Leroy Nieman's Femlin

Leroy Nieman (1921-2012) was an American artist who loved glamor and celebrity. He portrayed the worlds of sports and jazz using bright colors and splashy paint strokes and distributed them as serigraphs. 

He also created a popular black-and-white female character for Playboy Magazine called Femlin. 

According to the Franklin Bowles Gallery, "Neiman envisioned her as being 12" tall, so in most of the illustrations she's in that scale. She's depicted as being mischievous, and as her name suggests, she's a female gremlin. Starting in 1957, every issue of Playboy had two black and white Femlins; she was usually on the jokes page behind the centerfold."

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Decoder Ring podcast about Leroy Nieman's career, The Artist Who Was Both Loved and Disdained

 

Gibson Girl at Her Painting

"She goes into colors," says the caption of this pen-and-ink drawing by Charles Dana Gibson (1867-1944).

What a challenge for this young woman, dealing with all these suitors and critics, while remaining attractive, poised, and confident. 

Oh, and also she wants to produce a good painting without ruining her white dress.

That spirit of the capable, independent woman is one of the things that made Gibson's images so popular.

Micrographic Penmanship of Matthias Buchinger

Matthias Buchinger (1674–1739) was an expert at drawing and lettering precisely at a small scale.

His lettering astonished his contemporaries with its complexity, control, and order. Some of the letters were so tiny as to be almost indistinguishable to the naked eye.

He also "performed on more than a half-dozen musical instruments, some of his own invention. He exhibited trick shots with pistols, swords and bowling. He danced the hornpipe and deceived audiences with his skill in magic." 

Even more remarkable was that he could accomplish all this with his unusual body: "Buchinger was just 29 inches tall, and born without legs or arms. He lived to the ripe old age of 65, survived three wives, wed a fourth and fathered 14 children."

Quotes are from the book Matthias Buchinger: The Greatest German Living, which features many examples of his artwork and tells his incredible life story, the result of exhaustive research by the author Ricky Jay.

Strange Things I Have Seen

 

Hand in Harbor, 1980, brush and ink, 11 x 14 inches

How Phil May Built a Drawing

Victorian caricaturist Phil May (1864-1903) described his method of building a drawing:

"First of all I get the general idea, of which I sketch a rough outline, and from this general idea I never depart. Then I make several studies from the model in the poses which the drawing requires, and redraw my figures from these studies." 

"The next step is to draw the picture completely, carefully putting in every line necessary to fulness of detail: and the last to select the particular lines that are essential to the effect I want to produce, and take the others out."

Sometimes, according to David Cuppleditch, "he transferred his figures from sketchbook to working page with tracing paper. He nearly always worked with a very sharp pencil or crayon edge so as to achieve simple, strong lines."

George Hacklett said, "The one important lesson learned from his Bulletin work was the value of a longer and heavier line, made imperative by the large scale of his cartoons."

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Previous post on Phil May  

Wikipedia on Phil May (caricaturist)

Quotes are from the book: Phil May: The Artist and His Wit

Fishermen

The guy holding the pole caught a fish. He says he doesn’t eat fish and gives them all away.

Fishermen on Santa Monica pier, 1981

I made this sketch on location at the Santa Monica pier using a brush and ink to capture the late-afternoon edge lighting. Regardless of the local color of each form, I rendered anything in shadow as black and left anything illuminated by the sun as the white of the paper.

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From "The Artist's Guide to Sketching, 1982

J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship, Part 5

(Continuing from Part 4)

These technological changes encouraged the growth of extravagant drawing-based alphabets, such as “Rustic” (above) and “Leaf Cipher-Letters.” Highly embellished initial capitals can be hand drawn with a pen or brush using inks of various colors or tinted shades. Some of the ornamental initial alphabets are presented with a variety of stylistic treatments, such as the “Ornamented French Script” or the “Ornamental Initials.”

“Old English” remains the standard for formal settings, such as diplomas, but it is difficult to execute well, especially if speed is required. It succeeds best with a steady rhythm and even spacing using a square cut nib. Sometimes good results can be achieved by executing all the vertical strokes first, followed by the diamond shaped feet. A pointed pen adds the finishing touches, sharpening the corners and serifs and completing the hairline strokes on the capitals and on the lower case “a” and “r.”



Two other forms of artistic writing, less familiar today, are engrossing and showcard writing. Engrossing was a particularly lavish type of decorative lettering used on resolutions, certificates, testimonials, memorials, and manifestos. The examples are by Patrick W. Costello (1866-1935), whose engrossing work was notable for being executed in limited tones of Payne’s gray or umber. Originals were as large as 22 x 28 inches, often illustrated with flags, portraits, flowers, or other pictorial devices. They reflect a culture that placed a premium on congratulatory or memorializing messages, usually presented publicly to formally recognize an individual achievement.



