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Show THE MAKING OF ILLUSTRATIONS . Art That Will Tnnptt Qn, . tZXF7 i en hag aot been record of continuous and uninterrupted progra.. There hare been periods ofaj vancement and periods of reactionary br esteem, and other eras when theeo-tie theeo-tie wonld have none of them. For tiA SWS Sttidea " Wdl M the onef & ward the engravers were themselves chiefly responsible. When they did food market for their efforts was only limited br their capability of production. GLADSTONE, ZINC PROCESS. I (Mado In 1 hour 18 minutes.) i Naturally, the demand brought supply, sup-ply, bnt it brought also evil and disaster. disas-ter. Seeing the profitable field spread out before them for occupancy, a horde of pretenders rushed in to share the emoluments of trained artists and conscientious con-scientious workers. .As a result the rint shops and bookstalls speedily filled up with specimens of engraving not only mediocre but absolutely atrocious; the buyers closed their purees, the interest in illustrations languished, and it took a generation or two of patient, almost unrecognized, un-recognized, toil to secure a new standard of excellence, and a fresh recognition from the public. ' ' , This has been, in large measure, the recurrent history of engraving uinco the first woodcut left the artist's hands early in the Fifteenth century, and it seems fair and timely to inquire" whether fir not another of the periodical crises is now impending. Although the demand for illustrations has reached larger proportions pro-portions than ever before known, it does not seem that tho old time collapse is to follow, for the reason that the call for pictures is legitimate and is meeting with a legitimate response. If harm is to ensue at all, it will lie because of the unwise use of methods to accomplish ends. A process that is an admirable medium for producing maps, diagrams, charts, architectural designs and the like, may not be of the slightest value in the proper presentation of a portrait, and, of course, ought to be used only within the limits of actuaV availability. The danger, if any exists, lies -in the unwise un-wise tendency 1 to - go beyond, ! these bounds. 4 j, . . GLADSTONE, CHALK PROCESS. ' ' (Made tn 1 hour 45 minutes.) ' ' . Undoubtedly the most excellent results yet obtained in the way of newspaper illustration have been by means of photo-zinc photo-zinc etching, a process brought to the highest limit of present discoverable attainment at-tainment by Mr. S. H. Horgan, chief of the bureau of illus' ration of the American Ameri-can Press Association. Many of the admirable ad-mirable cuts that have appeared in this paper are the work of artists employed in his department. Some time ago The Journalist, of New York city, inaugurated a discussion of the relative merits of the chalk and zino processes. From tho columns of that paper are reproduced two specimen heads of Gladstone. Each is by an acknowledged ac-knowledged expert in his line, and comparison of the two will show easily which system is the better and more likely to gain and keep for engraving a permanent and honorable position. |
