Ibbetsons Process Tinted Drawing by Ibbetson Julius Caesar (1 results)
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Published by Published as the Act directs by Julius Ibbetson, London, 1794
- Softcover
Seller: Donald A. Heald Rare Books (ABAA), New York, NY, U.S.A.Donald A. Heald Rare Books (ABAA)
Contact seller5-star sellerOblong folio. (12 x 15 1/2 inches). 11 unnumbered etched plates, including two in five states each, from etched outline to hand-coloured aquatint (two hand-coloured in total), plus a final plate with directions and hand-coloured colour samples, all mounted within engraved and olive-grey wash frames, watermark J. Whatman. Stitche…d as issued in original paper-backed marbled wrappers, with hand-coloured printed label title to upper board A rare drawing manual by Julius Caesar Ibbetson, demonstrating the progressive preparation of a tinted and hand-coloured landscape plate from outline etching to finished aquatint. This work by the landscape and watercolour painter Julius Caesar Ibbetson was intended to demonstrate, step by step, how amateur practitioners could prepare a fully hand-coloured plate, progressing from the initial outline etching to the application of sepia wash, aquatint ground, and additional washes. "Ibbetson was anxious to prove to aspiring amateurs that a formal training was not always necessary to becoming a competent painter. Through his empirical approach and subsequent mastery of the subject Ibbetson was well-placed to reveal the secrets of his profession to laymen" (Mitchell). Ibbetson's method is unusually direct. The work does not merely prescribe rules for drawing and colouring, but lays out the sequence of technical decisions by which tone, depth, and colour were built up. The final plate, with its directions and hand-coloured colour samples, reinforces the practical studio character of the publication. In this sense Process of Tinted Drawing belongs closely to the late Georgian culture of amateur instruction, while preserving the working habits of a professional painter, etcher, and aquatint artist. Exceedingly rare, only one copy identified in WorldCat (Harvard University Library). Fitzwilliam Museum, Gilpin to Ruskin, 28; James Mitchell, Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817) The Berchem of England, pp. 45-46.