Bergling invited his colleague William H. Gordon to demonstrate show-card writing, a more casual advertising form. Painted signboards of the nineteenth century tended to use only upper case letters, but they were gradually replaced by signs made with both upper and lower case. The letters in Gordon’s alphabets are formed quickly and without much preliminary drawing, using specialized brushes with opaque water-based media. Practitioners in this field were called writers rather than letterers. Whether employing the brush or the pen, the student should start by thoroughly understanding the construction before attempting too much speed.

By the time Bergling’s books appeared, typewriters had already been standardized and were coming into common use for business communications. Fountain pens and then ballpoint pens became established by mid century. The Golden Age of Ornamental Penwork was disappearing. Hopefully with the aid of this treasury, a new generation of designers can rediscover artistic lettering and adapt it to contemporary uses.
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Series on J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
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You can get a signed copy of Bergling's "Art Alphabets and Lettering" from my website store.
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Here's where you can get the Dover book on Amazon. You can also still find a vintage copy on Amazon.
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J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship, Part 3

Lettering project inspired by the Bergling book

For most of us, hand lettering is reserved for sentimental or ceremonial occasions, such as this announcement that I made for my son's graduation party.



(Continued from Part 2) But in the Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship, which lasted between about 1875-1915, every business person was expected to convey their integrity and confidence by means of their pen skills, culminating in a confidant, flourished signature. To achieve this kind of writing, penmanship instructors stressed the importance of good posture.

Correct and incorrect writing position

First the pen artist must take the proper position, either standing at a podium lectern or seated in a straight chair with both feet flat on the floor, the back held straight. The pen is held, not in the tight grip of most beginners, but rather in a relaxed hold, the arm resting lightly on the table on the large muscle below the elbow.

“Whole arm” or “off hand” capitals, with their elaborate looping flourishes, are made without penciling the letterforms in advance. Their flowing grace requires a great deal of practice. They are formed with broad movements of the arm, swinging easily from the shoulder. Fingers, wrist, and arm cooperate to create fluid movements. Each part of the flourish uses a smooth continuous stroke. By contrast, small letters should be rhythmically created with controlled finger movements.

Ideally these scripts should be executed on a smooth cotton rag paper over lightly ruled guidelines drawn with a hard pencil. The slant of the letters should be absolutely uniform. The slant can be ruled lightly with an adjustable triangle set to a fixed slope and resting on a T-square or parallel rule.

Most scripts require a slant of between 52 and 54 degrees from horizontal, or the 3/4 angle diagrammed below. An oblique pen holder angles the nib to the right, allowing a better wrist position.

In settings where script writing needs to be larger and more precisely considered, it can be constructed by drawing the letters first in outline, and then filling them in with a brush or pen. In general it is a good idea for the student to begin constructing letters larger and at a slow speed. With improving skill, the execution typically becomes smaller in scale and more rapid. It is advisable to try for accuracy and quality first, and then for speed.

The pen-based script alphabets, with their German and French variants, derive from the models produced by engravers in the eighteenth century, requiring the artist to incise a series of fine lines into a copper plate with a sharpened steel tool called a burin. This copperplate engraver’s alphabet can also be constructed with the flexible steel pen nib. Each weighted or “shaded” stroke broadens on the pulling downstroke. Whichever tool is used, this thick-and-thin copperplate style is slow to execute, making it more suitable for headings and superscriptions than for everyday handwriting.

Bergling includes broad pen alphabets familiar to modern calligraphers, such as “Blackstone,”  “Mixed Roman Text,” and the single-stroke Roman and Italic alphabets. Informal round-tipped alphabets can be achieved with a Speedball “Style B” pen nib.

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Series on J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
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You can get a signed copy of Bergling from my website store (with your name nicely lettered if you want. Send me an email after you order it explaining how you'd like the dedication.)
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Here's where you can get the Dover book on Amazon. You can also still find a vintage copy on Amazon.
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(Part 4 of this series tomorrow.)

J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship, Part 2

(Continued from Part 1)

J. M. Bergling was an authority in many different disciplines of lettering. As a boy he emigrated with his father from Sweden, working in California and Chicago, where he built his early reputation as an engraver for watch cases and jewelry. 

He became one of the foremost practitioners of the art of the monogram, a popular graphic form where an individual’s three initials are woven together into a clever artistic design. He produced three other design collections: Art Monograms and Lettering, Ornamental Designs and Illustrations, and Heraldic Designs and Engravings.

Art Alphabets and Lettering is his crowning achievement, culling the best specimens from his many years as a leading engraver and pen artist. To make room for more samples, Bergling eliminated the introductory text typically found in comparable books, such as the Ames’ Compendium of Practical and Ornamental Penmanship by Daniel T. Ames (1883) or Studies in Pen Art by William E. Dennis (1914). In such guidebooks, the text would have explained the theory and practice behind the alphabets. The modern reader might want to know at least the basics of the practical knowledge that Bergling took for granted.

