The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-07-27


ever, confined chiefly to dec
Grating herself, sometimes artistically.
often otherwise Next she decorated
her own rooms. and then real art groan-
ed in its soul The deluge of yellow
scarfs that were everywhere, but be-
longed nowhere, the pink fire shovel
ribbons and the sashes tied around pic
ture frames are q. WEAKNESS to this day
to those who lived through it. What
scarecrows peoples best rooms looked
in those days!
Then, having pecked open it's shell
and peeped out upon the world, so to
speak, woman's instinct for adjoining
tried its wings and scared into the
world. Among our best wall decorators.
book illustrators and book cover design
ers are a number of women.
The newest and best paying field Of
exploitation for aspiring women de-
signers and illustrators is that of max
ing pictures to go with advertisements.
The illustration Of advertisements is
really branch Of art, and a very inn
portant one, a branch, too. that is as
yet only in its infancy There are wo-
men writer's of advertisements, but
they have become so many that there
is no foothold for newcomers In maxi
ing pictures for advertisements after
they are written, however, there are
great possibilities
Artists of established reputation are
occasionally willing to illustrate adver-
Using matter on the quiet if they are
wen paid for it, but on no account
would they permit their names to be
used in connection with the pictures
Why it is hard to understand Certain
a will
such an illustration where a thousand
perhaps will see and appreciate a tri-
umph in the domain of what painters
themselves call art" The highest OF
all real art is that which puts attract
iveness into the presentment of common
day and understand. At present the
young artists. men and women, have
the advertising field largely to them
selves, and there is excellent remunera-
ton.
The beginning of success for the wo-
man artist who aspires to be a wen paid
illustrator of advertisements is. of
course, perfect drawing, the need OF
nearly all American picture makers.
The drawing Of the ordinary artist in
this country is so defective that maya
zine editors frequently accept pen and
ink sketches for the sake of the story
that goes with them. pay for the
sketches, then submit them, every one,
to a real artist to be made all over
again, thus paying twice for the pic
lures
Let US suppose the young woman has
served her apprenticeship faithfully
and knows her technique The next
requisite? Originality. Let her think
of the common things that people buy
and sell, then study to combine them
into new and artistic expression, par
woman artist with original ideas and a
sense of humor has a fortune at hand.
There is one more notwithstanding
somebody to buy the work after it is
done. 1t is one gift to make a thing,
another to sell it, and the two rarely
exist together in the same person. The
true sales man or woman is as much
born as the poet or the cook can IL
lustrate what I mean by telling you the
story of two young California women
who have made an uncommon success
in advertisement illustrating in New
York. In the eastern cities southern
and western girls frequently achieve
more than the native born do They do
not stop and hem and haW over wheth-
er what they wish to do is convention
al. They go and do it.
Of the two San Francisco young
women, one, Miss Irwin, was a writer;
the other, Mrs. Mcnamara, was an art
list. They went to New York and tried
to obtain employment in their respec-
tive occupations, but failed because ev-
cry place was crowded already, and a
dozen were waiting to jump in when
one should be vacant. They perceived
they must strike some new idea or go
down. The triumph they at length
achieved shows the premium the world
pays for originality that happens to
impress it favorably. They looked the