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 HANDBOOK OF DRAWING.
 
 FIG. 152,
 
 HANDBOOK OF DRAWING 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM WALKER 
 
 LECTURER AND TEACHES OF FREEHAND DRAWING IN THE OWENS COLLEGE 
 
 WITH UPWARDS OF TWO HUNDRED WOODCUTS 
 AND DIAGRAMS 
 
 'Art is universal in its influence ; so may it be in its practice, if it proceed from a 
 sincere heart and quick observation. In this case it may be the merest sketch, or the 
 most elaborate imitative finish. Either will be whole and perfect.' GOETHE. 
 
 American from ilje Sfecoub (Kitglblj 
 
 * NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 743 AND 745 BROADWAY 
 
 1880
 
 Art 
 Library 
 
 1(0 
 
 PREFACE 
 TO THE AMEKICAN EDITION. 
 
 THE very fair proposal of Messrs. Scribner to 
 issue this Handbook in America aifords me the sat- 
 isfactory prospect of extended usefulness amongst 
 the real amateurs of a great country ; and I shall 
 indulge the hope that it may meet with as kind 
 and appreciative a reception in America as it has 
 done in England. 
 
 WILLIAM WALKER. 
 
 THE OWENS COLLEGE, 
 Manchester, February, 1880. vii
 
 PREFACE 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 THE purpose of this work is to furnish such informa- 
 tion on Elementary Art Education as is not likely to be met 
 with in any other compact form. It has been prepared 
 under the guiding principle that all true education consists 
 in the cultivation of the judgment. 
 
 Books of Examples, good and bad, are in abundance ; 
 but the language of Art, any more than Greek or Ger- 
 man, is not to be learned by merely copying its signs. 
 Art has its grammatical elements and rules, and should be 
 studied in its exact delineative and intellectual aspect, as 
 well as in its more emotional expression. The former will 
 find its sphere in the class-room, the latter amidst the 
 beauties of Nature, or in the studio. 
 
 The information here presented, and the practice 
 recommended, will enable the student to make* truth- 
 ful and significant outlines, and drawings from outlines 
 and diagrams put before him in lecture-rooms and 
 
 elsewhere. 
 
 ix
 
 x Preface. 
 
 The work has been prepared chiefly during intervals 
 of physical suffering, and has many imperfections. Two 
 courses only were open to me either to let the hours pass 
 away useless to others as to myself, or to bring out the book 
 in its present form, and I chose the latter. The desire and 
 duty to help my fellows are my reasons and apology for 
 issuing this little volume. 
 
 WILLIAM WALKER. 
 
 Fairlands, Hayfield.
 
 ADDRESS TO STUDENTS. 
 
 As a false start, or a wrong bias, may lead to failure, 
 an inquiry or two, which perhaps has not occurred spon- 
 taneously in entering upon this new field of work, is here 
 suggested, and a few indispensable facts are stated which 
 may prevent such wrong tendency at the outset. 
 
 In the first place, then, let us ask, Why do we wish 
 to learn to draw ? To reply, Because we like it, would 
 hardly be deemed satisfactory, or worthy of thoughtful 
 men ; but if our reply should be, Because it may be useful, 
 that certainly would be more reasonable. But, suppose 
 our answer should take a higher form, and we should 
 say that we wish to study Art in order to develop in 
 us those nobler faculties which God has given for the 
 appreciation of His works in nature cesthetically, as Science 
 enables us to do intellectually, then we at once come to the 
 root of the matter ; we start with a worthy motive, and 
 may reasonably expect success. 
 
 In beginning, then, the study of this new language, 
 let us ask, "What course will be most likely to secure the 
 results we seek ? The answer would undoubtedly be, 
 That course which would lead to an acquaintance with 
 the fundamental principles on which the Art is based. 
 Just so. And in the pursuit of any subject of this nature 
 we should naturally expect to go through some labour, 
 perhaps drudgery, of preparation, equivalent to learning
 
 xii Address to Students. 
 
 French verbs, or writing Greek hexameters, and not unwill- 
 ingly, provided always that we were * certain that such 
 labour would bring us nearer to the desired goal. 
 
 It is just in this temper that we ask a student to study 
 Art, remembering at the same time that, whilst French 
 verbs and Greek hexameters will occasionally be useful 
 and pleasant, the language he now proposes to study is 
 closely related to everything about him ; and that, in 
 fact, many of the Arts and Sciences are utterly incom- 
 prehensible without its aid. What would be thought 
 of a work on Physics, or Chemistry, or Anatomy, or 
 any physical science whatever, without illustrations ? 
 Language alone is one of the worst means of expressing 
 form, while drawing is incomparably the best. Physical 
 science stands still so soon as it becomes <a reasoned 
 statement instead of a sense-subjected fact.' To a medical 
 student drawing will be as indispensable as Latin ; and 
 even Mathematics would be impossible of acquirement 
 without sensible form. 
 
 To learn, there should be action with perception, and 
 enjoyment with power ; for ' Art is conversant with hand 
 and eye, main sources of power, pleasure, and perception.' 
 
 A youthful mind should not stand, phial-like, to re- 
 ceive so much instruction from this master, now so much 
 from that so much Chemistry, then so much Geology 
 and so on ; but rather it should be treated as a mysterious 
 agent, which, gathering to itself knowledge of all kinds, 
 weaves it into a new development of that which is the 
 i 111:11:0 of God Himself.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IF it were announced on the Manchester Exchange, or 
 amongst any other large gathering of intelligent men, that 
 not one in every hundred of them could see correctly the 
 appearance of the walls or windows about them, it might 
 cause no small amount of surprise, if not disconcert ; yet 
 such is probably the fact. 
 
 Millions of persons pass through life unconscious of the 
 change that takes place in the appearance of things around 
 us, yet each time we move an, inch a complete alteration 
 in the appearance of everything is the result. Appear- 
 ances are constantly at variance with facts, and vision, 
 like any other faculty, requires cultivation. It is not be- 
 cause our eyes are open that we therefore see. The mind 
 requires to be furnished with some means by which the 
 eye may be able to judge accurately of the form which 
 every object assumes under various aspects. This contin- 
 ual change of things is an infinite source of pleasure, es- 
 pecially when we are in the midst of landscape, but is so 
 constant and common to us that we fail fully to enjoy it. 
 If there were not variety both in general form and color, 
 as well as in the detailed appearances of things, the world 
 would be full of monotony. An oblong room is more 
 pleasant to dwell in than a square one. A circular room 
 would be wearisome.
 
 xiv Introduction. 
 
 The actually different hues and colours in the world is 
 another infinite source of pleasure, but much enjoyment 
 of it is lost because we are not quick to observe, or we have 
 not been trained fully to appreciate. If a knowledge of 
 music, and a well-trained ear, are necessary to a full ap- 
 preciation and enjoyment of sound, how important is it 
 that the mind should be furnished with all the helps, both 
 of knowledge and feeling (love), so necessary to the appre- 
 ciation and enjoyment of the charms of form and colour by 
 which we are surrounded. If it be considered necessary 
 that young persons should spend so much time in the prac- 
 tice of music, is it not equally important to cultivate the 
 eye to observe, and the hand to note things in this beauti- 
 ful world, which would immensely enlarge and enrich our 
 minds with fine thoughts and imagery ? 
 
 As the eye is the most important gateway of knowledge, 
 so far as the physical world is concerned, it ought to re- 
 ceive great culture, even with only a utilitarian motive, 
 for the time is rapidly approaching when drawing will 
 demand its right place in education in this country. With 
 the Greeks, writing and drawing were synonymous ; and 
 in France and Germany every child is taught to draw just 
 as he is taught to write, and much time is given to the 
 practice of both ; and if England is to hold her own in 
 the Arts she must pay more attention to the right teach- 
 ing of drawing and the principles of Art as a primary 
 step. 
 
 Every purchase we make of anything with a design 
 or pattern about it, encourages good or bad Art, though
 
 Introduction. xv 
 
 we do not think so at the time. We are too apt to buy 
 what pleases us, instead of what is good in quality and pure 
 in design, as well as suited to its place and purpose. 
 
 No doubt everybody has taste ; but taste may be good 
 and pure, or it may be bad and false. If those who buy 
 Art, and are in a sense its patrons, do not know what is 
 good, so as to distinguish it from what is bad, it is useless 
 to expect manufacturers to work artistically, or shopmen 
 to sell that which is true, they must prepare what the 
 public will buy. It is most desirable, therefore, that the 
 public generally, as well as the manufacturer, should know 
 what is right in Art. 
 
 True education in man, whether as applied to Art or 
 morals, is that which fits him to become the highest and 
 best of his nature's capability ; first, in view of the 
 Infinite Creator of all things, the * Father of us all ; ' and, 
 secondly, in view of himself and his surroundings, whether 
 of the material universe the world, or of the spiritual 
 universe, as manifested in man, and perfectly only in the 
 one perfect Man. In this great work surely the study of 
 Art is an important factor.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. ON DRAWING 1 
 
 II. ON THE EYE 7 
 
 III. ON SEEING AND OBSERVING ...... 12 
 
 IV. ON HOLDING THE PENCIL 20 
 
 V. ON LINES ......... 23 
 
 VI. ON OUTLINE 26 
 
 VII. ON SKETCHING 29 
 
 Vni. ON LIGHT AND SHADE 37 
 
 IX. ON DRAWING FROM FLAT COPIES 55 
 
 X. SUGGESTIONS FOR A COURSE OF STUDY .... 57 
 
 XI. ON CONTRAST ......... 76 
 
 XII. ON RELIEF . . 81 
 
 xra. ON SIZE . . . ..... ... . 83 
 
 XIV. ON PROPORTION . . ..... . 86 
 
 XV. ON SYMMETRY . . . . . . . . . 89 
 
 XVI. ON SECURING CHARACTER IN ART WORK .... 92 
 
 XVII. ON TASTE . .'.'-. 95 
 
 XVIII. ON STYLE 99 
 
 XIX. ON MOTIVE 101 
 
 XX. ON BEAUTY . . . _ 107 
 
 XXI. ON FITNESS ... . . . . . . 110 
 
 XXII. ON VARIETY . 112 
 
 b xvii
 
 xviii Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIII. ON UNITY 118 
 
 XXIV. ON COMPOSITION 120 
 
 XXV. ON LIOUT AND SHADE AS APPLIED TO GROUPS OF OBJECTS 
 
 AND TO PICTURES 130 
 
 XXVI. LAWS OP NATURE, AND THEIR APPLICATION AS PRINCI- 
 PLES OF ART 138 
 
 XXVII. SKETCH, STUDY, PICTURE 145 
 
 XXVIII. ON GRASS, HERBAGE, ETC 153 
 
 XXIX. ON TREES 160 
 
 XXX. ON PRACTICE FOR TREE DRAWING 181 
 
 XXXI. ON WATER 187 
 
 XXXII. ON SKIES 193 
 
 XXXIII. ON DRAWING FIGURES AND ANIMALS .... 204 
 
 XXXIV. ON CRITICISM 210 
 
 PART II. 
 
 XXXV. ON PERSPECTIVE. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS . . . 215 
 
 XXXVI. ON ARTISTIC PERSPECTIVE 218 
 
 XXXVII. ON TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE 238 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A. ON CHILDREN'S DRAWING ....... 263 
 
 B. ON THE DIASCOPE 264 
 
 C. PENCIL-IN-HAND MEASUREMENT 266 
 
 D. NOTE ON TEACHING 207
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Frontispiece. PAaE 
 
 Rough sketches of tea-kettle, &c 2, 3 
 
 Figs. 1, 2. Order for a box. Moulding 
 
 ,, 3. 'Effect' for Frontispiece 13 
 
 ,, 4, 5. Lotus plant. Scroll 15 
 
 ,, 6, Iron bracket for lamp 16 
 
 ,, 7, la. Hands 20 
 
 ,, 1b, c. Hand and pencils .21 
 
 Id. File box 22 
 
 ,, 8, 9, 10. Rectilinear, curvilinear, and compound forms . 24 
 
 11, 12, 13. Circle, cube, apple 26 
 
 ,, 14, 15, 16, 17. Irregular form, shoe, convolvulus, stone . 27 
 
 ,, 18, 19. Sketch of wheel. Outline of picture ... 30 
 
 ,, 20. Coast scene, by J. D. Harding 32 
 
 21. Female figures, by J. D. Harding .... 33 
 
 22. Outlines of faces . . . . . . .34 
 
 ,, 23. Outlines of tree trunks 35 
 
 ,, 24. Window .... . . . . .36 
 
 ,, 25. Diagram, showing rays of light 39 
 
 ,, 26. Illumination of objects 40 
 
 ,, 27. Jar and hoop, showing cast shadows .... 41 
 
 ,, 28, 29. Blocks, showing reflections 43 
 
 ,, 30. Base of pillar and stick, showing cast shadows . . 45 
 
 ,, 31. Doorways, showing effect of cast shadow ... 46
 
 xx List of Illustrations. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Figs. 3 la. Opening in wall, showing retirement of shade . . 46 
 
 32. Wooden platter and knife ...... 47 
 
 ., 33. Portion of tree 48 
 
 34. Pillar . . ... . . . *. .49 
 
 35,36. Pairs of feet . . . . . /. .51 
 
 37, 38, 39. Roofs 52 
 
 Old twine shed 54 
 
 ,, 40. Leaves ' blocking in' 59 
 
 Flat tint GO 
 
 ,, 41. Outline sketch of boat 61 
 
 Graduated tint 63 
 
 ,, 42, 43, 44. Different views of squares 65 
 
 ,, 45,46. Two views of round table 66 
 
 ,, 47. Transparent cube 67 
 
 ,, 48, 49. Angular views of squares 67 
 
 ., 50. Angular view of square 68 
 
 51. Eye-stand 69 
 
 52, 53. Chairs 70 
 
 54,55. Barreland 'What-not' 70 
 
 56. Portions of cylinders ........ 71 
 
 57. Outline sketch, after J. M. W. Turner ... 72 
 
 ,,58. M ... 73 
 
 59, 60. Diagrams, to show contrast 77 
 
 61. 78 
 
 ,, 62. Dancing figures, after Watteau, by J. D. Harding . 79 
 
 Boat 80 
 
 68, 64, 65. Arches, showing relative size .... 84 
 
 ,, 66. Diagram, showing proportion 87 
 
 . . 67. Ovals, showing symmetry 90 
 
 Landscape 91
 
 List of Illustrations. xxi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Pigs. 68, 69. Twigs, showing character 92 
 
 70. Hamper ,, 94 
 
 71, 72. Jugs . ' 96 
 
 Scroll .."....-.... 98 
 
 Umbrella ' . .-100 
 
 73, 74. Child's drawing, showing truth and falseness . 101 
 
 Acorn . . . . * 106 
 
 Vase -109 
 
 ,, 75. Diagram of circle, showing segments .... 113 
 
 76. oval . . . . lt4 
 
 76a, b. ovals . ... . . . 115 
 
 ,, 77. ,, showing how to construct ovoids . .116 
 
 Rhine boats . ... . . . .117 
 
 ,, 78. Contents of a pocket . .- 121 
 
 ,, 79, 80. Two compositions, glass, sketch-book, &c. . . 122 
 ,, 81, 82, 83, 84. Lines, showing relation, &c. . . . 123 
 
 ,, 85, 86. Crocus, vase 123 
 
 ,, 87, 88. Composition lines in pictures .... 124 
 
 , 89, 90. .-.'..'. 124 
 
 ,,91. .'.._.. 125 
 
 92. The discovered letter '. . ... . . .125 
 
 ,, 93. The prisoner 126 
 
 ,, 94, 95. Composition lines 126 
 
 96, 97. Repose and Contrast . . ... .127 
 
 ,, 98. Division of picture . . , . . . 128 
 
 . ~ ....... .129 
 
 99. Bolton Abbey, by J. D. Harding . . . .134 
 
 ,, 100. Italian buildings ,, . _ 135 
 
 ,, 101. Lane in Surrey ,, ... . . 136 
 
 Bit of road . 137
 
 xxii List of Illustrations. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Figs. 102, 103. Primitive candlesticks 139 
 
 104, 105. Candlesticks 140 
 
 106. Candlestick 141 
 
 107, 108, 109. Cups 142 
 
 110. Facsimile of Wilkie's first idea of the ' Rabbit on the 
 
 Wall' 147 
 
 111. Sketch of field-flower 148 
 
 112. beehive 148 
 
 ,, 113. Sketch of sheep on a common 148 
 
 .. 114. old window 149 
 
 115. ,, Dame Campbell's henroost .... 149 
 
 116. bridge 150 
 
 117. Study of tree trunk 151 
 
 H8. .. grass blades 152 
 
 119, 120. Outlines of leaf .156 
 
 121, 122. Notes of leaves . . .157 
 
 . . 123, 124. Preparation for grass . . . .-'"-. . 158 
 
 125. Herbage 159 
 
 ,, 126. Concentric rings of tree trunk 163 
 
 127, 128, 129, 130. Oak leaves and spray . . . .164 
 
 ,,, 131, 132. Branches of oak and sycamore .... 165 
 
 183. Oak tree . 168 
 
 .. 134. Ash tree 169 
 
 .. 135. Ash spray 171 
 
 ,, ' 136. Umbrella diagram 172 
 
 ,, 137. Shade exercise 173 
 
 ,, 138. Sycamore tree 174 
 
 139. Birch tree 175 
 
 ,, 140. Shade exercise 176 
 
 141. Beech stems (J. D. Harding) ... 177
 
 List of Illustrations. xxiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Figs. 142. Scotch fir 179 
 
 ,, 143, 144. Tree-shade exercise 182 
 
 ,, 145. Exercise for tree contour 183 
 
 146,147. , 184 
 
 ,, 148. Portion of oak 185 
 
 Tree trunk 186 
 
 149. Diagrams, showing angle of reflection . . . 188 
 
 150. 189 
 
 151. Looking-glass, &c - . . . 189 
 
 ,, 152. Frontispiece. 
 
 ,, 153. Diagrams, showing curvature of waves . . . 190 
 
 ,, 154. Cumulus at rest 198 
 
 155. after travel . . . . . . .199 
 
 ,, 156. Creeping mist 202 
 
 ,, 157. Clouds seen from above ...... 203 
 
 158. Coast scene (J. D. Harding) 206 
 
 159. 207 
 
 160, 161, 162. Figures, after Prout . . . . .209 
 
 163. Figures, after J. D. Harding 209 
 
 164. Oak spray .217 
 
 ,, 165. Transparent cube 218 
 
 Cube diagram . . ' . . . . ". 218 
 
 168. Book . . . ... i| . . , -219 
 
 169. Cube . . . . . . . . . . 220 
 
 170. Arm-chair .... . . . ; . . .220 
 
 171, 172, 173. Outline blocks . . . . . .221 
 
 174. Transparent cubes . ./ 222 
 
 175. Twenty cubes . ... . . ... 223 
 
 ,, 176. Transparent cubes upright ..... 224 
 
 177. Interior of room . , 225
 
 xxiv List of Illustrations. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Figs. 178. Diagram of room 226 
 
 179, 180. Blocks of buildings 227 
 
 181, 182. Two views of shed 228 
 
 183, 184. Uphill and downhill 229 
 
 ,, 185, 186. Angular view of square and cube . . . 230 
 
 ,, 187. Angular view of cube 231 
 
 188. Transparent cube 232 
 
 189. cubes 233 
 
 190. Block of buildings 238 
 
 ,, 191. Angular view of cube 234 
 
 192, 193, 194. Chairs and piano . . . . . .235 
 
 195. Group of models 237 
 
 196, 197. Square and circle 239 
 
 198, 199, 2CO. Ground plan and views of three cubes . . 240 
 
 201, 202, 203. six cubes . . 241 
 
 204. Block of buildings from same ground plan . . 242 
 
 Diagram 1. Appliance, illustrative of perspective terms . . 244 
 2, 8. Showing same in profile, and flat . * . 245 
 ,, 4, 5. ,, how to find distance points and vanish- 
 ing points 248 
 
 6, 7, 8. ,, parallel views of square and oblong . 251 
 
 ,, 9, 10. ,, circle and cube . . 254 
 
 11, 12. Explanatory of angular view .... 256 
 
 13. Angular view of cube 258 
 
 ,, 14. ,, ,, tomb-stone 261 
 
 Figs. 205. Diascopc 265 
 
 206, 207. Hands measuring ...... 266 
 
 Kettle, &c ,268
 
 HANDBOOK OF DRAWING. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ON DEAWING.* 
 
 1. THE misunderstanding of the term free-hand 
 drawing has led to considerable confusion. It was 
 originally applied to the copying, without instruments, 
 of a series of outline designs issued by the Department 
 of Science and Art, and has, unfortunately, become 
 associated with that alone. Eightly understood it has a 
 much wider significance, and should be applied to all 
 drawing where instruments, such as compasses, rulers, 
 &c., are not used. In geometric drawing, instruments are 
 used, and therefore this is not free-hand work. Strictly 
 speaking, models, flowers, landscapes, drawn without 
 mechanical assistance, ought to be considered as free- 
 hand drawing. 
 
 * A definition of the term ' drawing ' must be very comprehensive 
 if it is not to exclude some art into which drawing enters more or 
 less. Hamerton says : ' If we say that drawing is a motion which 
 leaves significant marks, we are as precise as the numerous varieties of 
 the art will permit us to be.' 
 
 1
 
 On Drawing. 
 
 2. Its elementary study is the first step towards ex- 
 pressing our ideas through the medium of art, and should 
 be practised more or less from earliest infancy as a most 
 useful language, by which the perceptive faculties will be 
 quickened, 'and knowledge conveyed in a sort of short- 
 hand language requiring no translation, and understood 
 by all.* In this respect it has often a great advantage 
 
 * Atkinson, the well-known Russian traveller, told the writer that 
 on many occasions he would have been most seriously inconvenienced 
 had it not been for the readiness with which he could use his pencil. 
 The following anecdote, also, will show the advantage of being ready 
 with this universal language. An artist who had neglected to secure 
 his lunch before going amongst some Welsh mountains for his day's 
 painting, after some hours' work began to feel faint for want of food, 
 and seeing a cottage at some distance, went to inquire if he could 
 have a cup of tea. His reception was not an agreeable one, as he was 
 attacked by a couple of curs, which frightened him and put to flight 
 a number of noisy fowls. On the good woman of the house opening 
 the door a few inches the artist made his request for a cup of tea, to 
 which he got the reply, ' Dim Sasenach ' (No English). After again 
 urging his request, and meeting with the same determined, settled, 
 and settling answer, 'Dim Sasenach,' he bethought him of his jxxiket 
 sketch-book, which had been of like service to him among the moun- 
 taineers of Switzerland, and he instantly made a sketch like the 
 following, and showed it to the unwilling dame, who, recognising his 
 
 want, instantly opened wide the door, beckoned him into the cottage,
 
 On Drawing. 
 
 over writing, as will be evident if, as in business, we wish to 
 describe in writing almost any common article of daily use 
 say a sofa, or a coal-vase instead of drawing it. This is 
 a strong argument in favour of all persons learning to draw 
 as well as to write. 
 
 3. The question is often asked, ' Can every one learn to 
 draw ? ' and although it may seem an ignorant question, 
 it had better be answered. All persons who can learn to 
 
 and offered a chair. In an unknown language two children, who had 
 
 concealed themselves behind their mother, 
 
 were hastily despatched, and soon returned, 
 
 one with a bundle of sticks and the other with 
 
 a can of spring water. Very quickly the 
 
 kettle was boiling, and cakes were baking on 
 
 something like a Scotch ' griddle,' hung from 
 
 a chain in the chimney. Soon the artist was 
 
 enjoying himself, and the remembrance of 
 
 the noisy cackling amidst which he was in- 
 troduced, suggested to his mind the possibility 
 
 of making his repast more substantial by the 
 
 addition of a few eggs ; so he politely, but 
 
 thoughtlessly, asked his hostess if she could 
 
 oblige him with an egg or two. The inevitable ' Dim Sasenach ' soon 
 
 showed him his mistake ; so, getting out his pocket sketch-book, 
 
 he sketched something like the following : whereupon the 
 
 good woman, charmed at her power of interpreting, went oft 
 
 to a cupboard, and imme- 
 diately returned with a 
 large, clean, wooden bowl, 
 filled with eggs, of which 
 the rough sketch will give 
 an idea. Satisfied, refreshed, and 
 again ready for work, the artist 
 prepared to depart, but not before 
 
 he ascertained the power of his hostess to understand, without any 
 
 sketch, the value of English silver.
 
 On Drawing. 
 
 write can learn to draw. If it were required, ' Can any one 
 become an artist ? ' the question might be answered by 
 another, ' Can any one become a poet ? ' Great painters, 
 like great poets or great composers, may be born, but not 
 made. But though there are not many Beethovens, or 
 Handels, or Mozarts in a generation, there are many per- 
 sons who add to national happiness by less pretentious ef- 
 forts than Oratorios and Masses. On the Continent draw- 
 ing is taught to all children in the best national schools, 
 and it ought to be taught in our own : not because it is 
 insisted on in Continent schools, but because it would be 
 of incalculable service in the business of life to those who 
 had learnt it.* 
 
 4. But here arises an important question : What do 
 we understand by learning to draw ? There are various 
 kinds of drawing, and that which may be suitable to one 
 purpose may not be applicable to another. For example, 
 the kind of drawing and knowledge requisite for a man of 
 culture is scarcely that best suited to an artisan. The first 
 and elemental requirement of an artisan is that he should 
 
 * The following remarks from Professor Huxley appeared in the 
 Fortnightly Review, January 1878. Speaking of the preparation for 
 technical teaching he says : ' And especially I should require some 
 ability to draw : I do not mean artistically, for that is a gift which may 
 be cultivated, but cannot be learned, but with fair accuracy. Every- 
 body, or almost everybody, can learn to write ; and, as writing is a kind 
 of drawing, I suppose that the majority of the people who say they can- 
 not draw, and give copious evidence of the accuracy of their assertion, 
 could draw, after a fashion, if they tried. And that " after a fashion " 
 would be better than nothing for my pur[x>ses. 
 
 I Mi|.|M)s<' that in nine trades out of ten it would be useful if he 
 (the student) could draw.'
 
 On Drawing. 
 
 be able to draw accurately, say a brick, and understand it 
 when it is drawn ; for if he can draw a brick he can draw 
 a box, and if a box, then a table ; and thus he has a safe 
 foundation on which to build his knowledge as it may be 
 required. 
 
 5. On the next page is given a supposed order for a com- 
 mon box, which, though very rough (as though drawn in 
 haste), would be clearly understood by an intelligent work- 
 man without any chance of error. How great the advan- 
 tage of drawing in this case is over a written description 
 only, may be felt if the student will try to write out instruc- 
 tions for such a box without any drawing instructions 
 that might not only be understood, but that could not be 
 misunderstood. 
 
 6. To those who travel, even a little knowledge of free- 
 hand drawing, as here understood, will be not only useful 
 but delightful. The slightest sketch taken by oneself will, 
 in after years, recall more of the circumstances and associa- 
 tions than a lengthened description, or even a photograph. 
 Illustrations of this kind of memorandum sketch will be 
 found in various parts of the work. 
 
 7. But if true education be that which fits a person for 
 the after circumstances of life, then the requirements of an 
 educated man will be something far beyond the power to 
 sketch a few simple objects intelligently. He must have 
 a knowledge of the general principles of Fine Art, and 
 such power in practice as will develop in him that aesthetic 
 faculty without which he can neither fully enjoy, nor accu- 
 rately judge, in matters of taste.
 
 On Drawing. 
 
 Fio. 1. 
 
 Fio. 2.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ON THE EYE. 
 
 8. OF the five senses, or gateways of knowledge seeing, 
 and hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling two, seeing and 
 hearing, belong to the intellectual part of our nature, whilst 
 the other three chiefly supply our animal wants. The sense 
 of seeing is at once the most active, the most comprehensive, 
 and the most intellectual of them all. It is the servant of 
 the soul, and through it the mind receives the richest vari- 
 ety of images, or ideas. F. W. Robertson says that 'the 
 highest pleasure of sensation comes through the Eye. She 
 ranks above all the rest of the senses in dignity. He whose 
 eye is so refined by discipline that he can repose with pleas- 
 ure upon the serene outline of beautiful form, has reached 
 the purest of the sensational raptures.' 
 
 9. A short description of the eye is given at page 9 ; but 
 it may here be briefly stated, that when an object is placed 
 before the eye, the light from it passes through the crystal- 
 line lens, and an image is formed on the retina, from whence 
 the consciousness of it is conveyed by the optic nerve to the 
 brain.* 
 
 * The number of shocks per second necessary to the production of 
 the impression of colour is as follows : Red, 451 millions of millions ; 
 of violet, 789 millions of millions. All these waves enter the eye, 
 and strike the retina at the back of the eye in one second. TYNDALL. 
 
 7
 
 8 On the Eye. 
 
 10. The eye of a fish, or of a sheep, is probably as well 
 adapted to the purpose of their life as is that of a human 
 being ; but the lower animals, being chiefly moved by 
 instinct, have their organs available when very young and 
 with little training ; whilst a very young infant, though 
 with the eye perfect as an organ, requires long and 
 frequent practice before it can judge even of distance. 
 The moon and its mother's face probably appear equally 
 near. If a person born blind obtains his sight at fifteen 
 or twenty years of age, he is said to have no idea of dis- 
 tance by sight ; whilst the little fish that gets its food by 
 shooting a drop of water at its prey scarcely ever misses; 
 and the chick that has only just emerged from the shell 
 pecks away at the crumbs, distinguishing them from 
 grains of sand of similar size and colour. 
 
 11. The human eye is a wonderfully adapted, self- 
 acting, self-regulating, ^and self-minding organ, for seeing 
 things large as mountains or small as motes, very near or 
 millions of miles away ; but it requires training. 
 
 If a person were to travel, say, from Liverpool to 
 London, and hold a looking-glass so as to have all the 
 objects reflected in it as they were passed, on arriving in 
 London there would be nothing left on the glass but the 
 last image perhaps the station ; all the other myriads of 
 objects would be gone. It is just so, in a lesser degree, 
 with many persons who have not learned to use their 
 eyes ; whilst others are more like a sensitised plate in a 
 camera, not only receiving images, but photographing and 
 fixing them by observation.
 
 On the Eye. 9 
 
 12. Considered merely as an organ, the eye is a com- 
 pound lens, consisting of three principal parts, the aqueous 
 humour, the crystalline lens, and the vitreous humour. 
 
 The aqueous humour is held in front of the eye by the 
 cornea, a transparent, horny capsule, something like a watch- 
 glass in shape. Behind the aqueous humour, and immedi- 
 ately in front of the crystalline lens, is the iris, which sur- 
 rounds the pupil. Then follow the lens and the vitreous 
 humour. Behind this is a black pigment, upon which the 
 delicate network of nerves, called the retina, is spread. It 
 is this delicate screen, the retina, that receives the images of 
 things with such marvellous rapidity, and conveys them 
 through the optic nerve to the brain. 
 
 13. By means of the iris the size of the pupil may be 
 caused to vary. When the light is feeble the pupil ex- 
 pands, and when it is intense the pupil contracts; thus 
 the quantity of light entering the eye is to some extent 
 regulated. 
 
 14. The pupil also diminishes when the eye is fixed 
 upon a near object, and expands when it is fixed upon a 
 distant one. The image thrown upon the retina is inverted. 
 
 15. The eye possesses a power of adjustment for dif- 
 ferent distances, chiefly by a change in the curvature of the 
 crystalline lens. Two objects at different distances from 
 the eye cannot be clearly defined at the same moment : the 
 adjustment of the eye for seeing one distinctly will cause 
 the other to become indistinct. 
 
 16. A line drawn through the centre of the cornea and 
 the centre of the whole eye is called the axis of the eye.
 
 10 On the Eye. 
 
 17. When an impression of light is made upon the 
 retina it does not instantly subside; but remains for a short 
 time after the cause has passed away. This is called the 
 'persistence of impression.' This interval of persistence 
 yaries with different persons, and amounts to a sensible 
 fraction of a second. 
 
 18. If a succession of images follow each other at inter- 
 vals less than the time which the impression endures, the 
 images will blend together and form a shady surface, as in 
 the case of the spokes of a wheel when going round rapidly, 
 or the colours in a revolving chromotrope. 
 
 19. The image of any object thrown on the retina of 
 one eye differs from that thrown on the retina of the other, 
 because the object is viewed from two separate places. If 
 these two pictures, thrown on to the two retinae, were 
 combined, we should have the full impression of solidity. 
 This is what takes place in the stereoscope, in which the 
 two pictures always slightly differ. Both eyes, therefore, 
 are necessary to give the idea of solidity and space satisfac- 
 torily. 
 
