This was great fun and during this stage of experience I enjoyed daily contact with many brilliant and unusual men, one of whom was Mr. T. S. Sullivant, though a great caricaturist, he was especially interested in animals and a wonderful draughtsman. I owe a great deal to his kind help and advice. Also, about this time I chanced to meet and form a close relationship with Walt Kuhn, who had just returned from a course of study in Munich under Heinrich Zügel, the noted painter of domestic animals. Kuhn gave me an insight to the principles of construction and organization of form, and I am glad to herewith acknowledge my indebtedness to him. But I must not neglect to say that all the while I consistently applied every spare moment to work in the Zoological Park, endeavoring to perfect my drawings to the point where they might be acceptable to the illustrated magazines.
[About four years of [doing the Bugville cartoons] I felt ready to try my wings at the real thing and one fine day [in 1906] I went down to Philadelphia to see if I could get into the Sat. Eve. Post offices with my portfolio of drawings.The Post was then in the old building on Arch Street and I don’t know whether that location or it’s comparatively small circulation made it less guarded but at any rate I got in and before I left I sold Mr. Geo. Harold Lorimer four covers and some smaller drawings and got the promise of an early story. Merely to illustrate the assurance and complacency of youth I may say that though I was naturally happy I did not consider this a remarkable achievement but as I think of it now I am completely amazed and I believe it is a record – at least I’ve never heard of anything like it.] This success so encouraged me that I forthwith abandoned the newspaper comic strip and launched into the field of serious magazine and book illustration. A partial list of these books may be had in a note of my work in Who’s Who in Art and American Art Annual.
William T. Hornaday, the director of the New York Zoological Park, was a strong advocate of the value of wild-life art in the mission of the Zoo. The 1896 Annual Report of the New York Zoological Society includes the following statement:
We propose to encourage and facilitate the production of high-class drawings, paintings and sculptures of wild animals. We deplore the fact that by reason of a general lack of support from American art galleries and the patrons of art, and also in many cases from the lack of good subjects from which to work, the painting of American wild animals, save for purposes of illustration, is to-day almost an unknown branch of art. Although our magnificent series of large game animals is rapidly passing away, the walls of nearly if not quite all the great art galleries of America are absolutely destitute of representations of them, much less of such representations as their size, beauty and importance richly deserve! In a word, we propose to take the initiative in stimulating the production of paintings and sculptures of American wild animals, while there are yet a few animals to serve as models.
It is proposed that the Society's library building shall contain studios and workrooms for zoological artists and students, where the earnest worker shall have every facility and encouragement that it is possible to afford him. The building should also contain a gallery for the display of animal paintings and sculptures. Already there has been provided in the plan of the lion house a spacious studio, connecting with the the series of cages, in which on regular occasions animals may be placed in a large central cage of special construction , and used as models by artists who desire to avail themselves of the privilege.
In the preface to his American Natural History (1904), Hornaday advocates for the value of pictorial illustrations as opposed to photographs:
A final word must be added regarding the illustrations. Probably no other author ever had a more tempting opportunity for completely filling a volume with photographs of animals. But, while I am an ardent admirer of the best results in animal photography, and a diligent user of them, I also recognize the limitations of the camera.
The demands of a zoological illustration are inexorable; and all too often the camera ignores some of them. A perfect zoological portrait of an animal must possess clear and distinct outlines, showing a side view, and perfect details. A picture sans feet, tail, ears, eyes or legs, is not a portrait; and a ball of fur, even though photographed, is not necessarily an animal. Very often, also, the most perfect photograph of a spiritless animal in captivity utterly fails to convey a just and adequate impression of the species as it is seen at its best, on its native heath. [The profusely illustrated book contained 227 original drawings and 116 photographs.]
