Hey Pam – I know what you mean about the good/bad melt! I always try to remember that there’s no one else who can be me. So learn and then think, how can I bring the learning into my own work?
Thank you for sharing the resource – that’s marvellous!! I had recently been guided to it in another instance but hadn’t thought to check for Russell’s book there. And I laughed at the “s”/”f” conundrum. Love that you’ve shared this all with us!!

I just wanted to share an incredible resource site, for anyone interested in reading The Elements of Painting in Crayon. This wonderful archive site has produced search results for me several times when looking for old books, music, films, etc. Take a look at their Projects page! (There’s so many good causes to support!)

Russell’s book is a work of art itself – hand bound, marbled paper, leather cover, etc. Of course, it’s all text, as art books were in the day, but I plan on reading it when time allows. Of course, typefaces were different then. I had to laugh – when reading the opening chapter, I asked myself, “What is a tafle? Must be some old artists’ term.” And then I looked closer and realized that, back then, the ‘s’ was often the same height and curvature as an ‘f’. He was talking about ‘taste’ LOL. It’s like reading Shakespeare – takes a while to get in the groove.

Thanks, as always, Gail. You find the best examples to take us deep-diving with you. Happy crayoning!

Oooooooo that’s so wonderful to hear Kay!!!

Ohhhhh I’m so glad you took time looking at the details Andi.
And yes, those eyes! The successful creation of eyes (and much else as you’ve pointed out) often comes down to shapes, values, and edge quality rather than lines/outlines.

Thanks for bringing up the comparison of materials available now and then Wendy. It’s amazing what can be accomplished even with limited supplies!

You’re welcome Meg! And I’m glad it got you looking more closely at it.
If you look in the lower right corner, you can see what looks like the beige colour of paper. The Getty doesn’t tell us the colour of the paper. Often, the paper used was a blue colour which often has faded over time.