Pic

“ The Mammoth frowned. “None but leaders and fighters have names,” he said sternly. “You are but one of the poor Trog-folk as we can plainly see. We are Hairi the Mammoth and Wulli the Rhinoceros——”
“And I am Pic,”—said the other boldly. He hesitated a moment, then added—“the Ape Boy.”
“Ape Boy?” Wulli asked. “What is that?”
“A boy is a young man. As for the ape part I do not know, nor am I so sure I would like it if I did know. The Cave Lion, even men call me that.”
“Owk, the Cave Lion,” said the Mammoth, suddenly remembering what he was there for. “Where is he? How did you come here?” ”

“ The photographer who works with a very large lens chooses an angle which gives the least unfavourable results; his rival, with a lens of less size, chooses, on the same principle, a different angle; and the public, who are no judges of the result, are delighted with their pictures in relief, and when their noses are either pulled from their face, or flattened upon their cheek, or when an arm or a limb threatens to escape from their articulation, they are assured that nature and not art is to blame. ”

“ In the centre of the mantelpiece was a photograph, the photograph of a man a little older, perhaps, than this newly-arrived visitor, with rounder face, dressed in country tweeds, a flower in his buttonhole, the picture of a prosperous man, yet with a curious, almost disturbing likeness to the pale, over-nervous, loose-framed youth whose eye had been attracted by its presence, and who was gazing at it, spellbound. ”

“ Slender ribbon-like falls hang lightly from the brow of a sheer precipice or dash in foam down some rocky gulch, and the morning mists that linger on the wooded peaks veil in mystery the beauty beyond. One's desire to possess and perpetuate some scene of beauty becomes irresistible, when, out comes the camera — snap — and the thing is done! ”

“ One spot or circumference there should be toward which through the suppression of other parts the eye is led at once. When there, even though the vision has passed far into the canvas, one is at the focal point only, the true goal of the pictorial intention. Any element which proves too attractive along this avenue of entrance is confusing to the sight and weakening to the impression. ”

“ I took care of him. Then the Cave Beasts set upon us and I dared not leave him alone to hunt food and water and gather wood for my fire. This man is my father——”
“Father?—Good!” the Mammoth grunted approvingly. “Friends should ever help each other. But are you sure he was your father? I cannot see how you remembered him. I could not have done it. Perhaps I never had a father. Had you, Wulli?”
The Rhinoceros cocked his head and looked thoughtfully at the ground.
“Father? Oo-wee! I do not remember that I ever had one. I would not know him even if I saw him.”
“But I know mine,” said Pic. ”

“ In a camera obscura the butcher's cart and the figure of one of our own family amuse us. So a portrait of a well-known face gratifies us. Turn the eyes upside down, by looking at the landscape through your legs, and how agreeable is the picture, though you have seen it any time these twenty years! ”

“ If we pass favorably, our enjoyment begins leisurely. The picture we are to live with must possess qualities that will bear close scrutiny, even to analysis. If we are won, there is a satisfaction in knowing why.
It must be remembered that the actual picture space in nature is that of a funnel, its size varying according to the extent of distance represented. The angle of sixty degrees which the eye commands may widen into miles. The matter of equipoise or unity therefore applies to most extended areas and no part of this extent may escape from the calculation. ”

“ All objects in the landscape—trees, houses, and men—have had too short an exposure, and form a black mass. There, where the eye clearly distinguishes road, village, forest, and meadow, it sees in the photograph nothing but a dark patch without any outline. Is such a picture true? Even the most fanatical enthusiast of photography will not dare maintain this. ”

“ It is very wonderful that the eye should be able to take a picture of each thing in front of it; that on the tiny black curtain at the back of the eye, each thing outside should be printed, as it were, instantly, exact in shape and colour. ”

“ Thus by the magic of pictorial design our vision is caught and so controlled that a single glance, sweeping the picture in the direction ordained by the artist, gives us a definite feeling of movement. ”

“ And to have the picture of our impression complete you must bear in mind that we saw it all through a thick bent glass, distorting it as things are distorted by a lens, acute only in the centre of the picture and very bright there, and towards the edges magnified and unreal. ”

“ Superb color portraits of many familiar flowers in their living tints, and no less beautiful pictures in black and white of others—each blossom photographed directly from nature—form an unrivaled series. ”

“ The pen pictures of Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Waterfalls, Forests, Fountains, Flowers, Monuments, Cities, Inhabitants, in fact every conceivable thing that goes to make up the countries visited, are so beautifully portrayed by the pen of the author, that we had almost forgotten to mention the thirty-one elegantly superb full page Photogravure pictures, which of themselves form an art collection worth far more than the price of the work, and all bound in the most elegant and substantial manner known to the art of book making. ”

“ I repeat, here also, that the photographic apparatus, in so far as it does not possess a refracting lens, shows things much more truly than our eye, which is always corrected by our memory. If I permit a man sitting on a chair to be photographed, front view, with his legs crossed and stretched far out, the result is a ludicrous picture because the boots seem immensely larger than the head of the subject. ”

“ Occasionally a guilder slipped quietly into the hand of one of the older women opens a new vein of good fortune, for they insist that “the gentleman shall be allowed to take the picture;” whether it be an old-fashioned interior with its quaint belongings, or a pretty maid too shy to hold her head up properly. One old woman is so fascinated with the camera that she asks me to take picture after picture of her homely wrinkled countenance. ”

“ Accommodation.—The focussing or sharpening of the image is performed by a special apparatus. In every camera, the farther the object is from the eye the farther forward, and the nearer the object is to the eye the farther backward, is its image thrown. In photographers' cameras the back is made to slide, and can be drawn away from the lens when the object that casts the picture is near, and pushed forward when it is far. ”

