Part 6 (2/2)

109 That, then, being the law of refused chiaroscuro, observe further the method of outline We said that ere to have thick lines in wood, if possible Look what thickness of black outline Bewick has left under our pig's chin, and above his nose

But that is not a line at all, you think?

No;--a raver would haveit fine Bewick leaves it actually thicker than the snout, but puts all his ingenuity of touch to vary the forms, and break the extremities of his white cuts, so that the eye may be refreshed and relieved by new for the space between snout and ears ht be a wreath of fine-weather clouds, so studiously are they grouped and broken

And nowhere, you see, does a single black line cross another

Look back to Figure 4, page 54, and you will know, henceforward, the difference between good and bad wood-cutting

110 We have also, in the looodcut, a notable instance of Bewick's power of abstraction You will observe that one of the chief characters of this frog, which et soular hump-back And you eneral character of a frog it is to have a hump-back,--not at the shoulders, but the loins

111 Here, then, is a case in which you will see the exact function that anatomy should take in art

All the ht Bewick,

But when once you _have_ drawn him, or looked at him, so as to know his points, it then beco to find out _why_ he has a hump-back So I went myself yesterday to Professor Rolleston for a little anatoone to Professor Phillips for a little geology; and the Professor brought ; and we put him on the table, and ht in a char, and showedbone from his rump, as a bird needs it fro s, as the other to attach those of the fore legs or wings So that the entire leaping power of the frog is in his hu power of the bird is in its breast-bone And thus this Frog Parlia on the hind legs, and nothing on the brains; which makes it wonderfully like some other Parliaments we know of nowadays, with Mr Ayrton and Mr Lowe for their aesthetic and acquisitive eyes, and a rump of Railway Directors

112 Now, to conclude, for want of ti of my subject,--understand clearly and finally this simple principle of all art, that the best is that which realizes absolutely, if possible Here is a viper by Carpaccio: you are afraid to go near it

Here is an ar, to ret, would like to sit down in it This is consummate art; but you can only have that with consummate means, and exquisitely trained and hereditary e ive a rude abstraction; but if rude abstraction _is_ to be made, think what a difference there must be between a wise man's and a fool's; and consider what heavy responsibility lies upon you in your youth, to deterhted, and, ainations, by whose you will be led

FOOTNOTES:

[Q] By Mr Burgess The toil and skill necessary to produce a facsinized by the reader who has had considerable experience of actual work

[R] The ordinary title-page of Punch

[S] In the lecture-room, the relative rates of execution were shown; I arrive at this esti the completion of two small pieces of shade in the two methods

[T] John Bull, as Sir Oliver Surface, with Sir Peter Teazle and Joseph Surface It appeared in Punch, early in 1863

[U] In preparing these passages for the press, I feel perpetual need of qualifications and limitations, for it is impossible to surpass the huolden parts of Tenniel's works; and they _ what is best in their day

[V] From Bewick's aesop's Fables

[W] See _ante_, - 43

LECTURE IV

THE TECHNICS OF METAL ENGRAVING

113 We are to-day to exaement of the most perfect of the arms of precision possessed by the artist For you will at once understand that a line cut by a finely-pointed instrument upon the smooth surface of iven to the _definite_ work of the hu with pen upon paper, the surface of the paper is slightly rough; necessarily, two points touch it instead of one, and the liquid flows frohtse only; the furron by a skater on the surface of ice is like it on a large scale Your surface is polished, and your line may be wholly faultless, if your hand is

114 And because, in such material, effects may be produced which no penmanshi+p could rival, raves itself; that the workhts in this matter accurately, here is a manuscript book written with pen and ink, and illustrated with flourishes and vignettes