CJfAS. B. IICDSOX, ARTIST AND SOLDIER. 



45i 



about him is his versatility; and in th:it 

 respect I have never seen his superior. He 

 produces portraits, figures, landscapes, sea- 

 scapes, interiors and exteriors, in pen and 

 ink, oil, or wash drawing; ail witn a degree 

 of artistic excellence which to me is aston- 

 ishing. More than this, he is so skillful in 

 the painting of fishes that he has spent 

 nearly two years for the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission in the preparation of the most im- 

 portant series of drawings (all in colors) 

 ever made for it. In October last he was 

 obliged to decline, on account of Cuban 

 fever, a request to spend three months in 

 Porto Rico, painting the fishes of those 

 waters, for the Commission. 



Hudson was awarded two medals — a sil- 

 ver and a bronze — by the Norwegian gov- 

 ernment, for drawings made for the U. S. 

 Fish Commission and which were exhibited 

 at the International Fisheries Exposition at 

 Bergen in 1898. 



Like most of our artists, Mr. Hudson 

 has done his stints in the Paris schools, and 

 has breathed the artistic air of the world's 

 art center. His methods are as thorough 

 and painstaking as those of a good surgeon 

 who takes pride in his work. No matter 

 how much a publisher may hurry him, no 

 slip-shod work ever leaves his studio. He 

 will put in his best work, from good models, 

 though the heavens threaten to fall. He 

 produces slowly — because of the conscien- 

 tious study he feels bound to put into every 

 picture before he signs it. 



Once Hudson had a very narrow escape 

 from becoming an artistic wreck. In 1897 

 he came from his Washington home to New 

 York, fired with the idea of taking a posi- 

 tion on the artistic staff of a rich newspaper, 

 at a salary that was really very tempting. 

 Fortunately he called on an old friend, im- 

 mediately on his arrival, and when he dis- 

 closed his intention, his host dropped 

 everything else and began to labor with 

 him. He literally begged the artist not to 

 throw away his talent in any such fashion. 

 For a time Hudson was firm, but finally he 

 wavered. At last he was induced to take 

 a letter to Macmillan & Co. and show Mr. 



*See illustration on opposite page. 



Brett sonic of hi- work. A few hours later 

 he came back with an order for the illustra- 

 tions of " The Ranch on the Ox-Hide," 

 an armful of MS., a bright smile, and the 

 clear eye of sanity. He was hi- old -elf 

 once more, and ever since has been grate- 

 ful for having been saved from the iron jaws 

 of The Newspaper. It was " The Madness 

 of Private Ortheris " over again. 



Some of Hudson's work has been seen in 

 RECREATION, and much more of it will be- 

 hereafter. At present, and when not ill with 

 Cuban fever, he is doing illustrations of big 

 game, naked savage- and African scenery 

 for William Harvey Brown's splendid book 

 entitled " On the South African Frontier,'' 

 which will shortly be issued.* Previous to 

 that. Hudson illustrated Hornaday's " Man 

 Who Became a Savage," for which he pro- 

 duced 16 of the finest illustrations he has 

 ever made. 



George Matthews thought when he read 

 the story in MS. prior to its serial publica- 

 tion in the Buffalo " Illustrated Express," 

 that no artist could illustrate it in a man- 

 ner that would fully satisfy him. for any 

 reasonable amount of money. Hudson's 

 sample drawing captured critical Mr. Mat- 

 thews at sight; but that is another story. 



In illustrating any book or story. Mr. 

 Hudson's keenness in catching the author's 

 own mind-pictures is a great joy to the 

 author It is easy to induce him to draw 

 exactly what you want. The seeret of this 

 lies in artistic skill combined with a nature 

 that is as sensitive and true as a photo- 

 graphic lens. You may wear yourself out 

 in explaining to some artists what you want, 

 and then not get it; but Hudson is different. 



It is impossible to name all the periodicals 

 in which illustrations by Captain Hudson 

 have appeared, but I remember " St. Nicho- 

 las." " The Cosmopolitan," " Scribner's." 

 " Frank Leslie's." ' The Illustrated Ameri- 

 can," and the Buffalo " Illustrated Ex- 

 press." The very striking picture of a 

 tiger hunt, shown as the frontispiece of 

 Recreation. June. '98, was Hudson's last 

 piece of work before starting for Cuba. 



ENGLISH SETTER "DIAMOND," OWNED BY 

 DR. H. M. BECK, WILKES-BARRE, PEW A. 



