FRANK REYNOLDS, R. I.

BY A. E. JOHNSON

CONTAINING 46 EXAMPLES
OF THE ARTIST'S WORK
IN BRUSH, PEN, AND PENCIL

PREFACTORY NOTE

In presenting under the title of "Brush, Pen, and Pencil" the series of books of which the present volume forms part, the publishers feel that they are meeting a demand which has long existed but has hitherto not been supplied. It is an unfortunate circumstance of the conditions which affect the modern artist who chooses black and white for his principal medium, that as a general rule his work—or, at all events, the reproduction of it—is ephemeral only. In respect of much that appears in the illustrated Press this is small matter for regret; but there is good reason to believe that opportunities of obtaining in permanent form some record of the work of the leading men amongst those artists who work for the Press would be welcomed. It is to afford such opportunities that the present series is issued; and it is hoped that in the volumes composing it the public will have pleasure in finding representative examples of the work with brush, pen, and pencil of the men whose skill and fancy have from time to time delighted them.

For permission to reproduce a very large number of the drawings by Mr. Frank Reynolds which appear in the present volume the publishers wish to acknowledge the courtesy of the proprietors of the Sketch, in the pages of which they first appeared. Their thanks are equally due to Messrs. Bradbury, Agnew & Co. Ltd. for kind permission to reproduce three drawings from the pages of Punch.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

IN COLOUR

TONY WELLER OF THE BELLE SAUVAGE
THE INTRODUCTION
FRIVOLITY
THE WARRENER

IN BLACK AND WHITE

STUDY IN PENCIL
PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FROM "PUNCH"
WORKING PARIS AT LUNCHEON
THE DARE-DEVILS
"CHACUN" WITH HIS "CHACUNE"
BETHNAL GREEN
THE REAL ARTIST
NOTE FROM A PARIS SKETCH-BOOK
THE SUBURBANITE
FIRST SKETCH FOR THE SUBURBANITE
A GOOD STUDY
PEN-AND-INK DRAWING FROM "PUNCH"
A TRAGEDY IN MINIATURE
OUR CLUB
HAVING THE TIME OF HER LIFE
LE 'IGH KICK
A SPEECH AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT
FELIX OF THE "LAPIN AGILE"
VIVE L'ARMÉE
"GAZED ON HAROLD"
FROM A PARIS SKETCH-BOOK
THE DES(S)ERTS OF BOHEMIA
GOING IT!

Also Nineteen smaller illustrations mostly reproduced from sketch-books

STUDY IN PENCIL

FRANK REYNOLDS. I.

It has been said of Tolstoy, anatomising the grim skeleton of human nature, that his writings are more like life than life itself. Of Frank Reynolds, with gently satirical pen and pencil depicting the superficial humours of modern life, it might be said that his drawings, too, are more humanly natural than real flesh and blood. It is the peculiar faculty of the true observer that his eye pierces straight to the heart of what he sees, and his mind, disregarding mere detail, thereby receives and retains a clear perception of the essential, which those of less clear and direct vision fail to grasp more than momentarily, though they hail it with instant recognition when in its naked simplicity it is set before them. The process is unconscious, or at least but semi-conscious; for your professed observer has never that keen insight which, being native, is not to be acquired by even the most assiduous practice, and alone permits of truthful analysis.

In the making of the genuine humorist the faculty of observation is the first necessity. Consider the great pictorial humorists, whether dead or living, whose names are familiar in the mouth as household words. That they gained acknowledgment by masterly handling of the medium in which they chose to work is not to be denied. It is by the peculiar distinction of his technique, indeed, that the work of each, in a general way, is called to mind. But this fame was not achieved solely upon purely artistic merits. Charles Keene, George du Maurier, Phil May, Raven Hill, Bernard Partridge—it is rather for the happy fidelity of their transcripts from life than for the artistic sureness of their hands that they are and will be remembered.

It is the possession of just that subtle power of quiet but comprehensive observation which has obtained for Frank Reynolds the unique position which he occupies amongst the humorous artists of to-day.

For unique his position is. Other men are as funny as he, perhaps funnier. For when a determined man sets out with a fixed and unshakeable resolve to tickle your fancy, there is no limit to the means he may adopt to catch you unawares, and it shall go hard with him but he extorts from you a laugh, however tardy. Frank Reynolds makes no such desperate efforts. One might say, indeed, that he makes no effort at all. His simple method is to set down—with the most refined and delicate art—just one of those little scenes or incidents which everyone may every day everywhere witness.

Spectators of such a scene in real life, it is possible—probable, in fact—that we were in no way edified or amused. Not the veriest ghost of a smile, it is likely, flickered across our faces. But reproduced by the subtle humour of the artist, the inherent comedy of the situation stands revealed, and we chuckle. And our enjoyment is the greater for the skill with which the means are concealed by which this magical transformation is effected. We feel that we have discovered the comedy ourselves, not that it has been shown to us. The characters are so perfectly natural, so precisely as we know them and have seen them day after day. The secret lies in the artist's power of restraint. He exaggerates, he caricatures,—he must do so to bring his point home to our dull wits. But he does it with such nicety that the exaggeration and the caricature are unnoticed. Indeed, the terms are misleading. It is better to say that he emphasises.

Frank Reynolds reminds me, if he will forgive my saying so, of a certain profane 'bus-driver whom I have the privilege to number amongst my acquaintance. With this close student of human nature I have had the good fortune to enjoy frequent conversations, and many are the gestures which I recall of the whip-hand towards the pavement, accompanied by the remark (in effect), "Lumme, what funny things a bloke do see!" I confess freely that often I should entirely miss, but for the observant jerk of the whip, the said "funny thing"; and