188

DRAWING.

fined bv wedges at the back. A ruler made in the form of theletter T will be convenient to use with the drawing boards fordrawing parallel and perpendicular lines.

II. Of Drawing Linf.s, Squares, Circles, and other

Geometrical Figures.

The first practice of a learner must be to draw straight and curvelines, with ease and freedom, upwards and downwards, sideways tothe right or left, or in any direction whatsoever. lie must alsolearn to draw by command of hand, squares, circles, ovals, andother geometrical figures: for as the alphabet, or a knowledge offhe letters, is an introduction to grammar, so is geometry to draw-ing. The practice of drawing these simple figures till he is masterof them, will enable him to imitate, with greater ease and accuracy,many things both in nature and art. Four general rules may herebelaid down; 1. Never to be in a hurry; but to make himselfperfectly master of one figure before he proceeds to another: theadvantage, and even necessity, of this, will appear as he proceeds:il. To accustom himself to draw all his figures very large, which is.the only way of acquiring a free bold manner of designing: 3. Topractise drawing till be lias gained a tolerable command of his pen-cil, before lie attempts fo shade any figure or object of any kindwhatever: And, 4. Not to finish perfectly at first any single part,but to sketch out faintly, with light strokes of the pencil, the shapeand proportion of the whole figure; and afterwards to correct itwhere it is amiss.

III. Of Drawing Eyf.s, Ears, Flowers, Fruits, Birds,

Beasts, Legs, Arms, Hands, Ac.

The learner may begin with drawing the outlines of eyes, cars,noses, &c. See Plate LX. lie may next proceed with flowers,fruits, birds, beasts, and the like ; not only as it will lie a morepleasing employment, but as it is an easier task, than the drawingof hands and feet, and other parts of the human body, which re-quire not only more care, but greater exactness and nicer judge-ment. Very few instructions are requisite upon this head; thebest thing the learner can do, is to' furnish himself with good printsor drawings, by way of examples, and with great care and exact-ness to copy them. If it is the figure of a beast, begin with theforehead, aiid draw the nose, the upper and under jaw, and stopat the throat. Then go to the top of the head, and form the ears,neck, and back; and continue the line till you have given the fullshape of the buttock. Then form the breast, and mark out thelegs and feet, and all the smaller parts. See Plate LXI. Afterwinch the figure is to be finished with the proper shadows. Thelearner may then proceed to the drawing of legs and arms, bycopying carefully the examples given in Plate LX. but the actionsand postures of the hands are so many and various, that no certainrules can he given for drawing them, that will universally holdgood. Yet as the hands and feet are difficult to draw, it is verynecessary to bestow some time and pains about them, care-fully imitating their various postures and actions, so as not only toavoid all lameness and imperfection, but also to give them life "andspirit. To arrive at this, great care, study, ami practice, are re-quisite; particularly in imitating the best prints or drawings thatcan be got of bands and feet, examples of which are given in PlateLX ; for, as to the mechanical rules of drawing them by lines andmeasures, they are not only perplexed and difficult, but also con-trary to the practice of the best masters. And here the generalrule" abovementioned must be applied, viz. to sketch out faintly,with light strokes, the shape and proportion of the whole hand,with the action and turn of it; and after considering whether thisfirst sketch be perfect, and altering it where it is amiss, to proceedto the bending of the joints, the knuckles, the veins, and othersmall particulars, which when the learner lias got the whole shapeand proportion of the hand or foot, will not only be more easilybut also more perfectly designed.

