Charles Donagh Maginnis

“ The nature of the pen seems to mark as its peculiar function that of picking out the really vital features of a subject. Pen drawing has been aptly termed the "shorthand of Art;" the genius of the pen-point is essentially epitome.
If we turn to the brush, we find its capacity such that a high light may be brought down to a minute fraction of an inch with a few swift strokes of it; whereas the tedious labor, not to speak of the actual technical difficulties, encountered in attempting such an effect of color with pen and ink, indicates that we are forcing the medium. ”

“ He knows that what may be an admirable design when executed in brass may be a very bad one in wrought-iron and is sure to be an absurdity in wood. An artistic motive for a silver flagon, too, is likely to prove ugly for pottery or cut-glass, and so on. There is a genius, born of its particular properties, in every medium, which demands individual expression. Observe, therefore, that Art is not satisfied with mere unrelated beauty of form or color. ”

“ Foliage and Figures The elements in a perspective drawing which present most difficulties to the architectural draughtsman are foliage and figures. These are, however, most important accessories, and must be cleverly handled. It is difficult to say which is the harder to draw, a tree or a human figure; and if the student has not sketched much from Nature either will prove a stumbling-block. Presuming, therefore, that he has already filled a few sketch-books, he had better resort to these, or to his photograph album, when he needs figures for his perspective. ”

“ It is but a few years since architects' perspectives were "built up" (it would be a mistake to say "drawn") by means of a T-square and the ruling pen; and if architectural drawing has not quite kept pace with that for general illustration since, a backward glance over the professional magazines encourages a feeling of comparative complacency. That so high a standard or so artistic a character is not observable in architectural as in general illustration is, I think, not difficult to explain. Very few of the clever architectural draughtsmen are illustrators by profession. ”

“ He is conscious of the fact that there are just so many brick courses to the foot, that the clapboards are laid just so many inches to the weather, that there are just so many mouldings in the belt course,—that everything in general is very, very mathematical. This is not because his point of view is too big, but because it is too small. He who sees so much never by any chance sees the whole building. ”

“ The building on the extreme left shows very strong contrasts of color in the black shadow of the eaves and of the shop-front below. These contrasts, coming as they do at the edge of the picture, are bad. They would act like a showy frame on a delicate drawing, keeping the eye from the real subject. It may be objected, however, that it is natural that the contrasts should be stronger in the foreground. Yes; but in looking straight at the clock-tower one does not see any such dark shadow at the top of the very uninteresting building in the left foreground. ”

“ Painting gives us the color, but not the third dimension, and we are satisfied; and Architecture is purely conventional, since it does not even aim at the imitation of natural form.
The Conventions of Line Drawing Of the kindred arts which group themselves under the head of Painting, none is based on such broad conventions as that with which we are immediately concerned—the art of Pen Drawing. In this medium, Nature's variety of color, when not positively ignored, is suggested by means of sharp black lines, of varying thickness, placed more or less closely together upon white paper ”

“ It is apparent that the most intelligible idea of the form of the structure will be given by shading one side; and, as the front is the more important and the more interesting elevation, on which we need sunlight to give expression to the composition, it is natural to shade the other, thus affording a foil for the bright effects on the front. This bright effect will be further enhanced if we assume that the local color of the roof is darker than that of the walls, so that we can give it a gray tone, which will also make the main building stand away from the other. ”

“ There the design ought to be subordinate to the general effect of the architecture. The wall is not to be considered merely as a convenient place on which to plaster a picture, its structural purpose must be regarded, and this cannot be expressed if the design or treatment be purely pictorial—if vague perspective distances and strong foreground accents be used without symmetry or order, except that order which governs itself alone. ”

“ There is, of course, no authority in Nature for a positive outline: we see objects only by the difference in color of the other objects behind and around them. The technical capacity of the pen and ink medium, however, does not provide a value corresponding to every natural one, so that a broad interpretation has to be adopted which eliminates the less positive values; and, that form may not likewise be sacrificed, the outline becomes necessary, that light objects may stand relieved against light. ”

“ The more black there is in a drawing the greater the number of values that can be represented. Generally speaking, three or four are all that can be managed, and the beginner had better get along with three,—black, half-tone, and white.
Various Color-Schemes While it is true that every subject is likely to contain some motive or suggestion for its appropriate color-scheme, it still holds that, many times, and especially in those cases where the introduction of foreground features at considerable scale is necessary for the interest of the picture, an artificial arrangement has to be devised. ”

