Crayon Portraiture Part 4

In putting them in let every fold, sleeve and lapel have lines of its own, that is, lines differing in direction so as to discriminate it from the other parts of the clothing. These distinctive lines will lose themselves in the wrinkles, in shadows, and in the next fold, where the lines will have a different direction. The ill.u.s.tration is very crude, as it shows the lines before they are rubbed with cotton; after that process they have quite a different appearance. In men's clothing the lines may be drawn a little farther apart than in the treatment of the finer texture of ladies' garments. After you have put in the lines with the crayon point No. 2, go over them with a piece of cotton previously rubbed in the crayon sauce, and then complete this part of the work by the use of a dull eraser for the smaller lights, and the chamois for the broad lights.

The crayon is now in good condition for finis.h.i.+ng, which you will proceed to do by the use of No. 0 Conte crayon and the nigrivorine eraser, softening the lights with the former and the shadows with the latter, until you have the whole portrait subdued, and no decided lines of light and shade. Of course throughout these processes you must pay close attention to all the characteristic points in the likeness, so that the crayon will be a true and life-like reproduction. Do not sit too close to the crayon in finis.h.i.+ng; if you do, you will be disappointed when you come to look at it from a slight distance, and will not find at all that enchantment which distance is said to lend to the view, as the crayon will disclose a spotty effect, and too great a contrast between the lights and shadows.

BROMIDE CRAYONS.

In the bromide enlargement, while the paper has to undergo all the different manipulations of development, fixing and was.h.i.+ng, that the platinum and silver enlargements do, yet the gelatin is not removed, and, when dry, remains as a strong sizing to the surface of the paper--in fact, so strong, that in some of the different kinds of bromide paper the surface is very nearly as hard as gla.s.s, and, therefore, the crayon cannot be used upon it with good results until it has received a special treatment, as the crayon would only make a black scratchy mark.

It has been said that the bromide paper and enlargement were entirely different from the platinum or silver enlargement and the crayon paper.

While there is not as much difference between the bromide and other enlargements as there is between the former and the crayon paper, there should be this difference: the silver or platinum enlargement should only be printed strong enough to give the form and the larger details in the negative, while the bromide enlargement must be as nearly a perfect photograph as can be produced from the negative.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FROM CRAYON EXECUTED OVER A BROMIDE ENLARGEMENT MADE FROM THE ORIGINAL NEGATIVE--STIPPLE EFFECT THROUGHOUT. BY J. A.

BARHYDT.]

From the fact that, on account of the difference in the surface of the paper, there cannot be as much crayon put on the bromide enlargement as on the other kinds of paper, and that, therefore, it cannot be strengthened to the same degree in the shadows without spoiling the nice transparent effect that a bromide should have there, it follows that the best bromide crayons are those on which the least crayon is used to produce the desired effect. The bromide paper, on account of the gelatin surface, will not take the crayon from the stump as readily as the other kinds of paper; but after the surface has been treated with the pumice stone this objection is removed, and the paper can be worked on with the stump readily. I can say from my own experience, that for producing a crayon over a photographic enlargement with the stipple effect, it has no equal in the beauty of finish and rapidity of execution.

The ill.u.s.tration facing this page was made from a crayon executed over a bromide enlargement from the original negative. Better results can always be reached in a bromide enlargement when it is thus made from the original negative. The student will notice in particular the stipple effect in the reproduction.

FINIs.h.i.+NG BROMIDE ENLARGEMENTS.

Examine the enlargement mounted on the strainer, looking at it from the side, to learn if there is any starch on the surface of the paper before commencing work on it. If there is any, carefully wash it off with a sponge and some clean water, and then set the enlargement aside until it has thoroughly dried. Then lay it down on the table with a piece of manilla paper under the strainer about 12 inches longer on each edge than the latter; take a handful of cotton, first rubbing it thoroughly in the crayon sauce, then on the manilla paper, and finally going over the surface of the enlargement with it in a circular motion.

Then sprinkle pumice stone over the portrait, and using the ends of the fingers flat, rub it over the entire surface of the paper. This treatment cuts through the gelatin surface and prepares it for the stipple effect. Now stand the strainer on its edge and jar the pumice stone off, after which lay it down on the table, and with a piece of clean cotton lightly brush off the surface; then, having rubbed the finger ends in the crayon sauce, go over the entire surface of the enlargement, holding them flat, and you will produce a fine stipple effect.

If the shadows need to be darker, use a little more crayon on the fingers; also put the cast shadow in the background, applying the crayon with the fingers.

Before proceeding further it will be well to note that the crayon is entirely on the gelatin surface, and that the photographic image is on this surface also, and not on the paper itself; therefore, under the image and the gelatin you have the pure white paper. I call attention to this in order that you may work with a better comprehension of the materials you are using.

You now have four surfaces. First, the muslin cloth of the strainer; second, the starch; third, the white paper; fourth, the gelatin.

