How to fly (preparatory drawing)

Preparatory drawing for Way of Flying. It is almost identical to the print, as it shows the same characters with flying contraptions. The main difference with the engraving lies in the daylight radiating from the drawing, which has nothing to do with the dark aquatint of the print, apparently added in the 1864 edition of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It has the marks of having been passed through the press.

The present drawing is quite different from the other preparatory studies for the series of the Follies, which were executed very freely, in contrast to the great meticulousness seen here, which can be explained by the fact that the print for which this drawing is a preparatory study was probably not conceived as an integral part of the series but was incorporated into it afterwards.