own as "clay-board." Its surface is composed
of China clay, grained in various ways, the top of the grain being
marked with fine black lines which give a gray tone to the paper,
darker or lighter according to the character of the pattern. This
tone provides the middle-tint for the drawing. By lightly scraping
with a sharp penknife or scratcher, before or after the pen work
is done, a more delicate gray tone may be obtained, while vigorous
scraping will produce an absolute white. With the pen work added,
it will be seen that a good many values are possible; and, if the
drawing be not reduced more than one-third, it will print excellently.
The grain, running as it does in straight lines, offers a good deal
of obstruction to the pen, however, so that a really good line is
impossible.

Thin letter-paper is sometimes recommended for pen and ink work,
chiefly on account of its transparency, which obviates the necessity
of re-drawing after a preliminary sketch has been worked up in
pencil. Over the pencil study a sheet of the letter-paper is placed
on which the final drawing may be made with much deliberation. Bond
paper, however, possesses the similar advantage of transparency
besides affording a better texture for the pen.

CHAPTER III

TECHNIQUE

[Side note: _The Individual Line_]

The first requirement of a good pen technique is a good Individual
Line, a line of feeling and quality. It is usually a surprise to
the beginner to be made aware that the individual line is a thing
of consequence,--a surprise due, without doubt, to the apparently
careless methods of some successful illustrators. It is to be borne
in mind, however, that some illustrators are successful in spite
of their technique rather than because of it; and also that the
apparently free and easy manner of some admirable technicians is
in reality very much studied, very deliberate, and not at all to
be confounded with the unsophisticated scribbling of the beginner.
The student is apt to find it just about as easy to draw like Mr.
Pennell as to write like Mr. Kipling. The best way to acquire such
a superb freedom is to be very, very careful and painstaking. To
appreciate how beautiful the individual line may be one has but
to observe the rich, decorative stroke of Howard Pyle, Fig. 66,
or that of Mucha, Fig. 65, the tender outline of Boutet de Monvel,
the telling, masterly sweep of Gibson, or the short, crisp line of
Vierge or Rico. Compared with an