 20. A very young child at first sees things not as they 
 really are, but as they appear (on the exquisite little re- 
 flector, the eye), unconscious that they often are actually 
 quite different from what they appear. As the child grows, 
 he gradually learns the true or actual shapes of things, 
 and if, whilst very young, he does not draw things, * he 
 will lose what is called the ' innocence of the eye ;' so that 
 
 * I don't say, have drawing lessons. See Appendix A, on children's 
 drawing.
 
 On the Eye. 11 
 
 when he is older, and attempts to draw things from nature, 
 he will have considerable difficulty in seeing retiring forms 
 correctly^ and will have to use the rules of perspective : thus 
 to learn back again, as it were, to the simplicity and truth 
 of child-sight. 
 
 There are many intelligent persons who cannot draw the 
 top of a tumbler, or of a table or a book, correctly. In this 
 case the mind (with its knowledge of actual shape) inter- 
 feres with the image of the retina.* It is a fact that, 
 supposing a young child could hold and guide the pencil 
 sufficiently well, he would draw solid forms in perspective 
 more correctly than an upgrown person, and for this reason, 
 that he sees more innocently or truly. 
 
 21. The power of the eye for judging, distance, for ex- 
 ample, depends on frequent and earnest practice. A sea- 
 man, who is constantly on the look-out, judges much more 
 accurately of distance than a landsman. When two boys at 
 play have their marbles almost equally near a given hole, 
 they very earnestly take the image into their eye, first of one 
 distance and then of the other, again and again, till at last 
 they may determine with almost certainty which of the two 
 marbles is nearest the hole. The image on the retina is 
 true enough ; the difficulty is for the mind to take a correct 
 * reading ' of the image. Aiming at a given mark, as in 
 shooting, or cricket, or billiards, tends to give power and 
 accuracy to the eye. 
 
 * Though a plumb-line may be used in drawing, it is really seldom 
 necessary, as the eye, if fairly practised, will soon learn to determine 
 whether or not a line be vertical .
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON SEEING AND OBSEEVINO. 
 
 22. BY careful practice, as in drawing, the eye may be- 
 come astonishingly accurate as a measuring instrument. 
 
 Hitherto the eyes have been spoken of as a single organ, 
 for, although we often use both, Art recognises only one, or, 
 more correctly, one point of vision. 
 
 If we wish to see clearly the contour of any object, es- 
 pecially when near, only one eye should be used, so as to 
 avoid a parallax of vision ; * but if we desire to determine 
 how far an object is from us, both eyes must be used, so as 
 to see, as it were, from two places, for with one eye alone 
 we have little idea of space. 
 
 An illustration of this parallax of vision may be seen in 
 the ordinary stereoscope, by placing in it two views exactly 
 the same (i. e. taken from exactly the same point). No idea 
 of space will be given beyond what we see without the in- 
 strument. But if the two views be taken from two different 
 points, corresponding with the distance of the eyes from 
 each 'other, the ' relief ' of the various objects will be per- 
 fect, and we shall have a full idea of space. 
 
 * What is meant by parallax of vision may be better understood in 
 the following manner : Hold a pencil or pen at a little distance from 
 you, and look at it with one eye closed, and observe what object or part 
 of the room it obscures from the view ; now, without moving the head 
 or ]>cncil, ojien the other eye and close the one just used, and it will Ixj 
 set ii that the pencil now screens quite a different part. 
 
 12
 
 On Seeing and Observing. 
 
 13 
 
 We observe, then, that to see the contours of objects 
 clearly one eye only should be used ; whilst in judging of 
 distance, or of the location of objects in space, both should 
 be used. 
 
 23. But there is yet another way- in which the eyes 
 should be used in Art, viz. half closed. 
 
 When we wish to observe in a picture or drawing the 
 principal masses of light and shade, apart from detail, the 
 eyes should be partially closed, so as to admit only the 
 bright rays. A darkened glass is sometimes used by artists 
 for the same purpose. 
 
 The light and shade of a picture or drawing thus seen 
 is often spoken of in Art parlance as 
 the 'effect.' In Fig. 3 is given the 
 ' effect,' or light and shade, of the illus- 
 tration forming the frontispiece of this 
 work. 
 
 24. From what has been said it will 
 be evident that, although the eye is so 
 wonderfully adapted, and so delicately 
 sensitive for the reception of images, 
 it requires the presence of a mind to 
 
 v 
 
 read or take from it the impression it presents so constantly. 
 The needle on the telegraphic dial may be moving ever 
 so rapidly, but to little purpose if there be na intelli- 
 gence ready and willing to receive the information it may 
 be presenting ; and this leads us to make some remarks on 
 the importance of Observation. 
 
 25. The power of observing varies much in different 
 
 FIG. 3.
 
 14 On Seeing and Observing. 
 
 persons, but may be greatly improved by intelligent prac- 
 tice. It should never be confined to one class of objects. 
 The physical world, though brimful of beauty for the 
 eye, and of evidences of wisdom for the mind, is a closed 
 book to one who has not learnt to observe ; but to one 
 who has learned to see, and to reflect on what is seen, it 
 is literally an endless source of enjoyment. We may, 
 therefore, naturally inquire what part of a liberal curri- 
 culum is most likely to be of service to us in forming and 
 developing this important faculty ? Certainly, whatever 
 other tangible subjects, such as chemistry and physics, 
 may do, that which brings us into immediate contact with 
 Nature and with Art in their more beautiful aspects must 
 hold an important place. This is what drawing, rightly 
 pursued, does. Let us suppose a simple case. In our 
 rambles we pick up, say, a leaf, or a stone, which we wish 
 for some reason to remember. A verbal description alone 
 would be both tedious and unsatisfactory, but if accom- 
 panied with a drawing of it, would be understood distinctly 
 and remembered long. 
 
 20. Collateral knowledge often helps observation, and 
 Art should,, be studied in its twofold character, as a science 
 and as an art as a science to be known, and as an art to be 
 practised. The pleasure we take in any objects, whether of 
 God's or of man's making, chiefly depends on some of 
 the following considerations : 1st, that by what they pre- 
 sent to the eye they suggest to the mind something of 
 deep import, as in symbolic ornamentation ; or, 2nd, that 
 which is presented to the eye is of such a form or colour as
 
 On Seeing and Observing. 
 
 15 
 
 to excite our sense of the beautiful this is aesthetic or sen- 
 suous ; or, 3rd, the formk presented to us may be such as to 
 suggest the idea of fitness, either alone or in conjunction 
 with the sense of beauty. 
 
 FIG. 4. 
 
 27. In Fig. 4 (the lotus-plant) we have a conventional 
 and unpretending ornament, which by itself would not ex- 
 cite much emotion, but when recognised as one of the most 
 significant symbols of Egyptian architecture becomes full of 
 interest. 
 
 FIG. 5. 
 
 Fig. 5 is a form which, apart from any association, is 
 in itself pleasing, as is also the piece of scroll-work in
 
 16 
 
 On Seeing and Observing. 
 
 Fig. G. But the charm of this latter is greatly enhanced 
 because applied where it not only does the work of a bracket 
 (conveying the idea of fitness), but also because it does it 
 with much grace. 
 
 Pio. 0. 
 
 It is in thus seeing the essential characteristics of tilings 
 that real observation consists, and it will be evident, there- 
 fore, how important it is that the mind should be led not 
 only to see beauty, but also to know what kind of beauty it 
 is, and whence it arises. 
 
 28. There is much truth in the remark that we see 
 only that which we look for, and to look energetically we 
 must consciously look for something. This will be better
 
 On Seeing and Observing. 17 
 
 understood by the following anecdote, which Professor 
 Tyndall gives of Faraday. 'And this reminds me,' says 
 Tyndall, 'of an occurrence which took place in this room 
 at the beginning of my acquaintance with Faraday. I 
 wished to show him a peculiar action of an electro-mag- 
 net upon a crystal. Everything was arranged, when, just 
 before the magnet was excited, he laid his hand upon my 
 arm and asked, "What am I to look for?" Amid the 
 assemblage of impressions connected with an experiment, 
 even this prince of experimenters felt the advantage of 
 having his attention directed to the special point to be 
 illustrated.' * 
 
 29. Now, the difference between artistic sight and or- 
 dinary sight arises from the fact that people generally do 
 not look for those truths and qualities which artists look 
 for. For instance, a group of intelligent artisans bot- 
 anists met the writer in one of the most beautiful valleys 
 in Derbyshire, and in a conversation admitted that they 
 had not particularly seen the rocks or the hills, nor even 
 the trees 'They were not in their way.' They were 
 searching for a little plant they had heard of as being in 
 that locality. 
 
 Thus, men use their eyes as channels of information 
 about what they want to know. A farmer looks at the sky 
 to see whether it will rain, and at a field of corn with a 
 view to its value. A drove of cattle will not be seen by 
 him as strikingly picturesque, but as objects having their 
 market value. ' Money value ' is all that some persons can 
 * Tyndall, On Sound, p. 120.
 
 18 On Seeing and Observing. 
 
 see in the world. With them'the aesthetic sense is blind or 
 dead : they have eyes, but no aesthetic faculty behind them ; 
 they are like the man who had bought spectacles to read 
 with, but still could not read, for he did not know his 
 letters. 
 
 30. It is an optical fact that no two persons ever saw 
 the same rainbow, and it is equally true that no two men 
 ever saw the same appearance in any object. If we go to 
 a sketching-ground of artists say, Bettws-y-Coed or Capel 
 Curig though the same subject may be painted again and 
 again by successive artists, we shall not find two pictures 
 alike. The objects may have been the same precisely, but 
 in each case the representation will have passed through 
 quite a different mind, with quite a different result. 
 
 31. Not to see anything is, so far as that particular thing 
 is concerned, equivalent to blindness. When people talk of 
 learning to draw and paint, they ought rather to say they 
 are learning to see, for that is the main object of artistic 
 education for amateurs. Artistic sight is not a natural 
 faculty, but may be acquired, and the act of acquiring it 
 gradually reveals nature to us aesthetically, and thus de- 
 velops this new sense, which, being emotional, supplies pure 
 food for the imagination. 
 
 Many persons would be indignant at being told that they 
 knew little about the form of an ox or a horse. Let any 
 one of them, however, sit down quietly and write such a 
 description of the form of a horse that we may know it in 
 a group. Or, if he find this too tedious, let him take pen- 
 cil and paper, and try seriously to draw one the one he
 
 On Seeing and Observing. 19 
 
 knows so well and rides daily. The exercise may be of 
 value to him. 
 
 32. Hamerton tells us, that although 'accustomed to 
 country life, and living summer and winter on a large farm, 
 he never knew anything accurately about horses and cows 
 till he began to make studies of them with a view to paint- 
 ing ; and postponed the writing of an article on Rosa Bon- 
 heur from the humiliating conviction that, although inti- 
 mately familiar with all the oxen on the farm, and their 
 labours personally friendly with them, even, and calling 
 them by their names he had not, in the deep, critical, and 
 artistic sense, seen them.' 
 
 33. Observations are of little value without comparison, 
 and for comparison we must have standards in the memory. 
 It is recorded of Rosa Bonheur, that when she first began 
 to study animals she bought a sheep, and kept it always by 
 her in a Parisian apartment, and studied it in every detail 
 till she knew it by heart ; and no doubt it became her first 
 standard. The haste and restlessness of the present age 
 are such as to make us impatient of anything but the gor- 
 geous and sensational. We should seek for the quieter, 
 but not less wholesome and enduring, pleasure of ram- 
 bling, sketch-book in hand, through some of our old Eng- 
 lish scenery ; for the true art of seeing and enjoying rests 
 chiefly in sensitiveness and power of sympathy, and the 
 true value of observation is in the noble thoughts ' that it 
 excites within us. It is in this way that we would have 
 students cultivate a love for Nature in her simplicity, and a 
 habit of observing accuratelv her subtle, hidden teachings.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ON HOLDING THE PENCIL. 
 
 34. THE hand, as a prehensile or handling organ, varies 
 much in different individuals. In some, the fingers and 
 thumb are long and mobile, whilst in others they are com- 
 paratively short and stiff ; but practice in the latter case 
 will soon surmount almost any want of physical adapta- 
 tion. One of the most skilful performers on the pianoforte 
 in this country has fingers so short that he can only reach 
 an octave. 
 
 Much, however, depends on the way in which the pencil 
 is held in drawing. Only one general rule can be given, 
 and it is this that it should be held in that position 
 which is best adapted for the particular work to be done ; 
 certainly not with the fingers near the point, or with 
 
 FIG. 7. 
 
 FIG. 7 a. 
 
 the knuckles up as when writing, thus (Fig. 7), but rather 
 as in Fig. 7 a. Sometimes the pencil, being held be- 
 tween the thumb and first finger, and supported by the 
 
 20
 
 On Holding the Pencil. 
 
 21 
 
 long one, should pass along the first finger in an upward 
 direction ; sometimes it should pass under the hand, held 
 also by the other fingers, thus (Fig. 7 b), according to the 
 
 FIG. 7 &. 
 
 kind of work to be done ; and in all cases it should, as 
 far as possible, be worked from the shoulder, especially 
 when drawing at an easel. 
 
 As excellence in Art- work greatly depends on the tools 
 or instruments used, the sharpening of the pencils is impor- 
 tant. A set of pencils nicely pointed is quite a temptation to 
 
 FIG. 7c. 
 
 draw with delicacy and refinement. They should never be 
 cut like the first two in Fig. 7 c, but like the third one, or 
 even with a still finer point, except where it is intended to
 
 22 
 
 On Holding the Pencil. 
 
 shade broadly with the side of the instrument then the 
 wood should be left uncut on one side, so as to support the 
 lead and prevent it from breaking. After the cedar is 
 cleared away a small file may be used, or one fixed in a box, 
 as in Eig. 7 d. 
 
 FIG. 7 d.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON LINES. 
 
 35. BY a line is not here meant the abstract idea of 
 length without breadth or thickness, but an elongated 
 mark or stroke made by some instrument on a plane or 
 surface. 
 
 36. There are only two kinds of lines, straight and 
 curved, and by means of these all the infinitely varied and 
 beautiful forms in creation may be indicated. If you look 
 round the room, you will not find any object or pattern that 
 may not be described by these lines. 
 
 37. A straight line may be defined as a point continued 
 in one direction, or as the nearest defined distance between 
 any two points. 
 
 Although there are really no lines in nature, we find the 
 idea of the straight line in crystals, buildings, and in many 
 things made by man, in which utility is the chief purpose ; 
 because generally it is easier to fit two plain or straight sur- 
 faces than two which are curved or irregular, as, for in- 
 stance, in a box, or in bricks. 
 
 38. A curved line is one in which the direction is con- 
 stantly varied. It is found chiefly, but not altogether, in 
 things that are considered beautiful, as in leaves, flowers, 
 the human form, &c. 
 
 39. There is beauty, however, in crystals, and even in 
 the square ; but the beauty of the square arises partly from 
 
 23
 
 24 
 
 On Lines. 
 
 a sense of exactness, for if it be not exact it ceases at once to 
 give pleasure and to be a square. 
 
 40. Both straight and curved lines are felt to be most 
 beautiful when in combination, as in some kinds of archi- 
 tecture, vases, flowers, and trees. 
 
 41. When forms are made with the straight line only 
 (as in Fig. 8) they are called rectilinear ; when made with 
 
 PIG. 8. 
 
 Fio. 9. 
 
 Fio. 10. 
 
 curved lines (as in Fig. 9) they are called curvilinear ; and 
 when composed of both straight and curved lines they are 
 compound forms (as in Fig. 10). 
 
 42. A straight line can be placed only in three posi- 
 tions, viz. perpendicular, horizontal, and oblique or slant- 
 ing. The perpendicular and horizontal positions never 
 vary, and may therefore be considered and used as standard 
 lines. Oblique or slanting lines may incline more or less, 
 and the degree of inclination can only be estimated by 
 comparing them with either perpendicular or horizontal 
 lines.
 
 On Lines. 25 
 
 43. In copying an example or a model, therefore, it 
 is evidently absurd to begin with slanting lines : all the 
 standard lines should be first drawn, and the slanting ones 
 judged of by them. The importance of constantly testing 
 all lines by those which are either perpendicular or horizon- 
 tal can scarcely be too strongly insisted on, as there are no 
 other means, in free-hand drawing, of attaining accuracy. 
 (See, also, 1 105.) 
 
 44. By means of these two elemental lines all superficies 
 and all solid forms may be suggested. If we continue a 
 line at an equal distance from a point it will result in a 
 circle, which is the archetype of all animal and vegetable 
 forms, the simplest and most economical form in creation, 
 and perfect in its completeness. It is, however, an unity 
 admitting no variety, and therefore has not in it the ele- 
 ment of infinity, which consists in variety rather than in 
 numbers. The square may be considered as the archetype 
 of crystals and of constructed forms, such as buildings. 
 The highest piece of future architecture the New Jerusa- 
 lem is described as being ' four square.' This figure, how- 
 ever, like the circle, being fixed admitting of no change 
 cannot be considered beautiful per se, but only in its appli- 
 cation as to structure, and as a contrast to the curve. The 
 most beautiful and the highest forms in Nature and in Art 
 are made up of a combination of these two forms modified 
 by elongation, and by the admixture of one with the other. 
 This combination of the straight with the curve is found in 
 its highest development in the human form.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON OUTLINE. 
 
 45. OUTLINE may be understood to be the mere contour 
 of any form (as Fig. 11). It may also mean a sketch with 
 
 FIG. 11. 
 
 lines to indicate its general and leading characteristics, 
 thus : 
 
 FIG. 12. 
 
 FIG. 13. 
 
 Some objects may be clearly indicated by outline alone, 
 
 26
 
 On Outline. 
 
 27 
 
 as leaves, &c. ; whilst others cannot be satisfactorily ex- 
 pressed without shade the sphere, for instance. 
 
 46. A flat contour may be greatly modified by a few in- 
 dicative lines or markings on its sur- 
 face ; for example, Figs. 15, 16, 17 
 are the same in contour as Fig. 14, 
 but their character is greatly modified 
 by the different markings. 
 
 FIG. 14. 
 
 FIG. 15. 
 
 FIG. 16. 
 
 FIG. 17. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that outline is most important, 
 and often very effective, as it suggests to the mind an idea 
 of many things which it would require long time and much 
 thought and labour fully to describe. (See page 6, order- 
 ing a box.) 
 
 47. In drawing a Head, the first twenty lines will indi- 
 cate more than a hundred lines can do afterwards ; for the 
 former will give the principal facts of eyes, nose, mouth, 
 &c., whilst the latter can only add lesser facts. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to overrate the importance of cor- 
 rect form as indicated by outline, inasmuch as no amount 
 of shading will make a wrong sketch right. 
 
 48. The first efforts at Art with primitive man have 
 always been in outline, just as we find in children's work. 
 The aim is to get at the fact which the mind recognises,
 
 28 On Outline. 
 
 rather than the appearance on the retina of the eye to get 
 the fact clearly stated without much regard to the means 
 and it is in this sense that drawing in its earliest employ- 
 ment was a kind of writing. The Greeks used the same 
 word for writing and drawing, and there is little doubt they 
 considered the processes the same. All the arts of design 
 or drawing in their early development are essentially con- 
 ventional, inasmuch as they are produced by lines, and 
 there are no lines in nature. There does not appear to be 
 any evidence to show that the earlier nations, such as the 
 Babylonians, Assyrians, or Egyptians, had any knowledge 
 of the fuller expression of form by means of the gradation 
 of shade. We find them outlining their forms, and almost 
 invariably in profile ; then filling up the forms with flat 
 tints of colour. Thus, until the time of the Greeks, the 
 whole civilised world seems to have been satisfied with the 
 impression of form only by outlines and flat tints.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ON SKETCHING. 
 
 49. THE first great mistake which young students in 
 Art make, is in not taking sufficient time to place accu- 
 rately the points which determine the principal parts of a 
 drawing. Suppose a man were about to build a house, the 
 first thing he would do would be to plot out the ground- 
 plan most carefully and accurately ; otherwise all his house 
 would be wrong. And when building, he would first secure 
 the corners, testing them with the plumb-line and square 
 before proceeding with the walls. So, in drawing, very 
 much time, and error, and rubber, and patience, would be 
 saved if young persons would only be persuaded to be suf- 
 ficiently careful in plotting out, or fixing accurately, the 
 chief lines and points in a drawing. 
 
 This can only be done by a constant use of right angles, 
 real or imaginary, and by what is known as 'blocking in.' 
 If the work to be copied be of the nature of scrolls (as in 
 Fig. 5) or of leaves (as in Fig. 40), then straight lines 
 should be used in every available part. This is shown by 
 the lines, , a, &c. (Fig. 18). This plan of using right 
 angles, and of ' blocking in,' is very useful when drawing 
 from casts, as well as from the flat. 
 
 Ordinarily it is best to commence near the middle of the 
 drawing, with some leading line or object, and then to work 
 
 to the right and left. The exact centre of a picture is 
 
 29
 
 30 
 
 On Sketching. 
 
 a, \a, a. 
 Fia. 18. 
 
 FIG. 19.
 
 On Sketching. 31 
 
 readily found by drawing diagonal lines from corner to 
 corner of the paper, as in Fig. 19. 
 
 50. If it should happen that there are no important lines 
 near the centre of the drawing, as in the woodcut (Fig. 20), 
 then the principal horizontal lines should first be drawn, 
 and the chief objects sketched in upon them. Never 
 until the work is accurately laid in should the details be 
 added. 
 
 Fig. 21 affords an example of forms which it would 
 be almost impossible to reproduce accurately without the 
 aid of perpendicular lines, by which to judge of the 
 various curved and inclined lines, both of figure and 
 drapery. 
 
 51. In drawing the human figure, it is always better to 
 use as much as possible straight lines, as at a in Fig. 22, 
 and never dotted lines as at b. It is only by the juxtaposi- 
 tion of a straight line that we can fully and accurately 
 judge of the value of a curved one. 
 
 52. When the subject to be sketched has a clear and 
 keenly defined contour, the lines used should be drawn 
 cleanly and firmly at once, as in the various perspective 
 figures in this work ; but when such objects as tree-stems, 
 rustic figures, &c., have to be sketched, then, instead of a 
 cold single line, several approximate lines may be used (as 
 in Fig. 23, a), but never dotted lines (as at 5). 
 
 Objects composed of curves, such as Gothic windows, 
 arches, &c. (Fig. 24), may be readily drawn by first setting 
 up a framework of straight lines, by which to determine the 
 degrees of curvature.
 
 On Sketching. 
 
 33 
 
 FIG. 21. 
 
 Showing the value of contrasting straight lines with 
 curved ones. 
 
 3
 
 34 
 
 On Sketching. 
 
 V 
 
 ^.-X 
 
 ( 
 
 Fio. 22. 
 
 Faces should be drawn with straight lines, as at a; never 
 with dotted ones, as at b.
 
 On Sketching. 
 
 35 
 
 FIG. 23. 
 
 Tree-stems, especially when rough, may be sketched with 
 several lines, as at a, but never with dotted ones, as at b.
 
 36 
 
 On Sketching. 
 
 53. The reason why in some cases a single line should 
 be used, and in other cases several lines, is, that the eye 
 inevitably follows a single and rigid line ; but where there 
 are several lines, the eye rests on the surface included by 
 them, as it does in nature ; the form is understood, and 
 some idea is obtained of the texture and character of the 
 surface. 
 
 -J 
 
 FIG. 24. 
 
 54. Any mechanical aids that may have been used in 
 obtaining an accurate form should be cleanly removed be- 
 fore any shading is added, and the sketch or outline itself 
 should bo reduced to such faintncss as not to interfere or 
 obtrude itself in the completing of the work. 
 
 55. Although these remarks have reference principally 
 to sketching from flat copies, they apply also to drawing 
 from the round, and from Nature.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ON LIGHT AND SHADE. 
 
 56. ( LIGHT AND SHADE ' in Art should be considered as 
 the means of modelling the surface confined by contour ; 
 for outline is to contour what * light and shade ' is to surface 
 the outline leaves an object superficial, the Might and 
 shade ' makes it solid ; and roundness and projection are 
 the natural outcome of 'light and shade,' which takes 
 away the appearance of flatness of the surface on which 
 the drawing is made. It is nevertheless true that this 
 modelling of a surface may be strongly indicated by lines 
 only, but never fully expressed without ' light and shade ; ' 
 and in nature we are largely dependent on the same means 
 for our knowledge of the projection of one thing from 
 another, as, for instance, of the nose from the face, or of 
 the forehead over the eyes. We become conscious of tbe 
 wrinkles or creases in a face or on a piece of paper only 
 as they may be revealed by the light and shade that is on 
 them. 
 
 57. Before treating of light and shade as applied to Art, 
 it may be desirable to state a few facts with reference to 
 light and its action on bodies in various circumstances. 
 
 58. Light is defined as an imponderable agent which 
 makes objects perceptible to the sense of sight, but the par- 
 ticles of which are separately invisible. Thus, although we 
 
 37
 
 38 On Light and Shade. 
 
 see things by means of light, we cannot see the light itself. 
 If an object be placed before the eyes, and there be no light, 
 it is of course invisible ; but if a ray, or a number of rays of 
 light, fall upon the object, they are instantly broken by it, 
 and partly absorbed and partly reflected in all directions. 
 Some of these reflected portions entering the eye reveal 
 to us the object, or, in other words, we can then see it. 
 Whether the object is very light or dark will depend upon 
 its nature, and the number of rays which it absorbs into 
 itself, or which it reflects into the eye. Some objects have 
 the power of absorbing many and reflecting few rays, as will 
 be shortly seen. 
 
 59. It must be remembered, however, that in drawing 
 and painting, our highest light, which is white paper 
 or white paint, is very much darker (less light) than 
 white light, as may be seen by holding a piece of whitest 
 paper in juxtaposition with the blue sky, or even a grey 
 cloud ; and this is one reason why in Art we cannot com- 
 pete with either the tender gradations or the scope or 
 range of Nature, from her highest light to her deepest 
 dark. 
 
 GO. When any part or plane of an object is so placed 
 that an equal number of rays are thrown from each part of 
 that plane into the eye, it will appear equally light; but 
 when the object is so placed as to reflect fewer rays from 
 one part than from another, there is gradation of light into 
 shade ; and although shade may be generally defined as 
 absence of light, yet, as there are degrees of light, so there 
 are degrees of shade.
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 39 
 
 This will be better understood by reference to Fig. 25. 
 Let a, b, c, d, e, represent equal spaces or planes on any ob- 
 ject. Illumined from *, it is evident that as more rays fall 
 on a b than on b c, this latter plane, b c, will be less light 
 
 than a b. Further, as c d receives scarcely any rays it will 
 appear very dark, and d e, receiving none, will be invisible 
 or black. 
 
 61. An object may be actually very light or very dark, 
 but it will only appear so to the spectator in proportion 
 to the number and intensity of the rays received on the 
 retina. The quantity of rays that could be reflected into 
 the eye from these various planes is indicated on the 
 vertical line, o p. It will be seen that as c d receives 
 no direct rays from *, it can throw into the eye only such 
 rays as it may happen to receive from surrounding ob- 
 jects. 
 
 The illuminating of objects may be further illustrated
 
 40 
 
 On LigJit and SJiade. 
 
 by the diagram below (Fig. 26), where the lines, a a a, 
 represent rays of light, and A B and c, planes intercepting 
 those rays. It will be apparent that as the plane, c, inter- 
 cepts all the rays, it will be lightest ; but as B is placed 
 obliquely to the rays, it cannot be so light ; whilst A, being 
 in the direction of the line of rays, must necessarily be 
 quite dark. 
 
 FIG. 26. 
 
 62. But there is another fact which must here be ob- 
 served. When objects are not illumined from one point or 
 focus alone, as the sun, but from surrounding objects, also, 
 and from the particles of atmosphere, that secondary illu- 
 mination is called reflection, and thus much visible shade 
 is, in fact, but reflected light. 
 
 The atmosphere is seldom pure ; even our bluest skies 
 are said to be composed of infinitesimally small particles of 
 matter, by which the rays of pure white light are broken.
 
 On Light and -Shade. 41 
 
 Clouds formed of particles of vapour break and scatter the 
 rays in all directions. 
 
 63. In some respects shade and shadow are one and the 
 same ; for instance, they may both be defined as darkness, 
 or absence of light, and they generally convey the idea of 
 evenness of an equal and unbroken tone of colour. 
 Moreover, they both, however light or dark, have a degree 
 of depth, transparency, and repose, which in Art should 
 always be expressed. 
 
 As a matter of convenience in the practice of Art, and 
 arising in part from its nature, it is desirable to divide this 
 darkness, which we now speak of as shade, into shade, which 
 is natural, and shadow, which is accidental. 
 
 64. All opaque objects receiving the light have some 
 portion of their surface turned more or less away from the 
 light, and have therefore an 
 
 inseparable darkness. This is 
 termed natural shade. But 
 when the darkness is caused 
 by an object intervening be- 
 tween the light and some other 
 object it is called accidental 
 shadow. For instance, in Fig. jn IG< 37< 
 
 27 you will see the accidental 
 
 shadow of the hoop on the jar. This would of course be 
 moved on removing the hoop, whilst the shade natural to 
 the jar would remain. 
 
 65. There is another term used in connexion with this 
 subject which is very important, and but for which all
 
 42 On Light and Shade. 
 
 shades and shadows would be absolutely black : it is Reflec- 
 tion, which has been already referred to above. 
 
 By Reflection, then, is meant simply light thrown back 
 from one object on to another. 
 
 The strength of Reflection varies greatly, according 
 to circumstances, but in some degree it is almost always 
 present. 
 
 White and polished surfaces reflect the most, whilst 
 dark and opaque ones, such as black cloth, &c., throw back 
 but little light. Even particles of matter floating in the 
 atmosphere receive and throw off rays, and by these rays 
 from all sides the parts of objects turned away from direct 
 illumination are rendered visible. 
 
 As rays of light from illuminated surfaces are thrown 
 off in straight lines iu all directions, whether as direct or 
 reflected rays, the position and proximity of objects to 
 each other is very important in Art. 
 
 Generally, the greater the light is the stronger the reflec- 
 tions are, and, consequently, all shades affected by these 
 reflections will be lighter. 
 
 This is a very important truth, and is so often lost 
 sight of by young students that a few words of further 
 explanation may not be out of place, and as no knowl- 
 edge is better retained than that which is experimen- 
 tal, the student may gain experience in the following 
 manner. 
 
 66. Get several pieces of white cardboard, say six or 
 eight inches long, and as many inches wide, and cut them 
 half through, so that they will fold and stand upright
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 43 
 
 (something like Figs. 28 and 29), and let one of them so 
 stand on any white surface, as a sheet of white paper, and if 
 possible in sunlight. Let another be placed in like man- 
 ner on a dark surface, as a dark table-cover. Now make 
 a comparison of the two, and it will be found that in the 
 first case (Fig. 28) the lower part of the shaded side is much 
 lighter than the upper part, because many of the rays of 
 light from the white paper are thrown back or reflected 
 
 R 
 
 FIG. 28. 
 
 FIG. 29.- 
 
 against it ; whilst in the other case (Fig. 29) little or no 
 perceptible change takes place, because the dark cloth, 
 instead of reflecting the light, absorbs it. Except for re- 
 flection, the shade side of objects would inevitably be black 
 in fact, invisible. 
 
 67. If the student will now make the experiment with 
 coloured surfaces, he will learn more fully the universality 
 of these laws. Let Y (Fig. 28) represent the cardboard 
 coloured, say Yellow, and E, the surface on which it stands,
 
 44 On Light and Shade. 
 
 coloured Red, and as before let it be placed in sunlight. 
 It will be observed that the lower part of the shaded side, Y, 
 is now of an Orange hue, because some of the Bed is thrown 
 back or reflected into the Yellow. 
 
 If, as in Fig. 29, the cardboard is coloured Blue, and 
 the surface on which it stands Red, then the lower part 
 of B will appear of a Purple hue : and so on, according 
 to the colours and the nature of the material used, ad 
 infinitum. * 
 
 G8. It has been observed that substances vary greatly in 
 their power of reflection. When rays of light fall upon 
 an object, some of them are absorbed by the object, and the 
 remainder are reflected in all directions.! It is these re- 
 flected rays thrown on the retina that enable us to see 
 objects. This absorption of light takes place in all bodies 
 more or less, and even water, when very deep, will almost 
 completely absorb rays of light in certain degrees of inci- 
 dence, and appear black. The difference between the high- 
 est known transparency and the deepest opacity (say, pitch 
 or tar) is one of degree merely. 
 
 * The laws of reflection of colour, here referred to, apply only to 
 pigments, and not to pure light, where some singular phenomena present 
 themselves. For instance, Helmholtz has shown that Yellow and Blue 
 rays thrown together into each other produce White light. In painting, 
 however, we mix Blue and Yellow substances to produce Green. 
 
 f At a perpendicular incidence water reflects only 18 rays out of 
 every 1000. When the rays strike the water obliquely, the reflection is 
 increased. At an incidence of 40, for example, water reflects 22 rays ; 
 at 00" it reflects 05 rays ; at 80 , 333 rays ; while at an angle of 89^, 
 where the light almost grazes the surface, it reflects 721 rays out of 
 every 1000. Vide Tyndall on Light, 2nd cd. p. 17.
 
