Hats (pi. 7, No. 2) when advertised in shilling journals are usually shown on very worldly looking women. If a hat shop has taken half a page in a weekly, it would probably reckon to show three hats on it. The space would allow of the figures extending down no further than I have shown here. Occasionally it seems to the advertising manager sheer waste to allow three perfectly good necks to appear without stringing some saleable goods on them and, as many hat shops sell bags, beads and scarves, you might easily be asked to draw, as here, one of the new necklets to go with the hat. I cannot explain the crazy angle of the shoulders, but it is a very favourite one. It may be in deference to a preoccupation that people in shops have in respect of " action." They dislike a drawing that is what they call " lifeless," as much as they like one that shows " movement." It is rather difficult to show movement in a hat, unless it is being blown off, so it is a good idea to suggest that the body of the woman is engaged in some kind of action independent of her head.
More pains are taken to express the fabric of the hat, in this case a fairly shiny straw, than in the preceding treatment of it. It is not so important to be logical as to the direction and source of the light that illuminates the hat, as it is to show the kind of sheen it has and to indicate quite clearly how high the brim is, and how far out the corners extend ; and practically the only way you can do this is by making high-lights, whereas in a line drawing the ink outline would clearly show all this.
It may be thought that the mouth is too big, the cheeks too hollow. For many shops, and particularly for very big democratic stores, this would be so. But in cases where a sophisticated kind of good looks is emphatically preferred to a " pretty pretty " attractiveness, it is best to err on the side of world-weariness and " character " (so-called).
Plate 6 (3). This method of finishing takes time and patience and has certain qualities in common with decorative book illustrations. It is useless for reproduction on any save a good glazed paper. A drawing of this kind is sometimes used in a daily and the result is highly unsatisfactory. This kind of finish, or some variation of it, will do for a high-class specialised fashion magazine, for the fashion pages of any non-specialising but good shilling magazine, and for the catalogue of certain women's shops of the less wholesale variety.
This decorative, rather lifeless, style is better adapted for showing evening or afternoon clothes than for sports clothes and tweeds, while the background, if any, that accompanies it, should be devoid of any realism, and merely formal.
The original sketch will have to undergo a certain simplification before it reaches the clean classic feeling that is aimed at here. The figure remains the same height, and the hips are made slimmer. The drapery is rearranged in order to give, not the impression of the dress as it really looked, but an idea of it at its most ethereal and graceful. Skirt and cape are redrawn as they would look if a faint breeze were stirring them. You must, of course, withhold the high wind that is reserved for the agitation of sports clothes. Arms must not be too muscular, nor elbows and shoulders too sharp. The hair must be arranged in a way that is both romantic and formal ; and there must be none of those effects of hair slightly out of place that might well have given point to Nos. 1 or 4. With a not very simple dress it is unwise to add a great deal of jewellery, and as this is essentially a dinner dress rather than one for a soiree de gala, gloves are not necessary ; a pendant or brooch would be fussy on a dress already boasting a fluttering cape and two large roses ; bracelets and rings are enough.
Having rubbed the drawing till the lines are very faint, you are faced with the rather teasing process of doing a fine outline with a brush. This becomes easy with practice and a pen cannot give the same effect. Begin with the outline and do everything but the pattern of the lace. If you use too small a brush, it will have to be constantly re-dipped in the paint, and this will interfere with lines
that should be unbroken. A rather bigger brush can hold more paint and may still have as fine a point. Do not have the outline too black either, as the effect of pen and indian ink outline must be avoided. An alternative way of doing this outline is to use pencil throughout the drawing. It is best to do so only when there is to be a background, and in any case the effect will be quite different from this wash outline, but pencil gives a very much more sensitive line than pen. (For an example of formal pencil and wash treatment see pi. 34.)
The outline being dry, apply the lightest tone first ; in this case, the hair, the flesh and the pink rose. Next comes a slightly darker wash that goes over the hair again and over all the dress and cape, surviving only in the finished drawing as the lighter tone of the cape. A darker wash follows, leaving only those parts of the cape where the chiffon is single, but covering the whole of the rest of the dress. The lace follows, and this is the only version of the six where it is important to give an exact pattern to the lace, as it adds very much to the decorative effect. Finally something must be done to avoid the impression that the dress is made of an opaque fabric printed with a design. The transparency of lace can best be indicated here by suggesting the solidity of the underslip, which is the same length as the over-dress. A wash of greater density than any used up till now, but still far from being full strength, must be applied to the dress over all parts where the underslip extends. Exception may be made of the chiffon insertion down the front rather illogically it is true, but simply in order to distinguish it from the lace. The even darker tone of the shoe and the white of the rose give the extremes between which range the intermediate tones. One or two simple strokes with the brush are added to give an idea of the pressure of the dress across the thigh, and as it hangs from the knee. The eyes, lips, bracelets, and the shading on hair and flowers come last. The processes that have led to this result may seem peculiarly laborious ; but, though it is easy to imagine a better drawing, it will not be achieved in this style with greater directness.
The pose of the woman who wore the hat when it was sketched was too casual and natural for the decorative kind of treatment. To show both blouse and hat in a decorative treatment an altogether more languid pose would have been chosen, while the loops on the blouse would have to be drawn very exactly. But in a page of four hats, it is a good plan to take the figure down, as here, to somewhere between armpit and elbow. The original blouse would not have looked well cut off to this length so I have chosen a fur-trimmed coat (pi. 7, No. 3). With a large hat a softly draped neck line would have been better.
The features are given symmetry, and the hair formally arranged, the neck made longer. The drawing escapes complete stagnation by the fact that the body is going in one direction while the head is turned sideways to it. This gives a certain suggestion of the out-of-doors, as if, while walking, she had turned her head to greet a friend.
However simplified your drawing is to be, never be in any doubt as to what each of the things in your drawing is. Since, for instance, you are to make up some kind of fur to trim the coat, decide what kind of fur it is and express it adequately. The fur here, being a subordinate feature, can be sufficiently expressed by an outline and a flat wash. The quality of the outline, the bulk of the fur and the very faint high-lights, done with rubber, are enough to indicate a beige or grey fox. A double row of pearls serves to echo the white bow on the hat.
The fur and the coat are made the same tone, but different from the hat, so as not to detract from it ; while the hat itself is not made too shiny or realistic, the weave of the straw being suggestive with thin brush lines, and the high-light indicated by leaving these off in certain places. The faint flush on the cheeks was done with pencil shading before the first was put on.
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