

the

view of the person.

shoulders and cape, but

to

not with-

Egyptian Queen.

difficulty felt in

is

and

this,

we

when he came

fell is

as

see

to the face

back into the old habit of

fastened in front according

sideways

according

to

the

DRA WING

The thumb

thigh.

wrong

of

the

17

hand

left

on the

is

side.

Assyrian design

is

very familiar to us through

Assyrian design.

the ancient wall-sculptures, where the line

we can

rather engraved than carved, so that

what were the

quite plainly

which the Assyrian They,

valued.

ventionalised

souoht

for

con-

nature,

but

They

drew,

which

line

beauty

than

rather

of drawing

qualities

curves

those

manly

express

see

artists

too,

and accents of

often

is

feminine. their

in

own

way, admirably well, with

and

firmness

great

self-

command, knowing always what

exactly

equivalents

or representatives to give for

the of

ings

of

their

more

and

lines

nature,

in

accordance

has

it

with

Their

accentuated

than

and we might even say that esque while

Assyrian King.

system.

artistic

strongly

An

mark-

is

more of the

less tranquil. spirit

of

it

the

spirit

is

much

art

the

Egyptian,

more

pictur-

Assyrian

design

is

painting

in

it

than

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING Egyptian,

and

The Assyrian energy beauty

in

line

action,

in repose.

of

less

the

tends

the

spirit

to

the

of

sculpture.

expression

of

Egyptian to strength and

Ill

LINEAR DRAWING IN ANCIENT GREECE

Notwithstanding the high degree of power and attained

skill

in

linear

by nations which

design

existed before the artistic development of Greece, it

must ever remain an inexplicable marvel that the

Greek designers should have without

attained,

and simply by the

effort

degree of perfection

in

apparently

of nature, to a

gift

the use of line which had

never been approached before and has never been

The manly beauty

equalled since.

king

at a

muscular is

hunt, with his curly beard

lion

legs,

of an Assyrian

and

his

arm mighty

to

and

his

bend the bow,

grand indeed, but with a purely barbaric grand-

eur

;

the half-feminine beauty of an Egyptian deity

lives chiefly

frankly

in

the serene face

architectural,

qualities of a

But

in

and

has

—the body

is

often

always rather the

column than those of the

Greece the curves of the

line

living flesh.

were

for the

Greece,

DRAWING AND ENGRAVING first

time

made

life,

with

an

and grace of

to express the fulness

perfection

ideal

coming from

the

exquisite innate taste and refinement of the artists,

and never

to

be found

much knowledge and

i

TA

.

: ,

«

any single model.

in

taste

How-

may be expressed by

*,**•*

t

o

*h

i

k

a

*

^^

w \^KA--,^tf^ A

simple line

Foot Race (archaic Greek).

may be

best time, especially

naked It

figures, of is

a

T.lmmntM!

seen if

in

there are both draped and

both sexes,

mistake

to

any Greek vase of the

in the

suppose

composition. that

the

Greeks

reached their unrivalled excellence without having first

passed through a barbaric stage.

In archaic

DRAWING Greek design the proportions of the body are not yet well discerned

;

the arms are usually too thin,

the thighs too thick relatively to the waists and the

lower part of the

and inelegant,

as

if

legs,

the noses sharply pointed

with an intention of caricature.

gyt