Actress Sketchbook

On this page I have collected some sketches of the actresses that appear on my pages taken from period publications (see below for more information).

Maud Allan Mary Anderson Dorothea Baird Sarah Bernhardt Mrs Brown-Potter Mrs Brown-Potter Billie Burke Mrs Patrick Campbell Constance Collier Gaby Deslys May De Sousa Maxine Elliott Anna Held Maude Jeffries Evelyn Millard Julia Neilson Olga Nethersole Adelina Patti Gabrielle Rejane Gaynor Rowlands Marie Studholme Ellaline Terriss Irene Vanbrugh Violet Vanbrugh CLOSE
To leaf through my sketchbook below just click on the name of the actress in the list on the left to open the book at that page.

In the late 19th/early 20th century photo journalism was still in its relative infancy. Whilst it was certainly possible to reproduce photographs in newsprint, there were certain difficulties in doing so. Photographic equipment was still relatively slow and bulky and inefficient modes of tranportation made 'johnny on the spot' photographs of the type produced by the modern day paparazzi difficult to come by. Add to that the fact that simple black and white sketches were much easier to work with and produced clearer results in print. Consequently many newspapers still employed the services of sketch artists to illustrate their stories.