CURRENT LITERATURE.
The At of Illustration. By Henry Blackburn. (Allen and Co.) —Mr. Blackburn, by means of nearly a hundred illustrations, attempts to explain the necessary qualities of drawings, line- drawings chiefly, for the purpose of " process." Other methods, such as wash-drawing and drawing on grained papers, are treated of, and in the lust chapter various processes are explained, of course with suitable illustrations. The art of the illustrator, a few great masters excepted, is quite modern: and drawing for process—that is, for the express purpose of getting the value of the lines repro- duced—is carried by some to a great pitch of excellence. The examples of various drawings given here are very striking, and Mr. Blackburn points out, as he so well knows how, just the beauties that have been well rendered, or perhaps not well rendered, by the process in question. Let us conclude with one of the axioms in a fascinating volume :—" Be an artist first, and an illustrator afterwards."
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