 46 
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 It will be evident, then, that if in Nature these laws 
 are invariable and ever present, we can only hope for suc- 
 cess in our efforts in proportion as we express them in our 
 work. 
 
 G9. We have said that when an object is interposed 
 
 Ex.2. 
 
 ," -V III 
 
 &?.*'' 'jtfx, K 
 
 I -H 4. 'M&&-'' 
 
 "v *, V*ft I'jff^. 
 
 between the light and another object, the darkness so 
 caused is called accidental shadow (see If 64). Shadow) 
 does not usually reveal so much the shape of the object 
 casting it as the shape of the surface on which if falls, as 
 may bo seen in Fig. 30, where the straight stick casts an
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 47 
 
 irregular shadow, according to the shape of the surface. 
 Also, in the doorways (Fig. 31), the framework of both is 
 the same in appearance, until, as in Ex. 1, a shadow is 
 cast which at once reveals to us the depth or retirement 
 of some portions of the mouldings. Usually the darkest 
 part of a cast shadow is close to the object casting it. 
 Fig. 31 a shows in a simple manner how the compara- 
 tively flat shade and shadow, #, may be made into a 
 retiring space by the addition of a few accessories, as in J. 
 Not onlv does a cast shadow reveal the surface over which 
 
 FIG. 32. 
 
 it passes, but it is usually well defined at the edges, as 
 well as darkest immediately next to the object casting it. 
 Evidence of this may be seen in the wooden platter and 
 knife (Fig. 32). Sometimes, however, when the object 
 casting the shadow stands away from the surface on 
 which the shadow falls, the edge of the shadow is darkest, 
 as at a in Fig. 33, where the shadow at a a is darkest at 
 the bottom. 
 
 70. Shadows are ordinarily darker than shades, espe- 
 cially in sunlight and under a clear sky, and for this reason :
 
 48 
 
 On LigJit and Shad j. 
 
 Light passes through pure air invisibly ; * but if there bo 
 particles, as of dust, or of water in suspension (cloud or 
 vapour), these particles, receiving the rays, scatter them in 
 all directions, and some falling on the shadow prevent it 
 from being absolutely black. 
 
 FIG. 33. 
 
 71. When, however, the light is not bright, and there 
 are clouds breaking up and scattering the rays they have 
 not absorbed, the shaded parts of objects will be dull, and 
 the shadow from them undefined. 
 
 * This may be readily shown thus : In a room totally dark, bore 
 a small hole in the shutter, so as to let in light from the sun. The 
 beam of light will be invisible. Now cause a little dust, or smoke, or 
 vapour from a kettle, to rise, and the beam of light will instantly be- 
 come visible.
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 49 
 
 When the local colour of the objects is dark, and unrc- 
 flective or absorbent of rays, these laws are not so apparent, 
 and it is for this reason that white or light models are the 
 best for students to work from. 
 
 72. The attention should now be drawn to another 
 very important property of shade its gradation on round 
 
 FIG. 34. 
 
 objects. "We have already said that in all cases shade 
 should be perfectly even and free from spottiness. This 
 fact applies to shade under all circumstances, on round as 
 on flat surfaces. The simplest form on which gradation 
 can be seen is on a cylinder, such as the pillar (Fig. 34), or 
 on a roll of white paper, where the gradation is in one di- 
 rection only. If you have a sphere, such as an india-rubber
 
 50 On Light and Shade. 
 
 ball, you will sec that the shade graduates in all directions, 
 but regularly ; whilst on an egg, or on the parts of a face, 
 the gradation is much more complex. 
 
 The great aim in the working of graduated shade, how- 
 ever, should be to keep it not only even, but tender, for all 
 fine work is delicate, and it is better to sacrifice some of the 
 roundness of appearance than the delicacy of work. The 
 shade on an egg is actually inimitable. The shading on the 
 pedestal in Fig. 34 must not on any account be taken as an 
 example it is quite too imperfect. 
 
 73. There is one more property in the use of cast 
 shadows which may be briefly noted, namely, that they tell 
 us the direction from which the light comes, and often the 
 location of the object which casts the shadow. It is evi- 
 dent, for instance, that in Fig. 34 the light falls from the 
 left-hand side, because the shadow on the ground from the 
 pillar is on the right-hand side. If the shadow from an 
 object assumes the shape of a cone, we infer that the illu- 
 mining body is wide in proportion ; but if the shadow 
 diverges as it leaves the object, we conclude that the light 
 is small in proportion as it might be of a candle. 
 
 74. The student may illustrate this for himself in the 
 following experimental manner, by means of a bat's-wing 
 flame, or by a flat paraffine flame. Let any object narrower 
 than the width of the fiat side of the flame be placed so as 
 to cast a shadow on to a piece of paper on the table ; it will 
 be seen that it assumes the shape of a cone, and that its 
 edge is somewhat softened. When the edge of the flame is 
 turned towards the object, the shadow is sharp and clear,
 
 On Light and Shade. 51 
 
 and if the object be wider than the flame, the shadow will 
 form a divergent cone. 
 
 75. In most of the illustrations given it will be observed 
 that the shadow touches the object that casts it, and thus 
 indicates that it is on the ground. In the two following 
 illustrations (Figs. 35 and 36) the two pairs of feet are 
 
 FIG. 35. FIG. 36. 
 
 precisely the same, but by the shadows which they cast 
 they are made to appear different. 
 
 76. Although there are no lines in Nature, it is often 
 necessary to use them in expressing shade in drawing. 
 These lines, however, should always be used in the direc- 
 tion of the surface they are intended to express : never as 
 in Fig. 37, but as in Fig. 38 ; or even better, Fig. 39. 
 
 SUMMAEY. 
 
 77. This chapter on Light and Shade is so important 
 that it may be desirable to give a summary of it. 
 
 78. Solidity, roundness, and projection, are the natural 
 outcome of light and shade, and we are greatly dependent 
 on it for our knowledge of projection. 
 
 79. Light is an imponderable, invisible agent by which 
 we see objects.
 
 52 
 
 On LigTit and, Shade. 
 
 80. Light is in itself invisible, but becomes visible as 
 it impinges on anything. 
 
 FIG. 37. 
 
 Fio. 39. 
 
 81. We see objects by means of the rays of light which 
 are reflected from them into the eye.
 
 On Light and Shade. 53 
 
 82. Objects are light or dark in proportion as they 
 absorb many or few rays, and they appear light or dark 
 according to the number of rays they reflect into the eye. 
 
 83. Few objects appear quite black on their shaded side, 
 owing to light being thrown upon them from surrounding 
 objects or from the atmosphere. 
 
 84. Shade may be defined as absence of light in various 
 degrees. 
 
 85. For convenience we divide shade into natural shade 
 and accidental shadow. 
 
 86. Eeflection is light thrown back on to an object from 
 its surroundings. 
 
 87. The laws appertaining to ordinary white light apply 
 also to its component parts blue, red, yellow, &c. 
 
 88. Experimental results with prismatic colours and 
 with pigment colours differ very much. 
 
 89. The difference between the highest known trans- 
 parency and the densest opacity is said to be one of degree 
 only. 
 
 90. Shadows usually reveal the surfaces on which they 
 fall more than the shapes which cast them. 
 
 91. Shadows are ordinarily clearly defined at their 
 edges, and darkest close to the objects casting them. 
 
 92. Graduated shade conveys the idea of roundness, and 
 the simplest form of it may be seen in the cylinder, where 
 the gradation is in one direction only. 
 
 93. In shading objects, tenderness and delicacy of work 
 should be aimed at rather than darkness. 
 
 94. Shadows indicate the direction from which the
 
 64 
 
 On Liglit and Shade. 
 
 light falls on an object ; and not unfrequently the size of 
 the light, whether great or small, in comparison with the 
 object. 
 
 95. Shadows often to some extent locate the objects 
 casting them, by showing that they touch a surface, or that 
 they are removed from it. 
 
 9G. When the light on an object is strong or bright, the 
 shades light (showing much reflection), and the shadows 
 clear, the idea of sunlight is conveyed. 
 
 97. We have hitherto spoken of light and shade only 
 as applied to objects. Its application to, and uses in a pic- 
 ture, must be briefly treated in another chapter.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OK DRAWING FEOM FLAT COPIES. 
 
 98. FEW departments of education seem to have been 
 more entirely misunderstood than Drawing, and the prac- 
 tice of teaching it. By some it is thought that if good 
 examples, whether of heads or landscapes, are provided, 
 and the student has only patience enough to make a good 
 copy, all is well. Now we do not deny that there are 
 advantages to be derived from careful copying, but it 
 should not for a moment be supposed that this alone is 
 Art education. We have elsewhere said that the study 
 of Art is twofold, a science and an art a science to be 
 known, and an art to be practised. But the two must 
 operate in combination with each other. A language is 
 not learned by merely copying its alphabetical characters, 
 however skilfully, but by obtaining such a knowledge of 
 its grammar as will enable the student to understand its 
 structure and apply its rules. Few things can be more 
 mischievous to a beginner than setting him to copy heads, 
 such as Julien's, or landscapes, such as Hubert's, and 
 especially such as those bearing the name of Raze. Even 
 the copying of Harding's trees, without attending 'to the 
 instructions contained in the text, can be of little advan- 
 tage. The usual result of such a practice with thoughtless 
 
 and stupid persons is idle deception, inasmuch as they 
 
 55
 
 66 On Drawing from Flat Copies. 
 
 imagine that they have done something worthy or credit- 
 able ; whilst with intelligent and inquiring minds it soon 
 ends in disgust, for, although they are unable to devise a 
 better way, they are conscious of the worthlessness of this 
 as a means of real development. 
 
 99. It may be inquired, then, Ought flat copies to be 
 used at all ? and, if so, what kind should they be, and how 
 ought they to be used ? We reply, that much advantage 
 may be gained by copying good examples rightly. We do 
 not say merely correctly, but rightly ; not by the slavish 
 and laborious imitation of an example, stroke for stroke 
 and point for point, but by the honest carrying out of the 
 intentions and spirit or motive of the example. Let it 
 ever be remembered that really conscientious effort is as 
 important in Art as in other studies, and its neglect can 
 only tend towards moral delinquency. 
 
 100. The Department of Science and Art has issued an 
 almost exhaustless series of outline studies some of them 
 very graceful the copying of which affords excellent exer- 
 cise for eye and hand, and is best suited to intending de- 
 signers : this, in fact, was their original purpose. 
 
 On the other hand, busy publishers have issued an 
 endleas mass of lithographic examples, in landscapes, in 
 heads, in flowers, &c., which seem generally to have been 
 prepared more with a view to effect than truth. However 
 these may be regarded by the student, he cannot do wrong 
 in adopting a course that will educate his faculties in all 
 that appertains to truth and beauty. It is proposed to 
 Bketch such a course here.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS FOR A COURSE OF STUDY, 
 
 101. IN laying out a course of exercises for the stu- 
 dent, it will be perceived that all his faculties will be called 
 into use : 
 
 (A.) The eye to see contour or outline truly, and the 
 
 hand to trace accurately what the eye sees. 
 (B.) The mind to perceive delicate, even, and subtly 
 
 varying shade, and the hand to produce it with 
 
 a point pen, pencil, or brush, 
 (c. ) The mind to distinguish the appearances of things, 
 
 and the hand to sketch them from nature. 
 (D. ) The mind to learn the essential characteristics of 
 
 things. 
 (E.) The judgment to have regard more to the purpose 
 
 of doing (viz. improvement) than to what is 
 
 done (the drawing). 
 
 (A.) Taking this proposed course in detail, we find flat 
 outline resolving itself into 
 
 1. Rectangular figures, such as squares, parallelo- 
 grams, &c. 
 
 2. Curvilinear symmetrical forms. 
 
 3. Mixed or compound forms. 
 
 4. Natural objects that are flat, such as leaves, and flat 
 copies of objects. 
 
 67
 
 68 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 102. In this course it is not to be understood that 
 the entire stage of outline drawing must be completed 
 before beginning the shading exercises or the sketching 
 from objects. All three may be prosecuted simultaneously 
 with advantage. 
 
 103. Outline is the simplest means by which form 
 may be suggested or represented, and as an exercise it is 
 best to practise it from outline drawings or from flat 
 models. If a student can draw a square and an oblong 
 (parallelogram) accurately, he may proceed at once to 
 symmetrical and curvilinear forms, such as Fig. 40 (a and 
 b), only much larger. 
 
 104. The order of procedure in which such outline 
 drawings should be executed is as follows : 
 
 1. 'Block in' the general shape, deciding upon the 
 proportions. 
 
 2. Draw all the parts definitely. 
 
 3. Rub down all the lines with a piece of bread till they 
 are only just visible, and then" make the true outline, deli- 
 cately but clearly. 
 
 105. To ' block in ' the general shape, the student should 
 proceed much as a sculptor would in preparing his marble ; 
 first hewing out the form roughly, and, in the sculptor's 
 case, rather larger than will be ultimately required, but 
 always securing the correct general proportions, and after- 
 wards completing it. In Fig. 40, a, half the figure is left, 
 only 'blocked in.' 
 
 This method of working is very useful when enlarging 
 or reducing a drawing. In enlarging or reducing always ob-
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 59 
 
 observe the proportions of the copy by dividing it into 
 halves, quarters, or thirds ; then ' block in ' these quantities 
 of such size as may be determined upon. (See Fig. 40, #.) 
 106. The 'blocking in' need not be done with long 
 curved lines, but with shorter straight ones truth of quan- 
 tity and form being the principal aim ; but afterwards, 
 
 FIG. 40. 
 
 when the whole has been subdued with bread and made 
 almost invisible, the pencil should be passed several times 
 over a considerable part of any line without touching it, so 
 as to get the hand into an easy and ready position for draw- 
 ing with neatness and precision the final line. There 
 should be no gradation or expression ; all should be equal in
 
 60 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 depth and regular in appearance. But when copying pro- 
 jecting objects, such as boxes, boats, &c., from flat exam- 
 ples, squares should be used as guides, and varying empha- 
 sis may be given to assist in making some parts retire and 
 others stand forward (as in Fig. 41). 
 
 When an example is copied the same size as the original, 
 it is a good plan to test its accuracy by means of tracing- 
 paper. This, however, should never be done till the copy 
 is carefully made. 
 
 
 
 (B.) The ' mind to perceive,' &c. 
 
 107. The power to see and feel delicately is as important 
 in shading as it is in form, and is the first step towards real 
 success. 
 
 The student may begin first with a small piece of 
 equal or flat shading, enclosed in an oblong of, say, one 
 
 inch by one and a half. This 
 enclosed space may be filled 
 with equal shade in various 
 ways. If the lead pencil be 
 used, the space may be first 
 filled with long, soft (never 
 hard or wiry), parallel lines or 
 bars, nearly touching each other, and afterwards the 
 interspaces filled evenly up with a finely-pointed pencil. 
 If a pen or the point of a brush is to be used, the work 
 should be what is technically called 'cross-hatched,' that is, 
 short lines in one direction are crossed with short lines 
 in another direction ; but as lines crossing at great angles
 
 62 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 produce contrast, the angles formed by the lines should 
 be Yery acute, as at B, and never as at A. When this 
 
 cross-hatching is quite dry 
 the lines may be again 
 crossed, till all the light 
 spaces are filled, and the 
 whole area made perfectly even. 
 
 Sometimes, when the pencil is the instrument to be 
 used, and the paper has sufficient texture or grain on its 
 surface, a faint flat shade is laid over the whole space with 
 a stump, made of leather or of paper, and then the work is 
 completed with the point of pencil or chalk.* 
 
 108. On correcting errors. In this shade exercise the 
 student may find that some parts will require amending ; 
 for each exercise should be worked at till quite even. 
 Suppose some part is too dark or spotty, the dark part 
 should be touched gently . with a crumb of bread 
 rolled into a shape like I or, if this should fail 
 sufficiently to remove the I I error, a small hole should 
 be cut in a piece of stiff w paper and laid on the 
 drawing; then the offending dark part may be removed 
 with bread or artists' gum (india rubber), and the light 
 thus made stippled up to the required shade. In pen- 
 work the knife must be used for scraping down any dark 
 patches. 
 
 109. Gradation. The second exercise in shading is 
 
 * This latter mode has been introduced into the Schools of Art 
 throughout the country by the nowly-appointed and energetic Art 
 Director, Mr. Poynter, R.A.
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 63 
 
 similar to the first, but more difficult : for an oblong must 
 be filled in with a perfectly even but graduated tint, the 
 change from light at one end to 
 dark at the other being by imper- 
 ceptible degrees, like the shade on 
 a chalk cylinder or on an egg. 
 
 The power of graduating 
 delicately is very important, and 
 should be practised again and 
 
 again till perfect mastery is obtained, once obtained, 
 however, the student may know that he has made real 
 progress. 
 
 "When the stump is used in graduating a surface, it is 
 best to proceed as follows : First, lay a perfectly flat, even, 
 light tint, over the parts requiring shading, and afterwards 
 proceed to lay in the darker parts, so tenderly as not to be 
 easily perceptible. Never, when shading light objects, 
 such as china, eggs, plaster casts, &c., make the shades 
 dark, but always light and tender. All good work is deli- 
 cate, though not feeble. 
 
 (c.) ' The mind to distinguish,' <&c. 
 
 110, If the student has read the Introduction to this 
 volume, he will have learnt that very few persons can see 
 at all truly, and that this is no fault of the eye, but of 
 early training. It would be well if he would now read 
 again the remarks ' On the Eye' and 'On Seeing.' 
 (Chaps. -I. and III.) 
 
 111. It is evident that no representation of an object
 
 64 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 on paper can appear quite the same as the original does ; 
 for in nature the image of the object is presented to the 
 mind from two points of vision, represented by the two 
 eyes, and is really a blended image of two views. This, 
 of course, cannot be put down on paper,* for Art recog- 
 nises only one eye. It is, therefore, better for the student 
 at first, when sketching the outline of any form, to use 
 only one eye, and to treat the object as though it were 
 perfectly flat. Some students find it a help to imagine a 
 piece of glass placed in front of them, and the contours of 
 objects traced on the glass. For students who have much 
 difficulty in seeing things as they appear, the ' Diascope ' 
 (see Appendix), or a piece of glass with squares ruled on it, 
 will be of great service. 
 
 112. It is in this stage of his work that the student will 
 feel the disadvantage of not having drawn from objects in 
 his childhood ; and every opportunity of sketching objects 
 should now be seized, not so much in making set and 
 formal studies, as in jotting down very frequently the 
 shape of anything about him, and on any paper that hap- 
 pens to be conveniently at hand. A common, cheap pocket 
 sketch-book, carried in the pocket ready for use, will be 
 convenient 
 
 113. As to systematic work, it is best to go through a 
 regular course of object drawing, making such application 
 of perspective rules as artists do ; an explanation of which 
 will be found under the head of 'Artistic Perspective' in 
 the present work. 
 
 * This is seen in the Stereoscope.
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 65 
 
 We may, however, here state, for the benefit of begin- 
 ners, a few facts in connexion with the appearances of some 
 simple elementary forms. 
 
 If a square sheet of paper or cardboard be held in 
 front of the face and parallel to it, the actual shape of the 
 
 square will be seen (Fig. 42) ; but if 
 
 it be laid on the table, still keeping 
 one edge of the paper parallel to the 
 spectator, it will appear foreshortened 
 
 (Fig. 43). If it 
 
 be raised a little 
 
 from the table, 
 
 keeping it quite 
 horizontal, the figure will appear narrower and narrower, 
 as at a (Fig. 44), until it is raised to the level of the eye, 
 
 FIG. 43. 
 
 FIG. 42. 
 
 I 
 
 *c* 
 
 8' 
 
 FIG. 44. 
 
 when the square is lost in a line, as at J. Eaising it 
 higher, it assumes the shape seen at d. If the retiring side 
 lines of each square be continued or 'produced,' they will 
 all appear to converge towards a point in the centre of the 
 line, c, exactly opposite the eye of the spectator. This is 
 parallel perspective. 
 5
 
 66 
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 114. If we now place a square piece of cardboard on 
 each side of the first one, and still parallel to the spectator, 
 we shall find a similar result, as shown at e and /, where 
 all the receding lines appear to converge towards the point 
 opposite the spectator's eye, which in parallel perspective is 
 called the vanishing point, and usually marked v. P. Of 
 course, the same remark would apply to the circle, if placed 
 in any of the squares. 
 
 115. If the square cardboard be placed with one edge 
 on the table, and exactly opposite the spectator, and its 
 plane vertical, the sides will not be visible, and it will have 
 to be represented by a vertical line. If, keeping it in the 
 same direction exactly, it be moved a little to the right 
 hand or to the left, the plane becomes again visible, as 
 shown at g in Fig. 44 ; the retiring lines converging towards 
 the v. P. (vanishing point) opposite the eye. 
 
 Fio. 45. 
 
 FIG. 46. 
 
 11C. We have a similar result of foreshortening in 
 the two views of the round table (Figs. 45 and 46),
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 67 
 
 and in the four retiring planes of the transparent cube 
 (Fig. 47). 
 
 FIG. 47. 
 
 117. Now let the square cardboard be laid on the table, 
 with one corner towards the spectator : the appearance 
 will be as seen in Fig. 48. As the cardboard is raised 
 
 _ . - - H.I. 
 
 more nearly to the level of the eye (still keeping it hori- 
 zontal), it will appear narrower (as A, Fig. 49). Raising it 
 almost to the level of the eye, it assumes a shape as at B ; 
 and finally, when it is exactly level with the eye, the 
 whole square is lost in the line, c, and forms part of the 
 H. L. (horizontal line). If the card is raised above the eye 
 U little, its shape will appear as at D. It will be observed,
 
 08 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 that in this view of the square the retiring lines go in two 
 different directions, to the right and to the left, but that 
 all those lines which are parallel to each other recede to the 
 same point. This view of the square is called angular or 
 oblique perspective. 
 
 118. In this instance the two outside corners are at the 
 same distance from the spectator, and therefore on the same 
 level. Further, if the retiring lines on each side be ex- 
 tended, they will meet on the level of the eye (H. L.), at the 
 same distance on each side from the square. 
 
 Suppose, now, that the square cardboard be placed so 
 that one outside corner is further from the spectator than 
 the other, we shall have a result as follows (Fig. 50): 
 
 B 
 
 A 
 FIG. 50. 
 
 The corner, c, will be higher than B, and the line, A c; 
 shorter than A B. The angle, D, is not over the nearest 
 angle, A, and the receding lines, A c and B D, when con-' 
 tinned, terminate on the 'H. L.' much nearer to the figure 
 than do the lines A B and c D. 
 
 119. A few careful exercises drawn from the square 
 cardboard, or from a square of wire, placed in various 
 positions, will prepare the student for entering more fully 
 into the drawing of cubical objects, such as boxes, chairs,
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 69 
 
 houses, &c., by rule, as shown in the chapter on ' Artistic 
 Perspective.' 
 
 120. In drawing from objects the student should be 
 careful not to alter his position when view- 
 ing his model, as, of course, it will appear 
 
 different from each new point of view. 
 Sometimes beginners use an * eye - stand ' 
 (like Fig. 51), which is simply a strong 
 upright wire on a stand, on which a piece 
 of card slides up .or down: a knitting- 
 needle stuck into a pincushion, or into a 
 block of wood, will do. In the card is 
 a hole, through which to look at the 
 object again and again without danger of 
 changing the * point of view.' 
 
 121. One of the principal difficulties 
 
 that the beginner meets with in drawing from objects is in 
 determining the apparent width of their retiring planes. 
 Only experience will enable him to overcome these diffi- 
 culties, though he may be greatly assisted by using the 
 Diascope, or a piece of ruled glass before referred to. The 
 most common mistake is in making retiring planes too 
 wide, as in the chair-seat in Fig. 52, instead of like 
 Fig. 53, which is more agreeable. 
 
 122. In drawing cylindrical forms, such as mugs, 
 basins, &c., a frame-work should always be made, so as to 
 keep the lower lines curved in relation to the upper lines. 
 Such frame-work may be drawn as in Fig. 54, or as in 
 
 It is a good plan for the student to consider the 
 
 FIG. 61. 
 
 Fig. 55.
 
 70 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 FIG. 52. 
 
 FIG. 53. 
 
 Fia. 54. 
 
 FIG. 55.
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 71 
 
 object as transparent, and draw it accordingly. The com- 
 mon error in drawing forms of this kind is shown in Fig. 
 56, at A, where the two outside vertical lines are longer 
 
 FIG. 56. 
 
 than the nearest line, a b, and where the lower curve termi- 
 nates at each end in a sharp corner, c d. 
 
 123. The habit of imagining a plane of glass for the 
 picture plane, between the spectator and the object, and 
 viewing it only with one eye, will often greatly assist in 
 ascertaining accurately either the inclination or the curve 
 of a line. 
 
 124. The square, the cube, and the cylinder, form the 
 basis for drawing most other regular forms, and should, 
 therefore, be carefully studied and well mastered before 
 attempting irregular and intricate objects. "When the 
 student has gone through this course conscientiously, he 
 will be fitted to proceed to the study of any special depart- 
 ment of Art, as landscape, figures, &c. 
 
 (D.) 'Tlie mind to learn,' &c. 
 
 125. Another stage in this course will be to gain the 
 habit of so looking at natural objects as to be impressed 
 with those properties or qualities about them by which 
 they are most clearly distinguished from other objects and
 
 72 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 Vw. 57.
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 73 
 
 FIG. 58.
 
 74 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 
 
 from one another. In a simple way this is explained at 
 some length in Chaps. III. and XVI., ' On Observing Na- 
 ture' and 'On Character.' 
 
 This habit is but another term for the power of seeing, 
 which has been elsewhere spoken of. It should be begun 
 in childhood, in what are known as 'object lessons,' and 
 in some of the exercises of the ' Kindergarten ' system. 
 A student who has not had such advantages, nor the great 
 advantage of watching others draw, may do much for him- 
 self by a few set exercises, both from drawings and from 
 nature. Some good examples of what is here meant may 
 be found in several of our comic serials, where the pecu- 
 liarities which are strongly characteristic of a thing or of 
 a person are slightly exaggerated, and which, though gro- 
 tesque, have in them much truth. 
 
 12G. The power of observing the essential characteristics 
 of a place was one of Turner's most striking peculiarities. 
 Wherever he went he was perpetually observing and sketch- 
 ing ; and although some of his sketches were almost un- 
 intelligible to others, to himself they were full of meaning. 
 A curious example of this (a Sunrise) is shown by Mr. 
 Ruskin in Modern Painters.* The illustrations given in 
 Figs. 57 and 58 are from a slight pencil-sketch of a Water- 
 fall by Turner, in the possession of the author. They are 
 as nearly as possible like the original as the mode of 
 reproduction would allow, and bear evidence of the fact 
 that he had a definite intention in every stroke of his 
 pencil. 
 
 * Vol. v. p. 187.
 
 Suggestions for a Course of Study. 75 
 
 (E.) * The judgment to have,' &c. 
 
 127. The unreasonableness and impatience of ignorant 
 persons, in expecting large results from small and brief 
 exertions, have been most mischievous to those who have 
 had to do with Art, whether as teachers or as students. A 
 would-be amateur applies to a teacher for a few lessons, to 
 enable him ' just to dash off a few telling effects from na- 
 ture with his brush. He has never drawn much, and does 
 not care for the pencil ; all he wants is just to be able to 
 paint effectively and quickly.' Now, in such a case as this, 
 one of two things is certain either that our would-be 
 amateur must be wonderfully gifted, or that the teacher 
 must be uncommonly stupid to have taken so many years 
 to acquire that which is to be learned in a few lessons. 
 
 In all true artistic feeling, the pursuit, not the result, is 
 the reward ; for where Art is rightly pursued, it produces a 
 continual satisfaction in the fact that, however slow, there 
 is progress, and that progress is sure ; and although the 
 work done may have no mercantile value whatever, it may 
 be regarded as the effort of an immortal mind striving to 
 improve itself, and, therefore, precious. 
 
 128. After going through such a course as is here 
 sketched out, the student will find that his eye and hand 
 have been brought under strict discipline, his perceptions 
 quickened, his feelings made sensitive, and his whole being 
 brought into sympathy with truth and beauty in Nature 
 and in Art. He is thus prepared to enter with confidence 
 of success into any technical application of drawing, or is 
 able to develop his faculties for still higher enjoyments in 
 that outward manifestation of God which we call Nature.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ON CONTRAST. 
 
 129. CONTRAST and gradation in Art may be consid- 
 ered as almost opposite terms the former revealing, and 
 the latter concealing, many forms and facts. Contrast is 
 exciting and irritating, whilst gradation is soothing and 
 agreeable. 
 
 In order properly to understand contrast, the student 
 would do well to make it an experimental inquiry. 
 
 130. If, at night, the upper portion of an open book be 
 held vertically against the strong light of a lamp, and the 
 rays from the lamp be allowed at the same time to enter 
 the eye, the letters on the upper part of the book will be 
 invisible, or nearly so, whilst the characters on the lower 
 part of the page can be readily seen. The rays of light 
 entering the eye, being so strong, cause the * pupil' to be 
 contracted, and the rays from the book are too feeble to ren- 
 der the letters visible. 
 
 131. The eye is similarly affected, but in a less degree, 
 in the following diagram (Fig. 59).* Let A and A repre- 
 sent two pieces of paper, shaded with a perfectly even and 
 equal tint. Let B and B likewise represent two similar 
 pieces of paper, with a similar perfectly even and equal 
 tint, only darker than A and A. Now let them bo placed 
 
 * Chuvreul on Colour. 
 
 76
 
 On Contrast. 
 
 77 
 
 as in the diagram, when it will be seen that the order of 
 darkness will be as follows : A 1 will appear the lightest ; 
 A 2, darker ; B 3, darker still ; and u 4, by its juxtaposition 
 to A 1, darkest of all. 
 
 FIG. 59. 
 
 132. This force of contrast will be more strongly ap- 
 parent in the following experiment, which, if made on a 
 moderately large scale, may also be a good exercise for 
 the student. Obtain a number of strips of paper, and let 
 them be lettered, numbered, and cut into widths bearing 
 a similar relation to those marked A, B, c, &c., in Fig. 60. 
 
 A B 
 3 5 
 
 c 
 
 4 
 
 D 
 3 
 
 El 
 2 
 
 F 
 1 
 
 C 
 
 
 H 1 
 1 2 
 
 FIG. 60. 
 
 Let G remain clear. On all except G lay a perfectly flat 
 wash of colour (say Sepia) ; now, on all except r, G, and H, 
 lay another flat wash. On all except E, r, G, H, and I, lay 
 a third. Lay a fourth wash on A, B, c, D ; a fifth on B and 
 c ; and, lastly, a sixth on B.
 
 78 On Contrast. 
 
 Place these strips in juxtaposition quite neatly on a 
 sheet of white paper or cardboard, and in the order here 
 given. If rightly done they will, when viewed from a little 
 distance, have the appearance of a fluted column. 
 
 133. The strongest contrast in Nature is of white 
 against black and black against white, as may be seen in 
 Fig. 61, where the white space in the centre of b looks 
 
 Fia. 61. 
 
 lighter than the surrounding paper, and a looks darker than 
 it would if laid on a tinted or dark surface. 
 
 134. Contrast in Art, however, has a much wider signi- 
 ficance than when applied to light and dark alone, and is 
 powerfully felt in the opposition of colours, of objects, and 
 of properties and qualities of things. 
 
 Fully to illustrate the contrasts of colour would require 
 very many coloured diagrams, and extend far beyond the 
 limits of this work. 
 
 The student may, however, assist himself by making 
 experiments with various coloured pieces of paper or card- 
 board ; and, if he wishes to pursue the subject further, may 
 consult any of the following works : Field's treatise on
 
 On Contrast. 
 
 79 
 
 Cliromotograpliy ; Grammar of Ornament, by Owen Jones ; 
 Principles and Practice of Art, by J. D. Harding; or one 
 of the many works on Decorative Art. 
 
 FIG. 62. 
 
 135. The forms of objects are contrasted with each other 
 to make them mutually more strongly felt, as when a 
 straight line is set against a curved one, or a square figure
 
 80 
 
 Chi Contrast. 
 
 against a round one. The value of this kind of contrast 
 will be felt not only in the dancing figures (Fig. 62), but 
 especially in many of the landscapes in the work. (See 
 Composition, Chap. XXIV.) 
 
 136. The properties of various bodies are often set in 
 contrast with each other in Art ; as, for instance, the soft, 
 thick, round masses of moss on a roof of hard, square slates, 
 or on a rock ; or a tender spray of leafage by a sturdy stem ; 
 or a hard, flat wall. 
 