Knowing that the gelatin has a hard surface, you are prepared to learn that the crayon will come off from the bromide much more easily than from the other kinds of paper. These had but three surfaces, while the bromide has a fourth--a very hard one--between the crayon and the paper, and on account of its hardness it will need different treatment in its manipulation. Therefore you use the fingers in applying the crayon sauce, and, when it is necessary to make a place light, you do so with the cotton, chamois or eraser. Should you find it necessary to make a place white where it is dark, you can remove the photograph entirely, as this is on the gelatin, sc.r.a.ping it off down to the white paper with a sharp knife.

Resuming the process of finis.h.i.+ng, place the enlargement on the easel and put in the cloud effect with the large eraser, then lay it on the table again, and clean it off about four inches from the edge all around with pumice stone and a fresh piece of cotton where you have rubbed with the eraser, and blend the background into this four inch s.p.a.ce. Return the enlargement to the easel again, and with the broad eraser clean up the lights throughout, and with the cotton and pumice stone blend them into the shadows; then with the peerless stump, crayon sauce and fingers strengthen the larger shadows, using the nigrivorine eraser when necessary to clean up the lights, and the tortillon stump for the work in the smaller shadows, if it is required to make them darker. Now with the No. 0 crayon finish the face by completing the stipple effect in the patches of light and shade. You will have a good guide in the background for finis.h.i.+ng and giving the stipple effect, as there you will have this stipple effect quite perfect, especially in the light places. This finis.h.i.+ng with the No. 0 crayon is the nicest part of the work, and when doing it you must keep in mind that you are putting in the stipple effect, and that alone; that is, the portrait at this stage is supposed to be very nearly right in light and shade and expression, and it should not be necessary to strengthen it in the shadows by using the No. 0 crayon. You are to cut up or divide the portrait into small black and white spots, but do not take out white spots with the No. 0 crayon that are larger than the white spots desired in the stipple effect; these light places must be cut into smaller light spots. If you should take out these white spots (and this is an error you must be very careful to avoid), you would produce an effect of large dark and white spots that would be entirely wrong, the real process being to divide large white and dark spots into smaller ones of the same color.

This stipple effect should be worked all over the face with the exception of the highest lights, and even these will very often need to be worked over except at the single points of the very highest lights.

In this work you now have an opportunity to demonstrate the theory of contrast. Sometimes the enlargement is too dark in the shadows, and although you require to have them lighter you have already removed all the crayon from the surface, and it still remains too dark. The crayon pencil is many shades darker and blacker than the shadows, yet you can by its use make them lighter by putting in the stipple effect, as the dark touches of the pencil in their contrast with the shadow color under them cause them to appear lighter. This is a very essential principle to remember in crayon portrait work: that the effect of dark against light is to make the light appear lighter, and the dark darker.

After the face and hair are completed as above, then finish the clothes with the peerless stump, eraser and fingers. If there are any very dark strong shadows--for instance, under the collar or around the neck--put them in with the velours crayon and subdue them with the fingers. When at work on the clothes at the bottom of the portrait do not finish straight across, but in a circular way. Next taking up the background you will discover that there are some large patches of light and shade that must be changed and made the required color to correspond with the adjoining surface; lean back as far as possible in your chair, and join these places together with the pencil and eraser; then in the same position finish the face by removing any light or dark places, strengthening the eyes, nose, mouth, and any point of the likeness requiring a final touch. Remove with the point of your knife any small black spots such as sometimes show in the photograph, and then with a fresh piece of cotton and pumice stone clean off the edges of the crayon all around.

Before regarding the picture as quite complete, examine it by holding it at right angles to the light, to see if there are not some marks of the crayon pencil that show too prominently. These can be subdued with the ends of the fingers. Sometimes in finis.h.i.+ng with the No. 0 crayon the paper will seem to be gritty so that you can hardly work on it.

The difficulty is that some of the pumice stone has adhered to the surface of the paper. This can be disposed of by rubbing it with the fingers. It should be remembered that the pumice stone must be entirely removed from the whole surface of the paper, as otherwise it will settle in the crayon, and give a dirty gray effect. When, as sometimes happens in commencing the portrait, dark or white spots or streaks show themselves, do not pay any attention to them until you have entirely finished the crayon, then if they are dark, make them the proper shade with the eraser, and if light, with the crayon.

MONOCHROMES.[B]

These are portraits in one color on porcelain, gla.s.s or any hard material that has first been coated with gelatin and then photographed on. First treat the whole surface with pumice stone as directed for the bromide paper, afterwards go over it with the crayon and cotton. Then put in the cloud effect in the background, and clean off the lights in the face, hair, and clothes with the eraser; next put in the half-shadows with the peerless stump; then with a solution of India ink darken the stronger shadows throughout the portrait--in the eyes, nose, mouth and eyebrows, and finally in the hair. Finish the face with the No. 0 crayon and the 4 H. Faber's lead pencil according to directions given for finis.h.i.+ng bromide enlargements. The Faber pencil is used almost exclusively throughout the face. Very nice effects of strong light can be made on porcelain by sc.r.a.ping through the gelatin surface with the knife. This process is specially adapted to making pictures of smaller size, say 1012, or 1114 inches, as it produces a very soft and delicate effect.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote B: For photographic process, see the American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac, 1888.]

VALUES.