"Cornered," John L. Wehle Gallery, Genessee Country Village & Museum, c. 1926
Paul Bransom exhibited this drawing entitled "Cornered" a number of times. Comparison of it to two preliminary drawings illustrates well Bransom's use of small sketches to work out the composition of a work
Changes can be seen in the positioning of the animals and their relationships to the surrounding landscape. These sketches demonstrate his regular practice of using a grid. This both facilitated the transfer and enlargement of a composition and also reminded him of the two dimensional surface of the composition, "giving special attention to the harmonious arrangement of the shapes of the areas involved." In the drawing on the right, Bransom places the snarling muzzle of the bear just above the absolute center of the composition. He raises the bear and the most distant dog higher on the picture plane and makes their poses more vertical. These changes enhance the dramatic confrontation of the bear and the dog. Comparison to the drawing on the left shows how he has shifted the positioning of the foreground dogs to be coming more from the corners of the image. These diagonals serve both to create recession into depth and a dramatic compositional movement leading to the snarling bear. Similarly he balances the rocky background on the left with the prominent tree in the middle ground on the right. This again creates a sense of plunging into depth and another strong diagonal movement across the composition reinforced by the sloping hill. He also uses the ridge of the mountain in the background to converge on the bear. In the second drawing Bransom placed a tree stump between the bear and the primary dog. In the final work the stump is replaced by another dog. This intensifies the central confrontation.
These small sketches also allowed Bransom to experiment with his use of light and dark so critical to his final images. Making the valley in the background in the right hand sketch lighter has allowed Bransom to bring out more dramatically the confrontation between the bear and the most distant dog. The snarling muzzle of the bear and the barren tree on the right are dramatically silhouetted against the lighter background.
These changes illustrate well Bransom's point that "any picture subject may be presented in a thousand different ways."
Animals and Anatomy:
All animals (including man, for man is an animal) have the same basic construction and mechanical "hook up". This construction is built around the spine (backbone), a long string of small bones (vertebrae) fitted together with the skull at one end and the tail at the other. The spine and its skull are carried around by two articulated bridgeheads --the arms and legs in man, the front legs and rear legs in animals....
While all animals, birds, and reptiles are basically similar in construction, there are variations in size and shape of the same bones in different animals, as well as shapes of skull and toes. This is based on the need and environment of the individual animal, and does not alter the basic fact that all animals function on the same mechanical construction. You must keep this concept in your mind as you draw.
You will note on the drawings illustrating this lesson that the most important bones and bone edges are emphasized by heavy, black lines. These are the bones which are always evident on the outside of the animal and directly affect its appearance and movement....
These key bones and bone edges are of utmost importance, for they are your navigation stars or guides as you draw your way through the seemingly complicated sea shapes, curves, and angles of all animal subjects, resting or moving.
As you draw, always think of the creature as a piece of construction built on its bony frame, rather than as an outline shape or flat silhouette. In fact, you should visualize your animal as you would visualize a barn or shed, with sills, studding, plates, and rafters. Just as the carpenter begins with his frame structure, you begin with a simple but definite bone structure for your animal. The principal muscles, details of expression, hide, color patterns, etc. all will follow in due course --in the right places!
It must be understood that this lesson will go into only such anatomy as is necessary to you as an artist. The drawings have been created to help you understand the principles of construction so you may 'build' your animals in any pose you desire. The pose should depend on your knowledge, association, and sensitivity to the habits and character of the type of animal you have chosen.
And practice makes perfect --much, much drawing from nature. Information gained from association and sympathy with animals is the indispensable ingredient for success....
Animal artists, of course, do not have to keep up-to-date on fashion design, yet they must become well-informed and familiar with all sorts of natural phenomena --skies, water, trees, rocks, grasses, everything for the appropriate background-- but not just any landscape background. Each animal must be drawn in the right environment for his particular type....
There is a strong resemblance among domestic and wild dogs, in spite of proportional variations in size of ears, length of nose, shape of eyes. However, we must consider the great difference in temperament. Through centuries of association with man, domestic dogs have developed a trusting benevolent attitude toward life. The wolf, coyote, fox, and jackal, on the other hand, are hostile, crafty, and suspicious because they have had to meet the harsh realities of a hostile world. The animal artist must express these differences through subtle exaggerations of certain features and attitudes....
The destination of the final version of this preparatory drawing is not known. It exemplifies Bransom's interest in the psychology and not just the physical form of animals. He would say paying attention only to the anatomy of an animal is like an actor reciting the words with perfect diction but without emotion. Yes he knew the anatomy of the animals he drew, but he also studied their characteristic poses. He encouraged quick drawings from life and moving on to a separate drawing when the animal changes poses. From practice over time, an astute observer will be able to isolate characteristic stances of an animal. In these different stances the psychology of the animal emerges. The wariness of the two wolves is brought out by their guarded stances and their fixed attention on the potential threat posed by the intruding observer.
