"PRACTICE makes perfect." To this axiom I would add, "But practise with thought."

By "thought" I mean this : you may practise drawing pen lines and use the same quality of line for every subject if you do not "think"— if you do not consider the quality of line most appropriate to depict your subject.

The pen to the newspaper artist is what the brush is in the hands of the painter. With your pen you must express qualities, tones and varied strength by means of lines, much as the painter expresses values with his brush.

It is therefore necessary, in drawing lines, to consider the purpose of each pen line, and to give it the quality and breadth necessary.

In drawing portraits the quality of your lines is of particular importance if you would obtain a good likeness.

Hold your pen at least an inch or more above the point of contact. This allows greater freedom for your hand and fingers. In drawing long lines hold the pen at a greater distance from the point. Use the entire arm in the movement for drawing very long lines.

Certain pens give varied qualities of lines. For example, the beginner will find a Gillot 290 and a Spencerian No. 12 (of the same quality) beyond his control. Particularly will this be true if his nerves are not steady. In fact it is apt to be some time before he can safely use these two pens.

It is wise to begin with a stiffer pen. A Gillot 170 is practical. In fact you will find this pen better for general use, such as cartoon work, layouts and lettering, than the other two pens. It is sufficiently stiff and flexible to make it excellent for your purpose.

Practise with these pens. Roughly make caricature faces and figures, in a moment — don't try to be correct — using the pen exclusively.

Sketch trees and objects direct with your pen. I have covered a good many assignments without a pencil, using the pen directly, and I had to hurry the sketches and be ready with them for the engraver on the return to the office.

I have found that working with a pen makes one inclined to be careful. One does not put down a line until he has studied the subject and decided where it belongs. With such practice one soon becomes proficient.

For drawing lettering into a picture for layouts, frames about a drawing, and other lines that must be of even thickness throughout, use an ordinary stiff writing pen — a penny a point. I generally use an Esterbrook 1170 for this purpose. You will find your Gillot 170 is equally practical after you have mastered it.

To express light and shadow — in drawing a portrait, for example — you will find the Gillot 290 or Spencerian No. 12 best for your purpose. Both make practically the same line.

Make the lines, where the light strikes, thin, and as you gradually round into the shadowed section, press upon the pen, thus broadening the stroke, making a damn area, which rapidly expresses shadow, particularly so in contrast to the thin lines —the light part. Thus you avoid the need of many small, shaded lines.

Also break your lines here and there where the high lights come in the face — a point near the top of the forehead —the tip of the nose — the upper parts of the lip and chin — and do not forgel a break or two in the hair.

With a line varied in quality, and broken here and there, you avoid giving your drawing the appearance of having a wire line about the objects, while also the effect of stiffness is eliminated.

Remember that you can express delicacy and charm as well as brute strength and hard coldness with merely a pen stroke. A broad, coarse line and a thin graceful line will show opposite types.

Usually a beginner will draw his lines either too thick and heavy, or else he will make his lines short and choppy. With a bit of study of this subject one will find it easy to break away from this sign of the amateur.

Your pen lines will be found to be an indication of your character, which a chronogrammatist can read as he would your handwriting. An artist who is of a bold and strong nature will draw with bolder, larger, and more expressive lines than an artist who is meek, shy and lacking in strength. The weakling will usually draw with small, shorter lines — not sweepingly strong. However, this fault can be overcome by patient study and practice.

Remember, in finishing this chapter, that pen lines are to the artist what words are to the writer. Whether your picture story will be of excellence depends greatly upon the pen words which you use to create it. Therefore, as in writing, put thought in each line and use the best line.