Frank Reynolds, R.I.

Frank Reynolds, R.I., by A.E.
Johnson

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Title: Frank Reynolds, R.I.
Author: A.E. Johnson
Release Date: December 2, 2004 [EBook #14238]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRANK
REYNOLDS, R.I. ***

Produced by Robert J. Hall

[Illustration: TONY WELLER OF THE BELLE SAUVAGE]

FRANK REYNOLDS, R. I.

BY A. E. JOHNSON
CONTAINING 46 EXAMPLES OF THE ARTIST'S WORK IN
BRUSH, PEN, AND PENCIL

PREFACTORY NOTE
In presenting under the title of "Brush, Pen, and Pencil" the series of
books of which the present volume forms part, the publishers feel that
they are meeting a demand which has long existed but has hitherto not
been supplied. It is an unfortunate circumstance of the conditions
which affect the modern artist who chooses black and white for his
principal medium, that as a general rule his work--or, at all events, the
reproduction of it--is ephemeral only. In respect of much that appears
in the illustrated Press this is small matter for regret; but there is good
reason to believe that opportunities of obtaining in permanent form
some record of the work of the leading men amongst those artists who
work for the Press would be welcomed. It is to afford such
opportunities that the present series is issued; and it is hoped that in the
volumes composing it the public will have pleasure in finding
representative examples of the work with brush, pen, and pencil of the
men whose skill and fancy have from time to time delighted them.
For permission to reproduce a very large number of the drawings by Mr.
Frank Reynolds which appear in the present volume the publishers
wish to acknowledge the courtesy of the proprietors of the Sketch, in
the pages of which they first appeared. Their thanks are equally due to
Messrs. Bradbury, Agnew & Co. Ltd. for kind permission to reproduce
three drawings from the pages of Punch.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR
TONY WELLER OF THE BELLE SAUVAGE THE

INTRODUCTION FRIVOLITY THE WARRENER
IN BLACK AND WHITE
STUDY IN PENCIL PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FROM "PUNCH"
WORKING PARIS AT LUNCHEON THE DARE-DEVILS
"CHACUN" WITH HIS "CHACUNE" BETHNAL GREEN THE
REAL ARTIST NOTE FROM A PARIS SKETCH-BOOK THE
SUBURBANITE FIRST SKETCH FOR THE SUBURBANITE A
GOOD STUDY PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FROM "PUNCH" A
TRAGEDY IN MINIATURE OUR CLUB HAVING THE TIME OF
HER LIFE LE 'IGH KICK A SPEECH AGAINST THE
GOVERNMENT FELIX OF THE "LAPIN AGILE" VIVE L'ARMÉE
"GAZED ON HAROLD" FROM A PARIS SKETCH-BOOK THE
DES(S)ERTS OF BOHEMIA GOING IT!
Also Nineteen smaller illustrations mostly reproduced from
sketch-books

[Illustration: STUDY IN PENCIL]

FRANK REYNOLDS. I.
It has been said of Tolstoy, anatomising the grim skeleton of human
nature, that his writings are more like life than life itself. Of Frank
Reynolds, with gently satirical pen and pencil depicting the superficial
humours of modern life, it might be said that his drawings, too, are
more humanly natural than real flesh and blood. It is the peculiar
faculty of the true observer that his eye pierces straight to the heart of
what he sees, and his mind, disregarding mere detail, thereby receives
and retains a clear perception of the essential, which those of less clear
and direct vision fail to grasp more than momentarily, though they hail
it with instant recognition when in its naked simplicity it is set before
them. The process is unconscious, or at least but semi-conscious; for
your professed observer has never that keen insight which, being native,

is not to be acquired by even the most assiduous practice, and alone
permits of truthful analysis.
[Illustration]
In the making of the genuine humorist the faculty of observation is the
first necessity. Consider the great pictorial humorists, whether dead or
living, whose names are familiar in the mouth as household words.
That they gained acknowledgment by masterly handling of the medium
in which they chose to work is not to be denied. It is by the peculiar
distinction of his technique, indeed, that the work of each, in a general
way, is called to mind. But this fame was not achieved solely upon
purely artistic merits. Charles Keene, George du Maurier, Phil May,
Raven Hill, Bernard Partridge--it is rather for the happy fidelity of their
transcripts from life than for the artistic sureness of their hands that
they are and will be remembered.
It is the possession of just that subtle power of quiet but comprehensive
observation which has obtained