REPRODUCTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



reproducing artistic pictures, it has practically disap- 

 peared except for special purposes. 



TECHNIC OF WOOD-ENGRAVING 



In making drawings for wood-engravings the artist 

 usually drew directly upon the surface of the block of 

 wood that was to be engraved. The wood used ordinarily 

 was boxwood, cut across the grain. To facilitate work- 

 ing on this surface it was usually covered with a light 

 coating of Chinese white, which enabled the draughts- 

 man to see the effect of his drawing very much as it 

 would appear on white paper when printed. This 

 drawing was of course exactly the size that it appeared 

 in print, the artist being thus greatly handicapped in a 

 manner quite unknown to modern illustrators, whose 

 drawings may be made any convenient size without 

 regard to the size of the reproduction to be made. 



Although the wood-engraver was obliged to produce 

 his effects by means of lines, it was not necessary for 

 the artist to indicate each of these lines unless he chose 

 to do so. He might make his drawing on the block with 

 a brush or pencil, indicating the shadings as he wished 

 them, but leaving it to the artistic sense of the engraver 

 to determine the direction and size of the lines used in 

 interpreting the various shades and tones. It is obvious 

 that when the artist drew in this manner the result ob- 

 tained was due largely to the skill of the engraver, a 

 good engraver frequently improving the original work 

 of the artist while a poor engraver might ruin the work 

 of a good artist. For this reason good engravers were 



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