The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 23, 1902, Page 4

STENEFOR.D Frforo ~SUNDAY OA U OB I ’ OT every youngster is a good model for the artist. Perhaps you thik that this is because not all yeungsters are pretty. Not at all: the prettiest are often not the best models. Some have heavenly blue eyes, flawless features, rounded shoulders, and are impossible the moment they get before the camera Occasionally a child whe is actually an ugly duckling is transformed in a photo- graph. g When cases like this occur it is usually because the child has always been told that-he was an ugly duckling until he is entirely indifferent to his looks. So his poses are all ‘unaffected. This is the great secret of the art. The child who is con- scious fails entirely to make a good pic- ture. Our one ideal of childhood is entire un- consciousness. We like it in grown peo- ple but we do not expect to find it more than once in a lifetime. So we come to accept affectations as the natural thing, <ven the affectation of naturaln But children are unforgivable when they know that they are charming or beautiful. Those who are graceful in their motions and poses have not of necessity regular features to be good models. The wise artist allows them to take their own poses. When they forget that they are being watched and that they ure expected to look pleasant they soon fall into their most delightful attitudes. 1f the child can be caught at play then the artist has smooth sailing. Photog- raphers all say that they wish they could do their work at the_child’s own home. Then there would be no strange surroundings to confuse the little one and brind out shyness and awkwardness. The youngster might be snapped in the midst of his Noah's Ark animals or sur- rounded by a family of dolls. Unfortu- nately the dolls and the animals that a photographer keeps on hand are not old friends like the ones at home, and Mollie and Jimmie do not always take kindly to strangers. Many children who are good models when they are dressed in their everyday clothes are entirely 1ll at ease in their Sunday best or In any fancy costume which they are unused to wearing. They immediately become self-consclous and this is the end of their charm. Otherd are unconcerned In anything you put them into. This is especially true of chiidren who have been on the stage. Baby Dody Is an example of this. She is ueed to the calctum, and the eye of the camera cannot stare a_youngster out of countenance when she knows the feeling of a great theater full of eyes. She has posed in all manner of costumes and she is entirely natural in whatever role she undertakes for the photographer. Her face is by no means regular of feature, but her graceful poses are the delight of the' photographer.. She chose her own position for the picture of “The Moon and 1, throwing her plump little arms up over her head in an easy way that the camera caught without any trouble, Conchita is a littie Spanish beauty who has been a boon to the artist. She has the true southern Instinct of grace, and she has good features as well. 8he can catch the fdea of a picture, which is remarkable In any model, most of all In & chid. The artist explainsg to her that she Is to represent a country maiden 8he takes on a demure and unsophisti- cated look, as much w0 as if she had never seen Han Franecisco. 8he s given #ome &prays of grain to represent aue tumn and she knows the trick of cateh- ||\\|l\om up Hghtly in her arms without a hint of ‘‘posing. ™ Little Hu!l\!rr“o Lovett has some of the same eleverness (n catching the art- ist's theuaht, Tt fa her quick Imagina- tion which accomplishes this. Artists often say that they are themselves the beat medels because they know what an- other artist wants, Sometimes these un- eanscious little people show the same {mwen It 18 intultive In their case, for hey have no way of reasoning out the meaning of a plcture as an older person can, Little Marguerite was given a butterfly. *Pretend that you have just caught it and you are pi; g with it, Marguerite,” she was inst 3 “But I mus ¥ I ain’t goin’ to hurt it she held it as lightiy and gently been a live insect which she tenderly guarding. Thelma E ton has a roguish pair of blue eyes that make a witch of her when she laughs for a picture. Ske can look like the spirit of mischief itself when she peeps out from under a great Japane parasol. She can turn grave and cheru- bic, too, on the instant if the artist calls upon her for such a pose. Her flaxen curls fit a cherub pose one moment, the next they form a screen from which her mischief-loving eyes peep out. The swift changes in a child’s moods make it difficult to catch a likeness. Painters realize this and often give up in despair when asked to paint a little one. The camera can do what no painter € for it can work instantaneouslv The fleeting expression can be caught. Even so there is no real success unless the child is a good poser. He must ve able to hold a ¥ on_and an expression for the few mom aring which prep- arations for the exposure are being made. Alice Barnum has a serious face at times and she is a good study for thoug! fu' poses. She is precocious at th av ing a dreamy look that is far beyond her years. Her mouth droops a bit sadly at the corners. For a baby picture of “Med- itation™ she is an excellent model. Little Miss Cohn is another serious miss who looks as pensive as if she had love troubles all her own. Her long lashes veil drooping eyes. Her posing is entirely unprofessional, entirely natural. Sam Dougherty is one of the few boys who_makes satisfactory subjects for the photographer. He is a manly looking lit- tle fellow who forgets that he is being persecuted when he is taken to'the pho- tographer, Most boys have as great an abhorrence of this ordeal as they have of the dentist. He makes a good subject for a sailor lad picture, for he has the sturdiness as well as the grace required. His hair is always a tously mass of curls that look as If the wind had been playing in them. His eyes are dark, which is usually an advantage in photography, as the light shades of blue and gray seldom show their beauty in a photograph. Master Roberts knows how to pose be- cause he knows or thinks nothing about it. His face is not beautiful, but it is full of character and for this reason he is ten times as good a subject to the gen- uine artist as a merely pretty boy would Lef The same is true of Master Neilson; Lis childish face is full of strength. The pleture of him at work with his pen is a tascinating bit of realism; the tension of the little cramped hand that holds the pen, the unnecessarily firm pressure of the paper as if it might get away, the in- tentness, all make a strong study. Un- less the child had been without all seif- consciousness this could never have been achleved. However, the children do not deserve all e —— So great has been the de- mand for the first installment of “The Octopus,” published in The Sunday Call of November ® that only a few coples of that edition remain. If you missed the first nomber of this great story apply fo- The Sun- duy ¢ of that date at once or you will be too late. “The Octopus” was written by the late Frank Norris. It is Mr. Norris’ strongest novel. It han justly beer consider- ed the nearest approach to the “great American movel” ever written. It purtrays life and scenes in California mere vividly than any other book extant. now running in. The ¥ Call No extra charge! And by this means you vead the hest novel of the day—FRFE — -