62 DECORATIVE 



the stems and flowers, and they will seem brighter. 

 Sometimes a neutral effect will be desirable. As the 

 various cards used as backgrounds are well below the 

 glass, out of focus, they may be tipped and moved 

 variously to obtain just the effect that seems best. A 

 few plates devoted to pure experiment in lighting, and 

 to the effect of the use of various backgrounds in 

 various ways, will enable the worker to operate with far 

 more certainty than if such experimenting is included 

 in the actual designing. 



When all is ready, and the lens stopped down suf- 

 ficiently to obtain depth and sharpness (usually //2Z or 

 //32), make the exposure; and by all means develop im- 

 mediately, so that before the subject has been disturbed, 

 the fixed negative may be considered and replaced with 

 a better one, should it seem advisable. I do not go into 

 detail of exposure here, presuming a certain pro- 

 ficiency on the part of the decorative worker, and only 

 remarking that the negative should by all means tend to 

 softness rather than to contrast, and show full exposure. 

 . It is a pertinent -question to inter- 



Desiens'^ polate here, given a satisfactory photo- 

 graph for the book-cover design, how 

 shall the unacquainted designer use the scheme ? The 

 answer is that there is always a demand among pub- 

 lishers for good designs. The properly made photo- 

 graph is as much in the market as the drawing, and is 

 translated into the brass of the finished book stamp by 

 practically the same mechanical means. 



Another method of using a photo- 

 Whole Tree Sraph as a book-cover design is indicated 

 in the outlined elm, shown on page 6l. 

 Here the chosen tree was drawn upon the brass 

 after the photograph, and also etched on zinc to use for 

 printing the paper book-wrapper. Endless variations 

 on these simple schemes, for the use of details and of 

 complete trees or plants, will suggest themselves to the 

 worker of any ingenuity. 



_ . , There is great range of possibility in 



Berries and ^l u u • i. l j 



Leaves berry-bearmg shrubs and trees — as, 



for instance, the huckleberry, the dog- 



vyppd, etp. Leaves also present charming possibilities, 



