XIILOPYROGRAPHF.
WE have seen oil paintings imitated to illusion by bits of coloured stone (mosaic) and worsted work ; and crayon pictures by locks of wool of various hues. An ingenious artist has rivalled the success of these curiosities, in a series of monochrome pictures in burnt wood, which are now exhibiting at the Cosmorama Rooms in Regent Street. They look like powerful copies in bistre of mezzotint engravings. The rich brown colour of the charred surface, which is susceptible of every gradation of tint—from the black brown of charcoal to the yellow white of the wood untouched by the fire—is a capital medium for pictorial effects of light and shade. It is very singular to see the lights, which are cut into the wood, looking at a little distance as if they were raised instead of being sunk. The imitations of engravings, where the contrast of light and shade is strong, as in candle-light scenes, are the most forcible ; but more delicate effects are given with equal nicety, breadth, and brilliancy. A copy of one of HOLLOWAY'S engravings of the Cartoons proves the skill of the artist as a daughtsman, and the efficiency of the new art of Xulopyrography to convey expres- sion as well as effect. The grain of the wood in the larger and more delicate subjects, however, somewhat interferes with the perfectness of the picture.
Previous page