 137. Contrast in size is frequently used to enable us to 
 judge of an unknown quantity by means of that of which 
 the size is known and fixed. This may be seen in the arches 
 on page 84. A portrait of Tom Thumb could only be cor- 
 rectly estimated by comparison with ordinary figures or 
 objects, whose magnitude is known ; and in like manner 
 the stoutness of Sancho is used to make the lanky length of 
 Don Quixote more strongly felt.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ON BELIEF. 
 
 138. BY the term 'relief is simply meant the separa- 
 tion of an object from that which is behind it ; and in 
 drawing it is obtained by making the edges of the shading 
 perfectly even and clear, and not necessarily by contrasting 
 strong dark against strong light. 
 
 139. In Nature we seldom see things in relief by violent 
 contrast, but constantly by tender and varied, but clear 
 opposition ; by which we become so perfectly conscious of 
 their shapes, and of their location in space, that the eye no 
 longer voluntarily follows the outline. It is scarcely possi- 
 ble to trace the precise contour or limit of many objects, 
 unless they be either superficial or. strongly and equally light 
 or dark throughout their entire surface. 
 
 140. The term ' relief ' is also used in relation to colour, 
 where we say one colour is ' relieved ' or set against another ; 
 but we think it less legitimately belongs to drawing and 
 painting than to sculpture, where one object is distinctly 
 separated from another in the solid. 
 
 141. In sculpture proper, which has been well said to be 
 'an art which can conceal nothing,' the figure is insulated, 
 and stands quite clear of any background : it is sculpture in 
 the round. 
 
 142. Other terms, such as * basso relievo ' ' alto relievo,' 
 
 6 81
 
 82 On Relief. 
 
 and ' mezzo relievo/ are commonly applied to any work of 
 sculpture connected more or less with any plane surface or 
 background. Basso low or flat relief has a very slight 
 projection from the background. Alto relief, on the other 
 hand, is not only rounded to the full bulk, but has gen- 
 erally some portions of the figure detached from the back- 
 ground. Mezzo relief a style between the other two 
 though rounded to considerable bulk, has no part entirely 
 unattached to the plain surface behind it. 
 
 143. The finest examples of these different kinds of 
 relief, from various Greek temples, may be seen in the 
 British Museum. The commonest examples of bas-relief is 
 a coin a penny, a shilling, or a sovereign. 
 
 144. The gates of the Baptistery of San Giovanni at 
 Florence, known as the ' Ghiberti Gates,' show beautiful 
 examples of relief, though the introduction of landscape 
 is considered by many critics a misapplication. Our own 
 Flaxman produced probably the finest relievos of modern 
 date, of which his * Shield of Achilles' is a notable ex- 
 ample. 
 
 145. One of the clearest indications of excellence in 
 the Grecian bas-reliefs is, doubtless, that in addition to the 
 exquisiteness and perfection of work, the forms are so skil- 
 fully arranged as not to cast shadows that would interfere 
 with their clear manifestation.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ON SIZE. 
 
 146. MANY students puzzle themselves by not knowing 
 how large to make a drawing or a sketch, and also by a con- 
 fusion of the idea of size with that of proportion. 
 
 147. By size is meant merely magnitude : proportion is 
 the relation which one thing bears to another. 
 
 148. The size of a sketch or drawing is to a great 
 extent optional, though depending chiefly on the nature 
 of the subject, and partly on the time at the disposal of 
 the student as well as his power, and the ultimate purpose 
 of the drawing. Let us suppose he wishes to represent 
 the lamp on the table before him it will be equally right 
 to draw it any size, from one to six or eight inches ; but 
 if the object be large, such as a house, an elephant, or a 
 tree, then he must consider how it will be best placed on 
 his paper, without being too little on the one hand, or too 
 overwhelming on the other. 
 
 149. There are, however, some objects, such as fruit, 
 flowers, &c., which should, when possible, be drawn the 
 same size that they actually are in nature. Suppose we 
 wish to draw a cluster of grapes, and we make them only 
 the size of peas, there will be danger that at first sight they 
 will be mistaken for currants. A hen's egg on a small 
 scale might be mistaken for the egg of some smaller 
 bird.
 
 84 
 
 On Size. 
 
 150. Objects in a drawing may be made to appear 
 large or small by the juxtaposition of some other objects 
 
 FIG. 63. 
 
 PIG. 04. 
 
 FIG. G5. 
 
 of known size. The mind instantly sets up a comparison, 
 and judges the indefinite by the definite. In Fig. 63 is a 
 sketch of an archway, of which we have no means of
 
 On Size. 85 
 
 knowing, even approximately, the size it may be five, ten, 
 or fifteen feet high. In Fig. 64 the same arch is given, 
 but it is at once seen, by the figure passing through it, that 
 it is probably about six feet high ; whilst in Fig. 65 the 
 same arch, by comparison with the figure, is judged to be 
 about twenty feet high. 
 
 It is important when sketching from nature objects 
 whose sizes may be variable, to sketch also something near, 
 the size of which is always the same. In Fig. 65 a ladder 
 would be sufficient to determine the height of the arch, 
 without the figure, for the ' rounds ' of a ladder are always 
 about nine inches apart. 
 
 151. Many persons on visiting, for the first time, the 
 mountains of Switzerland, are not deeply impressed with 
 their magnitude, till by a process of inferential reasoning 
 comparing the tiny-looking chalets on them with their 
 surroundings it dawns on the mind that the mountains 
 must be large. In like manner the magnitude of a grand 
 mass of distant cumuli is scarcely perceived, except by a 
 similar process of reasoning. It has been stated elsewhere 
 that some of these masses reach aii elevation of twenty 
 thousand feet from the earth. 
 
 It is evident, then, that only by a process of reasoning 
 can we make ourselves accurately acquainted with the 
 size of many objects the clock-face, tree, mountain, or 
 moon.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 / 
 
 05 PROPOBTIOH. 
 
 152. THE simple meaning of the term 'proportion' is 
 the relation which one thing bears to another ; but the 
 application of the term in Art is both wide and varied. 
 
 There may be such a relation between the various parts 
 of an object as to produce in the mind a consciousness of 
 beauty, arising solely from the relation of parts to each 
 other and to the whole, and quite independent of any 
 function to be performed. An illustration of this is seen 
 in the kaleidoscope, and in many kinds of ornament. In 
 this case it is an appeal to the aesthetic faculty alone. 
 
 153. A second sense in which the term proportion 
 may be used is when it is applied to the varied relations 
 of parts or things to each other in view of something to 
 be accomplished or done ; as in a column to support a 
 superincumbent weight, or a horse to draw a load, or an 
 athlete to run a race. In this case the appeal is made not 
 to the feelings, but to the intellectual faculties and the 
 judgment. 
 
 154. An object may have fixed and unalterable pro- 
 portions, as in the sides and angles of a square. In some 
 cases the proportions are variable, as in the human figure, 
 the proportions of which differ much, the male from the
 
 On Proportion. 87 
 
 female, and various male forms from each other, as the 
 Discobolus, or the wrestler from the Athlete. * 
 
 In Architecture the various parts of a building should 
 bear such a relation and adjustment of parts to each other 
 and to the whole, as to produce on a pure and unbiassed 
 mind a sense of agreeableness, satisfaction, and rest. 
 
 155. The diameter of the Doric column is large in 
 comparison with the length of the column, and conveys to 
 the mind the idea of solidity, durability, and deep repose. 
 The Corinthian column, containing more diameters than 
 the Doric, suggests to the mind the idea of elegance and 
 repose. 
 
 A horse may be said to be in good proportion when 
 the parts bear such a relation to each other that it is well 
 adapted to its purpose, whether of speed or power. But 
 to speak of a horse being in good symmetry indicates a 
 confusion of ideas, for the term symmetry refers to the 
 corresponding sides or parts of a 
 thing. (See Symmetry, Chap. XV.) 
 
 156. The proportions of A and B 
 in Fig. 66 are exactly the same, and, 
 therefore, though they are different 
 
 in size, they are the same in shape. 
 
 '/I... , FIG. 66. 
 
 Proportion in Art seems to be 
 
 almost equivalent to ' harmony ' in Music. It will gener- 
 
 * The proportion in length of the Discobolus is said to be seven 
 heads ; an Athlete might be eight. There is an interesting chapter on 
 this subject in the Handbook of Pictorial Art, by the Eev. St. John 
 Tyrwhitt.
 
 88 On Proportion. 
 
 ally be found that those forms whose parts are arranged on 
 certain definite proportions where the whole and each par- 
 ticular member is a multiple of some simple unit are most 
 satisfactory. Those proportions will be most beautiful 
 which the eye can least readily detect, provided, as we have 
 said, that they be multiples of some simple unit. Thus, 
 the proportions of a square being all alike, as 1 to 1, it is 
 the most palpable and least pleasing. The proportion of a 
 double square, or 4 to 8, though better, will be less beauti- 
 ful than the more subtle ratio of 5 to 8 ; so also, 3 to 6 than 
 3 to 7, 3 to 4 than 3 to 5. 
 
 157. 'Harmony of form,' Owen Jones says, 'consists 
 in the proper balance and contrast of the straight, the 
 inclined, and the curved ; ' but what this 'proper balance 
 and contrast' is we are not told: and though Hay, in his 
 various works, especially in his Principles of Symmetrical 
 Beauty, gives a great number of figures by which to secure 
 beautiful proportions, the changes that may be made with 
 a few different lines like the changes that may be rung on 
 a given number of bells are so great and so subtle as far to 
 exceed the power of the eye to calculate, but not of the 
 aesthetic faculties to appreciate, and the mind then reposes 
 in the sensation of the beautiful.
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 ON SYMMETRY. 
 
 158. THE term ' symmetry ' (so often misapplied) should 
 be allowed its true significance, viz. the correspondence of 
 two opposite sides of a thing. 
 
 It seems to be a law of Nature, that almost every 
 individual thing shall be composed of two laterally 
 similar parts in its outward appearance. As the internal 
 arrangement is often different from the external appear- 
 ance, as in animals, &c., it would seem as though it 
 was intended as a designed principle of beauty. This 
 similarity of parts is found constantly amongst flowers 
 and trees ; and in the decoration of our houses, both on the 
 walls and in the furniture, we find this law of symmetry 
 quite a necessity*. 
 
 159. A distinction must be made between the sym- 
 metry of the parts, and the symmetry of the group or 
 cluster. Take man, for example a compound form, a 
 group of trunk, limbs, and extremities. The outer con- 
 tours on each side of the body correspond with each 
 other, whilst the contours of the sides of each arm do not 
 correspond, nor the contours of the two sides of legs and 
 feet. Whatever part of the group is balanced by a similar 
 member on the other side is itself without symmetry. 
 The arm, therefore, is in itself not symmetrical, because 
 it is balanced by a similar member on the other side ; but 
 
 89
 
 90 
 
 On Symmetry. 
 
 the head, which has not this plurality, is perfect in the 
 repetition of the two halves. The two ovals (Fig. 67) will 
 illustrate this principle more clearly. 
 
 1GO. So also in the arrangement of groups or clusters 
 of any objects, the mind does not require an exact 
 repetition of forms, so much as the recognition of the law 
 of repetition. In a triptych, for instance, the two outer 
 panels may contain different subjects, provided that they 
 
 FIG. 67. 
 
 bear some relation to each other, and do not interfere with 
 this law of repetition. It would, however, be manifestly 
 wrong to have a figure subject in one panel and a landscape 
 in the other. 
 
 161. In the spandrils of a Gothic doorway, the 
 geometric lines forming the spandril will give the idea of 
 repetition ; then the subjects filling the spandrils may be 
 different, but must be the same in treatment, and shoul'd 
 bear some relation to each other, or to the edifice they are 
 intended to decorate.
 
 On Symmetry. 
 
 91 
 
 162. It will be evident, then, that as we must obtain 
 from Nature the principles intended for our guidance, and 
 as in most beautiful natural objects there is found the 
 correspondence of one side to another and reciprocal 
 balance, so in all our works, whether of Fine Art, pro- 
 perly so called, of architecture, or of adornment simply, 
 we are bound to recognize, in some degree, this beautiful 
 law of symmetry, which seems to lie at the foundation of 
 all true ornamentation. 
 
 We cannot ordinarily apply this term to an animal (to a 
 horse, for instance), as indicative of some special excellence 
 of form, for if it were not symmetrical it would be simply 
 monstrous. 
 
 163. In a limited sense the term may be applied to 
 Landscape, as when the 'balance' of a picture is spoken 
 of, which mearis such a disposition of parts, whether of 
 light and shade, or of colour, as shall prevent us from 
 feeling that one side of the picture is heavier than the 
 other.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 OH SECURING CHARACTER IN ART-WORK. 
 
 1C4. IF we look at the furrows in a ploughed field, or 
 at a fissured rock, we shall see a good illustration of this 
 very descriptive word * character.' Used in relation to 
 Art, it means all those peculiarities, whether of age, 
 
 FIG. 68. 
 
 FIG. 69. 
 
 newness, roughness, or any other qualities which most 
 strongly impress themselves on the mind, and by which 
 the object is remembered, or its representation recognised. 
 For instance, if we consider the two bits of twig given in 
 Figs. C8 and 69, which at first sight are not very dis- 
 
 93
 
 On Securing Character in Art-work. 93 
 
 similar, we shall soon discover that whilst the one is full of 
 life and promise, the other, wanting those markings which 
 indicate life the buds is actually dead. 
 
 165. In making a drawing, whether from a copy or from 
 Nature, it is a good plan, before beginning, to write on a 
 separate paper the leading peculiarities by which the work 
 is distinguished or characterised, that in our representation 
 of it we may not so much copy the strokes of the example, 
 as the intentions of those. strokes. 
 
 Thus, Expression in Art is but another word for 
 Feeling, and is more clearly explained than defined. 
 When we endeavour to make a perfectly straight line, or 
 produce a piece of perfectly even shading, ^considerable 
 care is required to keep such equal pressure of hand that 
 no part may be darker than the rest ; but when we 
 attempt to represent, say, a tree, we have to ask ourselves 
 what about it most strongly impresses our minds in 
 other words, what are its characteristics ? These we 
 endeavour to put down with such feeling or sympathy as 
 we can command. In the case of a tree, our efforts should 
 be directed to the expression of leafmess and rotundity, 
 more than to an imitation of the leaves ; but it will be 
 evident that some knowledge of the shape of the leaves, 
 of their arrangement on the twigs, and of the way in which 
 the branches strike off from the stem and from one another, 
 will be necessary to enable us fully to get at and depict it, 
 not only as a tree, but as some particular kind of tree, such 
 as oak or ash. 
 
 166. In like manner, if the subject be a mossy rock, we
 
 94 On Securing Character in Art-work. 
 
 should strive to express ideas of softness and thickness of 
 moss, and the hardness and angularity or rotundity, the 
 solidity, and the granularness of the rock. 
 
 If a thatched roof be the object, the essential qualities 
 will be those of thickness, weight, age, &c. ; and failing to 
 express these, however carefully the object may be copied, 
 it must be considered a failure. 
 
 167. Speaking generally, character is most clearly seen 
 on the light parts of objects and at their edges, but chiefly 
 
 FIG. 70. 
 
 where the light and shade separate as may be seen in the 
 hamper (Fig. 70). 
 
 108. In drawing from Nature it would be as impos- 
 sible as useless to put all down that is before us the 
 camera can do that for us : it is the business of Art to 
 select and express those essential and striking truths by 
 which a scene may be identified by the mind and impressed 
 on the feelings.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ON TASTE. 
 
 169. VOLUMES have been written on this much dis- 
 puted word. Mr. Ruskin says,* and we cannot do better 
 than quote, as far as possible, his words, * Perfect taste 
 is the faculty for receiving the greatest possible pleasure 
 from those material sources which are attractive to our 
 moral nature in its purity and perfection. He who re- 
 ceives little pleasure from these sources wants taste ; he 
 who receives pleasure from any other sources has false or 
 bad taste.' 
 
 If an object, a form, or a colour be right, it is right, 
 independently of our intuitive choice or * taste.' If we ad- 
 mire it, our taste is good or pure ; if we do not admire it, 
 our taste is bad. 
 
 170. The term 'taste' must not be confounded with 
 that of 'judgment,' which is a term expressing a definite 
 action of the intellect. We may reason whether a thing be 
 right or wrong, and arrive at a definite conclusion ; but this 
 is not 'taste.' 'All exertions of the intellect are totally 
 distinct from taste, properly so called, which is the instinc- 
 tive and instant preferring of one material object to another 
 without any obvious reason, except that it is proper to hu- 
 manity in its perfection so to do.' 
 
 * Modern Painters, Vol. I. 
 
 95
 
 96 On Taste. 
 
 171. This intuitive faculty may be affected to an 
 unlimited extent by the circumstances of life. A child 
 educated amidst the surroundings of the true and the 
 beautiful in Art is much more likely to develop into a 
 man of good taste than one who continually has about him 
 only the common and not beautiful objects of life. But 
 this faculty can be developed by direct effort, as well as 
 by the subtle influence of things of beauty ; and we ought, 
 therefore, to make ourselves acquainted with those prin- 
 ciDles or laws by which objects may be determined to be 
 
 FIG. 71. FIG. 73. 
 
 right or wrong. It is possible that of the two slight 
 sketches (Figs. 71 and 72), some persons might at first 
 sight prefer the first : if so, the taste is bad. If we 
 proceed to analyse them, we shall soon arrive at a definite 
 and unalterable decision that the second is the more beauti- 
 ful, both on account of the variety of its contour and from 
 its suitableness. Whether or not it might be made more 
 beautiful by, say, a little alteration in the proportions or 
 in the curves, would be ascertained by a mixed exercise 
 of the feelings and intellect, under the control of the 
 judgment.
 
 On Taste. 97 
 
 172. Taste, then, is the instant and spontaneous opera- 
 tion of a faculty of our moral nature, which is good or bad 
 in proportion as it is affected agreeably by that which is 
 pure and beautiful, or by that which is false. 
 
 173. We are liable, however, to be misled by the arti- 
 ficial value which ' the World ' puts on some things. When 
 we are told by the learned connoisseur that 'that little 
 china vase, only twelve or fifteen inches high, cost 800 
 guineas, and would fetch 1000 guineas at Christie's to- 
 morrow,' we are in danger of having our judgment pre- 
 judiced ; and before accepting the stated pecuniary value of 
 the vase as its real value, we ought to satisfy ourselves with 
 regard to its true excellence, and ascertain wherein that 
 excellence consists. 
 
 Our willingness to be pleased, and to please, in speak- 
 ing of matters of Art, should not be allowed to lead us 
 into the position of the enthusiastic old gentleman who, 
 when his friend remarked, as they passed through a pic- 
 ture-gallery together, how beautiful that was, replied ' Oh ! 
 very beautiful, very beautiful indeed ; which is it, sir ? ' 
 Let us know clearly and distinctly what we are to admire, 
 and why. Is it beauty of form or colour ? or is it the 
 antiquity of the object ? or has it a history ? If it possesses 
 any of these qualifications, it may rightly command our 
 attention ; but the reason of its worth must be distinctly 
 maintained. It is not * pretty' because fashionable, nor 
 beautiful because old ; if it has age or history it may be 
 venerable. If we are told that it was excavated from the 
 ruins of some ancient city, it is interesting as a relic ; or it 
 7
 
 98 
 
 On Taste. 
 
 may be the work of some once famous but now extinct 
 pottery, and has been in the possession of some royal family, 
 and, moreover, is the only specimen of the kind known to 
 exist ; then it becomes a thing of history, and we must 
 admire it accordingly.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ON STYLE. 
 
 174. STYLE in drawing is what ' manner or ' hand ' is 
 in writing. One person may draw in a broad style (not 
 necessarily bold), as with a piece of charcoal ; another in a 
 fine style (not niggling), as with a pen. It has nothing to 
 do Avith truth of work, for a drawing may be broad and 
 true, or fine and false, or vice versa. Some styles of work- 
 ing, however, may be peculiarly adapted to the expression 
 of some particular kinds of truths : for example, nothing 
 could be better than the reed pen, used as Prout used it, to 
 express the kind of truth that he aimed at in his old build- 
 ings ; or than the common, coarse, whity-brown paper that 
 David Cox was so 'fond of, and used in some of his wild 
 wind and moorland pictures. 
 
 175. But the term style may apply not only to the man- 
 ner of particular individuals in their way of working, but 
 also to Schools and communities ; as, for example, the 
 ' Byzantine style ' of ornament, or the * Dutch style ' of 
 painting, and the * Elizabethan style ' of architecture. 
 
 Not that Schools are determined or known by their 
 style alone, but by their motive. The motive of some of 
 the early Italian Schools was fidelity of imitation so, also, 
 the Dutch Schools ; the motive in Art as represented by 
 Fra Angelico, Bartolomeo, and others, was expression ;
 
 100 
 
 On Style. 
 
 whilst colour seems to have been a chief motive of the 
 Venetian School. 
 
 176. It will be seen, therefore, that inasmuch as Style 
 is but the mode of expression employed by a person or a 
 School, and is not either the expression itself nor what is 
 to be expressed, it is of secondary importance, and indeed 
 entirely subservient to MOTIVE.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ON MOTIVE. 
 
 177. ON Motive in Art- work, whether in a child or a 
 School, depends the ultimate issue in good or ill, truth or 
 
 FIG. 73. 
 
 Fro. 74. 
 
 falseness. 'The motive exhibited severally in the two little 
 
 woodcuts (Figs. 73 and 74) would, if pursued, be whole- 
 
 101
 
 102 On Motive. 
 
 some or disastrous. In the first one, our child aims at 
 something clever, regardless of individual truth ; whilst in 
 Fig. 74, truth of flower, of stone, of tree, is strongly aimed 
 at, though feebly expressed : the ultimate issue of such aim, 
 however, would be natural and healthy. 
 
 178. There is a well-known law in morals which seems 
 closely to apply to Art. ' All virtue and goodness tend to 
 make men powerful in this world ; but they who aim at 
 the power have not the virtue. Again : Virtue is its own 
 reward, and brings with it the truest and highest pleasures ; 
 but they who cultivate it for the pleasure-sake are selfish, 
 not religious, and will never gain the pleasure, because 
 they never can have the virtue.'* The same formula, 
 transposing the word 'Art' for 'virtue,' seems to hold 
 good here. 
 
 If this be true and we scarcely think it can be 
 doubted the motive of the student should be a very high 
 and pure one. As Ruskin truly says, ' Every action, down 
 even to the drawing of a line or utterance of a syllable, is 
 capable of a peculiar dignity in the manner of it, which we 
 sometimes express by saying it is truly done (as a line or 
 tone is true), so, also, it is capable of dignity still higher in 
 the MOTIVE of it. For there is no action so slight, nor so 
 mean, but it may be done to a great purpose, and ennobled 
 therefore ; nor is any purpose so great but that slight ac- 
 tions may help it, and may be so done as to help it much, 
 most especially that chief of all purposes, the pleasing of 
 God. Hence George Herbert : 
 
 * Shairp, Culture and Religion, p. 61.
 
 On Motive. 103 
 
 " A servant with this clause 
 Makes drudgery divine ; 
 Who sweeps a room, as lor Thy laws, 
 Makes that and the action fine." 
 
 ' Therefore, in the pressing any manner of acting, we 
 have choice of two separate lines of argument : one based 
 on the inherent value of the work, which is often small ; 
 the other on proofs of its acceptableness, so far as it goes, 
 to Him' who is the origin of virtue.'* Better far for the 
 student that he be a disciple of George Herbert or Fra 
 Angelico, both in humility and motive, than of Salvator 
 Rosa, with his grand effects but monstrously impossible 
 geology, or of Gustave Dore, with his insinuating and 
 dangerous exaggerations. 
 
 179. Regarding this last-named artist we wish not to 
 Jbe misunderstood. That Gustave Dore is a remarkable 
 genius there can be little doubt. His creative power is 
 wonderfully prolific, and his imaginative faculties are mar- 
 vellous. As Dante's exponent he stands alone, and as the 
 illustrator of Don Quixote he is unrivalled. We do not 
 much care, even, if in Elaine a female figure seven or eight 
 feet high appears ; the error does not dawn on us at once, 
 and in many cases is never noticed. Here is the legitimate 
 sphere for the imagination, which has its laws, and we are 
 not aware that he often goes beyond them. But this 
 imaginative faculty is just what entirely unfits him, we 
 think, to become a representer of facts, and it is for this 
 reason we protest against him as an illustrator of the Bible. 
 * Ruskin, Seven Lamps, p. 5, Introduction.
 
 104 On Motive. 
 
 Here we do not want man's imagination ; we want facts, 
 and such clear statement of them as will help our judg- 
 ment to the realisation of the truth. There is more help 
 and comfort in Holman Hunt's sketch of an Eastern work- 
 shop, which forms the frontispiece to Canon Farrars 
 Life of Christ, than in all the dramatic imaginings that 
 hold a thoughtless public all a-stare during several years of 
 London exhibition seasons. 
 
 180. We may as well explain here a little more fully 
 what is meant by motive. It is generally understood that 
 the purpose of a picture is in some way to teach, instruct, 
 or enlighten, and in this way painters may be our teachers. 
 Let us, then, for a moment consider what, is done by two 
 classes of men taking Holman Hunt as representative of 
 the true. He proposes to instruct us concerning the ' Scape- 
 goat' in Leviticus, chap. xvi. An ordinary painter of 
 the sixteenth century might supply himself with mate- 
 rials from his own country, probably not unmixed with 
 anachronisms ; and n9t a few nineteenth-century artists 
 would be content Avith such materials as could be gathered 
 in a tour through Switzerland, or the Riviera possibly 
 visiting a friend's shooting-box in Scotland for a back- 
 ground. Holman Hunt, however, must go to the land 
 where the scenes about which he is to instruct us were 
 enacted ; and not only so, but to the very dreariest of the 
 weary scenes of that waste wilderness below the Dead Sea, 
 that not only his eyes may see, but that his whole soul 
 may be imbued with the sentiment he would press upon us. 
 What was the result ? A picture of which Fashion, in
 
 On Motive. 105 
 
 her blindness, for once spoke the truth, though she could 
 not appreciate. The picture was ugly ! no interest in it ! 
 the goat wretched ! and so on. How could such a 
 subject be otherwise, and yet the truth ? How could a 
 wilderness with sin in it be otherwise ? and should not 
 that creature look wretched that is represented as bearing 
 a nation's sins ? 
 
 181. When Millais exhibited his picture of l An Enemy 
 Sowing Tares ' in the Eoyal Academy, about twelve years 
 ago, it was hung high, and people said, 'What an ugly 
 thing ! ' The sower looked bad, and it was dark and 
 gloomy, and there were wretched-looking reptiles crawling 
 about. And yet how could the picture of such a deed of 
 darkness be otherwise, and at the same time true ? 
 
 182. If pictures are to read to us lessons, we might 
 inquire what lesson are we to learn from ' The Otter-hunt,' 
 by Landseer, or 'The Boar-hunt,' by Schneider, or 'The 
 Bull-fight,' by Ward ? Grand in their exhibition of artistic 
 power, but what of their teaching ? What is the difference 
 between the teaching of 'The Otter-hunt' and a visit to 
 Hurlingham on a fete day ? or between that of a boar-hunt 
 and a place at a pigeon-shooting match near a Lancashire 
 town? And are these the pictures to be hanging on the 
 walls of our homes, to be seen by our children ? Surely, in 
 our house decoration we might use a little more thought 
 and common sense. 
 
 Further, it should not be forgotten that in an illus- 
 trated work the artist or illustrator always gets the atten- 
 tion of the reader before the author does, for the picture
 
 106 On Motive. 
 
 appeals instantly to the eye on the opening of the page, 
 whilst the truth which the author presents has to be ob- 
 tained from the type by a much more laborious process. 
 How important, then, that painters and illustrators should 
 be true men ! Many people look at illustrations, but do 
 not read the text ; few read the text without looking at the 
 illustrations. 
 
 183. Returning, then, from this digression, we cannot 
 too strongly urge on the student the importance of ex- 
 amining his motives in pursuing Art, that they may not 
 be either thoughtless or selfish, but such as will develop in 
 him the faculty of appreciating that which is true and of 
 avoiding that which is false. 
 
 ' |n t{>t arorn Uta Ibt ah.'
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 ON BEAUTY. 
 
 184. ' BEAUTY' and 'goodness' are names we give 
 to that which approximately satisfies our taste or our 
 conscience. Just as appetite of the intellect is stayed by 
 truth, so our aesthetic and moral faculties are capable of 
 like satisfaction in the recognition of beauty and goodness. 
 It is sometimes said that that which is beautiful or good 
 to one, may be the opposite to another. This, we think, is 
 a fallacy. Truth and goodness are entities quite inde- 
 pendent and unchangeable ; but our faculties for the 
 appreciation of truth and goodness may be untrained or 
 perverted, or they may be cultivated to the highest point 
 of sensibility. As we have elsewhere stated, they are 
 capable of education, and they suffer by neglect. If any 
 object such as a vase, for instance be beautiful or ugly, 
 it is so independently of all opinions, for it is a matter of 
 fact and not of opinion. We cannot justly say that it is 
 a matter of taste, for taste may be good or bad, and cannot 
 alter the fact ; and if we wish to ascertain what the fact is, 
 it must be by the gathering together of evidences, and 
 the exercis'e of a sound judgment on those evidences. 
 When Mr. Ruskin says, 'Any material object which can 
 give us pleasure in the simple contemplation of its out- 
 
 107
 
 108 On Beauty. 
 
 ward qualities, without any direct and definite exertion 
 of the intellect, I call in some way, or in some degree, 
 beautiful,' we cannot but think that very much depends 
 on the '' that is, whether we (the 'us') have true or 
 pure taste. 
 
 185. Dugald Stewart says, 'Notwithstanding the great 
 variety of qualities physical, intellectual, and moral to 
 which the word beauty is applicable, I believe it will be 
 admitted that, in its primitive and most general applica- 
 tion, it refers to objects of sight.' 
 
 186. Besides beauty of form, there is beauty of colour, 
 of composition, of light and shade, and of expression ; all 
 
 -of which are referable to certain principles. The various 
 constituents that go to make up beauty are infinite, but 
 there are some few which are generally present in any- 
 thing we call beautiful, and are briefly referred to in 
 various parts of the work, especially in the next three 
 chapters. 
 
 'All our moral feelings are so interwoven with our 
 intellectual powers that we cannot affect the one without 
 in some degree addressing the other ; and in all high 
 ideas of beauty it is more than probable that much of the 
 pleasure depends on delicate and untraceable perceptions 
 of fitness, propriety, and relation, which are purely in- 
 tellectual. . . . Ideas of beauty are amongst the noblest 
 which can be presented to the human mind, invariably 
 exalting and purifying it according to their degree, and 
 it would appear that we are intended by the Deity to be 
 constantly under their influence, because there is not one
 
 On Beauty. 
 
 109 
 
 single object in nature which is not capable o| conveying 
 them.' * 
 
 187. To a right and full enjoyment of beauty, whether 
 in Nature or in Art, there must be a knowledge of the 
 philosophy of Nature, and of the principles of Art. But to 
 this end there must also be the operation of the feelings, 
 made sensitive by the intelligent practice of Art ; thus the 
 mental faculties, the feelings, the eye, and the hand, act 
 in concert. 
 
 * Ruskin, Modern Painters, Vol. I.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 OH FITNESS. 
 
 188. IN a perfect sense of beauty of form, fitness 
 constitutes an essential element ; for though many things 
 may in themselves be beautiful, yet from the want of 
 fitness in their application they may become at least nuga- 
 tory. 
 
 In all complete works there must be a sense of agree- 
 ment and suitability of parts, not only in their individual 
 forms, but in their kinds. An Italian greyhound is a 
 beautiful creature, but would be quite out of place in a 
 stable ; and a calf, though very picturesque in a lane, 
 would be oddly out of place on a lawn. 
 
 189. We must not forget, however, that this idea of 
 fitness is of a twofold kind, in one case appealing to the 
 senses, in another to the intellectual faculties and the 
 judgment. In the former case a number of objects may 
 be so related to each other, as to give the idea merely of 
 agreeableness, like sounds, apart from all function, and 
 give pleasure ; or, an object not essentially beautiful in 
 itself may become so to the mind by the recognition of its 
 adaptation to perform some particular function. Take, for 
 instance, the hand for handling, or the foot for walking : 
 if we are acquainted with the mechanical appliances of 
 the foot in walking, we are charmed, and look at it, apart 
 
 110
 
 On Fitness. Ill 
 
 from its form, as a thing of beauty ; and in proportion as 
 we know and are charmed with' Nature's appliances in the 
 human foot, so shall we be disgusted with and intolerant 
 of the utter vileness and tyranny of fashion, in dictating 
 to a world of reasonable but unreasoning votaries, heels 
 two inches higher than the Wise Designer saw fit to make 
 them. 
 