For everyday penmanship, the steel dip pen had largely replaced the quill pen, which was made from a prepared primary flight feather of a goose or a turkey. However, the quill pen was—and still is—the preferred tool for certain kinds of elegant writing, and was the primary tool for letterers before the nineteenth century. Steel pen nibs in Bergling’s day were available in a range of degrees of flexibility, and many of them are still available today. The nibs fit into a pen holder, and were dipped into an inkwell of India ink, which was waterproof, or a water-soluble ink such as Higgins Eternal.

The collection begins with script alphabets, notable for their flowing, connected letters, such as “American Roundhand” and “Spencerian.” These models provide excellent guides for handwriting applications where a graceful elegance is required. The Spencerian alphabet was invented by Platt Rogers Spencer (1800-1864). It became standard in the United States between 1850 and 1925, after which it was replaced by the simpler Palmer method that still is taught in schools today. 

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Series on J.M. Bergling and the Golden Age of Penmanship
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
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Get a signed copy of Bergling from my website store (with your name nicely lettered if you want. Send me an email after you order it explaining how you'd like the dedication.)
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Here's where you can get the Dover book on Amazon. You can also still find a vintage copy on Amazon.

A Typewriter Drawn in Scratchboard

In the July, 1938 issue, Art Instruction Magazine published this fine example of scratchboard art.

Scratchboard is a form of pen and ink drawing executed on a clay-coated surface. Black lines and areas are drawn with pen and brush, and then white lines are scratched away with special tools that fit into nib holders.

Scratchboard was used extensively for product illustration because it reproduces better in print than halftone photos do. Scratchboard comes in black and white. This example would have been done on white board.

Art Instruction said: "Scratchboard is particularly well suited to subjects which, like the typewriter, call for rendering in dark tones. Relatively small areas need to be scraped and there is great economy of effort in producing the desired effect. That is of course but one reason for its use. When skillfully handled it has a peculiar charm associated with wood engravings."

Art Instruction magazine later changed its name to American Artist. It was founded by Ernest Watson and Arthur Guptill, who wrote some classic drawing books in the mid-20th century.

Pen and ink drawings—and scratchboard drawings in particular—unfortunately just don't look as good on a computer screen as they do on a printed page, and maybe that's why we don't see as much great pen work these days. 

Baroque Violinist

Edwin Huizinga is a violinist for Baroque string ensemble “Acronym.” 

Sitting in the third row,  I want to capture some of his lively postures with a fountain pen and a Niji water brush filled with brown-black ink.


Previously posts about sketching at concerts:
James Bagwell Conducts
Maestro Bagwell
James Bagwell at a Rehearsal
The "Flash-Glance" Method
Gouache portrait of an Irish whistle player
Sketching a vocal concert
Violinist in ink wash
Horn Player
Mirko Listening
Club Passim Gig
Shapewelding Sketching
The Cello and the Pencil
Concertgoer
Mass in C
Handel's Messiah

A.B Frost's Characters

My biggest tip for character designers is don't look only at the work of your contemporaries.

If you want your style to be fresh and original, dig up other sources. You might enjoy the pen drawings of A.B. Frost (1851-1928) in his book "Stuff and Nonsense."

Big mouth, little eyes, little nose, and some knobbiness at the joints.

Squatty shapes all built around the round belly. Cross-hatch textures add interesting flavor. 

Long, flappy shoes on the old guy. Hat drawn with lots of wear. Stick legs on young makes them look fast and light, but the payoff to this joke was that the old guy beat them in a footrace.

Long legs and clear silhouette on this old codger. The opaque glasses fit with this artist who doesn't believe Muybridge's photos and still paints the hobbyhorse pose:

Said this artist 'Now don't you suppose

An intelligent man like me knows

How a horse ought to go

Yet you say I don't know

And believe what a photograph shows.

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A.B. Frost's Stuff and Nonsense is available in a reprint edition.

Ginkgo and Dragonfly Endpapers

Here's some more pen and ink art for the endpapers of “Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara.” The dragonfly, ginkgoes, and horsetail ferns are from the time of dinosaurs.

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Link to Speedball more samples of my pen art.

From Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, which you can get signed from my website.

Speedball textbook for pen and brush lettering

Using Speedball's Dip Pens

I use dip pens when I create illustrations and lettering because they deliver a look that evokes the style of the Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship, which lasted from about 1850 to 1925.

Some of the most reliable dip pen nibs are the Hunt 102 and the Speedball C-series of nibs, which I'm using here for a map of Chandara. Some of these pens have a heritage that goes back in an unbroken line for more than 100 years.

The manufacturer, The Speedball Company still makes nibs, penholders, and many art products in their factory in North Carolina. (Link to video tour of their factory)



They just redid their website, creating Pro Pages that spotlight letterers, illustrators, and printmakers who use their products. When they realized that I've used their products since I was a teenager, they asked to feature my work, too.

No money changes hands, but it’s a nice way for a group of artists to appreciate a the work of a company and for a company to appreciate the work of artists.

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Speedball Pro Pages: Drawing and Lettering
Lecture about the Golden Age of Ornamental Penmanship
The map appears on the inside of the dust jacket of the hardcover edition of Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, which you can get signed from my website.
Speedball textbook for pen & brush lettering