“ If a shadow can be rendered with twenty strokes do not crowd in forty, as you will endanger its transparency. Remember that in reproduction the lines tend to thicken and so to crowd out the light between them. This is so distressingly true of newspaper reproduction that in drawings for this purpose the lines have to be generally very thin, sharp, and well apart. The above rule should be particularly regarded in all cases where the drawing is to be subject to much reduction. The degree of reduction of which pen drawings are susceptible is not, as is commonly supposed, subject to rule. ”

“ I have known promising beginners to give up pen and ink drawing in despair because they found themselves unequal to subjects which would have presented not a few difficulties to the experienced illustrator. When the beginner grows faint-hearted, let him seek consolation and encouragement in the thought that were pen drawing something to be mastered in a week or a month there would be small merit in the accomplishment. ”

“ To obtain the true value the different mouldings which make up the cornice should be merely suggested. Where it is not a question of local color, however, this matter of elimination is largely subject to the exigencies of reproduction; the more precisely and intimately one attempts to render detail, the smaller the scale of the technique requires to be, and the greater the difficulty. Consequently, the more the reduction which the drawing is likely to undergo in printing, the more one will be obliged to disregard the finer details. ”

“ No set rules can be laid down to govern its disposition, which must always have reference to the whole design. The importance of employing such a broad and simple scheme in decorative drawing needs no better argument than the effective poster design by the "Beggarstaff Brothers," Fig. 69, and that by Mr. Penfield, Fig.70. Of course the more conventional the design the less regard need be paid to anything like a logical disposition of color. A figure may be set against a black landscape with white trees without fear of criticism from reasonable people, provided it looks effective there. ”

“ We retain, however, the literal values of the clock-tower and the buildings underneath it, and express as nearly as we can their interesting variations of texture. The buildings on the right are too black in the photograph, and these, as well as the shadow thrown across the street, we will considerably lighten. After some experiment, we find that the building on the extreme left is a nuisance, and we omit it. Even then, the one with the balcony next to it requires to be toned down in its strong values, and so the shadows here are made much lighter, the walls being kept white. ”

“ Not a stroke could be spared, so direct and simple is it, and yet it is so complete and homogenous that nothing could be added to make it more so. The architecture is left without color, and yet we are made to feel that it is not white—this subtle suggestion of low color being obtained by a careful avoidance of any strong black notes in the rendering, which would have intensified the whites and lighted up the picture. Fig. 3, by the same artist, is even more notable by reason of the masterly breadth which characterizes the treatment of a most complicated subject. ”

“ Natural accessories or interesting bits of street life may be added to give it an appropriate setting; but the result must clearly read "Building, with landscape," not "Landscape, with building."
Much suggestion for the sympathetic handling of particular subjects may be found in the character of the architecture itself. The illustrator ought to enter into the spirit of the designer, ought to feel just what natural accessories lend themselves most harmoniously to this or that particular type. If the architecture be quaint and picturesque it must not have prosaic surroundings. ”

“ One window is never absolutely like another; so that while a certain uniformity in their value may be required for breadth of effect in the drawing of a building, there is plenty of opportunity for incidental variety in their treatment.
A few practical hints on the rendering of windows may prove serviceable. Always emphasize the sash. Where there is no recess, as in wooden buildings, strengthen the inner line of sash, as in Fig. 41. In masonry buildings the frame and sash can be given their proper values, the area of wood being treated broadly, without regard to the individual members. ”

“ Treatment of Detail Do not be over-conscious of detail. It is a common weakness of the architectural draughts man to be too sophisticated in his pictorial illustration. He knows so much about the building that no matter how many thousand yards away from it he may stand he will see things that would not reveal themselves to another with the assistance of a field-glass. ”

“ Though somewhat out of fashion for general use, the quill of our fathers is favored by many illustrators. It is splendidly adapted for broad, vigorous rendering of foreground effects, and is almost dangerously easy to handle. Reed pens, which have somewhat similar virtues, are now little employed, and cannot be bought. They have to be cut from the natural reed, and used while fresh. For many uses in decorative drawing one of the most satisfactory instruments is the glass pen, which gives an absolutely uniform line. ”