 190. The principle here referred to will apply not 
 only to architecture, sculpture, painting, and ornament, but 
 to almost everything by which we are surrounded. Thus 
 it will be seen, then, that in a work of true art there must 
 be a fitness, both in form and in function, of the various 
 parts composing it, which must precede everything else. 
 The walls and furniture of our rooms, the floors and carpets 
 on which we tread, the crockery and silver on our tables, 
 the ornaments on our mantel-shelf, and even the very fire- 
 irons themselves, all should be subject to this principle. 
 How often do we see highly elaborate fenders and pokers 
 the latter so heavy and ornate that a deputy has to be 
 appointed, which is sometimes, in irony, called the 'curate.' 
 About the hearth there should be as little ornament in 
 ' relief as possible. And as the carpet is intended as a 
 surface to be walked upon, all striking patterns on it 
 should be avoided. The principle will apply continually, 
 because (as will be shown in Chap. XXVI. ) it is founded in 
 truth.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ON VAEIETY. 
 
 191. VARIETY in Art, as in Nature, is one of the chief 
 sources of beauty, and forms one of the trio of essential 
 elements in its production. Like every other essential 
 quality in Art, it is subject to laws naturally belonging 
 to it for without obedience to law there can be neither 
 beauty nor truth. The extent of its operation is simply 
 infinite, and infinity is a characteristic of Nature. No two 
 things, from a blade of grass upwards, are exactly alike. 
 Variety seems to be a necessity of our nature. This is 
 well shown by the late J. D. Harding,* 'by supposing a 
 number of beautiful women to be seen together, and that 
 each merited the appellation. It would be found, on 
 examination, that, however great the number, they all 
 varied ; and that this variety, in fact, constituted the 
 aggregate beauty of the whole number, and was insepara- 
 ble from it. Again, supposing we could select one from 
 among them, who by universal consent was admitted to be 
 the most beautiful, what beholder would desire that some 
 magician's wand should make the rest exactly like her ? 
 Who, if such a change could be effected, would not feel a 
 desire to return to that variety which must ever be the 
 captivating constituent of beauty, both in the individual 
 
 * Principles and Practice of Art. 
 
 112
 
 On Variety. 
 
 113 
 
 and in the aggregate ? Without the one, we cannot have 
 the other. Were beauty always to take the same form and 
 expression, the eye and the mind would be fatigued by its 
 perpetual recurrence. But, as variety is given to beauty, 
 and is inseparable from it, the eye and the mind are excited 
 and gratified by fresh and unanticipated combinations of 
 form and expression.' 
 
 192. Mr. Harding afterwards proceeds to show, in a 
 
 FIG. 75. 
 
 palpable manner, that variety is an indispensable consti- 
 tuent of beauty, and that perfect beauty is constituted of 
 infinite variety, thus : 'On cutting segments of the circle 
 of different sizes, s s s s, we shall find that the curvature 
 of the arcs is precisely the same, whatever may be the 
 difference in size ; since, from the construction of the 
 circle, the circumference is, during its whole circuit, 
 equally distant from the centre, and consequently all the 
 
 radii, R E E E, are of equal length, and the curvature is in 
 8 ,
 
 114 
 
 On Variety. 
 
 every point the same. This form, therefore, cannot be the 
 most beautiful, because it wants variety. 
 
 ' On the other hand, if we cut segments from the egg, 
 s s s s, we shall find that, whether their chords be equal 
 or not, their curvature and assumed radii, R R R R, are 
 unequal, so that no part of any segment would repeat 
 part of another, or of itself on the same side ; for as the 
 curvature of these segments is perpetually changing, 
 v 
 
 they could not be represented by radii such as I have 
 been here obliged to place in order to make myself un- 
 derstood. Here, then, is greater variety, and therefore 
 more beauty. This, so far, is only offering the test to 
 the eye, or the limited power of the compasses ; but if, 
 instead of this, we take a mental view, we shall feel 
 yet more thoroughly conscious of the sameness of curva- 
 ture in the sphere, and of the infinite variety which
 
 On Variet' 1 . 
 
 115 
 
 the ovoid, or egg form, admits of. If we should conceive 
 segments infinite in number to be cut from, a sphere, we 
 should still have the same curves ever occurring ; but 
 should we conceive an egg so cut, the curvature and radii 
 of the segments would be of infinite variety, and conse- 
 quently, of the two, this is the most beautiful form.' He 
 then demonstrates how the most beautiful of Nature's 
 works, the human form, is made up almost entirely of 
 ovoid forms. 
 
 193. To get a correct idea of the infinity of this beauti- 
 
 FIG. 76 b. 
 
 ful figure, which combines in one so much variety with the 
 law of symmetry, we must not confine our observations to 
 one form or proportion of the ovoid. It will be evident, 
 when we consider it mathematically, or when we attempt to 
 construct it, that as the longitudinal and transverse diame- 
 ters can be varied in every possible relation, so we may 
 obtain, not only one ovoid with constantly varying curva- 
 ture, but an infinite variety of ovoids, from the very elon- 
 gated (Fig. 76 a) to the very compressed (Fig. 76 J), each 
 having the law of infinity stamped upon it.
 
 116 On Variety. 
 
 Ovoids of various proportions may be made by an 
 instrument specially adapted for that purpose ; but 
 they may also be roughly made as follows (Fig. 77): 
 Draw any line, c D, and bisect it as with 
 the line A B. Now fix pins at the points, 
 A B c D, and tie a string tightly round them. 
 Remove the pin at c, and the string will lie 
 loosely about the three remaining pins, A B D. 
 If a pencil be now introduced within the 
 string, so as to restore it to its original ten- 
 sion, and be carried round so as to keep it 
 always equally stretched, it will trace the 
 FIG. 77. ovoid, or composite ellipse. 
 It will be evident that the shape of the ovoid will 
 depend on the relation to each other of the two isosceles 
 triangles, CAD and c B D. If the angles, CAD, for in- 
 stance, be, say 108, and c B D 27, we shall Have a form 
 suited to the human face ; but if we make CAD, say 120, 
 and c B D 15, we shall have a shape suited to a tall vase or 
 jar, and vice versa. 
 
 The student is recommended to work out for himself 
 this simple plan for constructing an ovoid. 
 
 194. It is the judicious combination of lines giving 
 infinite variety that has caused so many Greek forms, 
 especially vases, to remain unsurpassed during all the Art 
 efforts of 2300 years. 
 
 It would occupy too much space in a work of this kind 
 to follow this element of variety throughout its almost 
 endless applications, not only in ornamental art, but also in
 
 On Variety. 
 
 117 
 
 architecture, sculpture, and painting. It applies equally 
 to the form of a leaf or to the shapes and modelling of a 
 mountain not only to shapes, but to the quantities and 
 directions of shapes, and in composition (as in the Rhine 
 boats below), and as we shall presently find, it is in constant 
 requisition.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ON UNITY. 
 
 tf the consideration of the various elements, the 
 combinations of which are necessary to secure beauty in a 
 work of Art, it will be found that they almost inevitably 
 overlap or impinge on each other to some extent. 
 
 Variety has been spoken of as productive of beauty ; 
 but this variety must not run riot, and be introduced 
 merely for its own sake, but under certain restrictions and 
 relationships, so as to allow or, perhaps, rather to suggest 
 the idea of Unity. 
 
 This idea of Unity, or oneness, which is the subordi- 
 nation of all the parts to the completeness of the whole, 
 is as essential in a work of pictorial art as in a piece of 
 music. We find it, like a cord, running through and 
 tying together all nature; and it seems to have been a 
 divine idea in the creation of all things, binding organic 
 forms, from the highest to the lowest, in one complete 
 cycle; and although the completeness of any individual 
 natural form may in itself convey this idea of unity, it is 
 only one of an infinity of individuals, the whole of which 
 are governed by this same idea. And thus it is that in 
 contemplating any object, we do so with the conviction 
 that the designer of this one object was also the designer 
 of the whole visible universe. Unity, then, being that 
 
 118
 
 On Unity. 119 
 
 which connects all individuals into one whole, is the ele- 
 ment which expresses and produces completeness.* 
 
 196. In Art, as in morals, the mind may enjoy for a 
 time, but cannot obtain rest in the incomplete or in the 
 imperfect, and the higher the work, the more strongly is 
 the necessity of completeness felt : it is like a beautiful 
 piece of music performed with the omission of a few notes 
 at the beginning and ending of it. 
 
 197. A sketch may be incomplete, but the mind, taking 
 cognisance of the fact that it does not aim at or pretend to 
 completeness, enjoys it as a fragment, or as a part only of 
 some whole. 
 
 198. The idea of unity has nothing to do with unifor- 
 mity, but is an aggregation of differences whicji form one 
 whole. 
 
 * There are some extraordinary parallelisms and relationships re- 
 cently discovered between sound and form confirming this idea, but 
 they are scarcely suited for an elementary work of this nature.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ON COMPOSITION, 
 
 199. 'COMPOSITION may be defined to be such a collo- 
 cation of the several objects in a work of Art, both rela- 
 tively to each other, and with respect to the whole, that 
 each and all may most efficiently contribute to the perfec- 
 tion of the general design.' It may also be defined as the 
 help given by everything in the picture to everything else to 
 make a whole. 
 
 Composition brings to us a higher degree of beauty, 
 and therefore of satisfaction, by the association of objects 
 in such a combination as will most agreeably and most 
 powerfully affect us ; but in every case the objects must 
 be so arranged as to appear perfectly natural, both with 
 reference to the things introduced, and to the places they 
 severally occupy in the group. 
 
 200. We will endeavour to illustrate this in a familiar 
 manner. Let us empty on to the table before us the 
 contents of a general and promiscuous pocket. We may 
 have something like what is given in the rough sketch 
 (Fig. 78), several keys, including a railway key and a 
 watch key, a knife, a railway pass-book, a piece of lead 
 pencil, and several coins. Now we at once find that we 
 have more objects of the same kind than are necessary 
 for a group, and so we proceed to eliminate by taking 
 
 120
 
 On Composition. 
 
 121 
 
 away several coins (which are repetitions of the same 
 form), and several keys. The objects for our group now 
 feel more under control. But we inquire, What natural 
 relation exists among them ? None, except perhaps 
 between the knife, pencil, and book ; and so we remove 
 the coins and the keys. We further discover that as the 
 knife happens to be a fruit knife (silver), it bears no 
 relation to the pencil, or book ; nor, finally, the pencil 
 to the ' Pass ; ' and so these also must be eliminated. In 
 
 FIG. 78. 
 
 fact, out of the whole of the dozen or more articles, we 
 cannot form a natural and consistent group. 
 
 201. We will try again, however, beginning with a 
 single object, say a piece of ordinary lead pencil, and 
 inquire what will naturally go well with this. A knife, 
 or a piece of eraser, or a pocket-book, any or all of these ; 
 and we try to arrange them agreeably : but we find, as 
 they lie flatly on the table, we have no upright object 
 with which to vary the group, and so we add, say, a 
 tumbler with water in it. But as this tumbler bears no 
 relation to the other objects, we may instantly, by intro-
 
 122 
 
 On Composition. 
 
 ducing a paint-brush into the group, suggest a relationship, 
 and especially if we show also a bottle of Chinese white. 
 
 We have now materials for our proposed composition 
 which bear some relation to each other, and we will proceed 
 to arrange them. 
 
 FIG. 79. 
 
 They may, perchance, be as in Fig. 79 ; but though 
 this may be said to be natural, or according to Nature, 
 it will not satisfy the necessities of Art. We had better 
 
 Fro. 80. 
 
 begin by letting the principal object occupy the chief 
 place, near the centre, and then arrange the other objects 
 about it so as to secure both variety and unity. We have 
 done so in Fig. 80, with a satisfactory result.
 
 On Composition. 
 
 123 
 
 202. The relation of the parts of a composition to each 
 other, and to the whole, may, perhaps, be better under- 
 
 \ 
 
 FIG. 82. Fro. 83. FIG. 84. 
 
 stood by considering them as lines only. If we place two 
 or more lines parallel to each other, we shall not feel that 
 they bear any real relation. If we place 
 them as in Fig. 81, we shall feel that they 
 more oppose than combine ; 
 and by placing one line per- 
 pendicular to another we have 
 them in strongest contrast, as 
 in Fig. 82; whilst if we place 
 them as in Figs. 83 and 84, 
 they compose towards each 
 other; and thus combining, 
 we may go on till we get to 
 Fig. 85 (our Crocus), one of 
 the most beautiful, simple 
 
 flowers we have, which conveys the idea of 
 FIG. 85. 
 
 variety with unity, and in some degree of 
 symmetry also, though not absolute, as in Fig. 86. But 
 how, it may be asked, will this apply to landscape ? 
 
 FIG. 86.
 
 124 
 
 On Composition^ 
 
 FIG. 89. 
 
 Fia. 90. 
 
 Let Figs. 83 nd 84 bo placed horizontally, as in Figs. 87 
 and 88, and we have at once the general direction 
 of the lines forming the foundation of Figs. 89 and 90,
 
 On Composition. 
 
 125 
 
 
 &&\\ . J&-J. 
 
 FIG. 92.
 
 12G 
 
 On Composition. 
 
 FIG. 93. 
 
 FIG. 94 
 
 FIG. 95.
 
 On Composition. 
 
 127 
 
 and also for Fig. 91. If we analyse the two following 
 examples (Figs. 92 and 93), we shall find that they 
 resolve themselves into the simple elementary lines of 
 
 FIG. 96. 
 
 FIG. 97. 
 
 Figs. 94 and 95. It is by such means that the mind 
 may often suggest what the feelings require, but can- 
 not discover ; for the mind and the feelings should act 
 in concert in the production of a work of Art as well as 
 in its analvsis.
 
 128 
 
 On Composition. 
 
 203. There are some qualities and characteristics 
 which are more readily expressible by lines and by light 
 and shade than others. The sentiment produced by these 
 is sometimes easily traced to its exact source. To some 
 extent the ideas of repetition and monotony associate 
 themselves with that of stillness, wh'ich is allied to repose ; 
 and stillness is a condition of things with which we may 
 become quite familiar a condition in which Nature is 
 
 FIG. 98. 
 
 most easily represented by a tone of shade, by repetition 
 of lines, and by certain positions of lines, as in the rough 
 sketch (Fig. 9G) ; whilst contrast of light and dark, and 
 opposition of lines, as in Fig. 97, give rise to a contrary 
 feeling. 
 
 204. If we take any rectangular parallelogram as our 
 picture, and divide it into equal parts, as in Fig. 98, the 
 intersection will mark the part of the picture space which 
 is the weakest place for the principal object of a pictorial 
 composition, for it divides the picture into two equal
 
 On Composition. 
 
 129 
 
 halves. In the case of merely ornamental design, where 
 exact symmetry is an important constituent, this of course 
 does not apply. 
 
 By dividing the parallelogram into thirds or fifths, we 
 shall obtain what may be called the strong positions of the 
 picture ; but if some of these parts or positions on one side 
 are occupied with points of interest, the corresponding parts 
 on the other side become neutralised for any equally impor- 
 tant feature of interest. 
 
 205. Thus it will be seen that the various methods of 
 composition, especially in landscape Art, have for their 
 aim the introduction of pleasing, or at least mentally 
 satisfactory qualities, without disturbing what we might 
 almost call the idiosyncrasies of Nature. For rules and 
 helps we should ever study, not so much the customs of 
 men, as the works of Nature herself. Whichever way we 
 look, we always find in her the assertion of three grand 
 laws, Fitness, Variety, and Unity.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ON LIGHT AND SHADE AS APPLIED TO GROUPS OF OBJECTS AND 
 TO PICTURES. 
 
 206. IN Chapter VIII. the remarks on 'light and 
 shade ' had reference only to individual objects : we are 
 now to see how light and shade operate on objects, in-, 
 dividually or grouped, when considered in relation to the 
 whole picture. This can only be done here in a very 
 limited manner ; fully to show its importance would require 
 many costly plates. 
 
 207. As the purpose of light and shade in the repre- 
 sentation of an object is to give the idea of projection, 
 and to show the space it occupies, so the purpose of light 
 and shade, when applied to a picture, is to fill it with 
 space, and to locate, to conceal, or to reveal, the various 
 objects it may contain, whether houses or trees, figures or 
 mountains, and lead the mind of the spectator to consider 
 chiefly those parts of the work that the artist wishes him 
 to see. 
 
 208. If the student will, as before, make simple ex- 
 periments, ho may more easily understand some important 
 truths in connexion with the subject. 
 
 Let him, on a stout piece of cartridge or of grey 
 paper, make two accurate but delicate outlines in ink of 
 any clearly defined subject, such as Fig. 9G, or Fig. 97, 
 
 130
 
 On Liglit and Shade. 131 
 
 only considerably larger. "With a piece of charcoal,* or a 
 pencil that will easily rub out, he may now treat the subject 
 under different aspects, and then compare them with each 
 other ; his feelings will soon inform him which is the most 
 agreeable treatment, and his intellect and judgment will 
 furnish him with the reasons why it is so. 
 
 In attempting such exercises he must consider the 
 position and kind of light that is to illumine his picture, 
 its effect on the large masses, the local colour of the 
 various parts ; and when these considerations have been 
 attended to, he may greatly modify and complete the 
 whole by the introduction of accidental shadows of various 
 shapes and intensities. 
 
 When these experiments have been made with a few 
 simple subjects, those of a more extensive and intricate kind 
 may be attempted : for instance, such as Figs. 91 and 93. f 
 
 209. It is not unfrequently the case that when an 
 artist has determined to paint a particular subject from 
 Nature, he has to commence it under very unfavourable 
 circumstances of light and dark ; but he is ever watchful 
 for any happy moment when the scene may be lit up by 
 some bright gleam of light which may instantly transform 
 it from the commonplaceness of a dull day into a beautiful 
 picture. 
 
 This instantaneous ' effect ' he rapidly secures (perhaps 
 
 * Charcoal must be dusted off the paper, not rubbed. 
 
 f If grey or tinted paper be used-, the light parts of the sky, and the 
 brightest parts of near and very light objects, may be put in with a 
 piece of extra soft white chalk, or with Chinese white.
 
 132 On Liglit and Shade. 
 
 only on brown paper with charcoal and soft white chalk), 
 and by it he is assisted in completing his work, by adding 
 to beautiful forms and accurate drawing the charms of 
 ever-changeful lights and shadows. 
 
 210. And now let the student, in imagination, climb, 
 on this fine April morning, to the top of some hill, and 
 watch the marvellous effect of the cloud shadows as they 
 travel over hill and down dale, concealing, revealing, 
 gladdening, saddening ; our spirits going up or down as 
 one moment we stand in the bright light, and in the 
 next in deep shade a picture of our human lives. The 
 winding stream, the rustic bridge crossing it, the woody 
 hill-side, the fortress-like rock, and the hills in the distance ; 
 these are the features that the mind loves to dwell upon 
 and the memory to recall, as the clouds cast their fleeting 
 shadows across the scene alternately bright in light, or fall- 
 ing into shade to be revealed anew. 
 
 These accidental cloud shadows are a most important 
 means in the hands of a painter for expressing space and 
 light, and for inducing the eye and mind to dwell on what- 
 ever is most interesting. 
 
 211. If the student, with these thoughts in his memory, 
 will look over a work like Turner's Rivers of France, his 
 Harbours of England, or the Liber Studiorum ; or go 
 through an exhibition of old (English) masters' works, 
 especially of water-colour drawings by such men as De 
 Wint, Varley, Barrett, Cox, Copley Fielding, and Hard- 
 ing, he will have a mass of evidence that will convince 
 him of the grand power which these accidental cloud
 
 On Liglit and SJiade. 133 
 
 shadows place within the reach of artists for the expres- 
 sion of space, light, and beauty. 
 
 212. These accidental shadows must not appear in 
 spots, or be clearly visible throughout their entire forms, 
 but should usually run continuously from side to side 
 of the picture, as they generally do in nature. Being 
 irregular in form, and passing over irregular surfaces, 
 their exact shapes cannot be traced ; but being subject to 
 that foreshortening which all retiring surfaces show, 
 whether a table- top, a room, or a vast landscape, they will 
 almost invariably appear to extend from side to side of the 
 picture, as in Fig. 99, and not into it. 
 
 213. As illustrations of what we mean by the distri- 
 bution of light and shade in a picture, let us consider the 
 two Figs. 100 and 101. In the former, the upper and more 
 interesting part of the building is left light, whilst the 
 other part becomes darker as it gets lower, and ultimately 
 blends with the dark shadow on the ground, the nearer 
 part of which is in strong light. To prevent the mono- 
 tony of so large a mass of dark, a figure is introduced, the 
 white and black dress of which prevents the dark shade 
 on the building from looking heavy. But to make this 
 more strongly felt, let the student with a soft pencil 
 shade over the light parts of the building, the figure, and 
 the foreground, he will instantly perceive that all space 
 and light are destroyed, in fact, that the drawing is 
 spoilt. It can be made right again by cleaning with a 
 piece of bread. 
 
 214 Now let us take the second one. In this subject
 
 I
 
 136 
 
 On Li glit and SJiade. 
 
 we have at once such elements of the picturesque as would, 
 independently of well-arranged light and shade, be interest- 
 
 ing ; a lane, fine aged trees, old railings, a clear sky, and a 
 church spire. Moreover, these features are so combined as 
 to make the ' lines ' of the picture harmonious and agree-
 
 On Light and Shade. 
 
 13? 
 
 able. A dark cloud shadoAv is thrown over the trees in the 
 middle distance, and passes across the field behind the old 
 railings and the nearer trees on the left, causing them to be 
 much more clearly visible. Now let the student pass a 
 little white chalk over all the dark parts of the 'drawing, 
 and shade over the light parts with a pencil, so as to make 
 all equally dark, and he will again feel that all space and 
 light are gone, and the work ruined. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the purpose of light and shade, 
 as applied to a picture, is but an advanced stage of its appli- 
 cation to an object ; it is the means by which the artist gets 
 rid of the idea of the flat surface of his paper or canvas, 
 and invests it with such ideas of Nature as have been 
 mentioned.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 LAWS OF NATURE, AND THEIR APPLICATION AS PRINCIPLES 
 OF ART, 
 
 215. ' PEINCIPLES in Art are those primary gener- 
 alised truths, founded on or deduced from universal 
 laws, which lead not only to fts successful practice, but 
 to a more complete and just appreciation both of Nature 
 and Art.' 
 
 ' Principles make us more susceptible of the beauty of 
 Nature, and the power of Art in representing her ; of 
 what is essential to beauty, whether developed in the 
 more noble productions of the pencil, or in all the 
 varied objects, useful or ornamental, with which we are 
 surrounded.' 
 
 216. As these laws of Nature are perfect, and as from 
 these our principles are deduced, we adopt a true standard 
 by which to test Art works, quite independent of fashion 
 or the dictum of ignorance. The laws of material beauty 
 can only be discovered by determining the laws of the 
 Divine mind in the fact of creating, or by a study of the 
 manifestation of those Divine operations in what we call 
 Nature. 
 
 We will imagine a case in illustration of what has just 
 been said, by supposing that we wish to design any simple 
 object, say a candlestick ; and to make our work of design- 
 
 138
 
 Laws of Nature. 
 
 139 
 
 ing quite simple and clear, we must first enunciate a few 
 laws which we invariably find in Nature, and then apply 
 them to our work. r 
 
 1st. It is a law of Nature that everything intended for 
 service has a certain size and character defined for it accord- 
 ing to the purpose for which it is destined. 
 
 2nd. It is a law of Nature that, in things of use, orna- 
 ment is an addition, and secondary to utility never a prin- 
 cipal or chief. 
 
 FIG. 103. 
 
 3rd. Natural ornament is always in harmony with the 
 thing to which it is applied. 
 
 Now, we have here three laws which will to some 
 extent guide us in the designing and ornamenting of 
 our candlestick. First, we require a socket to hold the 
 candle, and a base, that it may stand safely, as in 
 Tig. 102 ; but as we may wish to move it, we must 
 have convenience for doing so, and we add a handle 
 accordingly (Fig. 103) ; or we may wish the light to b3 
 held well up, in which case we lengthen the shaft, and so 
 shape the top of it as to protect it from grease or running 
 wax, and as we have now a shaft to take hold of, Ave do
 
 140 
 
 Laws of Nature. 
 
 not require a handle (Fig. 104) ; but if it is intended to 
 be carried about, we had better add a screen, as in Fig. 105. 
 We have thus conformed to this first law of Fitness, and 
 now that our candlestick will do its work well, we may 
 proceed to add that by Avhich it will do it gracefully also, 
 viz. ornament. Before we can do this safely, however, we 
 must consider the material of which the candlestick is to 
 
 FIG. 104. 
 
 FIG. 105. 
 
 be made, whether of metal, such as silver, or of clay, such 
 as china, as a design suitable for the one may be quite 
 wrong for the other. In the former material we may 
 add much to the lightness and elegance by varying the 
 thickness of the shaft and the shape of the base, as in the 
 rough sketch (Fig. 106) ; but this would be quite wrong 
 if produced in china a material so easily broken. On
 
 Laws of Nature 
 
 141 
 
 neither material should there be such deeply incised or 
 highly 'relieved' work as would interfere with the 
 cleaning of it from dust, wax, or grease. The most suit- 
 able treatment for the china candlestick would be a 
 surface ornament, such as paint or gold, quite flat. 
 
 Here, then, are principles of 
 Art legitimately deduced from 
 the laws of Nature, which should 
 guide us, not only in designing 
 a thing in common use, but in 
 judging correctly of that which is 
 already designed. 
 
 217. We will take another 
 simple object of every-day life 
 a tea-cup. Our first inquiry ought 
 to be, What shape of vessel is 
 best adapted for drinking from ? 
 Certainly not one like Fig. 107 ; 
 nor wide and shallow like a saucer, 
 which may be suitable for cooling 
 liquids in, or evaporating them, 
 but not for drinking from. A 
 shape like Fig. 108 would be 
 
 much better; moreover, it is agreeable in form, for we 
 have slanted the sides, and affixed a handle convenient for 
 taking hold of. Suppose the design is for a child's cup, 
 this shape is not well adapted, as it might be easily 
 upset ; so we will simply invert it, make the handle a 
 little larger, affixing it a little lower on the side, that 
 
 FIG. 106.
 
 142 
 
 Laws of Nature. 
 
 the cup may be more easily lifted and balanced without 
 danger of upsetting (Fig. 109). In both cases the forms 
 of our tea-cups must be admitted to be right, and we may 
 proceed to ornament. 
 
 FIG. 107. 
 
 FIG. 108. 
 
 FIG. ioa. 
 
 218. But here, again, we are bound by the nature of 
 the subject to avoid highly 'relieved' ornament, and to 
 adhere to that which is flat, such as painting and gilding. 
 
 As to the kind of painting most proper for such 
 articles as tea or dinner services, we can only here state 
 in general terms that close imitations of Nature, such as 
 landscapes, flowers, fruits, &c., are undesirable; and that 
 simple geometric designs and conventional work are most 
 satisfactory. The general colour will depend much on 
 the surroundings, but white and gold are always safe, and
 
 Laws of Nature. 143 
 
 generally the primary colours, in small quantities, may be 
 admitted; but much strong red, especially on dinner 
 services, is decidedly out of place. 
 
 219. The application of the general principles here 
 named is endless, furniture, such as fire-irons and fender, 
 carpets, chairs, tables, wall decoration, everything, in 
 fact, to the architecture of the house itself, must be 
 amenable to these laws ; because they are not founded on 
 man's knowledge, but on the laws of God's works, and on 
 man's nature. 
 
 220. It may, however, be said by some, that all this is 
 a matter of taste and feeling. Granted, but as there ^s 
 false taste as well as true (see Chapter XVII., on 'Taste'), 
 it becomes of paramount importance that we should make 
 ourselves acquainted with those principles on which true 
 taste depends. The fact remains that a thing is right, or 
 is wrong, whatever our taste and our opinions may be 
 in regard to- it ; in either case it will be right or wrong 
 for some reason, and in either case the laws of Nature must 
 be followed or violated. 
 
 221. ' Principles, then, whether they relate to archi- 
 tecture, painting, sculpture, or design, must be known, in 
 order that the eye may not become accustomed to admire 
 or acquiesce in what is wrong, but be taught to discover 
 and correct it, and in new applications of truth to develope 
 newer and higher manifestations of ^beauty. To illustrate 
 this, let us suppose a person little skilled in Art to have 
 produced something in which, from his want of know- 
 ledge, his eye detects no fault ; and that he takes it to
 
 144 Laws of Nature. 
 
 some accomplished artist, who, instantly perceiving its 
 defects, informs him of the principles he has violated, and 
 thus makes him sensible of the faults he has committed, 
 and tells him how they may be remedied in his present 
 performance, or avoided in future. The consequence is 
 that the production which but a few minutes before was 
 viewed with complacency, and perhaps pride, is now found 
 to possess so many faults, that instead of affording satis- 
 faction, it annoys and displeases. To what is the change 
 to be ascribed ? Not to any alteration in the sight, but 
 to the fact that the eye, looking through the medium of 
 th^G mind, now in possession of the truth, can no longer be 
 satisfied with what the reason disapproves of. Every 
 effort is consequently made to satisfy the mind and the 
 feelings, now become more acute and more sensitive, by 
 closely adhering to that truth, which is felt to be so power- 
 ful and so essential.' 
 
 222. We are ' prone to rely on our feelings alone ; 
 but as these are extremely liable to be excited by mere 
 inconsiderate impulse, it is necessary that they should be 
 controlled, regulated, corrected, and strengthened, by the 
 judgment ; and the judgment can only be in a condition to 
 decide correctly, when it is rendered independent of the 
 bias of prejudice or fashion, by a knowledge of the true 
 principles of Nature and Art.'
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 SKETCH, STUDY, PIOTUEE. 
 
 223. IT might be thought unnecessary to define for the 
 student such terms as stand at the head of this brief chap- 
 ter ; but there is often a considerable confusion arising from 
 the want of clearly defined terms, especially in the use of 
 technical language. 
 
 224. The original meaning of the word ' Sketch ' may 
 be gathered from its Latin root, together with its syno- 
 nyms in other languages. The primary sense of the verb is 
 to throw off, or shoot, and in this sense it may be used in 
 Art the first ideas of a work hastily thrown on a paper 
 or canvas, and with such materials as offer the greatest 
 promptitude and facility. The term applies equally to 
 historical, landscape, and genre subjects, whether origi- 
 nated by the historical painter in his studio, or by the 
 landscape painter when before Nature. 
 
 225. The term is also used to mean the outline of a 
 drawing or picture laid in for the artist's guidance, but 
 cannot, we think, be so legitimately applied to the deline- 
 ation of the human figure when it is done slowly, and, it 
 may be, with much rubbing in and out. This we should 
 call an outline in preference to a sketch. 
 
 226. It not unfrequently happens that when an artist 
 proposes to paint a picture and has produced his sketch, 
 
 10 145
 
 146 Sketch, Study, Picture. 
 
 he may find it necessary to prepare from Nature, with 
 great care and thought, the various parts of his picture 
 separately ; such as, in some instances, entire figures ; 
 in others, human heads, hands, or feet, animals, trees, 
 plants, &c. These are properly called ' studies.' The 
 purpose of these studies is to assist a painter to such an 
 intimate knowledge of the details of a future work, that 
 he may with more freedom give full and complete expres- 
 sion to his feelings. When we sit down before Nature, 
 and spend much time and thought in working out a 
 portion of a landscape, so as to make ourselves thoroughly 
 acquainted with it, whether in view of some definitely in- 
 tended future picture or not, the work is not a sketch, it is 
 a 'study.' 
 
 227. A picture is a full and complete representation 
 of a thought, idea, historical incident, or landscape, on 
 any material, whether plaster (fresco), wood, canvas, or 
 paper, usually understood to be in colours, and is the 
 natural outcome and full development of the ' sketch ' and 
 * studies.' 
 
 228. When the members of the Old Water-Colour So- 
 ciety held their first winter exhibition some years ago, 
 there was a wonderful and most instructive display of 
 studies and * sketches,' properly so called, many of them 
 incomplete except as sketches, and very slight. It was 
 unique, and so successful that an annual ' Winter Exhibi- 
 tion of Sketches ' has been the result. Much of the work 
 exhibited, however, cannot be fairly classed as 'sketches,' 
 but rather sketches changed into pictures.
 
 Sketch, Study, Picture. 147 
 
 229. The first idea of the 'Rabbit on the Wall,' by 
 Sir David Wilkie, was a scrawl of only a few inches (see 
 Fig. 110).* He afterwards made sepa- 
 rate studies of some of the principal 
 
 figures, and ultimately painted the pic- 
 ture so well known. 
 
