The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-09-30
ART WORK WITH OHIaBL =
A Talk With a Wood Dn2raver
About tho improvements
in Woc d-cut Work.

{ A Talk With a Wood 1n2rave'
4 About tho improvements
in Woc d-cut Work.
:. At a small table cla,6e to lacl
: win low in u cottage on the Outskirt.
> of Brooklyn sat 4 man with one ey<
!. apparently glu. Il to big nlagntfying
=. glass and one land pressing = flint
t cl,ise!-iike Implement sn y litt!t
|, s4lllare nf Lnx.v God under the glass
l,y his side OF =, rude easel was pic
ture Of u hillside, dotted with build
ings, fences, i,OllOws aud knolJs
The man was under thirty, round.
, faced and rugged, with \ mass ol
tumbletl brown hair falling over q
big cArdlOard visor that was tied ia
his forehead to shield his eyes from
the light. He looked at the picture
on the easel every now and then be-
tween spells Of digging with hir gra-
ver. 1t seemed, when one saw that
: tie lines in the block Of wood closely
followed those "f the picture ut his
side, NJ II he was reproducing the
picture in that way. 1t seemed in-
credible that lie should he doing this,
and his vi-it'M asked him about it.
! ''Oh, no." said lie, this block
hears OH its surface photograph Of
that picture. The photograph is ~
du2etl to about cLe-sixth of the size
of the original. look a: the orig
inal continually, because there are
many O,,lisxions and defects in he
photograph consequent upon the re-
.iuctiOn, and because there Is n0th-
ing oG tho tone and color and finer
details Oi finish ia the photograph,
though | must reproduce them in
made gigantic strides in this country
Of late years, and engr,vers now
must do SOM thing MlOr,. than pro-
duce rude, cU.r-e imitation Ola sub
e;:.. They must tr to repro sc=
the picture itself MI having
ut thcir command only black
and white, and nil..er form
VI black, which il gray, where-
with to simulate the effects Of chrO.
matte work. they must be something
more than delicate and accurate cut.
ters Of wMn). They must themselves
be artistic and :nseni,:s in NUE., the
| s,a:iic way 81. Was the nrlist who
draws the original. Ii mere wood.
cutting would do, anybody who
could do the cutting could reproduce
that picture sufli. ieItly well to show
what it WIS, but in the competition
Of the profession now cv0ry man ex-
crcises his Own taste. Fifty n:en Civ
Ell that !.'clure w:uld produce fifty
very different copies. You SEE, All.
trying IL produce the full effect OF
that hill by curviny all the lines that
go 70 make 1t UP. 1t could lie done
with straight lines. have done that
sky in parallels straight acres; the
block, bu. another man might have
though. il best to draw it straigi,; up
and down, and still another might
have dane it with slanting lines.
Perhaps some other engravcr, follow
jn:. 81 .iiiTtrcE; plan. would suit the
artist better than shall. Ii Is curl
''s's; we all follow our copy blinslly:
W. reproduce every line. every dc
such different zones and effects that
no tw" pictures are alike. though.
they are AL copies Of one si.ctc!.'
''Nh::t has c.,:setl the sudden ant!
great Improvement in wood engrav-
ing that our cnyrayers shuw::'
IL don't know. Wood ngraviny
Is practically new here. Iiis, I think,
about thirty five years oil. Photo !
graphing on wood is only five or six
years cid. i;..fUre that the artists
used to draw directly OH the wood.
But the present grade OF wCrk you
admire is Younger still. l suppose. it
followed the first manifestation Of u
willingnc,. an the part Of publishers
/" pay we'll for better work than was
sning done. u: course, tie .'ii~ravers
first ha.l I" Show ability t" Improve
heir work.
Are many u: the good nsravers
as young :,s y";i:"'
- know OF !ut !rw who arc not
ynm";.. only know Of about four
w!n'I., YOU could call OLD men. Near ]
IT, all art. ys'lng men. ard nelrly all
Americans. T:.cy i'll. lr.rned their
business here. There are SOME Ger
Mins. ~"n,e FTsn"!.ucr a:ni few
En:t:sh,;"n in ilc business. No
w" w::O az. N,: Gi their apprentice. :
s!:ip re. the SANK. pay. r.acI, man !; :
paid according t" his grade u: wo,k.
The lowest lay is in the neigAl,or- ..
hood o: $:'D Il week. ] cannot tell
y:'u what the highest j.. Some cf the :
i'.'St men worl l,y the piece and some
ON Il salary" i
what is gained hy this photo
granhing on wool:.:"
MANY things. Ii n.a!:,s i: ,.u:si-
'':t for amy artist to work Cor u pub
fisher. Before il was used not nlorc
.;san one artist in ten could draw on
The block. II is not only q difficult
thing in itself, but the artist had To-
reverse i!:e picture. Ii i.e wanted to
draw u ti"n"-:,: at the hea.l nf IN ar-
my wsviE" lis sword IN his riyl,t
hand. he had 10 draw :!:c sword in
the Generals lv:! hand T.. max. il
COM. right III print. Now ::e draws
everything vi:ii: in The FIRST place:
IL: photograph, yey.rk,S il, the en-.
.'sver copies the photograph. and
the printing press turns il round
a"ain. :" tha; j: Uncc n,nyc as it was
originally drawn. Better vet. thc
leaves the original draw
ing intact, 80 that the artists can NOT
say, rs they frequently u.el IL do.
that the :.nsrsvcr> have spoiled their
pictures
Il ste You 10 not always cngraye
your nam" on the pictures you cut"
said the reporter. who was permitted
I" sec some pro-. Of work done i'm tin.
past. and familiar t. linn as having
appeared in magazines. "Why 10
that
Ut is because the in,inx business
has not KEEP: pace with cngravinv. I
know one man who puts his III, me to-
everything he does, Lut no ono else
would dare 10 except those who lead
the prfc~sion, and Whose cuts mr..
printed on separate sheets a,,art from
the rest Of the work they are intended
Tor: Wctry to ioresee ~ often as pos-
>iblc what j. likely TO H.. done with a
picture. and If We think 1t is going to-
|'e taken pains with we rut 1ur
meme to 1t. Very often it turns ont
!" he an awful hiurr..l and smuttr,i
and wret'licd thing that We Inv.
thus given ourselves credit for. III
always t. tell an,, ,,.r.
MATS, until t:Ir ar; M wsx,dcut print-
ing Is improved. it would bp better
'or our regulations ii we never mt
nur names In ut all. You sec We hav..
ne disadvantage If knowing inst
'."w our work ought to look. In or.
ler to sec that, We fill in cut with
powdered magnesia after It Is lini.h.
ed. This perfectly white powder fiii.
A.; ;ne deprssslonsand represents the
white paper. The raised lines Of the