Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-08-02
TAXING IN ART WORK.
There Are Many Surprising Tricks in
the Business.
PHOTOGRAPHIC DRAWINGS.
HOW Some Surprising illustrations Arc
Produced-Trickery In the ''Lightning
Sketch" Act-S0lar Prints for Cray0n
Portraits-Ssencil Painting.

w. curing personal observation and
sketch suggestions Of the public men whose
countenances compose their stock in trade for
cartoons. Live ikenesses are not to be OBJ
tanned from mere photographs; the character
isfic traits that give the vivid touches to q
caricature must be obtained with the pencil
direct. 1t Is no unusual thing to see in the
press galleries of the House or Senate, or in
the lobbies, well-known comic artists trying to
catch with surreptitious sketch book and pen |
Gil nose OF one celebrity or q moustache OF
another-ideas to be subsequently utilized in
the composition of pictures that stir a nations
risibilities. Said one Of these caricaturists to
q STAR reporter yesterday:
There Is deal OF taking done in the bust
ness OF drawing for funny papers For in
stance, take those illustrations which repre-
sent the most recent development of the mod
ern society sketch. You can see them not only
in the magazines, but also in the comic papers,
and they are SO wonderfully executed as to
look like photographs Of actual scenes in the
drawing room and boudoir. with all the artistic
quality OF well-done drawings with pen and ink
or brush. In point Of fact they are photo
graphs-that is to say ordinary sun prints
form the basis OF them. and all the artist does
is to go over them with his 'guache' or other
medium The process is simply this:
The artist let US suppose, wishes to produce
sketch of q scene representing two young
women engaged in a conversation with good
looking young bachelor. He has been supplied
with half dozen lines of humorous dialogue by
an editor and the picture is to ft. To 20 to work
and draw the figures and accessories in the
old-fashioned way would be altogether labori-
GUS. 1t is much easier for the artist to get
two young ladies and a man of his acauaii.t-
ance to pose for him in the situation before a
camera. Preliminarily, he takes sheet of
bristol board and coats it with a preparation
that makes very thin glaze over the surface
and renders it sensitized like dry plate. On
this the photograph is made.
MAKING SKETCH.
"Now, supposing that the artist wishes his
sketch to be in brush work, he takes a little
bottle Of ready prepared India ink and some
Chinese white. With these he makes a mix
ture called 'guache,' which has a good body to
1t and serves in various proportions of mixture
for all tones between black and white. Care
fully he goes over with the guache every part
OF the photograph on the cardboard that he
desires to appear in the final result. So far as
the accessories are concerned, he contents him.
self TO great extent with suggestions merely,
obliterating with his brush all unnecessary de-
puts in with daubs Of pure Chinese white.
When this has all been done he pours over the
cardboard an acid solution which quickly eats
OH all OF the photograph and leaves merely the
drawing that has been done with the brush
thus the sketch has all the appearance of an
ity OF photograph. Very little labor has
been involved in the production, and the
achievement is worth just as much CONNER
clslly. man who is practiced at this sort Of
thing can turn out three such pictures in day
very easily, whereas he would do well to make
three in week by the old-tme method. It
can hardly be said that the process 10 consistent
with the rules Of legitimate art but what's the
odds SO long as it is money making?
WHAT PICTURES BRING.
"You must remember it requires no little
artistic skill to make the sort of sketch speak
Of; the work 10 not altogether mechanical by
any means. From SIS to s25 apiece is the
market value of society sketches Of the moro
elaborate sort for comic papers. The maya
zines often pay more. You must remember
however, that the market is very limited for
that kind of work. It ia worth mentioning. by
the way, that tho big magazines do not pay
for illustrations until they print them, which
often means wait of . year or more for the
artist. There could not be q more gross in
justice. When a man delivers any other COM
modify to the purchaser and it is accepted he
is rightly considered to be entitled to his
money. 1t is no concern of the artists or
writer's when the publisher chooses to use his
production; the author or artist has fulfilled his
part Of the contract and the pay is due him. The
case is aggravated in the instance Of the artist
who almost invariably supplies the sketches
upon the publishers order. 1t is difficult to see
now the rlcn pupllsner can 1eel warranted IN
keeping the poor contributor out of his money
for long and indefinite periods Although Gus
tom warrants this in justice, the law does not.
short time ago magazine in New York was
sued by q writer who had waited two years for
the publication of an accepted manuscript and
his pay. He got his money, too, with costs,
the court holding that, having delivered the
goods, he should not be compelled to wait for
his money until it happened to suit the de-
PENDANT to print the article. Newspapers do
not pay for articles until they are published;
but they almost always print them promptly.
FOR PKN-AND-INK DRAWINGS.
"The Photographic process is utilized for
pen-and-ink as we'll as for brush sketches. II
is simply question Of going over the sun
print with the pen instead Of the brush. Ever
80 many good illustrations in pen and ink that
you see In magazines and elsewhere are pro-
duced in that way. though you would not sus-
pect it. Necessarily, some touching up il done
to all such pictures after the photograph has
been eaten off; before that the artist cannot
tell perfectly just what effects he has obtained
with his brush or pen.
LIGHTNING SKETCH WORK.
"Caricaturists who do lightning sketch work
on the stage all resort to more or less Taking
To aYecuta a cartoop m pidlv opd xvalI rocr;rns