building from which I sketched a certain detail, in order to show its exact relation to the whole design, and found this to be of great help. I soon became so interested that I sketched the whole thing as well as the detail, and found myself entering on a new field of art, that of freehand perspective sketching. My business experience had not taken me far into: the line of perspective sketching, except for occasional renderings of buildings and pieces of furniture made from plans
and elevations, and I Avas therefore all the more suiprised and delighted to find that I could really make quite interesting pencil sketches. Naturally I desired to improve in this line, so kept it up all the way. I soon even appeared as one of the many wandering artists in Europe, stopping suddenly, producing my tools and setting to work on a picture. All I lacked to put me in this class was the folding camp stool. I never got as bad as that. Nor was it necessary for me to carry a folding easel, for I did all my sketching in pencil. But I always had the sketchbook on my hip pocket, and could produce it at a moment’s notice. (It is not necessary to smuggle anything else in this pocket in Europe, not yet, anyhow.) By the way, I was surprised to find that wherever I went, there were always those who seem to have nothing else to do but gaze over the shoulders of sketchingartists. You rather expect that over here. Artists are not as common here as there. But I thought they would be accustomed to it over there by this time. But there is a difference in the way the people watch you there. In this country, especially in New York, a crowd always gathers behind an easel. The first ones are just plain inquisitive, while a few people standing looking at something always draw a crowd in New York, and so there is soon a crowd eager to see what is going on, fearful lest they will miss something. But over there, the
people look on in admiration and appreciation. T ou don’t feel their gazes as you do here. But I must say, as a beginner, these gazers did not help me a bit.
But I am getting away from my trip. Should this story suddenly rouse some student or old timer to do wliat I did, it might be interesting to know just where I went, what I saw and what it cost. I landed in Liverpool, but did not linger long there, as it was not the type of place I was looking for, in fact did not look foreign. I had selected the two stopovers on my way to London before sailing, and now that I had talked with several Englishmen coming over on the steamer, found I made good selections. The first was Chester, about forty minutes out of Liverpool. Here I found a real old time city of England, built, almost to a unit of the Tudor style of half timber and rich carvings. Even the very newest buildings were designed of the same style and the effect of a good sized town in variations of the same style of architecture was most interesting and worthy of careful study and consideration by our own architects today. The result is that of a large old city carefully and accurately restored, while fully half the buildings
Reproduction of an original measured sketch of a table in the French style of the XVth Century, made in the Musee des Arts Decoratif, Paris
An Elevation Sketch La Chelsa d’Ognissanti, Florence. Notice certain details
sketched at the side
and elevations, and I Avas therefore all the more suiprised and delighted to find that I could really make quite interesting pencil sketches. Naturally I desired to improve in this line, so kept it up all the way. I soon even appeared as one of the many wandering artists in Europe, stopping suddenly, producing my tools and setting to work on a picture. All I lacked to put me in this class was the folding camp stool. I never got as bad as that. Nor was it necessary for me to carry a folding easel, for I did all my sketching in pencil. But I always had the sketchbook on my hip pocket, and could produce it at a moment’s notice. (It is not necessary to smuggle anything else in this pocket in Europe, not yet, anyhow.) By the way, I was surprised to find that wherever I went, there were always those who seem to have nothing else to do but gaze over the shoulders of sketchingartists. You rather expect that over here. Artists are not as common here as there. But I thought they would be accustomed to it over there by this time. But there is a difference in the way the people watch you there. In this country, especially in New York, a crowd always gathers behind an easel. The first ones are just plain inquisitive, while a few people standing looking at something always draw a crowd in New York, and so there is soon a crowd eager to see what is going on, fearful lest they will miss something. But over there, the
people look on in admiration and appreciation. T ou don’t feel their gazes as you do here. But I must say, as a beginner, these gazers did not help me a bit.
But I am getting away from my trip. Should this story suddenly rouse some student or old timer to do wliat I did, it might be interesting to know just where I went, what I saw and what it cost. I landed in Liverpool, but did not linger long there, as it was not the type of place I was looking for, in fact did not look foreign. I had selected the two stopovers on my way to London before sailing, and now that I had talked with several Englishmen coming over on the steamer, found I made good selections. The first was Chester, about forty minutes out of Liverpool. Here I found a real old time city of England, built, almost to a unit of the Tudor style of half timber and rich carvings. Even the very newest buildings were designed of the same style and the effect of a good sized town in variations of the same style of architecture was most interesting and worthy of careful study and consideration by our own architects today. The result is that of a large old city carefully and accurately restored, while fully half the buildings
Reproduction of an original measured sketch of a table in the French style of the XVth Century, made in the Musee des Arts Decoratif, Paris
An Elevation Sketch La Chelsa d’Ognissanti, Florence. Notice certain details
sketched at the side