The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-28
IL HIS Been the Fad In tao East. and
Is Gaining Devotees I'm
indianapolis.
HOW PICTURES ARE BURNED
BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS SECURED Tx
THE sKILLFUL ARTISTS.
Something About the Patience and
study Required to Make Success
An Artist Talks.

The kind of art work that is going 10 oc-
cupy the attention OF people who are artis-
tically inclined this winter is that Of burn
ing wood and leather. This work has been
popular In the East and also in Chicago.
but in this city IL has never been shown
any preference until this fall, when quite
number of local people have taken IL up.
There are few Of them, however, who put
in their time burning leather. because the
most artistic work is done on wood and the
majority of people everywhere use IL. This
work of pyrogravure, 1t Is technically
called, is not a new art, as may be sup
posed. 1t was discovered many years ago:
the old masters showed great aptness and
skill in burning likenesses of historical
characters in the panels OF doors and on
various kinds of furniture. IL is said that
this art was introduced into England dur
ing the fifteenth century and into the
United States fifty years ago by an English
artist by the name of Ball Hughes. who
gained quite a reputation among the people
of New England for his poker pictures,
as they called them. Soon after he had be-
come well known a number of other artists
came to the front doing this kind OF work.
but as all Of the instruments that they
used were of the crudest kind the fad, IL
such it could be called. died out and little
was heard of IL UP until ten years ago.
Some of the examples of this bruning on
wood which have been produced not only
in this country but in Europe can easily be
classed as fine art, and the possibilities in
this kind of work are very great because
the whole production depends entirely ON
the ability and skill Of the artist. or
course, one to do this kind of work must
have great patience. because experience
counts for everything in the smoothness
with which the work is done. 1t takes
long time to become proficient In this work,
and there are few now who can equal the
old masters in IT. Their great point was 10
burn whole pictures upon the wood just
if painted there.
Probably one of the most skilled artists
in this line of work in this city is Miss
Sarena Hogan, who spent all OF last win---
ter in Chicago, where she taught the art
of burning wood. Miss Hogan has been
here all summer at her home. and she will
remain during the winter. when she VIII
leave for New York TO stay indefinitely.
Besides burning wood Miss Hogan Is also
an artist in painting china and water col
ors In speaking of the art of pyrogravure.
in her studio the other day, she said:
This art which seems quite new In In
dianapolis. has been in vogue in the East
for number of years. had some pupils
last winter who said they had seen any
any amount of this work in Paris i've or
six years before II was seen i'm this coun-
try The art is old. having been done by
the Germans a number of years ago. in
England il is a common thing. IL Is said. TO
see panels in the doors OF very old houses.
made of wood, covered with designs which
are burnt on them. In all of the old mu-
seums over there all kinds OF ornaments.
such as marriage chests and Golfers. are
decorated and made out OF this burnt wood
1t seems that after that period the art
rather died out until now. when II has be-
come all the vogue again.
ABILITY OF DRAUGHTsMAN.
"You understand to be successful In this
work one has to have the same ability as
a draughtsman. for IL is entirely different
from painting or from any other art be-
cause there is no color scheme; therefore
the whole thing depends upon the lines and
strokes one makes. whereas in painting one
has the colors and shades TO so by. and
these go to make up the detail OF the pic
ture. The color OF the paints has much to
do with helping gain the general effect OF
the picture. In the burning wood we
have none of this and have TO depend en-
tirely on our skill TO get all of the details.
all of the various shades and TO make them
blend tremendously with the wood upon
which the picture is burnt. Every line has
to be gracefully drawn and every
stroke must count, for there must be no
surplus marks. In this kind OF work the
fneness of touch with a red-hot point and
the masSing of tones means nothing more
than the depth of burning. Ii is easy
enough 10 intensity line not strong enough
made in the first place, but in case line
is burned too deep the mistake Is fatal.
for there can be no retracing OF steps In
this work. The only remedy. IL the orig
inal qualities of the sketch 10 be pre-
served, is to plane of the surface IL IL IL
not burned too deep and begin anew. A
stroke with a pen pencil on paper OF
with a needle on a copper surface never
begins or ends in a dot except by Intention.
whereas a stroke with the cautery. as the
needle is called. on a wood surface will in
variably produce a dishguring dot unless
the instrument is manipulated with extreme
care and skill. IL is little wonder I'm view
OF this fact that the art OF burning on
wood has been neglected and has not
been more popular with art students I'm
general The amount OF persistent effort
necessary TO acquire the ability to produce
pictures on wood by burning is relatively
greater than is required to produce passable
results with the pencil. brush or crayon,
and large percentage OF those who en-
deavor 10 learn the art become discouraged
before they have fairly commenced The
pupils who commence this kind OF work
generally get 10 the stage where they fret
innumerable boards with OF various
sizes and length, and then give up In de-
spair One has to have a great amount OF
patience in the work, for In the end IL Ii
only the ones who display courage and
persistency who ever gain any success
lone cannot learn this art I'm a day or
two. for IL takes months or years to become
an artist I'm IL. OF course. like everything
else that IL new, there will be a great
many people who will dabble IN IL and
reach such degree OF proficiency that they
can display a certain amount OF skill in the
decorating OF various kinds OF ornaments.
but these people are not counted as ex-
perts in the work because they are not