 230. Two of the most eminent 
 landscape painters whose works annu- 
 ally adorn the walls of the Royal 
 Academy, pursue quite opposite modes 
 of procedure in the production of their 
 
 works. Of one of them it is said speaking figuratively, 
 of course that he makes innumerable sketches, out of 
 every hundred he destroys fifty, and from the remaining 
 fifty he produces five complete works. The other rarely 
 makes a sketch, but completes his pictures on the spot. 
 Considered by the public very fortunate in selling his pic- 
 tures, he himself says, ' My good fortune in selling my pic- 
 tures is a misfortune, for when I sell my pictures I sell all, 
 and have no sketches to fall back on.' 
 
 231. The 'sketches' of an artist are a sort of store- 
 house, from which the imagination of the artist draws its 
 food ; and ideas thus originated, being revolved in his 
 mind, may ultimately be re-presented in the completed pic- 
 ture. 
 
 232. Still, there is no clear demarcation by which always 
 to distinguish a 'sketch' from a 'study,' and a 'study' 
 from a 'picture.' As examples of 'sketches' we may refer 
 
 * From Jackson's large work on Wood-cutting.
 
 148 
 
 Sketch, Study, Picture. 
 
 FIG. 111. 
 
 FIG. 112. 
 
 
 FIG. 113.
 
 SJcetcJi, Study, Picture. 
 
 149 
 
 Fio. 115.
 
 150 
 
 SketcJi, Study, Picture. 
 
 FIG. 116.
 
 Sketch, Study, Picture. 
 
 151
 
 152 
 
 Sketch, Study, Picture. 
 
 to Figs. 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, and 116. Figs. 117 
 (tree-trunk) and 118 (grass-blades) are of the nature of 
 'studies/ each part having been carefully put down from 
 Nature. The Frontispiece, although without colour, may 
 be considered as a picture. 
 
 FIG. 118.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ON GRASS, HERBAGE, ETC. 
 
 233. IN the midst of our scientific investigations, whilst 
 the mind is on full stretch after exact calculations and 
 mathematical formulas in the study of Nature, there is 
 necessity for some pursuit which will in part and for a time 
 release us from the dry, hard facts of science. And such 
 a pursuit is not always without advantage. One of the 
 most beautiful scientific generalizations of modern times 
 was the result of the dreamy reverie of Goethe. On his 
 meditative mind the idea dawned that the flower of a plant 
 is not a separated or superadded organ, but only the highest 
 development and transformation of its leaves that all the 
 parts of a plant, from the seed to the blossom and fruit, 
 are only modifications of the leaf. 
 
 234. The study of Nature should be not merely sen- 
 suous, but intellectual not only sesthetic, but religious ; 
 for however we may reason on the evolution and develop- 
 ment of things, there still remains the grand, irresistible, 
 and inevitable truth, which lies at the back of all our logi- 
 cal sequences and inferences, and towards which all lines 
 of life seem to converge, the great eternal Fatherhood, 
 ' God over all, blessed for evermore.' 
 
 Let us in this spirit look, with pencil in hand, at some 
 
 153
 
 154 On Grass, Herbage, &c. 
 
 of the things in nature which are manifestly designed for 
 our pleasure, beginning with what may be under our feet, 
 Grass. 
 
 235. If we look at a field of grass we may see little 
 more than a mass of green, agreeable in colour, but with 
 no striking character about it ; but if, instead of looking 
 at an entire field, we take a millionth part of .it a few 
 blades of grass and carefully study that, we may have 
 a more tangible, definite idea of the beauty that lies about 
 our path. Taking a simple example, like Fig. 118, and 
 reflecting on it, we observe that in the tissues of grass the 
 inorganic becomes organic, the dust of the earth becomes 
 vital vital in giving off life and beauty, vital also in 
 giving nourishment both to body and mind, showing 
 purposes far beyond what is necessary to its utilitarian 
 destination. In many grasses and cereals, the stems, 
 with their bearded plumes, are models of symmetry, ele- 
 gance, and strength. The structure of grass throughout 
 exhibits interesting evidences of design ; and it will not 
 hurt our artistic efforts if we take some of these into ac- 
 count when, in our unwise haste, we attempt by a few 
 clever dashes of the pencil to express that which is so 
 perfect. The root, in proportion to its size, is more 
 fibrous and tenacious than that of any other plant, and is 
 often what is known as a running root (see Fig. 118), 
 sending up a new shoot at each joint, thus causing the 
 grass blades to cluster closely together, and cover the 
 ground as with a carpet. In this way also it propagates 
 itself, and thus makes compensation for the absence of
 
 On Grass, Herbage, &e. 155 
 
 blossoms, which animals will sometimes crop, though it 
 may be observed that they generally prefer the blades and 
 eat round many flower-stalks. 
 
 236. The stem is hollow, and so constructed that, were 
 it the work of a human mechanic, it would be held up 
 before the world as an example of marvellous ingenuity, 
 and perfect for its purpose. May not our engineers have 
 taken a hint from a straw in the construction of their long 
 boilers and tubular bridges ? The blade or leaf is so formed, 
 being long and narrow, as to offer the least resistance to 
 the earth and wind, and y^et get an abundance of light and 
 air. The flowers of some grasses are wonders of design. 
 They are often produced from the upper sheath which 
 encloses them when young, and are disposed in simple or 
 in branching heads, each head consisting of two or more 
 chaffy scales, inserted one above another ; and from these 
 scales hang slender threads, terminating in yellow knobs of 
 dusty-looking pollen. It is said that there are more than 
 three hundred genera, and upwards of five thousand differ- 
 ent species of grass in the world. 
 
 The colour of grass is that which is most soothing to the 
 eye. 
 
 Altogether, the exquisite perfection of it in its form, 
 colour, adaptation enables us to see not only God's care for 
 helplessness and lowliness, but His care, too, for beauty as 
 an end, and not as a mere means. 
 
 The Great Teacher spoke wisely when He said, f CON- 
 SIDER the flowers of the field.' 
 
 237. It is good and pleasant practice, especially for a
 
 156 
 
 On Grass, Herbage, &c. 
 
 beginner in drawing, to copy leaves in flat symmetrical 
 form, like the Ivy-leaf in Fig. 119, and if he has a correct 
 eye and steady hand he may soon draw detached leaves 
 very beautifully. But here is the danger : he is likely to 
 become mechanical, for the drawing of flat scroll - work 
 and flat leaves has little art in it. But if a leaf is so 
 placed as to show its varied and delicate curves in front 
 one of another in other words, if it be foreshortened 
 then we are no longer drawing from the flat, but from an 
 
 FIG. 119. 
 
 FIG. 120. 
 
 object in space, with all the exquisite changes of curve and 
 surface, and there is now more properly a field for Art- 
 expression (see Fig. 120). 
 
 In this kind of work two things should be observed : 
 first, to draw the leaves with strict botanical accuracy, 
 whether in the correct veining and serrating of a leaf, or 
 in the careful copying of petals and calices of a flower ; 
 and secondly, to do all this without losing the beauty of 
 natural curve and delicacy of expression which would ren- 
 der it a real work of Art.
 
 On Grass, Herbage, &c. 
 
 157
 
 158 
 
 On Grass, Herbage, &c. 
 
 This conscientious and artistic mode of drawing grasses, 
 leaves, and flowers, separately, forms a good stepping-stone 
 to more advanced sketching out of doors. It is desirable 
 
 c. 
 
 sometimes to draw them their natural size, at other times 
 they may be drawn in the pocket sketch-book, as shown 
 in Figs. 121 and 122, when they partake more of the 
 character of ' notes ' or memoranda.
 
 On Grass, Herbage, &c. 
 
 159 
 
 238. When sketching grass in quantity from Nature, 
 especially when the ground is uneven, it is well to lay in 
 the shade for the denser masses first, as in Figs. 123 and 
 124, and afterwards to complete by the addition of dis- 
 tinct organic shapes. Sometimes it may be desirable to 
 make quite a study of herbage, as in Fig. 125, but larger. 
 Whatever is attempted should be done with a view to 
 structural truth and artistic beauty. 
 
 FIG. 125.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ON TREES, 
 
 239. THE representation of these beautiful landscape 
 adornments is confessedly difficult. They are so complex 
 and so varied, that in order to study them satisfactorily 
 we must in some way classify them. But as Art has to 
 do with the appearances of things rather than with their 
 physiological structure, our classification must have chief 
 reference to appearances and the modes of representation ; 
 and in doing even this we can only notice the broad 
 characteristics, as of Oak, Ash, Birch, &c., and not those 
 finer differences by which we distinguish the Sycamore 
 from the Maple, or the Oak from the Alder, especially 
 when expressed only in black and white. And in this 
 classification we shall, for the present at least, leave out 
 the coniferous trees, and all shrubs such as Rhododendrons, 
 that we may more strongly fix our attention, and more 
 clearly understand the few which we may consider as 
 typical of many. 
 
 240. For the satisfactory expression of trees, especially 
 with a point e. g. pen or pencil considerable practice is 
 absolutely necessary, less in drawing or copying particular 
 trees than in that kind of exercise of shade or of character 
 
 which will enable us successfully to attempt any tree : just 
 
 160
 
 On Trees. 161 
 
 as a vocalist who, before a concert, practises not the song 
 but the 'scales,' so as to prepare the voice for the effort 
 about to be made. 
 
 241. It must not be supposed, however, that there is 
 one * touch ' for one kind of tree and a different ' touch ' for 
 another kind of tree. Even great men have been in 
 danger of falling into this mistake. Constable is said to 
 have told an eminent artist that he had got a 'capital 
 touch for trees.' 'But for what kind of trees ?' inquired 
 his friend. 'Oh/ said Constable, 'it will do for almost 
 any sort of tree.' Such an idea we deprecate. In these 
 days of intense observation, arising chiefly from the joint 
 influence of pre-Raphaelism and photography, we are not, 
 or at least ought not, to be satisfied with indefinite and 
 non-characteristic work. 
 
 242. If we stndy carefully a few of what we are 
 calling typical trees, such as the Oak, the Ash, and the 
 Beech, others which are less forceful in their character 
 will readily yield to our efforts. That this may be 
 better understood, we will place them in tabulated form, 
 thus : 
 
 Oak. 
 
 Ash. 
 
 Beech. 
 
 Alder. 
 
 Chestnut. 
 
 Birch. 
 
 Sycamore. 
 Thorn. 
 
 Horse-chestnut. 
 Willows. 
 
 Poplars. 
 
 
 Olive. 
 
 
 
 Acacia. 
 
 
 243. We will consider then, as briefly as possible, 
 each of these leading trees; and in doing so in trying
 
 162 On Trees. 
 
 to get a tangible idea of them we must take a sort of 
 diagnosis, and ascertain the causes for their appearances. 
 All trees have some things in common, such as roundness 
 and leafiness ; but some have a hard and angular appear- 
 ance, and may be looked upon as masculine in character, 
 whilst others convey the idea of tenderness and gentle 
 beauty. Of the former, the Oak is an example ; of the 
 latter, the Birch and the Beech. 
 
 244. The appearance of a tree depends mainly 1st, 
 on the shape of the leaves ; 2nd, on the arrangement 
 of the leaves on the twigs or on the peduncles; 3rd, on 
 the arrangement of the twigs on the branches, and the 
 branches on the stem. 
 
 Although physiologists tell us that each kind of tree 
 has its particular angle of branch divergence, the circum- 
 stances of life in the growth of a tree are so varied as 
 altogether to change the normal condition of branching. 
 The great business of a branch is to carry its buds out 
 and up into the warmth and light, and the efforts to 
 accomplish this are sometimes most curious and erratic. 
 Suppose, for instance, that there is a young shoot 
 growing from the stem of a tree, and that the tree is 
 blown down by the wind, but in such a manner as not 
 to tear away all its roots from the earth, though 'the 
 shoot may remain underneath the tree for a time, the 
 following spring it will be found to have bent round 
 from under the stem, and thus to be carrying its new 
 buds to the light. 
 
 Hence it will be observed that leaves and flowers are
 
 On Trees. 
 
 163 
 
 more abundant on that side of the tree which receives the 
 most light and warmth, so that the centre of the con- 
 centric rings is seldom in the centre of the bole of tho 
 tree, as may be seen 
 when a tree-stem has 
 been sawn through, as 
 in the rough Fig. 126. 
 In fact, we may then 
 not only count the years 
 of its growth, but tell, FlG 
 
 also, the position in 
 
 which it has grown, and the kind of summer it has prob- 
 ably had for many years past. * 
 
 245. The almost infinite variety of leaves, ' which at 
 first may stagger us, is one of the chief sources of aesthetic 
 enjoyment and of scientific inquiry, for all are obedient to 
 the laws both of variety and of unity. Each kind of tree 
 has its own kind of leaf, which may be distinguished from 
 the leaves of all other trees, yet no two leaves from any one 
 tree are found to be exactly alike a beautiful example of 
 infinity with unity. 
 
 246. We have alluded to the causes of this variety in the 
 appearances of trees. We will consider these very briefly, 
 and consequently but imperfectly. 
 
 First, then, taking them in the inverse order given, 
 and beginning with the stem, we notice the way in which 
 the leaves start away from the parent stem. They all, of 
 
 *This is only the case with exogens trees which increase from 
 the outside and not with endogcns, such as Palms and Canes.
 
 164 On Trees. 
 
 course, originate in the buds of the previous summer, and 
 it is thus that 
 
 1 Another year is hidden along the bough.' 
 
 Some leaves diverge from the stem alternately ; others 
 opposite ; others, again, opposite and alternate, as shown 
 in the shoot of Sycamore (Fig. 122). Many trees have 
 their leaves arranged in whorls, as the Oak (Fig. 127), 
 where five leaves form a whorl, the sixth beginning a new 
 cycle. 
 
 247. The next cause of variety in tree appearance we 
 
 ~ 
 
 PIG. 127. FIG. 138. FIG. 129. FIG. 130. 
 
 may find in the leaf arrangements as they emerge from 
 the buds. The vernation of leaves exhibits in a most 
 exquisite manner the special provision for an endless va- 
 riety of leaf form and leaf arrangement, and no student 
 should let a spring season pass without making some ex- 
 aminations and observations in this interesting subject, 
 apart from his study of Art. 
 
 248. It may be observed that there are cases in which 
 the vernations and shapes of leaves on different trees at 
 first appear almost the same. Comparing the Sycamore
 
 On Trees. 
 
 165 
 
 and the Horse-chestnut, we find in each an arrangement 
 similar to that shown in Fig. 132 at b ; but- as they 
 
 FIG. 181. 
 
 
 FIG. 132. 
 
 develop, the peduncles of the latter lengthen and carry the 
 leaves far out, and form those beautiful digitate masses 
 with which the tree is covered ; whilst the peduncles of
 
 166 On Trees. 
 
 the Sycamore, remaining, short, allow the leaves to be 
 sessile, or nearly so, thus making a great difference in the 
 general appearance of the entire tree (Fig. 138). 
 
 249. A third cause of variety in the appearances of 
 trees, we have said, arises from the shape of the indi- 
 vidual leaves. This, however, has not so powerful or 
 striking an effect as might at first be imagined, as trees 
 are usually viewed at some distance away, and the leaves 
 are seldom separately visible. Still, in some trees, where 
 the leaves are large in proportion to the size of the tree, 
 they are distinctly seen, as in the Horse-chestnut ; but 
 this presence of individuality in the leaves of a tree, 
 although pleasant sometimes to look upon, so interferes 
 with the idea of infinity and mystery of leafiness as to 
 make it but seldom used as the object of artistic repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 250. We must now take one of our typical trees the 
 Oak (Fig. 133) and consider how we may best put it on 
 paper, so as to call up in the mind those emotions which 
 the same tree in Nature would give rise to. One thing is 
 certain, we cannot copy it. Even the camera does this 
 but very unsatisfactorily. But though Art cannot copy, 
 it may express on paper many of those properties and 
 peculiarities by which not only the kind of tree, but the 
 individual tree itself, may be recognised. Thus the author 
 some time ago received from a young artist a drawing of 
 a branch of a tree. It was at once recognisable as an Ash 
 branch ; and knowing it to be taken from one of some 
 half-dozen trees, and being wishful to verify the work,
 
 On Trees. 167 
 
 he went into the lane, and soon discovered not only the 
 tree but the branch from which the drawing had been 
 made. 
 
 In the Oak it is not the serrature of the leaf which 
 affects its appearance in the mass, but the arrangement on 
 the stalk. The shape of the leaf is given in Fig. 128, and 
 its sessile arrangement in Fig. 129, of which a rough 
 contour is given in Fig. 130. It must not be supposed, 
 however, that by covering a given surface of paper with 
 such markings as these, or even with carefully copied 
 Oak-leaves, we shall produce any likeness to a tree. We 
 forget that a tree in Nature does not appeal equally to 
 us from every part. It is only the light parts and the 
 edges that are impressed strongly on the sensorium, and 
 it is, therefore, to these parts that our special efforts 
 should be directed. But ^vhat of the shade ? it may be 
 inquired. Simply that it must be quiet, for repose is 
 its chief quality, if not its purpose, also ; not the con- 
 fusion or the destruction of detail, but its partial con- 
 cealment, that those other portions by which we are to 
 recognise the tree may be more conveniently and clearly 
 perceived. 
 
 251. In the practice of tree drawing it is often de- 
 sirable, after a light but accurate sketch or outline has 
 been made for guidance, to divide the work as follows : 
 First, to lay in the shade, paying attention to its even- 
 ness, its gradation, and its intricacy ; then to lay in the 
 character or leafage on the light parts and at the edges, 
 with a strong intention of introducing, where possible,
 
 168 
 
 On Trees. 
 
 FIG. 133.
 
 On Trees. 
 
 169 
 
 FIG. 134.
 
 170 On Trees. 
 
 actual shapes of leaves instead of mere ' touch ; ' and 
 finally, to draw the stem, the branches, and the twigs, 
 keeping the former inside and under the tree, and causing 
 the latter to do their work of holding up their leaves to 
 the light. This systematic method of working will be 
 found applicable to any kind of tree drawing. It was the 
 constant practice of that prince of tree-draughtsmen, J. D. 
 Harding. 
 
 252. In Figs. 131 and 132 are given small portions of 
 Oak and Sycamore. At first sight they may not seem very 
 dissimilar, but careful examination and repeated inspec- 
 tion, till they become familiar, will reveal a wide differ- 
 ence between them, especially if they be compared with 
 Nature. 
 
 253. Taking the next division of our typical trees, we 
 may observe that the normal branch divergence of the Ash, 
 though calculated* as an angle of 60, does really vary very 
 much, as may be seen in Fig. 134, which was sketched from 
 a tree of probably fifty years' growth. It already shows a 
 great difference of angle between the lower and upper 
 branches, and we may consider this as a usual habit of 
 branches, for they certainly would not grow laterally if they 
 could otherwise get towards the light. This may be well 
 seen in the Sycamore (Fig. 138), where a vigorous branch 
 at a, not being able to get to the light by any other means, 
 strikes off almost horizontally to the right, and thus ob- 
 tains that which was necessary to its existence. The leaves 
 of the Ash are compound and pinnate, as shown in Fig. 
 
 * McCosh and Balfour.
 
 On Trees. 171 
 
 135. In studying trees whose masses of leaves are some- 
 what long and which have a tendency to droop, we should 
 be careful to observe the manner in which they foreshorten, 
 as they retire at the sides of the tree. It might be supposed 
 that perspective had but little to do with trees : in reality 
 it is most important, though greatly neglected even by 
 artists. 
 
 254. We will endeavour in a very simple manner to 
 make this understood. The term * perspective ' (perspicio) 
 
 FIG. 135. 
 
 has to do (apart from the atmosphere) with two properties 
 of bodies, their shape and their size : with their shape 
 according to the position in which they are viewed, and 
 with their size according to their distance from the 
 spectator. Figs. 119 and 120 were carefully copied from 
 the same Ivy-leaf, but in different positions. If they 
 were removed to a distance they would look smaller, but 
 the same shape. We may see little perspective in a plain 
 sphere ; but if we cover it with a pattern we instantly 
 cover it with perspective. A reference to the rough
 
 172 
 
 On Trees. 
 
 sketch (Fig. 130) will make this evident. The centre 
 space has a pattern receding only towards the top ; but 
 the other divisions, as they retire to the right and left, 
 have their patterns foreshortened. This is precisely what 
 takes place in trees, and what ought to be expressed in 
 our representations of them. We ought to have regard 
 not only to the foreshortening of large branches and 
 masses, but also to the diminished size of the leaves at the 
 top and sides of the tree, which, being so much further 
 
 away than those in the front, must of necessity appear 
 much smaller. 
 
 255. This application of perspective to trees is very well 
 seen in the Ash, now under consideration, but is equally 
 important in all trees. 
 
 256. The many different kinds of Willows, the Olive, 
 and the Acacia, though differing from the Ash both in 
 shape and arrangement of leaf, are placed in the same 
 division, and the same kind of exercise for the one will 
 
 in the expression of the others. The leaf shape
 
 On Trees. 173 
 
 and arrangement of the Olive and of some of the Willows 
 are very similar, and, apart from the colour, scarcely 
 distinguishable. 
 
 257. At the head of our third typical division of trees 
 we have placed the Beech, which we will briefly examine. 
 
 In most of the trees we have had under review, their 
 arrangements of leaves have been such as to form com- 
 paratively large and simple masses of light and shade. 
 In the Beech, as also in the Birch and Poplar, the leaves 
 
 are so isolated as to make them very difficult to represent 
 except by separate leaf-like shapes ; and consequently a 
 readily produced shade, like that in Fig. 137, is no longer 
 applicable, and the danger of laying in a shade with small 
 points is, lest the evenness, so essential to shade, should be 
 disturbed. 
 
 258. In the upper part of Fig. 140 is represented a 
 mass of shade, and in the lower a small leaf spray and 
 branch of Beech and Birch, showing the way in which
 
 174 
 
 On Trees. 
 
 FIG. 138.
 
 On Trees. 
 
 175 
 
 FIQ. 13d.
 
 176 
 
 On 'Trees. 
 
 the leaves are given off from the twigs and branches. 
 The treatment of them in Art, as well as of the White 
 and Black Poplar, is very similar ; but the chief difference 
 in the appearance of the entire tree arises from the char- 
 acter of the branches and twigs. The Lombardy Poplar 
 affords an example of extreme acuteness in the branching. 
 
 ^sJ 
 
 X^t:^x,r^^^P7 
 
 FIG. 140. 
 
 The Black and White Poplars, and also the Black Birch, 
 although very divergent in their branching, are sometimes 
 elegant in form, but for exquisite gracefulness of line the 
 Silver Birch (Fig. 139) stands unrivalled. 
 
 The stem of the Birch, like that of most young trees, 
 is smooth, and covered with beautiful striated markings ; 
 but as it ages, and especially in some soils, it becomes
 
 On Trees. 
 
 177 
 
 FIG. 141.
 
 178 On Trees. 
 
 deeply corrugated, like the Oak and Horse-chestnut. The 
 Beech stem retains its smoothness throughout its entire 
 growth, as may be observed in the grand old Burnham 
 Beeches, and in Fig. 141. 
 
 259. We have thus briefly glanced at some of the prin- 
 cipal English forest trees, with the exception of the Coni- 
 fers, which seem to form a division by themselves. The 
 principal individuals are the Stone Pine and Scotch Fir, 
 the Spruces and the Larches. In this division we must also 
 place the Yew, whose solemn shade and usual locality so 
 greatly assist artistic sentiment. 
 
 260. Until these trees attain considerable age, so as to 
 form large masses, they are difficult to represent truly. 
 Their spike-like leaves, properly called ' spines ' can be 
 treated #nly in the aggregate. In the Larches and 
 Spruces the branch divergence is such as causes the tree 
 to assume a form resembling the cones they bear, strongly 
 contrasting with most other trees. The Stone Pine and 
 the Scotch Fir, when full grown, become very imposing 
 and picturesque, often carrying their dark heads high 
 against the sky. 
 
 2G1. In representing them with a point, the same 
 methodical procedure which has been recommended for 
 trees generally, should be adopted here. In expressing 
 the masses of spines, however, it will be observed that as 
 their position is vertical, the shade preparation for them 
 should be treated more like the preparation for grass in 
 Figs. 123 and 124. The twigs are very numerous and
 
 On Trees. 179 
 
 reticulate, each carrying on its tip a little tuft of spines, 
 as at c in Fig. 142.* 
 
 262. In a separate Chapter we will endeavour to assist 
 the student in his practice by summarising some essential 
 principles always to be observed in drawing trees, leaving 
 this part of our subject, in the strong hope that he may 
 be induced to study, earnestly and lovingly, these beautiful 
 
 FIG. 143. 
 
 manifestations of wisdom which form so important a link 
 in the great cycle of created organisms. 
 
 263. It would not be desirable, even if it were possible, 
 to give rules for drawing all the different kinds of trees : 
 there is, however, one general principle almost universal 
 
 * The cones themselves, especially those of the Scotch Fir, are very 
 beautiful objects, and serve as excellent examples for copying practice. 
 When covered with a thin wash of Chinese white, the light and shade 
 on them become more apparent ; but this should only be done in early 
 practice.
 
 180 On Trees. 
 
 in its application, which we will illustrate by an anecdote 
 of one who became a giant as a draughtsman of trees. 
 About the jear 1824, the late J. D. Harding, then an 
 energetic, inquiring young artist, had fruitlessly sought 
 from eminent artists and ' drawing-masters ' some prin- 
 ciples for his guidance in Art, which might also assist 
 him in his lithographic work then a new discovery. He 
 was curbly recommended, instead of asking questions of 
 his ' master,' to go and sketch from Nature, and ask Her. 
 This he did, and on one occasion, when sketching some 
 trees by a large gravel-pit near Greenwich Park, almost 
 in despair at his ill-success, a bright thought crossed his 
 mind. 'These trees,' he said to himself, 'obey laws in 
 their growth: if I can only observe and put down those 
 laws in my drawing, I shall put down TRUTH ! ' Charmed 
 with his bright idea he gave up his sketching, and hast- 
 ened to the Park close by, to observe the laws of growth 
 peculiar to the different kinds of trees, and this, he told 
 the author, was the foundation of his success as a repre- 
 senter of trees. His success soon became complete, as was 
 shown in the production of The Park and Forest, a work 
 which still remains unrivalled.
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 ' ON PRACTICE FOB TREE DRAWING;. 
 
 264. THE beautiful components of the forest the 
 trees are so varied and so free in their growth, their 
 long arms waving in the wind, whilst their strong stems 
 sturdily face the blast, that he who in his drawing of 
 them would give the expression of their freedom of life, 
 must himself feel free in manipulation must work with 
 a sort of controlled abandon full of knowledge of their 
 general character, and of watchfulness of their wayward 
 peculiarities. 
 
 265. The student, in practising the exercises here sug- 
 gested, must be careful to make a distinction between quasi- 
 work and real, intentional work. We have defined drawing 
 as 'a motion which leaves significant marks,' and although 
 some of these exercises may at first sight seem insignificant, 
 there must be constant intention in producing them, or the 
 result will be mere scribble. 
 
 Beginning, then, with the first exercise in shade (Fig. 
 143), the qualities to be aimed at are three, evenness, 
 gradation, and intricacy, keeping the strokes shorter and 
 paler at b, c, d, and e, 
 
 266. The strokes composing the second exercise (Fig. 
 144) are not so nearly horizontal, but are tilted, first on 
 one side, then on the other, so as to give a somewhat 
 
 181
 
 182 
 
 On Practice for Tree Drawing. 
 
 angular appearance ; but in all cases of shade, for what- 
 ever purpose, there must be such evenness of work as will 
 secure repose, without which shade would cease to be. 
 This kind of shade would be suitable for Oak-like trees. 
 
 267. A third exercise may be practised from the upper 
 part of Fig. 139, by making the strokes much shorter, but 
 still keeping the essential conditions of shade just alluded 
 to. As the first example would be suitable for Ash-trees, 
 &c., so this would be for Beech, Birch, Poplar, &c.
 
 On Practice for Tree Drawing. 183 
 
 268. "We now come to the expression of the outer 
 and projecting surfaces of trees. In Chapter IV. it was 
 shown that a flat contour or outline could be greatly 
 modified by the addition of surface markings. The direc- 
 tion of a line will often indicate the direction of a surface ; 
 and this should be constantly borne in mind in practising 
 the exercises which follow. In the first one, Fig. "145, 
 which should be repeated very often, the lines at a and a 
 should incline upwards, so as to form the groups like c c, 
 
 a 
 
 ^ c 
 
 >\"^ 
 
 f fl X /), N 
 
 FIG. 145. 
 
 and afterwards bend down in the manner of d d, always 
 being emphasised at their outer edges. These should be 
 drawn of various sizes, gradually increasing, so that the 
 power may be acquired of expressing them perfectly, and 
 with great facility. 
 
 269. This may be followed by Eig. 146, which assumes 
 a little more the appearance of tree form. 
 
 In Fig. 147, at A, is given a simple outline, with no 
 detail on it ; but in B some additional character is added, 
 as shown at b b and c c, by which considerable rotundity is
 
 184 On Practice for Tree Drawing. 
 
 %"" ft*:> ^>'^ ^ 
 
 N^ Tri ,>> r 
 
 r 
 
 fX -'^ 
 
 ; N . 
 
 fc 
 
 *^ ^ 
 
 PIG. 11G. 
 
 . _ 
 
 \ 4~,- "TV. 
 
 FIG. '147.
 
 On Practice for Tree Drawing. 
 
 185 
 
 given to the original disc-like shape of A. It is this rotun- 
 dity and flexibility which must be continually aimed at in 
 the expression of foliage. 
 
 270. When these outline and shade exercises have been 
 well practised separately, we may attempt to put them 
 
 FIG. 148. 
 
 together, and add stems and branches ; but in doing this 
 let it be well borne in mind, that as most of the shade 
 parts are intended to retire, the outline of the light masses 
 should impinge a little on the shade, and also that the 
 stems, being cylindrical, must be shaded accordingly. This 
 is shown in Fiff. 148.
 
 186 
 
 On Practice for Tree Drawing. 
 
 271. We have thus endeavoured to show a modus 
 operandi by which trees may be successfully attempted 
 with the point, as of a pen. The pencil and the brush 
 are, however, much more suitable and powerful instru- 
 ments for Tree representation, and when the student has 
 leisure to follow up the subject further, he may be referred 
 for help to Elementary Art, and to Lessons on Trees, by 
 J. D. Harding, or to the author's own work, Forest Trees 
 of British Landscape.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 ON WATER. 
 
 272. THE representation of water in drawing, owing 
 to its mobility and transparency, is difficult, except when 
 perfectly still ; and much unnecessary difficulty in the 
 study of reflections in water also arises from confusing 
 the idea of Shadow* with that of Reflection. For the 
 existence of the former some opacity is necessary ; for the 
 latter, no opacity, but at least a polished surface. 
 
 273. By 'reflection' is here meant the image or 
 picture caused by rays or beams falling from any object 
 upon a smooth surface, such as glass, water, polished 
 metal, &c., and being thrown thence on to the eye. 
 
 In all cases where light falls, or, speaking techni- 
 cally, is incident upon the surface of a solid or a liquid, 
 the reflection is partial ; that is, some of the rays are 
 absorbed, f 
 
 * The fable of ' The Dog and his Shadow ' is quite a misnomer ; it 
 ought to be the Dog and his Image. 
 
 f At a perpendicular incidence water reflects only 18 rays out of 
 every 1000. 
 
 At an angle of 40" water reflects 22 rays out of every 1000. 
 
 60 65 
 > 80" > 333 ,, 
 
 891 721 
 
 TYNDALL. 
 187
 
 188 On Water. 
 
 274. When a beam of light passes obliquely from one 
 medium to another, as from air into water, refraction (a 
 breaking or bending of the rays) takes place, as may be 
 seen by putting a spoon or a pencil obliquely into a 
 tumbler of water; but as refraction takes place in the 
 water, and reflections are seen on the water, we need not 
 at present trouble ourselves about it. 
 
 275. For the full understanding of this complex sub- 
 ject some knowledge of the laws of optics is necessary; 
 nevertheless, much may be learned by a few simple ex- 
 periments and observations : and first, it had better be 
 
 studied in its simplest form reflection on an absolutely 
 calm surface, and for our purpose now, a mirror (an ordi- 
 nary hand-glass will suffice) laid flat on the table shall 
 represent our sheet of water. 
 
 27G. Before proceeding further with the experiment, 
 it had better be explained that the angle of reflection and 
 the angle of incidence are always the same. Thus, in 
 Fig. 149, let A B represent the level surface of water. It 
 will be seen that the angle, A o c, is equal to the angle, 
 BOD. It is just so in Nature. 
 
 277. Or it may be put thus (Fig. 150) : Let A B, as 
 before, represent the level water, and A o c and BOD equal
 
 On Water. 
 
