More winged creatures, today in the forms of large birds.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
Artwork by Aubrey Beardsley. Le Morte Darthur.
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TheArt of Aubrey Beardsley: Le Morte Darthur
So, I don’t understand the medium Beardsley was working in. Was he carving these artworks into copper plates, or wood, or painting them in wax on stone, or what?
@Marcus, I do not know, but I will speculate just because I can (disclaimer -- I studied art for only about one year twenty years ago, so I am a mere once-upon-a-time-slightly-above-average-informed-amateur).
It does not look like copper-plate engraving, for that the lines are a bit thick. So my guess would wood engraving.
The reason being, that copper-plate engraving, stone, and steel etching all apply color by etching/engraving away the colored areas, then applying thick pigment to the plate and wiping it off -- it remains in the recesses from which it is transferred to the medium. That allows for very fine lines, but not for continuous black areas (see- banknotes of any denomination).
Wood engraving on the other hand works by carving away anything that should not be colored and the color is then applied to the high spots from which it is transferred to the medium. That allows for continuously colored areas, but not for very thin and consistent (colored) lines because the wood would collapse.
It might also be a combination of techniques -- printing plus pen or similar.
So, I made a search and found out that he has in fact drawn it by hand, intentionally mimicking the style of woodcut print.
We learn something new every day.
Yeah, pen and ink. I love these because they are close to my own style. I really like the way he did water.
Thanks for all the interesting information Marcus and Charly.
Kestrel, You’ve piqued my curiosity and I’d like to see an example of your art.