Since I mentioned Franklin Booth’s intricate designs last week in opposition to Kuindji’s painting, Booth’s artwork has been on my mind. Not that it isn’t there often, Booth is a personal favorite of mine and as an ink artist it’s the type of intricacy that I want to feature in my own works.
So I spent the last hour oogling my Booth book.
“Look at that one!”
“There’s the tiger, what a bad ass image.”
“Wow that’s my fav–no, that’s my favor–no…”
Franklin Booth, The Valley of Silence
After being in awe for the hour, after what was supposed to be a quick minute checking out just one piece for this article, I came to the realization that many of Booth’s ink pieces show something magnificent.
Franklin Booth, The Heavenly Hills of Holland
We are infinitesimal within the magnificence of the world, and Booth used both open space and thousands of lines to set incredible scenes. The white highlight in the cloud above starkly contrasts with the near-black of the windmill. The windmill might be the spot your eye moves to, but the idea only works because Booth used lighter textures above. The darkness accentuates the tiny humanity in the wonder of nature.
Booth still managed to keep humanity grounded in many of his pieces of grandeur, such as “The Remembered Dream.” We are still in a massive environment, and it feels as though the cathedral might just crush us with its impending size:
Franklin Booth, The Remembered Dream
Despite the enormous scene, we can still identify with the characters in it.The man centered in the clearing, with his back to us, seems to have the same awe as we do. Or we could be the terrified crowd, fleeing from the horror above. Booth brought us both the expansive cathedral looming above and the intimate crowd around us, and as the viewer we can’t stop looking at either.
With his intricate linework, wonderful composition, and hectic scene, I find it hard to look away. I want to examine all the detail in the cathedral, looking for the terror above. I want to find all of the different faces and emotions Booth created in the crowd, each seemingly unique from the others.
I want to be the man, in his remembered dream, hoping someday to have a day like that myself.
References
The information below came from a wonderful book by John Flesk: Franklin Booth: Painter with a Pen.
See previous editions and subscribe to new articles here.
The Valley of Silence
Annual of the Society of Illustrators
1911
The Heavenly Hills of Holland
Harper’s Magazine
1917
The Remembered Dream
Scribner’s Magazine
1917
