Little Visits with Great Americans, Vol. 1 (of 2): Or Success, Ideals and How to Attain Them
History
Little Visits with Great Americans, Vol. 1 (of 2): Or Success, Ideals and How to Attain Them
Success; United States -- Biography; United States -- History -- 19th century -- Biography
“Partly,” he said, with a smile. “I used to see a good many photographs
of trout fishing in the Adirondacks; lines taut, and then hurling a
trout through the air, to land it in the canoe. So once I thought
I would try it myself. I went up there and fished for two weeks
in the rain. I am trying to think how to make the rain appear to
strike and bounce from the water. You know how water looks when it is
raining,”—and there came into his face a thoughtful and studious look,
showing how carefully he weighed every detail of his work.
Mr. Remington rises early, has breakfast at seven, and works until
three, when he takes his customary horseback ride across the country.
“Do you work from inspiration?” I asked.
“I do not know what you mean, exactly. I must have a study in my
mind, and then I work it out. Some mornings I can do but little; but
I am kept exceedingly busy with constant orders to fill, besides
illustrating my own articles.”
HOW HIS WAR PICTURES ARE MADE.
“That painting of the charge of the Rough Riders up San Juan hill, and
your other Cuban pictures, must have been interesting work.”
“I saw Roosevelt just before but not during the charge. But when you
see one, you see all. The fighting to-day is done in long, thin lines;
the solid formations are no longer used. It makes too great a target.
You are never out of range, for the bullets carry a mile and a half.
Most of the fighting is done lying down, the front line advancing, and
the others harassing the enemy. To me there was nothing enjoyable about
it. A correspondent is worse off than the soldier. He has no means
of transportation. Fortunately, in Cuba, I secured a horse the day
before the battle. I made a great number of sketches, but lost one of
my sketch books while crawling on my hands and knees through the long
grass. It contained many bits of action, which I wanted. I suppose
it was spoiled, or maybe someone found it. But in my younger days, I
actually enjoyed being in the midst of an Indian fight. The climate is
so different, and entirely to my liking, out west.”
We rose and viewed the studio.
“How do you get that peculiar alkali, yellowish air of the plains?” I
asked, as we stood before an example of Mr. Remington’s art.
“Only by having lived there, and after a dint of study. That is a dust
study.”
“And those blue shadows are correct?”
COLOR OF THE PLAINS.
“Yes; you cannot have a black shade out in the open, and the atmosphere
there causes that particular shade. That one above, though, which is
also a study, shows an almost steel gray shadow, while that other
one is still darker. These are ‘color notes,’ of Indian ponies, and
bronchos. There is no crest or arch to their necks. They are really
degenerated horses, but they can go.”
On a pedestal was a casting of the “Broncho Buster.”
“You must have modeled in clay before you did that.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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