IV. Of Delineating Faces.

The head is usually divided into 4 equal parts, viz. I. From thecrown of the head to the top of the forebear). 2. From the top ofthe forehead to the eye-brows. 3. From the eye-brows to the bot-tom of the nose. 4." From thence to the bottom of the chin. Butthis proportion is not constant; those features in different men beingoften very different as to length and shape. In a well-proportioned

face, however, they are nearly right. To direct the learner, there-fore, in forming a [>erfect face, his first business is to draw an oval,or rather the form of an egg; in the middle of which, from the lopto the bottom, draw a perpendicular line. 'Through the middleof this line draw a diameter-line, directly across from one side tothe other of the oval. On these two lines all the features of the faceare to be placed as follows: Divide the perpendicular line intofour equal parts: the first must he allotted to the hair of the head ;the second is from the top of the forehead to the top of the nosebetween the eye-brows; the third is from thence to the bottom ofthe nose ; and the fourth includes the lips and chin. 'Flic diameter-line, or the breadth of the face, is always supposed to be the lengthof five eyes ; it must therefore be divided into five equal parts,and the eyes placed upon ilso as to leave exactly the length of oneeye betw'ixt them. 'This is to be understood only of a full frontface, Plate LX. for if it turn to cither side, the distances are to lielessened on that side which turns from you, less or more in propor-tion to its turning. 'The top of the ear is to rise parallel to the eye-brows, at the end of (he diameter-line ; and the bottom of it must beequal to the bottom of the nose. The nostrils ought not to comeout farther than the corner of the eye in any face ; and the middleof the mouth must always be placed on the perpendicular line.

V. Of Drawing Human Figures.

When the learner is tolerably perfect in drawing faces, heads,hands, and feet, he may next attempt to draw the human figure atfull length. Iii this performance he ought to attend with greatcare to the true proportions of the body and limbs, tor which ob-serve, that in a well-formed person, his arms extended make adistance between the extremities of the middle lingers equal to hislength; that the face consists of three exact divisions, from thehair on the forehead to the eyes, from the eyes to the bottom ofthe nose, and from that to the chin. 'The whole figure is ten facesin length; from the chin to the collar-bone is twice the length ofthe nose, thence to the lowest part of the breast one face, from thatto the navel another, to the groin one, to the upper part of theknee two, the knee is half a face in length, from the lower part ofwhich to the ancle is two faces, and hence to the sole of the foot isone-half. Measuring from the extremes of the breast, the breadthwill be found to contain two faces, and the bpne of the arm fromthe shoulder to the elbow, the same number; thence, includingpart of the hand, two faces; and from the shoulder-blade to thehollow between the collar-bones, is one face. The thumb is thelength of the nose; from the commencement of the hand to themiddle of the arm is five lengths of the nose; and from the pecto-ral muscle to the same place is four. 'The great toe is of the lengthof the nose, and the sole of the foot is the sixth part of the lengthof the figure; the hands are double their breadth in length, andwhen extended they are exactly the length of the face. 'Thebreadth of the limbs vary according to the state of health in thebody, and the particular situation of the muscles whenever moved.'The length of the whole figure being divided into ten equal partsor faces, the points of division answering to the different parts ofthe body,will appear from the figure in Plate 61 .No.‘J, in which thedivisions are marked and numbered. 'To draw a figure correctly,the intended length should be marked, and all the preceding ad-measurements strictly adhered to, beginning the sketch with thehead, following with the shoulders, the trunk, the leg most in ac-tion, then the other, finishing with the arms, and making the out-line perfect before any part is finished; as we may imagine a liv-ing or plaster model placed before the student, that will serve bet-ter for improving him than any written instructions, but lie willfind the greatest difficulty in correctly copying the eves, mouth,ears, hands, and feet, and should consequently he particularlycareful when employed in those parts. Let the learner remember,in whatever he intends to draw, fir.it to sketch its several parts,measuring the distances and proportions between each with hisfinger or pencil, without using the compasses; and then judgingof them by the eye,which by degrees,will be able to judge of truthand proportion, and will become his best and principal guide. Andlet him observe, as a general rule, always to begin on the left band,or the right side of the piece he is copying: for thus he will alwayshave what he has done beiore his eyes; and the rest will followmore naturally, and with greater ease. All the bowings and bend-ings that are in the body, must be taken notice of, making the6 pait