“ Do you recommend one of the new high-priced enlarging cameras, which focus the lens automatically on any size of paper, as suitable for clubs to purchase?”
“Well, I must confess that I have only heard of it, and the price seems to be such as to discourage almost all the pictorial workers that I know. In my observation of the work that has been done by pictorialists, the very fact that in many instances they use makeshift apparatus has resulted in some of the most beautiful effects in their work. Good apparatus is of course desirable, but there are happy accidents with the other sort. ”

“ In photography one man delights in the etching point and cannot stop until he has made a net work all over his plate and led us to look at this instead of his picture, which, if good, would have been let alone—a clever device of throwing dust into our eyes. ”

“ They paint, for example, the head, and shoulders, and cheek of a man, a bust portrait—with a dark background. If you examine the picture closely, you will not find a sharp line, separating the head from the background. In fact the color of the hair and cheek seems to extend a little way into the dark of the background. The artist has dragged his brush round the head, so that it is impossible to say just where the background begins. ”

“ In 1710, D’Aviler defines the word picture (tableau) as a subject of painting, usually in oil on canvas or wood, and contained in a frame or border. “Pictures greatly contribute to the decoration of the interior of buildings. The big ones figure in churches, drawing-rooms, galleries and other big places. Those of medium size called easel-pictures are placed in the spaces above the chimney-piece, above the doors and in the panels of the walls, or else on the tapestry against the walls. ”

“ Her best portraits are noticeable for their unstudied pose, softness of outline, and interesting lighting, an excellent example being a picture of an old lady seated by a window, the play of light and shade over her face softening it very charmingly. ”

“ The hideousness of the photographer’s name in shining golden letters is far too common. Nothing could look better for these small pictures than plain black mounts, with no word or letter or coloured line or any other embellishment. If the photographer is such a tradesman at heart that he must air his medals, let him put all that part of him on the back of the card. ”

“ I would I were a painter, for the sake
Of a sweet picture, and of her who led,
A fitting guide, with reverential tread,
Into that mountain mystery. ”

“ The Peoples Pictures displayed as its opening two large portraits, side by side, of a man past middle age, with a small, round, close-haired head and rather watery-looking eyes; and a large, substantial, round-faced woman in a small hat—the whole ornamented at the four corners with cupids, tied with ribbons and connected with a chain of keys to form a border. ”

“ ART. IV. To fix the colours by melting the wax.
When your picture is finished and dry, have a good clear fire of sea-coals, [Pg 36] 8 approach your picture with the painted side towards it, at about two feet distance, let it grow warm by gentle degrees, always approaching nearer, till within a foot distance from the grate, but never closer, holding your picture perpendicularly or a little inclined as you shall find necessary. If the picture is large do one half first, then the other; there is not the least difficulty for any size. ”

“ SUBSTANCES ON WHICH PICTOGRAPHS ARE MADE.
Substances on which pictographs are made may be divided into—
I. The human body.
II. Natural objects other than the human body.
III. Artificial objects.
SECTION 1.
THE HUMAN BODY.
Markings on human bodies are— (1) Those expressed by painting or such coloration as is not permanent. It has been found convenient to treat this topic under the heading of “Significance of Colors,” Chap. XVIII, Sec. 3. (2) Those of intended permanence upon the skin, generally called tattoo, but including scarification. ”

“ De pictura.—Whosoever loves not picture is injurious to truth and all the wisdom of poetry. Picture is the invention of heaven, the most ancient and most akin to Nature. It is itself a silent work, and always of one and the same habit; ”

“ The next step was to a few compound pictograms which would naturally suggest themselves to primitive man: 旦 the sun just above the horizon = “dawn”; 林 trees side by side = “a forest”; 舌 a mouth with something solid coming out of it = “the tongue”; 言 a mouth with vapor or breath coming out of it = “words.”
But a purely pictographic script has its limitations. The more complex natural objects hardly come within its scope; still less the whole body of abstract ideas. ”

“ Line Of first importance in composition is the notion of Light and Dark, to which Line is second. In the tone design line is but the edge of the masses. Line as the basis of the form of the design is reduced to a few forms which with modifications become the framework for all pictorial structure. (See Fundamental Forms.) Line as an element of beauty sufficient of itself to become subjective is rare, an exception in pictorial art. ”

“ A collection of photographs in passe-partout bindings, especially if they deal with subjects in any way related, may form an attractive group. But pictures of any considerable size or those having decided individuality are generally not suited to any plan of grouping. They should appear by themselves, in frames and other surroundings which accentuate their peculiar merits.
The Kind of Frame.—The material of the frame, its colour, and the colour of the mat are determined by the tone of the picture. Oil paintings easily support gilt frames and should be hung in good light. ”

“ Exhibitions in many museums which have hitherto been indifferent to pictures made with the lens have opened the eyes of the public to the possibilities of the camera. Clubs of photographic workers in various cities have maintained or fostered the movement. The lure of the moving picture has stimulated the interest of countless multitudes in photography, and the occasional presentation of fine pictorial work in this direction has given a prophecy of better things to come. ”

“ Care should also be taken, that the hands and feet, in whatever position, are not too forward or back ward from the face when that is in good focus.
If any large surface of white is present, such as the shirt front, or lady's handkerchief, a piece of dark cloth (a temporary bosom of nankeen is best,) may be put over it, but quickly withdrawn when the process is about two thirds finished.
A very pleasing effect is given to portraits, by introducing, behind the sitter, an engraving or other picture--if a painting, avoid those in which warm and glowing tints predominate. ”