 189 
 
 angles. Further, let the eye be supposed at c, looking 
 towards o, and E be an imaginary spectator under the 
 water, c would see reflected at o what E would see on 
 the line o D. Returning now to our sheet of water the 
 
 FIG. 150. 
 
 hand-glass put upon it some oblong bits of wood or cork, 
 fixing into them pins for masts, and pieces of paper for 
 sails. Behind these, on the edge, we may place a book to 
 represent upright rocks, and a crumpled pocket-hand- 
 kerchief or piece of newspaper for the retiring banks. 
 
 FIG. 151. 
 
 We can now observe the various reflections from various 
 elevations, from the shore or looking-glass level, higher 
 and higher. (See Fig. 151.) 
 
 278. The picture or image in calm water is, however, 
 not an exact inverted reproduction of the object as we see
 
 190 On Water. , 
 
 it on the shore, but often a reproduction under an entirely 
 new arrangement. For instance, a spectator viewing Fig. 
 152 (Frontispiece), though he could not be cognisant of 
 what was under the roof, would readily see it reflected in the 
 water. So, also, the reflections of birds must be inverted. 
 
 We are at present only on the very confines of the 
 infinity of facts to be observed in water reflections, and 
 we shall not here attempt to go beyond the threshold. 
 "We have hitherto been on smooth water : let there come 
 a breath of wind, and the water is broken up into millions 
 
 S 
 
 A 
 
 S 
 
 8 
 
 FIG. 153. 
 
 of surfaces, each little wavelet carrying on its back or in 
 its bosom an expanded or contracted image of all it 
 reflects. When we consider the rendering of a single 
 wave in colour, the difficulty becomes more manifest. For 
 instance, Jet us imagine an artist attempting to paint a 
 wave in a sunset, as represented by the rough diagram in 
 Fig. 153, seen from s. 
 
 But, to make our explanation more simple, instead of 
 the curved lines as at. A, we will substitute a few straight 
 lines, which shall indicate the general direction of the 
 principal curves as in B.
 
 On Water. 191 
 
 In accordance with what has been said, the colour of 
 the sunset sky would be reflected chiefly on the planes, B 
 and E ; at c would be reflected the sky behind the spec- 
 tator, s, whilst at D would be seen the image of the sky 
 at the zenith. 
 
 279. What is here shown is only a part of the difficulty, 
 for in the diagram only one direction of curvature is sup- 
 posed, and a wave is often made up of curved surfaces in 
 every direction, and has its sides covered with minor 
 waves. When, in addition to this, we remember that 
 water as found in lakes is seldom quite colourless, owing 
 to particles of earthy matter held in suspension, each 
 particle receiving its ray of variously coloured light, and 
 affecting the colour of the water accordingly, the com- 
 plexity becomes infinite and inimitable. 
 
 280. Sometimes on a smooth lake there is what Hamer- 
 ton appropriately calls * invisible motion ' a slightly 
 tremulous movement in water, entirely invisible in itself, 
 yet strong enough to elongate a reflection. It is only by 
 this elongation of reflection that we can become conscious 
 of this 'invisible motion.' 
 
 281. Sometimes a very gentle wind will come down on 
 to some parts of a lake, rasping its surface into myriads of 
 wavelets, and leaving other parts in perfect calm. As 
 the wind increases, the condition of the water becomes a 
 'ripple,' in which every recognisable reflection is destroyed, 
 and then the water often becomes leaden in colour. 
 
 282. Although water in itself may be considered 
 colourless, there is usually in it some matter which gives
 
 192 On Water. 
 
 it a decided colour. The Rhine, Lake Lucerne, Loch Awe, 
 are all different in colour from this cause. 
 
 283. From what has here been said respecting reflec- 
 tions in water, it will be evident that, though the principal 
 laws respecting it are few and simple, the fads connected 
 with it are so varied and varying that it is seldom safe to 
 attempt a representation of it, either in its wave form or 
 in the rippling brook, except in the immediate presence of 
 Nature. Neither is it desirable that we, in our ignorance, 
 should be too ready to criticise the works of those who, 
 after having lived near and on the water, and studied it 
 in its infinitely varying phases, declare the impossibility 
 of truly representing it. 
 
 284. Perhaps the most truthful painter of these rest- 
 less forms at the present time is Mr. Francis Powell, who, 
 by living amongst them, and for many years making them 
 his objects of special study, has attained great knowledge 
 of their nature and great skill in depicting them.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 ON SKIES. 
 
 285. THE reasons why this subject is brought into 
 this work are 1st. Because it is usually utterly ignored 
 by most teachers, or seldom alluded to in the drawing-class 
 except in the most casual way. 2nd. That the intelligent 
 study of it is a source of highest and purest gratification. 
 And, 3rd. That there does not seem to be known any recent 
 small work that could be put into the hands of a student 
 as a sort of first stepping-stone towards more advanced 
 knowledge of the subject. 
 
 286. Buskin says : * It is a strange thing how little 
 in general people know about the sky. It is the part of 
 creation in which Nature has done more for the sake of 
 pleasing man, more for the sole and evident purpose 
 of talking to him and teaching him, than in any other 
 of her works, and it is just the part in which we least 
 attend to her. There are not many of her other works in 
 which some more material or essential purpose than the 
 mere pleasing of man is not answered by every part of 
 their organization ; but every essential purpose of sky 
 might, so far as we know, be answered, if once in three 
 days, or thereabouts, a great rain-cloud were brought up 
 over the blue, and everything well watered, and so all left 
 blue again till next time, with perhaps a film of morning 
 
 13 193
 
 194 On Skies. 
 
 and evening mist for dew. And instead of this, there is 
 not a moment of any day of our lives when Nature is not 
 producing scene after scene, picture after picture, glory 
 after glory, and working still upon such exquisite and con- 
 stant principles of the most perfect beauty, that it is quite 
 certain it is all done for us, and intended for our perpetual 
 pleasure.' 
 
 287. By sky we do not here mean merely the blue 
 space above us, but, using the term in an artistic sense, 
 the clouds also, with all their various visible phenomena 
 and infiniteness of variety. 
 
 We shall give only such hints respecting it as will in 
 some measure prepare a student for the enjoyment of that 
 part of our world to which we owe so much, and yet of 
 which we observe so little. 
 
 288. The earth is surrounded, to a height of from forty 
 to fifty miles, with what is known as the atmosphere, 
 which is composed of various fluids, such as air, aqueous 
 vapour, &c., and which, like other bodies, gravitates to- 
 wards the earth. 
 
 Air, one of these fluids, is invisible, colourless,* elastic, 
 and easily moved, rarefied, and condensed. It is seldom 
 pure, but is generally mixed with water in a vaporous 
 and invisible state. When there is very little water or 
 vapour in the air, the sky appears blue not like a painted 
 ceiling or vault, but blue space, that we cannot so much 
 look at as into. Let this be well remembered. 
 
 289. If we blow from a pipe of tobacco some fumes 
 * Like water, its colour is perceptible only in deepest depths.
 
 On Skies. 195 
 
 (unconsumed tobacco), the particles will be so distended 
 that they will float in the form of clouds in the air. 
 
 If we get a little cotton wool and roll it into a pellet 
 or marble form, we by this means make it so dense that it 
 may be thrown some distance, or it may fall quickly to 
 the earth. Let this pellet of cotton wool represent our 
 drop of water. If it be pulled out or extended as much 
 as possible, it will become so light, relatively to its bulk, 
 that it may be blown about. This will represent, in a 
 rough way, our. drop of water with its particles so separated 
 that it will float in the form of cloud. 
 
 290. When some of the invisible moisture with which 
 the air is charged is condensed (i. e. its particles become 
 closer) through a chill, it immediately assumes visible form 
 as vapour. 
 
 If the air happens to be heavily charged with this 
 invisible moisture, and is then suddenly condensed, the 
 clouds become thick, opaque, and heavy, as in a thunder- 
 storm, and fall to the earth in large drops. 
 
 When a cloud is formed, it will float high or low 
 according to its density in proportion to the surrounding 
 atmosphere. Thus, then, we have an atmosphere about 
 us more or less charged with invisible moisture, amongst 
 which there may float that same air, locally condensed and 
 made visible, in the form of clouds. How or why these 
 forms should float separately in a liquid of the same 
 constituents as themselves was asked many thousand years 
 ago, but we doubt if it has yet been fully or satisfactorily 
 answered.
 
 196 On Skies. 
 
 291. For convenience of study clouds are usually 
 arranged in groups, and we cannot do better than adopt 
 Mr. Ruskin's arrangement and nomenclature : though not 
 fully complete, it will prepare the student for further and 
 fuller observations. 
 
 * Thus the atmosphere may be conveniently considered 
 as divided into three spaces or regions the upper region, 
 or region of the cirrus ; the central region, or region of 
 the stratus ; the lower region, or region of the rain-cloud.' 
 
 292. ' The CIRRI may be looked upon as never formed 
 below an elevation of at least 15,000 feet' never touching 
 even the highest mountains of Europe. ' They are the 
 motionless multitudinous lines of delicate vapour with 
 
 "which the blue of the open sky is commonly streaked or 
 speckled after several days of fine weather.' According to 
 their shapes they are vulgarly known as ' mares' tails ' or 
 'mackerel' skies, and are often arranged in almost 
 parallel lines, and sometimes, when driven by the wind and 
 seen in perspective retirement, present a most exquisite 
 appearance. Mr. Ruskin says, * They differ from all other 
 clouds in having a plan and system ; whereas other clouds, 
 though there are certain laws which they cannot break, 
 have yet perfect freedom from anything like a relative 
 and general system of government.' 
 
 The direction of the wind may generally be determined 
 by the shape of these clouds, though they themselves 
 may for a time appear motionless. Owing to their 
 quietness and multitude they may, as the same author 
 remarks, be conveniently designated as 'cloud-flocks.'
 
 On Skies. 19'7 
 
 293. The CENTRAL CLOUD region, or STRATUS, may be 
 considered as including all those masses of visible floating 
 vapour lying between the cirri and the true rain-cloud. 
 They are known also as the cumulus, from the fact of their 
 piling up in huge masses over each other. They are often 
 so large that they cannot be seen entire, except at a dis- 
 tance of some miles away, and as they are often so seen 
 in perspective, we are liable to forget their true shapes and 
 formation, and what is going on amongst them. If we 
 were to stand in a dye-house, and were surrounded by caul- 
 drons of boiling water, we should have a very miniature of 
 what takes place in the formation of these grand shapes on 
 some of our high mountains. 
 
 Sometimes a huge mass of cumulus will be piled up, 
 and for a time appear almost motionless, till, moved by a 
 gentle wind, it may float slowly away, gradually changing 
 its form, till, having travelled perhaps fifty or a hundred 
 miles, it becomes elongated, and is then called cumulo- 
 stratus. If these elongated masses are at a great elevation 
 they are called cirro-stratus. Mr. Euskin gives them the 
 appropriately poetic name of 'cloud-chariots.' 
 
 The Figs. 154 and 155, here sketched, will give only a 
 very rough and imperfect idea of the piling up of clouds, 
 which sometimes rise to a height of 20,000 feet, and of the 
 effects of travel upon them. 
 
 294. It must not be supposed, however, that the wind 
 is the only or chief agent in the formation and shaping of 
 clouds, so much as the change of temperature arising from 
 electric and other conditions, for in some cases the cloud
 
 200 On Skies. 
 
 is the cause of the wind. The author has often watched 
 from his window* masses of vapour, following each other 
 up the valley, disappear at one particular place, and re-form 
 again as soon as the (probably) warm air had been passed. 
 
 295. The third division of this cloud arrangement is 
 the rain-cloud region, possibly at first thought not so 
 pleasant to contemplate, yet that to which is attributable 
 most of the daily beauty of English landscape. It must 
 not be supposed that when a rain-cloud is spoken of it is 
 necessarily in a state of rain ; far from it. The clouds of 
 the middle region already referred to deposit moisture, if 
 not rain, have mostly pure aerial greys for their dark sides, 
 and, owing to their distance, can be more definitely seen in 
 their entirety than the rain-clouds proper. The nearness of 
 these latter prevents some of the characteristic phenomena 
 and the sometimes definite outline being easily studied. 
 They are often only thin mist, the outline of which can- 
 not be traced, and by which the landscape is rendered 
 indistinct. Sometimes this mist is seen in definitive form 
 moving along in columns, and its lower edges fringed, 
 'and sometimes twisted, by the wind. At other times, 
 viewed from a high mountain, it may be seen miles away, 
 floating over a sunny landscape towards the spectator ; 
 and presently it may envelop him, completely conceal 
 everything more than ten feet away from him, pass away, 
 and leave him entirely unwetted. Occasionally amongst 
 the mountains a cloud may be seen like & huge monster 
 crawling slowly about, as indicated in Fig. 156. 
 
 * Under Kinder Scout.
 
 On Skies. 201 
 
 Fig. 157 was etched from a photograph taken on Pike 
 Mount, looking down on to an ocean-like mass of clouds. 
 As there were no clouds above to reflect the light back on 
 to the shade side of the rocks, they are nearly black. 
 
 296. To the region of the rain-cloud belong all those 
 phenomena of drifted smoke, heat-haze, local mists in the 
 morning or evening, in valleys, or over water, white 
 steaming vapour rising from moist and open surfaces, and 
 everything that visibly affects the condition of the atmo- 
 sphere without actually assuming the form of cloud. 
 These phenomena are as perpetual in all countries as they 
 are beautiful, and afford by far the most effective and 
 valuable means which the painter possesses for modifica- 
 tion of the forms of fixed objects. 
 
 297. In giving, this brief and necessarily imperfect 
 description of the principal regions, into which, for con- 
 venience of study, the firmament is divided, no allusion 
 has been made to the marvellous exhibitions of colour 
 which frequently present themselves. In a work though 
 devoted to this subject alone it would be utterly impos- 
 sible, even in these days of advanced scientific inquiry, to 
 account satisfactorily for many of the infinite phenomena, 
 or to explain luqidly what is already ascertained of their 
 nature. If the earth on which he treads is covered with 
 objects for the student to study, so also are the ' heavens ' 
 and the firmament filled with ever-changing material for 
 contemplation ; but let the reverent inquiry be on his 
 lips, 'Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds?' 
 and the constant conviction on his heart that 'HIS ways 
 are past finding out.'

 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 ON DRAWING FIGUBES AND ANIMALS. 
 
 298. IT may have been observed that the teaching of 
 this book has reference chiefly to Landscape Art; there- 
 fore figures are here treated of only in the aspect of 
 accessories, and not as principal features in a picture. 
 
 299. If the student wishes to draw the figure other- 
 wise than in a subordinate relationship if he seeks to 
 make it the prominent part of his picture, as in His- 
 torical subjects he must patiently go through a regular 
 and severe course of study from the cast and from the 
 living model, supplementing it with Artistic Anatomy. 
 How certainly necessary this is may be discovered 
 if the student will attempt to draw the figure of a 
 man from Nature on a moderately large scale, either 
 still or in motion, previously to this suggested course of 
 training. 
 
 Hence, Figure-drawing should be made a specialty, 
 and studied apart from all else, that, by knowledge and 
 practice, the power may be the more quickly gained to 
 draw it with perfect accuracy, for of all false repre- 
 sentation, bad figure-drawing is the most intolerable. 
 
 300. When figures occupy an important place in the 
 
 204
 
 On Drawing Figures and Animals. 205 
 
 foreground of a Landscape, they require a proportionate 
 amount of attention to individuality and detail. 
 
 Speaking generally, rocks, trees, foregrounds, &c., are 
 principal elements of Landscape, as figures are in Historical 
 pictures, and the same amount and kind of study that is 
 spent on the one ought to be devoted to the other. 
 
 301. But even when figures occupy only a subordinate 
 position in Landscape work, and their general character 
 only is required, there are yet difficulties and peculiarities 
 which will demand careful attention and study. 
 
 When it is proposed to make this use of figures or 
 animals, a primary consideration ought to be, Why should 
 they be introduced ? What purpose have they to serve ? 
 What figures or animals, and what positions or arrange- 
 ments, will best answer the purpose, whether for the idea 
 of activity, or repose, or any other ? 
 
 The introduction of figures in a work must, of course, 
 be governed by the laws of composition and perspective : 
 in the former as to position, posture, and relationship to 
 surroundings (see Chapter on Composition) ; and in the 
 latter as to size. 
 
 The importance of the right introduction of living 
 objects in a drawing will be more strongly felt if the stu- 
 dent will cover with his finger the figures which are used 
 in Fig. 158, or even the birds in Fig. 159. 
 
 302. Perhaps the best way to obtain the power to 
 draw the figure for Landscape purposes is to be con- 
 stantly making notes and memoranda in the pocket 
 sketch-book of all sorts of figures, in every variety of
 
 208 On Drawing Figures and Animals. 
 
 circumstance, costume, and position, combined with more 
 deliberate effort on a larger scale whenever opportunity 
 may occur. And in making such notes and studies a first 
 inquiry should be, In what does the vitality, and spirit, 
 and charm of that figure lie ? and then the aim must bo 
 to express this. It will often be found in a scarcely per- 
 ceptible bend of line, or touch of dark, or in some subtle 
 arrangement of colour. 
 
 303. If we consider well the works of Turner, 
 Stanfield, Copley Fielding, J. D. Harding, David Cox, 
 and many others, we shall find that they appear to 
 have aimed at expressing their figures and animals in a 
 general way, but always truly in their forms and ten- 
 dencies, seldom attempting any detailed facial or bodily 
 expression. They should be drawn as they would be felt 
 when looking at the picture, rather than as seen when 
 looking directly at them alone. If, when we observe one 
 of Prout's figures, we expect to find in it a* likeness to 
 nature, we shall be disappointed ; but his figures taken as 
 parts of a whole picture are in admirable ( keeping' and 
 harmony. 
 
 304. Some elementary rules applicable to the drawing 
 of figures have already been given in the earlier chapters 
 of this book. In all cases both figures and animals should 
 be ' blocked in,' so as to secure their correct proportions, 
 and in this respect no examples can be better than the 
 figures in such a work as Prout's Microcosm.* 
 
 As Prout's work may not be readily accessible to the 
 * A number of these are reproduced in Lessons on Animals.
 
 On Drawing Figures and Animals. 209 
 
 student, a few simple illustrations are given in Figs. 160, 
 161, and 162. They are expressed by few but main lines, 
 which suggest blocks in shape. 
 
 Fro. 160. 
 
 FIG. 161. 
 
 FIG. 162. 
 
 In Fig. 163, after J. D. Harding, the block-like shapes 
 are somewhat softened and rounded, so as to accord with 
 the work for which they may be intended. 
 
 FIG. 163. 
 
 14
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 ON CRITICISM. 
 
 305. No person goes through an Art Exhibition with- 
 out criticising, and usually the most uncompromising 
 critics are those persons who, when asked, will be ready 
 to say they don't know much about it, only they know 
 what they like. A great many mistakes are made by x 
 persons who ought to know better. No sensible person 
 would venture to question the accuracy of a work on 
 Chemistry or Geology, but almost everybody has his 
 opinion one way or other about Art, and seems more 
 anxious to get truth over to his side than to get himself 
 on to the side of truth. F. W. Eobertson says, * For 
 
 / ' 
 
 every kind of truth a special capacity or preparation is in- 
 dispensable.' Criticism, like most other arts, has its rules 
 and modes of procedure. It should be indulged in sparingly 
 by a student ; Ms work should be that of inquiry rather than 
 criticism to seek knowledge rather than to pass judg- 
 ment, except on his own works. Safe and accurate Art 
 criticism can only result from a knowledge of the history 
 of Art, of its principles and practice, and from a correct 
 taste. And by a correct taste is meant the faculty 
 whether the gift of nature or the result of culture by 
 which we intuitively and instantly select that which is 
 
 210
 
 On Criticism. 211 
 
 true and beautiful in preference to that which is false 
 or ugly. 
 
 306. Whether we are in a position justly to judge of 
 an historical work will depend largely on our knowledge 
 of the history and circumstances of the particular event 
 represented. In the case of a landscape, too, so varied are 
 the appearances in any one locality in the course of a few 
 hours, that in the work of an able and honest painter there 
 is great danger of error in criticism. In such instances 
 we should remember that the work we propose to examine 
 is probably the result of much deliberate thought, know- 
 ledge, and victorious battle with difficulties, totally un- 
 known to the critic, and that the artist, having put his 
 expressions on to the canvas, however unjust his critic 
 may be, has no means of reply. It is quite painful to a 
 sensible man to hear the silly and thoughtless remarks of 
 ignorant pigmies, as they sit in judgment on the thoughtful 
 works of great artists. 
 
 307. In public criticism the attitude of the critic is 
 supposed to be strictly judicial, and this implies not only 
 the presence of evidence, but a knowledge of the character, 
 condition, and application of such evidence. Further, in 
 criticism, especially when it happens to be of an adverse 
 kind, it should always be considered whether the author 
 whose work is under review has the opportunity of reply or 
 defence. 
 
 308. When, as students, we have to form an opinion of 
 a work of art, it is desirable to make ourselves acquainted 
 with the central or main idea of it, and then to consider
 
 212 On Criticism. 
 
 whether or not the artist has fully and fairly overcome the 
 difficulties that may have surrounded his work, whether 
 that work be imitative and simple, or great and creative. 
 
 309. 'There are two marks which characterize every 
 really great work of fine art.' * The first of these marks is 
 that it must embody a creative thought, that it must exhibit 
 the power of the human spirit to seize, shape, vivify, and 
 subdue under its own dominion the dead matter of un- 
 formed impression presented to the mind in the two 
 universes of external nature and internal feeling. And 
 then, in addition to this character of creativeness, a second 
 mark is required to distinguish aesthetic from scientific 
 production. While Science values each new thought only 
 as a fresh step towards the intellectual comprehension of 
 the whole universe, the artist confines himself to thoughts 
 which possess for him a value quite independent of the 
 inference that may be drawn from them for a more 
 general body of truth thoughts to which he can give a 
 more general expression, without caring to use them as a 
 means to a remoter end. In a word, every work of art is 
 a product of creative thought, having its end within itself. 
 In Science the joy of each new attainment is absorbed in 
 the fresh impulse to further pursuit of truth ; the search 
 for knowledge, knows no rest till the whole universe lias 
 been subdued. A work of Fine Art points to no end 
 beyond itself, and urges directly to no activity save that 
 of enjoying to the full the satisfaction that accompanies 
 
 * This view of the character of Fine Art is ably expressed in an 
 article in the British Quarterly Review for January, 1877.
 
 On Criticism. 213 
 
 'every exertion of completed mastery of thought over 
 matter.' 
 
 310. Although a fine work of art must in some 
 measure, and sometimes in a great measure, be imitative 
 of nature, yet it is so only in the highest sense when it 
 partakes of the nature of a creative act. 
 
 It is with such views of Art in our minds that we 
 should approach the object of criticism ; for assuredly, if 
 we criticise a work ignorantly or unjustly, whether we 
 injure the work or its author or not, we damage ourselves, 
 and criticism indulged in without reason, large knowledge, 
 and a sound mind, may soon develop into cynicism. 
 
 311. We cannot but think that the unmeasured and 
 severe remarks of our most elegant Art critic, John 
 Euskin, in some of his early writings on the works of 
 living artists, was not only a presumption and an un- 
 generous act, but also mischievous in making a precedent 
 which has unfortunately become a fashion amongst un- 
 learned people. Obiter dicta, equally in criticism as well 
 as in discussion, should have no place ; and criticism, when 
 it condemns, should give its reasons.
 
 PART II. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 ON PERSPECTIVE. 
 INTRODUCTOKY KEMARKS. 
 
 312. MANY people imagine that anybody with eyes 
 must surely be able to see correctly the appearances of 
 things without the trouble of learning Perspective ; but 
 most persons need only make the attempt to draw a few 
 rectangular objects, such as books, boxes, or doors, to dis- 
 cover how uncertain and helpless they are in the matter of 
 seeing. 
 
 313. The fundamental principles of Perspective are 
 extremely simple, and may be understood by a child ; but 
 the technical application of its rules to irregular and com- 
 plicate forms is difficult, and may tax the powers of an able 
 mathematical mind. 
 
 314. It is important that the term should be well 
 understood, as there is often much misapprehension and 
 confusion respecting it as a science, both theoretically and 
 in its application. 
 
 In nine cases out of every ten objects appear different 
 from what they really are; Perspective, therefore, may be 
 
 215
 
 216 On Perspective. 
 
 briefly defined as the art of representing things as they 
 appear to the eye of a spectator, and as the science which 
 enables us to represent objects when they appear different 
 from Avhat they really are. 
 
 315. Practically, Linear Perspective may be divided 
 into Artistic Perspective, as used by artists, and Technical 
 Perspective, as used by architects and others. In the one 
 case the Perspective is evolved from the object, as when an 
 artist sketches from Nature ; whilst in the other, the object 
 grows out of the application of the rules of Perspective. 
 
 When an artist sketches from Nature say, some build- 
 ings he makes certain observations, such as the level of 
 his eye on the buildings, the inclination of any principal 
 receding lines, by which he determines his vanishing points, 
 &c.; and these observations, together with pencil-in-hand 
 measurement, furnish him with much of what he will 
 require to get the work in true perspective. 
 
 These 'observations,' accurately made, form the 'data' 
 by which he will work out his outline, and thus, as his 
 observations are made from the objects themselves, the 
 Perspective grows out of the act of drawing. 
 
 31G. An architect often requires a view of buildings, 
 which he intends to erect, before they have any existence in 
 fact. Of these intended buildings he will require to have 
 'ground-plans,' 'elevations,' 'measurements,' &c., together 
 with certain 'data' (to be hereafter explained); and from 
 these, by the rules of Perspective, he will be able to show 
 his edifice as it will actually appear when erected. 
 
 317. The purpose of Perspective covers much more
 
 On Perspective. 217 
 
 than the representation of regular forms, such as boxes, 
 buildings, &c. ; it has to do with the form and size of 
 every object, regular or irregular, that comes before the 
 eye with the form according to its position, and with the 
 size according to its distance. Even in the little sprigs or 
 whorls of Oak (Figs. 164 
 and 165), every leaf is in 
 perspective; so, also, it is 
 with an entire tree. It is 
 the forgetting of this fact 
 that causes many persons in 
 drawing trees to fail, because FIG. 164. PIG. 165. 
 
 they make the leaves at the top and sides of the tree as large 
 as those which are nearest. In figure drawing it is equally 
 applicable, from the foreshortening of a finger-nail to that 
 of an arm or a leg. 
 
 The work of Perspective, then, is to translate FACTS into 
 appearances. 
 
 318. There are two kinds of Perspective, Linear and 
 Aerial ; the former concerns itself with the appearances 
 of objects as they are represented by lines, and the latter 
 as they are affected by the atmosphere. (See Chapter 
 on Skies.) 
 
 Hence we should never forget that we are constantly 
 surrounded by Perspective Aerial or Linear in almost 
 everything we look at.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 ON AETISTIO PEESPECTIVE. 
 
 319. WHAT is here termed ' Artistic' or 'Pictorial 
 Perspective' is the method constantly used in drawing 
 from Nature ; and some hints and 
 . illustrations respecting it are given, 
 beginning with a very simple ex- 
 ample, the parallel view of a cube, 
 as seen in Fig. 166. Here the cube* 
 must be put not only parallel, but 
 directly in front of the spectator. 
 ) In copying it from the model, first 
 draw the front square ; then deter- 
 mine the relative height of the eye with regard to it 
 in order to fix the vanishing point, which in parallel 
 perspective is not only on a level with the eye, but always 
 
 * A cube-^-tho larger the better should 
 be placed before the student in all exercises 
 in Perspective. One may readily be made of 
 cardboard, thus : Cutting the board half 
 through where the dotted lines are, that it 
 may fold more easily (see Fig. 167). A set of 
 cubic models would be of great service, as 
 affording greater variety. 
 
 FIG. 166.
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 219 
 
 opposite to it. Towards this point draw lines from A 
 and B. Next ascertain by pencil-in-hand measurement 
 (see Appendix C) the apparent height of the back line 
 from A B, and draw it parallel to A B. A book placed in 
 front of the spectator, like Fig. 168, would be drawn in 
 this manner. A parallel view of an object may be defined 
 simply as one having its principal plane parallel to the 
 spectator, and clearly visible without moving the eye. If 
 the eye moves, the view at once becomes panoramic. The 
 angle of vision,* though to a limited extent optional, 
 
 FIG. 168. 
 
 should not exceed 60, especially in the representation 
 of right-angled forms. This limited angle of vision is 
 less important when representing irregular forms, such as 
 mountains, trees, or clouds. 
 
 320. Fig. 169 is the same cube as seen when placed a 
 little below the eye and to the left of the spectator, and 
 should be drawn in the same manner from the model. The 
 height of the back line from the front square, obtained as 
 in the previous case, determines the width of the side. The 
 chair in Fig. 170 Avould be drawn in the same manner. 
 
 321. Where there are several parallel faces, as in 
 
 Fig. 171, all the front planes should first be drawn, and 
 
 
 
 * Known as the ' cone of visual rays.' (See Chapter XXXVII.)
 
 FIG. 169. 
 
 FIG. 170.
 
 FIG. 171. 
 
 PIG. 173. 
 
 FIG. 173.
 
 222 
 
 On Artistic Perspective^ 
 
 then the vanishing point and distance of back line deter- 
 mined on, as in the previous cases. Some objects as, for 
 instance, a flight of steps it would be almost impossi- 
 ble to draw correctly without a fixed vanishing point, 
 
 VP 
 
 /^ 
 
 Fro. 174. 
 
 whereas with a point, and by means of this simple mode 
 of procedure, the work is made quite easy. 
 
 322. When one block or object stands nearer to the 
 spectator than another, as in Fig. 172 or 173, it is 
 best to complete the front block first, and afterwards to 
 draw the one behind.
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 
 
 223 
 
 323. In Fig. 174 is shown how cubes may be repre- 
 sented when transparent, and in Fig. 175 how a number 
 may be represented in proper retirement behind each 
 other. When the first, or middle cube, has been accu- 
 rately drawn, the others may be readily found by using 
 
 FIG. 175 
 
 the same vanishing point, and in the latter figure the 
 diagonal line from A, which bisects F E, and gives the 
 proportionate width of the next squares. 
 
 324. In each of the foregoing examples the object has 
 been represented as seen below the eye, and consequently 
 with all the receding lines slanting upwards towards the 
 vanishing point opposite to the eye. If the objects,
 
 224 
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 
 
 however, be placed above the eye, 
 like the upper cubes in Fig. 176, 
 the receding lines will slant down- 
 wards towards the horizontal line. 
 The iron-wrought covering of a 
 large railway station, seen from one 
 end, affords a good illustration of 
 this recedence of lines to a point. 
 
 325. The room given in Fig. 177 
 presents an instructive example of 
 parallel perspective. The farther 
 end of the room, being parallel to 
 the spectator, remains its true shape, 
 but the sides, together with the pic- 
 tures, and the floor and ceiling, are 
 all retiring planes ; consequently 
 the retiring lines bounding them all 
 tend towards a point opposite the 
 eye the vanishing point, those 
 lines which are above it slanting 
 downwards, those which are below 
 it slanting upwards. The same rule 
 will govern the lines of the sofa, 
 fender, and the two distant chairs, 
 but not the door and nearest chair, as 
 these are not in the same plane. It 
 may be remarked, however, that the 
 
 representation of ordinary rooms is seldom satisfactory, 
 from the fact that the spectator cannot get far enough 
 
 FIG. 176.
 
 226 
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 
 
 back, so as to see the distant end of the room without 
 having too wide a visual angle ; unless, indeed, the apart- 
 ment be a very long one. 
 
 The readiest way to represent an apartment in parallel 
 perspective is to begin by drawing the further end of the 
 room (its true shape), fixing the vanishing point, then 
 placing the ruler to it, and ruling through each corner 
 of the room backwards, as shown in the small diagram 
 (Fig. 178). 
 
 FIG. 178. 
 
 320. When large objects, such as trees, buildings, &c., 
 are represented with their receding lines slanting upwards, 
 thus indicating that they are below the eye, as in Fig. 179, 
 the spectator has what is "known as a bird's-eye view. 
 
 327. Hitherto we have concerned ourselves only with 
 receding lines which were parallel to the ground plane, 
 and at right angles to the plane of the spectator. In 
 Fig. 180 there is a receding plane on the top of A B c D, 
 which is not horizontal, and the receding lines of which 
 would not vanish on the level of the eye, but far above it,
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 
 
 227 
 
 FIG. 179. 
 
 FIG. 180. 
 
 as shown by the dotted lines, E F. The point in which 
 these lines would meet is called an ' accidental ' vanishing 
 point. Figs. 181 and 182 are further examples.
 
 228 
 
 On Artistic Perspective. 
 