The matter of values enters into the essential quality of every work of art, and especially of a portrait. It is the truth of their rendering that will give a faithful likeness. By the term values is meant the relations of light and shade to each other. This subject has been so admirably treated by John Burnet in his essay ent.i.tled "Practical Hints on Light and Shade,"[C] that I give his observations on this point.

"Before proceeding to investigate light and shade in their various intricate relations, it may be proper to notice a few of the more palpable and self-evident combinations; and for the better comprehending of which I shall divide them into five parts, viz.: Light, half-light, middle tint, half-dark and dark. When a picture is chiefly composed of light and half-light, the darks will have more force and point, but without the help of strong color to give it solidity it will be apt to look feeble, and when a picture is composed mainly of dark and half-dark the lights will be more brilliant; but they will be apt to look spotty for want of half-light to spread and connect them, and the piece be in danger of becoming black and heavy.

And when a picture is composed chiefly of middle tint, the dark and light portions have a more equal chance of coming into notice, but the general effect is in danger of becoming common and insipid. Light and shade are capable of producing many results, but the three princ.i.p.al are relief, harmony and breadth. By the first the artist is enabled to give his work the distinctness and solidity of nature; the second is the result of a union and cement of one part with another; and the third, a general breadth, is the necessary attendant on extent and magnitude. A judicious management of these three properties is to be found in the best pictures of the Italian, Venetian and Flemish Schools, and ought to employ the most attentive examination of the student, for by giving too much relief he will produce a dry hard effect, by too much softness and blending of the parts, wooliness and insipidity, and in a desire to produce breadth of effect he may produce flatness."

The student should make a careful study of the values, as upon these will depend the entire effect of the portrait and its fidelity as a likeness; and the absence of these qualities of rendering light and shade are one of the marked features of the work of amateurs, as they are apt to make their shadows too dark and their lights too light. You should compare the portrait with the photograph you are working from, and preserve the same contrasts between the lights and shadows in order to produce satisfactory results. The best way of examining your work is by the use of a mirror. To the student the mirror is his best critic.

It is before this silent observer that he submits his work with the certainty of receiving an honest criticism. At every step of your progress look at your work in a good mirror, as here it is changed about, the left side being the right side, and no error will escape detection. Sometimes you will see that what appeared true was in reality false, what seemed graceful in contour was distorted; here an eye which you thought was looking at you quite straight now mocks you from the gla.s.s in manifest obliquity; the mouth, which you thought had a pleasant expression, now looks as disdainful as can be. And so all through your work you will be startled; you will doubt the mirror.

Doubt it not; your work is false. If you will be convinced show it to some competent artist, and he will confirm the judgment of the impartial mirror. Experience will soon teach you to put such reliance on its never capricious council that you will follow its suggestions implicitly, and, when your work is altered, the result will satisfy you invariably, that, as the proverb says of two heads, so two images are better than one. When you have come to this conclusion there is not a beauty of eighteen who will consult her gla.s.s (though it is true for a somewhat lighter purpose,) more eagerly, more devoutly, more frequently, or finally, we hope, with more triumphant satisfaction than will you.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote C: Essays on Art by John Burnet, New York, Edward L. Wilson.]

STUDIO.

The amateur is not to consider the selection of his studio or work-room of minor importance; the perspective, coloring, and the effect of the portrait will all depend, in a great measure, upon the situation and dimensions of the studio. It may be said in a general way that the larger the apartment the better. To secure the effect which it is essential to produce, there should be s.p.a.ce enough left behind the artist to permit him to step back from six to ten or twelve feet to accurately view and see the effect of the portrait. I cannot urge too strongly upon the amateur the usefulness of frequently viewing his work from a distance. I would gladly save him the disappointment and chagrin which I have myself experienced, when having neglected this precaution, I have quite finished a portrait only to find it thoroughly unsatisfactory when looked at from a greater distance than that at which I had worked.

You should choose a room with a north light if possible; if that is not available then one with a south light, and the room should be as near the top of the house as possible. Let the light be arranged so as to strike the easel at an angle of 90 degrees, and if it is a side light darken the lower half of the window. Do not have the side walls white, they should be a neutral shade; reddish is the best. For work with water colors or India ink you need a stand, and be sure and set it so that the light will be at your left when you work. Keep the studio as free from dust as possible, and when you have finished working for the day wash your brushes and place the corks in the water color bottles, so as to exclude the dust from them. For crayon work also set the easel so that the light is at the left hand.

A word in regard to selecting materials. I have already spoken in regard to the selection of photographs for coloring. As to brushes--camel's hair will cost only about a third as much as sable, and will answer every purpose for beginners; the fine sable should be procured after the pupil has advanced sufficiently. In choosing a brush for water colors, dip it in a cup of water and draw it over the edge of the cup; if it has a little spring to it, and comes to a point readily without any of the hair straggling, it is all right; if not, reject it.

Winsor and Newton's Chinese White is the best white paint. For mixing the colors you can get a slant with eight divisions, or a nest of saucers. In selecting gla.s.s for mounting pictures choose that which is free from blisters.

FRAMING.

The following directions in regard to framing will, I hope, be found advantageous. When framing with a pa.s.separtout mat, always use