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ART MATERIALS & TOOLS THAT CARICATURISTS USE : INFORMATION FOR BEGINNING CARICATURE ARTISTS
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Whenever you sketch in public, in order to throw your audience off the track and make them think that you are a full-fledged caricaturist, always wear a reckless air and a common twenty-five cent neck-tie. Sharpen your pencil as though it was born in you. In doing so be careful to use a jack-knife. The style of pencils mostly used by the / lows: profession cost about 95 cents per dozen net and about twelve cents per dozen minus the net.They are the product of a Jersey lead mine and run in strata like the formation of the earth. The surface pans about 95 per cent. pure lead, gradually running into a bed of clay, now and then striking a vein of quicksand, and a" bum" rubber on the end constitutes the lead pencil.
If any man expects a bigger layout of real estate for the amount invested, he is not worthy of a place among us. However, while you are starting out to master the art, you may as well start right. Get the best quality of pencils in the market, F. W. Faber's or Dixon's, for instance. If you use good material and good tools, you will feel better satisfied with your work. - A good pen is the only pen fit to use. I find it easier to draw a good picture with a good pen than to draw a poor picture with a poor pen. The pens that have given the best satisfaction in my opinion are as follows:
Gillott's No. 290 for fine work on faces.Gillott's No. 303 for ordinary rough work, and Gillott's No. 659 Crowquill.
Each of these I use alternately. Whenever I find one acting balky I retire it and try another.
CONDITION OF ARTISTS TOOLS
Keep your working material and tools clean and in good order. If you allow yourself to become careless in this respect your drawings will show the effects of your negligence. A sheet of tracing paper should be included in your outfit. To make it, take any ordinary thin linen paper and sprinkle a bit of dry Prussian blue upon one side and rub it in thoroughly with a cloth. One sheet will last a year and proves very handy in tracing your sketch upon clean cardboard, if you do not wish to work directly upon it with lead pencil.
ART EDUCATION
An art education is not essential to the making of a newspaper artist, although one should take advantage of such training if it be convenient. In caricaturing we disregard the principles of true drawing to such an extent that an art training
would be of little avail, except in cases of anatomical drawing.
Carry a sketch book in your pocket, and make such notes as come under your observation and which may be useful to you ; noting wrinkles in garments especially, the draping of gowns, unusual lines in faces, peculiar forms in human beings or animal life. You will find it fascinating and instructive.
It is a mistaken idea that in order to become a genuine artist one must move about in an " art atmosphere" and surround himself solely with "artistic temperaments." Mix up with all classes, and acquaint yourself with all phases of life. To depict the farmer, for instance, you must know something of his personality and the implements connected with his farm. Study his trees, so that you will not draw an apple on a maple tree, or potatoes on a gooseberry bush. Observe on which side of the cow he sits when he milks her, and the thousand and one details connected with farm life which one is apt to overlook in an art school.
It is not necessary for a boy of limited means to fit up a costly studio, with Oriental decorations, etc. A simple pine drawing board, a few sheets of cardboard, a pencil, a rubber eraser, pens and liquid India ink are the chief requirements to produce a pen and ink sketch. You may take this workshop with you everywhere, and npt be tied down to the sombre draperies and weird surroundings of the studio. " I have lost track of the day of the week, but judging by the approach of that ax it must be Saturday p. m.
A GOOD ART DESK / WORKSHOP / OFFICE IS IMPORTANT TO AN ARTIST
A Man's own castle is the proper place for his art workshop, for then the whole family can enjoy his genius. He feels perfectly at ease. Things look so
different, so domesticated, as it were, and so unlike the dull life of the studio.
I intended no reflection upon the management of my household when I made this picture, as my wife always asks of me before doing so if I object to having the dishpan left upon my desk while she sweeps down and dusts the cobwebs in the kitchen. Well, as I would not for the world have the dishwater soiled with dust and cobwebs, I assure her in gentle tones that she may bring in the stove and sink also. I want her to feel perfectly at home in her own house above all things.