 The rough sketches (Figs. 183 and 184) may better 
 illustrate this. In each case the receding lines formed by 
 
 FIG. 181. 
 
 the divisions of the stones are felt to be retiring towards 
 a vanishing point that would be level with the eye, 
 because 'coursed' buildings have always their stones in 
 horizontal layers or 'courses;' but the retiring markings
 
 FIG. 183. 
 
 ,7
 
 230 
 
 On Angular Perspective. 
 
 on the road, in the former, would evidently terminate far 
 above the horizontal line, which is in this case about the 
 bottom of the window : consequently we are conscious 
 that the road rises as it recedes. In Fig. 184, because 
 the lines of the road are retiring below the horizontal line, 
 we infer that the road is down-hill. In all these cases 
 the views are parallel to the spectator. 
 
 FIG. 185. 
 
 ANGULAR PERSPECTIVE. 
 
 328. Angular or Oblique Perspective is the term used 
 when objects have an angle presented towards the spec- 
 tator, as in Fig. 185, also in Fig. 
 
 186, where it will be seen that as 
 
 both the right and left-hand sides 
 of the cube re- 
 tire, there must 
 be two vanishing 
 
 points towards which the receding 
 
 lines will tend. 
 
 329. In drawing objects from* 
 Nature, when they are thus oblique 
 
 to the spectator, it is well to adopt a methodical mode 
 of operation, thus : 
 
 (1.) First determine the length, and draw the front 
 line, as A B, Fig. 187. 
 
 (2.) Determine the distance laterally of the lines c D 
 and E F, and draw them indefinitely. 
 
 (3.) Ascertain the relative height of the eye above the 
 
 FIG. 186.
 
 232 
 
 On Angular .Perspective. 
 
 cube, and at that height draw a line across the paper. 
 This line is known as the H. L., and is used for placing the 
 vanishing points on. 
 
 (4.) Ascertain accurately the angles at which the 
 lines, B F and B D, respectively retire (by comparing them 
 with a horizontal line), and produce them until they meet 
 the H. L. This junction will give the vanishing points to 
 which all the other receding lines must be drawn ; and 
 thus the figure will be completed. 
 
 In adopting this method of drawing from Nature, it is 
 of little consequence whether the sides of the object retire 
 at an equal angle from the spectator or not. It must be 
 observed, however, that the vanishing point will be near 
 on the side which retires rapidly, whilst on the side which 
 does not retire so sud- 
 
 denly it will be further 
 away on the H. L. If the 
 sides retire equally, the 
 points will be equally dis- 
 tant on each side of the 
 spectator. 
 
 330. Suppose it is de- 
 sired to represent another 
 cube immediately behind 
 that which has been already drawn, a diagonal line from A 
 (Fig. 188), bisecting E F, and continuing to the receding 
 line, will give the proportionate distance of the next ver- 
 tical line, as at K, from the top of which a line must be 
 drawn to the left-hand vanishing point, and the second cube 
 
 FIG. 188.
 
 On Angular Perspective. 
 
 233 
 
 will be completed, in exact proportion with the first. This 
 process may be carried further to any extent, as in Fig. 189. 
 
 FIG. 189. 
 
 FIG. 190. 
 
 331. If the object be so placed as to be partly 
 above and partly below the eye, as we ordinarily see in 
 buildings (Fig. 190), the receding lines, as before shown,
 
 234 
 
 On Angular Perspective. 
 
 \ 
 
 will appear to slant down or up re* 
 spectively towards the H. L., as the 
 case may be. Fig. 191 will illustrate 
 this in the single cube, and when 
 several are placed on each other they 
 will appear as shown in Fig. 176. 
 The application of these rules may be 
 seen in the representation of many 
 familiar household objects, as in 
 Figs. 192, 193, and 194, as well as 
 in the various woodcuts of buildings 
 throughout this work. 
 
 332. When an object is so placed 
 that its receding lines are not parallel 
 to the ground plane (level ground), 
 they will meet in what is known as 
 an accidental vanishing point, above 
 or below the H. L., according to the 
 inclination of the object, as already 
 referred to in 1 327. 
 
 333. From the remarks which 
 have here been made respecting 
 Artistic Perspective, it will be seen 
 that when the artist has obtained 
 certain facts (which in Technical 
 Perspective would be data), he may 
 proceed with his sketch easily, and 
 with as near an approximation to truth 
 as in any ordinary circumstances
 
 On Angular Perspective. 
 
 235 
 
 FIG. 192. 
 
 FIG. 193. 
 
 FIG. 194.
 
 236 On Angular Perspective. 
 
 would be required ; whereas, where there is no knowledge 
 of perspective rules, the student must be constantly on the 
 watch to get every part in its proper place, and even then he 
 cannot be sure of anything approaching absolute accuracy. 
 
 Even when a complicate group of objects has to be 
 drawn, to which these simple rules do not altogether 
 apply, as in Fig. 195, and where we are greatly dependent 
 on auxiliary lines, the knowledge of "these rules will 
 greatly assist the draughtsman in obtaining an accurate 
 representation. And although these auxiliary lines, 
 vanishing points, receding lines, &c., may not necessarily 
 be drawn on the paper, they should be in the mind (like 
 the rules of grammar), ready for instant application, to 
 determine the direction of a line or to test the accuracy of 
 one already drawn. They always exist in the mind of 
 an intelligent artist, and constitute, in fact, part of the 
 mental mechanism by which he sees, and, so far as lines 
 are concerned, delineates accurately. Neither must these 
 aids be supposed to apply to buildings or cubes alone, for 
 they are of great service when drawing trees, animals, and 
 the human figure. 
 
 334. It may be remarked, that when the student has 
 clearly understood and can put in practice the hints 
 contained in this chapter, he will have acquired all the 
 perspective that is necessary to the practical work of a 
 landscape artist. These lines, after all, are but the skeleton 
 of various forms, and are science rather than art. Their 
 rigidity should be broken, and they should afterwards be 
 clothed with all the artistic feeling of which the student 
 is capable.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 ON TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE.* 
 
 335. TECHNICAL Perspective, as used by architects, is 
 of little service to a student in drawing from Nature, as 
 the simplest object cannot be drawn truly without a 
 wearisome array of measurements according to scale, eleva- 
 tion, ground plan, and other data. From these, by the aid 
 of various rulers and compasses, a correct drawing may with 
 some labour be obtained. 
 
 Nevertheless, the mode of developing an object by 
 measurements and the rules of Perspective, will here be 
 shown, that the student may have some idea of what labour 
 is involved in such architectural presentations as are often 
 seen before an important building is erected, and also that 
 he may have some knowledge of the science in its element- 
 ary stages, f 
 
 And first we will name, and afterwards explain, some 
 of the terms used in this science, in various works, and as 
 
 illustrated in Diagram 1 : 
 
 GROUND PLANE. 
 
 GROUND PLAN. 
 
 PICTURE PLANE, 
 
 PICTURE LINE, OR GROUND 
 
 LINE, OR BASE LINE. 
 ELEVATION. 
 POINT OF SIGHT. 
 
 CENTRE OF VISION. 
 STATION POINT. 
 
 STATION LINE, OR LINE OF DI- 
 RECTION, OR DISTANCE LINE. 
 HORIZONTAL LINE. 
 CONE OF VISUAL RAYS. 
 VANISHING POINTS. 
 
 * In going through these problems the student should place models 
 before him whilst working. 
 
 f It must be remembered that this is not a treatise on Perspective. 
 
 338
 
 On Technical Perspective. 
 
 239 
 
 THE GEOUND PLANE is the ground on which the plan is 
 placed. 
 
 GEOUND PLAN. If the foot be pressed on some soft clay, 
 so as to make an impression on it, that impression would 
 be the ground plan of the foot ; or if a house were lifted 
 away from its place on the ground, the marks left on the 
 ground would be the ground plan of the house. The 
 square (Fig. 196) is the ground plan of a cube, a pyramid, 
 or any object having a square base, and viewed with one 
 side parallel to the spectator. The circle (Fig. 197) is the 
 ground plan of a cone or a cylinder. 
 
 FIG. 196. FIG. 197. 
 
 Fig. 198 shows the ground plan of three cubical forms, 
 when seen in angular perspective, and might, by the rules 
 of Perspective, be developed into Figs. 199 or 200 ; and 
 Fig. 201 might in like manner be developed into Figs. 202, 
 203, or 204. 
 
 THE PIOTUEE PLANE the 'plane of delineation,' or 'the 
 picture' is the plane (whether of glass, paper, canvas, &c.) 
 on which the drawing or 'projection ' is to be made. It .is 
 quite indefinite in extent,, and in working may be considered 
 as transparent. .
 
 FIG. 198. 
 
 FIG. 199. 
 
 FIG. 200.
 
 FIG. 201. 
 
 FIG. 202. 
 
 FIG. 203.
 
 242 
 
 On Technical Perspective. 
 
 THE PICTURE LINE, or Ground Line, or Base Line, is the 
 line forming the bottom edge of the picture plane, and rest- 
 ing on the ground plane. 
 
 THE ELEVATION is the upright view of an object, as seen 
 when directly in front of the spectator. A square is the 
 elevation of a cube, as well as its ground plan. 
 
 FIG. 204. 
 
 THE POINT OF SIGHT is the point on the picture plane 
 exactly opposite the spectator's eye, and is sometimes called 
 the ' Sight Point/ 
 
 THE OENTEE OF VISION is that point on the picture plane 
 which is exactly opposite to the point of sight i. e. the 
 eye of the spectator and is sometimes called the Sight 
 Point, or the principal visual ray.
 
 On TecJinical Perspective. 243 
 
 THE STATION POINT is simply the distance of the spectator's 
 eye from the picture, and is called in various works either 
 Station Point or Point of Distance. 
 
 THE STATION LINE, or ' Line of Direction,' or ' Distance 
 Line,' is the line between the spectator's eye and the 
 centre of the picture. It is the same as the ' principal 
 visual ray.' 
 
 THE HORIZONTAL LINE (imaginary in Nature) is a line 
 drawn across the picture, always and exactly on a level 
 with the spectator's eye. If he be high up, then the H. L. 
 is high ; if he be low down, then it is low. 
 
 THE CONE OF VISUAL EAYS--This is but another term for 
 Angle of Vision, the angle at which we can comfortably 
 view any objects. It is usually limited to GO , i. e. 30 on 
 each side of the Line of Direction. This limitation is 
 necessary only when representing regular bodies, and does 
 not apply to mountains, trees, &c. 
 
 THE VANISHING POINTS are points on the horizontal line 
 in which all horizontal receding lines meet. When receding 
 lines are oblique to the ground they meet in Accidental 
 vanishing points, above or below the horizontal line. 
 
 This array of terms may at first sight appear for- 
 midable, but it will bs made clearer by reference to 
 Diagram 1, showing a simple appliance used by the 
 Author in elementary teaching, and Diagrams 2 and 3, 
 showing the same in profile, and also laid down as a flat 
 diagram. 
 
 336. Before we proceed to work the problems, we 
 must urge the student to make himself familiar with
 
 . 
 
 O O
 
 C. Centre of Vltloa 
 
 Una of Direction 
 
 Station Point 
 
 Ground Plane 
 
 DIAGRAM 2. 
 
 Station Point 
 
 DIAGRAM 3.
 
 246 On Technical Perspective. 
 
 every part of these three diagrams, as his success in the 
 following figures will be thereby greatly facilitated. In 
 working, the diagrams should be made to scale, and much 
 larger than those here given. 
 
 It will be observed that in all perspective problems 
 the picture or ground line, the ground plan, the horizontal 
 line, and the line of direction (one end of which is the 
 station point and the other the centre of the picture), are 
 given, and form the data. 
 
 To render the diagrams and explanations more simple, 
 these 'data ' are shown in thin ; the working lines in dotted; 
 and the result in broad lines.
 
 On Technical Perspective. 247 
 
 EXPLANATION OF DIAGRAM 4. 
 HOW TO FIND DISTANCE POINTS AND VANISHING POINTS. 
 
 Always first lay down the ground line, horizontal line, 
 and line of direction. Place the compass point on c (cen- 
 tre of vision), and with space c s (station point) mark on 
 the horizontal line to the right and left of c. These are 
 the Distance Points. 
 
 NOTE. The distance points are the vanishing points for 
 all lines receding at an angle of 45. 
 
 Receding lines will touch the H. L. according to the 
 angle at which they are to the plane of the spectator : 
 i. e. if the line retires suddenly away, its vanishing point 
 will be near the centre of vision ; but if the line retires 
 gently, or is nearly parallel to the s|>ectator, its vanishing 
 point will be far away from the centre of vision, yet on 
 the H. L. 
 
 To find the vanishing point for any line, first draw a 
 horizontal line at s, then set off on it the angle which the 
 line forms with the G. L. (ground line) ; produce the line 
 thus set off till it meets the H. L., which will give the 
 vanishing point of that line. 
 
 DIAGRAM 5. 
 
 In this diagram the means by which vanishing points 
 for various lines, A B D E F, may be. found are shown, but the 
 student should work each of these various lines separately.
 
 On TecJinical Perspective. 249 
 
 Beginning with line A, it will be found to form an angle 
 of GO with the base or ground line (G. L. ) ; therefore from 
 the horizontal line s draw a line to the left at 60, and 
 produce it till it touches the H. L., which will give the 
 vanishing point for the line at a. 
 
 The line B is at an angle of 40 with the base or ground 
 line, therefore from the line s draw a line to the left at 40, 
 and produce it till it meet the H. L. at b, which is the van- 
 ishing point for the line. 
 
 The line D forms an angle of 50 with the ground line, 
 therefore from the line s draw a line at the same angle 
 (50) to the right, and extend it to the H. L., which will 
 give the v. p. of the line at d. 
 
 The line E is at an angle of 35 with the ground line, 
 therefore from the line s draw a line to the H. L., at an 
 angle of 35, which will give the v. P. at e. 
 
 Lastly, it will be seen that the line F, being at an 
 angle of only 10 with the ground line, is nearly parallel 
 to the spectator, and, therefore, that its vanishing point 
 will be at a considerable distance from the centre of the 
 picture, as will be evident on drawing a line from s at an 
 angle of 10 to the left. Of course there is not room to 
 show it on this sheet. 
 
 NOTE. It will be observed, that if a line whose vanish- 
 ing point is required inclines to the right, the vanishing 
 point will be to the left, on the horizontal line. 
 
 It has already been observed, that lines retiring from 
 the ground line at an angle of 45 have their vanishing 
 points in the distance points.
 
 250 On Technical Perspective. 
 
 DIAGRAM 6. 
 
 In the whole of these figures the scale is of an inch 
 to a foot, the H. L. being 5 ft., and the point of distance, 
 or station point (s), 10 ft. c is the Centre of Vision. 
 
 When lines recede directly from the spectator, or, in 
 other words, are at right angles to the plane of the picture, 
 they vanish towards the point of sight. TJiis is an invari- 
 able law, and we will apply it in the next problem. 
 
 To draw in perspective a square of 4 ft. lying on the 
 ground, with one of its sides parallel to and touching the 
 picture plane, 1 ft. to the left of the spectator. 
 
 Now it is clear that if one side of the square be parallel 
 to the picture plane, two of its sides will be at right angles 
 to it, and consequently, according to the rule just laid 
 down, will retire to the Point of Sight, or Centre of the 
 picture (c). To work the problem, then, first measure 
 1 ft. to the left side of the spectator, or line of direction, 
 on the Picture or Ground Line (G. L. ) ; then 4 ft. further 
 for the side of the square (A B), which is to touch the 
 Picture Plane. From A and B rule lines to the Point of 
 Sight. To obtain the distance of the back (D E), mark 
 off 4 ft. from A towards the Line of Direction (which of 
 course will be to B), and then draw a line from B to Dis- 
 tance Point I ; or, measure off 4 ft. from B to the left (A), 
 and then draw a line from A to Distance Point 2. The 
 intersection at D or E will cut off the 4 ft. required ; then 
 a line parallel to the front line will complete the square in 
 perspective.
 
 H 
 
 OS 
 
 *v.~ 
 
 GO 
 
 v\ 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 \ 
 \
 
 252 On TecJmical Perspective. 
 
 DIAGRAM 7. 
 
 To draw in perspective a square of 4 ft. lying on the 
 ground, with its nearest side 6 ft. to the left of the 
 spectator, and 1 ft. beyond and parallel to the picture 
 plane. 
 
 First measure 6 ft. to the left of the Line of Direction 
 on the ground line (G. L.) as at A, and the size of the 
 square, 4 ft., to B, and then from A and B draw receding 
 lines to the centre of the picture c. Now as the square 
 in -this case is to stand 1 ft. in the picture, or beyond the 
 picture plane, mark 1 ft. to the right of A, and draw to 
 Distance Point 1, which will intersect the line A c, at 1 ft. 
 in the picture (at D). Or, mark 1 ft. to the left of B, as 
 at F, and rule to Distance Point 2, which will intersect the 
 line B c at E, 1 ft. in the picture as before, thus proving 
 the accuracy of the rule. 
 
 But as the figure required is a square, the retiring 
 lines just drawn also give the intersection necessary for 
 drawing the back line, G H, thus completing the square in 
 perspective as required. 
 
 DIAGRAM 8. 
 
 To draw a right-angled parallelogram of 4 ft. by 6 ft., 
 one side (4 ft.) being parallel to and touching the picture 
 plane, its nearest side 2 ft. to the right of the spectator. 
 
 Mark off 2 ft. to the right of the spectator, on the
 
 On Technical Perspective. 253 
 
 0. L., and then 4 ft. more for the width of the parallel- 
 ogram, A B, and rule to the centre, c. Now as the 
 parallelogram is to be G ft. long, mark 6 ft. to the right 
 from A, as at F, and draw a line to Distance Point 1, 
 which will intersect the line A c at D, 6 ft. (in perspective) 
 from A : draw the line D E parallel to the G. L., and thus 
 the parallelogram will be represented in perspective. 
 
 NOTE. The three diagrams that have just been ex- 
 plained may also be worked from their ground plans, 
 
 1, 2, and 3. Diagram 6 is very simple : first draw from 
 A and B to the centre of the picture c ; then, for the width 
 of the square, find the perspective of the diagonal line of 
 the original square 1, according to the rule laid down for 
 Diagram 5 ; and as this diagonal line happens to form an 
 angle of 45 with the Ground Line, its Vanishing Point 
 will be in the distance point, for, as has been already 
 explained, lines forming an angle of 45 with the G. L. 
 always vanish in the Distance Points. 
 
 In Diagram 7 extend the lines of the square to the 
 G. L. as at A B ; whence draw to the Centre of Vision, c. 
 The front and back lines will be found by extending the 
 diagonal lines to the G. L., and then drawing to either 
 of the Distance Points. Diagram 8 will not require 
 explanation.
 
 On Technical Perspective. 255 
 
 DIAGRAM 9. 
 
 To represent a Circle in Perspective, 2 ft. to the left of 
 the spectator and 2 ft. in the picture. 
 
 It will be evident that, as only straight-lined figures 
 are amenable to the Perspective rules, it will be necessary 
 to find a number of points in Perspective through which 
 to trace the required circle ; therefore a ground plan will 
 be required, which must be surrounded with a square, and 
 intersected as shown at 1. The working of the problem 
 will then be simple. Extend the perpendicular lines of 
 the Ground Plan to the Ground Line, and from thence to 
 the Centre of Vision, c. Now produce one of the diagonal 
 lines of the Ground Plan to the Ground Line, as at A, and 
 from thence to one of the Distance Points, which is the 
 Vanishing Point for lines at 45. At each intersection of 
 the line with the lines going to the Point of Vision, c, 
 draw horizontal lines, which will give points through 
 which to trace the required circle in perspective. 
 
 DIAGRAM 10. 
 
 To represent a Cube 4 ft. square in Perspective, 2 ft. 
 to the right of the spectator, and 1 ft. in the picture. 
 
 First find the base of the square, as in Diagram 7 ; 
 then, at A, raise a perpendicular line 4 ft. for the height 
 of the cube, as at B, and from B draw to the Centre of 
 Vision, c ; at c, d, and e, erect perpendiculars ; from g 
 draw a horizontal line- to /, and complete the Cube in 
 Perspective by drawing from i to h.
 
 D.P V.P. 
 
 V.P. 
 
 
 DIAGRAM 11. 
 
 G.U 
 
 O.P V.P.M.P.I. 
 
 V..P. M.P.2. 
 
 50! 
 
 73" 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 \ 
 
 - . / 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 G.L. \ 
 
 1 G.L. 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
 i 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 j 
 
 \ 
 
 ! 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 X 
 
 / 
 
 x v 
 
 / 
 
 \ x 
 
 / 
 
 DIAGRAM 12.
 
 On Technical Perspective. 257 
 
 DIAGRAM 11. 
 
 Hitherto the diagrams have been explanatory of the 
 Parallel view ; this diagram and the next are preparatory 
 to the clear understanding of the Angular view. 
 
 The method of finding the Vanishing Point for any 
 line has been shown in Diagram 5, and is here repeated, 
 so as to impress it more strongly on the mind. It has 
 also been shown that the Distance Points will be the 
 Vanishing Points for lines at an angle of 45. If a line 
 should slant at any other angle to the Ground Line, it will 
 have its own Vanishing Point, which will be the Vanishing 
 Point for all lines at that angle. In this diagram the line 
 to the right of the spectator is shown at an angle of 75 to 
 the Ground Line (and consequently to the H. L.), and the 
 one to the left at an ansrle of 50. 
 
 DIAGRAM 12. 
 
 Measuring Points are the points by which any distance 
 maybe measured on a receding line as it retires into the 
 picture, and may be found as follows : Measure from the 
 Vanishing Point to the Station Point with the compasses, and 
 then set off on the Horizontal Line from the Vanishing Point 
 towards the Line of Direction, which will give its Measuring 
 Point. It must be remembered that every Vanishing Point 
 has its own Measuring Point, which is always on the oppo- 
 site side of the Line of Direction. 
 17
 
 '3'd'lN 
 
 Td'IAI
 
 On Technical Perspective. 259 
 
 DIAGRAM 13. 
 
 To represent a cube in Angular Perspective. 
 
 This may be done in two ways. First, draw the 
 ground plan, A B c D, at the desired angle, and (in this 
 case) touching the G. L. Extend D B and D c respectively 
 to the G. L. and observe the angles they make with it (viz. 
 40 and 50). Set off these angles from a horizontal line 
 at s (as shown in Diagram 5), and extend them till they 
 meet the Horizontal Line (H. L.), which will give the 
 Vanishing Points. From A draw to the two Vanishing 
 Points, and cut off the proper length of the receding line 
 by drawing from e and / to the Vanishing Points, which 
 will give the base of the Cube in Perspective. 
 
 If, instead of ruling from e and /to the two Vanishing 
 Points, we measure the side of the square in this case 
 4 ft. to the right and left from A, as at & and I, and then 
 rule to the Measuring Points 1 and 2 (found as in Diagram 
 12), the same intersection will take place, and the Square in 
 Perspective be obtained. 
 
 At A erect a perpendicular line (4 ft. ) to g, and rule to 
 the two Vanishing Points. At each corner of the square 
 also raise perpendiculars till they meet the receding lines, 
 and from the top of these, again, by ruling to the Vanishing 
 Points, the Cube will be completed. 
 
 This problem should be repeated till the student finds it 
 quite easy.
 
 260 On TecJinical Perspective. 
 
 DlAGKAM 14. 
 
 This diagram is given as a further illustration of the 
 foregoing rules, and if the student has understood and 
 worked the previous problems, he will have little difficulty 
 in understanding and executing this. He will also have 
 prepared himself for more readily and intelligently appre- 
 ciating any plans and perspective drawings of buildings 
 or machinery that may come before him in the business 
 of life. 
 
 The student who has gone carefully and thoughtfully 
 through this little book will find that he has been moving 
 on some of those only safe lines of true education which 
 fit a man for the highest purposes and business of his 
 being.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 A.-ON CHILDREN'S DEAWING. 
 
 THE Question is often asked, ' Ought young children to 
 learn to draw ? ' 
 
 We answer decidedly in the affirmative, but not neces- 
 sarily by set lessons, except on the Kindergarten system. 
 
 The chief purpose in letting a young child draw is that 
 it may not lose the power of seeing things as they appear, 
 whilst at the same time it is learning what their shapes 
 really are. It is quite remarkable how few persons do see 
 things as they appear. The cause is, that the knowledge of 
 the actual shape is allowed to interfere with the image the 
 shape makes on the retina. The image on the retina is per- 
 fect, but it requires to be correctly read by the mind, and 
 this can only be accurately done by long and careful habit ; 
 hence the difficulty that many grown-up persons have in 
 sketching even a book or a box. 
 
 Further, it may be asked, ' What kind of drawing should 
 young children be encouraged in practising ? ' 
 
 We again answer decidedly, Let them draw from 
 the things around them, unless there be some systematic 
 set of models to draw from ; and these should be very 
 interesting, otherwise the child will not care to draw 
 
 263
 
 264 Appendix. 
 
 them. In work of this kind children should always be 
 interested, or more harm will be done than good. Children 
 should never be praised for the drawings they make, but 
 simply commended for any tightness, neatness, cleanness, 
 or special effort. Nothing weakens a child's efforts more 
 than false or injudicious praise. 
 
 Ought young children to be allowed to rule lines ? 
 
 Most assuredly. A nice flat ruler, a triangle or square, 
 and in some cases a pair of compasses, are excellent in- 
 struments to put into the hands of a child ; but neatness 
 and exactness should be the consequence, for this is their 
 purpose.* But instruments should never be used in the 
 free-hand drawing class until a sketch is completed, and 
 then only for the purpose of showing the student where he 
 has failed. 
 
 Children who have been encouraged in early life to draw 
 the things about them on scraps of paper, on insides of old 
 envelopes, or on slates, seldom have any difficulty in under- 
 standing perspective, especially such perspective as is ordi- 
 narily used by artists. 
 
 B.-THE DIASOOPE. 
 
 THE ' Diascope,' as its name implies, is in its simplest 
 form merely a piece of cardboard or thin wood, with an 
 
 * A neat flat ruler may be made with a long slip of cardboard, or 
 by folding over and over a half sheet of foolscap paper and gumming 
 the last lap. A child should have inche* marked on his ruler.
 
 Appendix. 
 
 205 
 
 aperture cut in it through which to view the best parts of 
 a landscape and conceal the remainder. It may be of any 
 size and proportion, but a convenient one may be made 
 with a piece of cardboard, say seven inches by five, or 
 larger, with an opening five inches by three. This opening 
 may be divided at the inches by intersecting threads, per- 
 pendicularly and horizontally (Fig. 205). 
 
 FIG. 205. 
 
 When a student goes to Nature, and has an extensive 
 view before him, he is often perplexed to know how much, 
 or what part, of what lies before him, he should take as 
 his sketch. Let him with one eye look at the landscape 
 through the ' Diascope ' when held at from six to ten 
 inches from him, and move it to the right or left, and up 
 or down, till he has found that part of the landscape which 
 will give him the best material.
 
 266 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 0.-PENOIL-IN-HAND MEASUKEMENT. 
 
 THIS simple and convenient method of measuring the 
 proportions of distant objects is often misunderstood, by 
 - applying it to the size of objects, with which it has nothing 
 to do. It is, therefore, here described. 
 
 Shut one eye ; hold the pencil, as in Fig. 206, at arm's 
 length ; let the end of the pencil come exactly between the 
 
 FIG. 206. 
 
 FIG. 207. 
 
 eye and any point on the object you wish to measure from ; 
 then let the thumb or first finger move along the pencil as 
 required, till it reaches the point you wish to measure to. 
 Having obtained this measurement, it can now be com- 
 pared with, or measured into, any other part of the object 
 or picture (being most careful in moving not to bring the 
 hand nearer to the eye), and thus ascertain its proportion.
 
 Appendix. 267 
 
 In all measurements the pencil should be held at arm's 
 length, and parallel to the plane of the face. It should 
 always be remembered that these measurements have 
 reference only to the proportions of objects, and not to 
 their size. Fig. 207 shows how the pencil is held when 
 measuring horizontally. 
 
 D.-NOTE ON TEACHING. 
 
 A LONG, varied, and extensive acquaintance with 
 teaching has brought the conviction that Art has not 
 had its proper place as a subject to be taught, nor, as a 
 rule, its proper treatment as a factor in education. Its 
 importance is underrated, and the teaching of it is often 
 a farce. At best it has been taught pretty much as 
 writing is taught ; and, to a very limited extent, this may 
 be right. But the twenty-six letters of the alphabet do 
 not constitute a language ; they are merely arbitrary and 
 conventional signs by which, when properly arranged and 
 understood, we are able to make thought visible. 
 
 Art is as truly a language as is Greek or German ; 
 more easy to read, and universal in its application. Wluit 
 is language, but that by which thought is conveyed from 
 one mind to another ? If we place six of these English 
 signs before a very young child, or an intelligent person 
 not conversant with English, thus kettle, or tea
 
 268 Appendix. 
 
 pot, or three -of them, cup they will be utterly 
 meaningless ; whilst the roughest possible sketch will 
 convey a correct idea to the mind at once. 
 
 Instead of these twenty-six arbitrary signs, Art has 
 two lines as fundamental, the straight and curved, with 
 which we may express almost any physical fact or, to 
 state the case more accurately, without which scarcely any 
 physical fact can be satisfactorily expressed. 
 
 In the teaching of Art, then, we claim that the 
 grammar which governs these two lines, and all that 
 belongs to them, ought to be taught in a like practical 
 manner, day by day, with black board or other illus- 
 trations, the same as Geography, Mechanics, or any other 
 science, and thus be thoroughly incorporated in our 
 educational system. 
 
 It is true that Art and the teaching of it, also has 
 two aspects : first, the commonplace, utilitarian one, such 
 as should be taught in all schools, just as regularly as 
 writing is taught ; and, second, the emotional aspect, such 
 as applies to higher Art or to pictures.
 
 Appendix. 269 
 
 In this utilitarian work, objects should be used in pre- 
 ference to flat copies, though both are important. Copying 
 from the flat is a mechanical operation to improve eye 
 and hand ; but the copying from solid objects implies 
 much more of a mental conception, and is most important 
 to artisans (as well as to those who rank above them), that 
 they may be able instantly to write down (draw) a thing 
 itself in the universal language of Art, as well as under- 
 stand that which is drawn. 
 
 There is yet one more point in Art instruction to 
 which we wish to make reference, viz., the teaching of 
 Perspective, as it is usually done in common schools. In 
 some middle-class schools it is not taught at all. Many 
 works on Technical Perspective, both cheap and excellent, 
 have made their appearance during the last few years, 
 and these are used largely in our National Schools in 
 preparation for Government examinations. In view of 
 what we have seen in the preparation for, and the conse- 
 quences of, these examinations, we cannot but agree with 
 Professor Huxley, when, in writing on Education, he 
 says:* 'The educational abomination of desolation of 
 the present day is the stimulation of young people to work 
 at high pressure by incessant examinations. . . . They 
 are conceited all the forenoon of life, and stupid all its 
 afternoon.' Although he is speaking here of education 
 generally, his remarks apply with special force to Art 
 teachings and examinations. These examinations have a 
 reflex effect on the teachers also, and in honesty we must 
 * Fortnightly Review, January 1878.
 
 270 Appendix. 
 
 say (and we speak that which we do know) often a very 
 mischievous effect. Professor Huxley says : * ' There is 
 much to be done before the ' (present) ' system can be said 
 to be thoroughly satisfactory. The instruction given needs 
 to be more systematic, and especially more practical; the 
 teachers are of very unequal excellence, and not a few 
 stand much in need of instruction themselves, not only in 
 the subjects which they teach, but in the objects for which 
 they teach, f I dare say you have heard of that pro- 
 ceeding, reprobated by all true sportsmen, which is called 
 "shooting for the pot." "Well, there is such a thing as 
 "teaching for the pot," teaching, that is, not that your 
 scholar may know, but that he may count for payment 
 among those who pass the examination ; and there are 
 some teachers happily, not many who have yet to learn 
 that the examiners of the Department regard them as 
 poachers of the worst description.' 
 
 The great aim, then, of the true Art teacher ought to 
 be to develop all the quickness of eye and power of hand 
 possible to his pupils (the utilitarian aspect); and then, 
 as time and circumstances will permit, to call out of or, if 
 necessary, instil into their minds such emotional and 
 intelligent power of observation as will make them correct 
 judges of Art and intense lovers of Nature. 
 
 * Fortnightly Review, January 1878. 
 
 f The italicising is not Professor Huxley's. 
 
 THE END.
 
 MANUAL OF MYTHOLOGY 
 
 FOR THE USE OF 
 
 SCHOOLS, ART STUDENTS AND GENERAL READERS, 
 
 FOUNDED ON THE WORKS OF PETISCUS, PRELLER 
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 A VALUABLE LITTLE BOOK- 
 
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 -':>- j 
 
 m 
 
 ' "
 
 L 006 
 
 277 
 
 039