Drawing

the antique statues; and while striving to attain accuracy in copying these noble relics of art, he should consider deeply their high character and expression. It is not to be expected that a very extensive set of examples of the antique, or a discussion and detail of their merits, can be given here; all that we can do is to lead the student to the proper source whence he may draw supplies; and with this view we would recommend him to peruse and contemplate the statues of the Apollo Belvidere, the Venus de' Medici, the Gladiator Borghese, the Torso of the Belvedere, and the matchless group of the Laocoön, at the time he is copying them in the way of practice. See Plates CXCIV., CXCV., CXCVI., CXCVII., CXCVIII.

We have hitherto only considered the drawing of the human figure, and that in black and white chalks. Another very good way of producing a spirited effect is, by a union of both these with red chalk, a method much practised by the old masters in their academy figures, &c.

The following are the measures of the human body, as taken by Fresnoy from the ancient statues. The ancients have commonly allowed eight heads to their figures, though some of them have allowed but seven. The figure is ordinarily divided into ten faces; that is to say, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, in the following manner:

From the crown of the head to the forehead is the third part of a face.

The face begins at the root of the lowest hairs which are upon the forehead, and ends at the bottom of the chin.

The face is divided into three proportionable parts, the first contains the forehead, the second the nose, and the third the mouth and the chin; from the chin to the pit betwixt the collar-bones is two lengths of a nose.

From the pit betwixt the collar-bones to the bottom of the breast one face.

From the bottom of the breast to the navel one face.

From the navel to the genitaries one face.

From the genitaries to the upper part of the knee two faces.

The knee contains half a face.

From the lower part of the knee to the ankle two faces.

From the ankle to the sole of the foot half a face.

A man, when his arms are stretched out, is from the longest finger of his right hand to the longest finger of his left, as broad as he is long.

From one side of the breast to the other, two faces.

The bone of the arm, called humerus, is the length of two faces from the shoulder to the elbow.

From the end of the elbow to the root of the little finger, the bone called cubitus, with part of the hand, contains two faces.

From the box of the shoulder-blade to the pit betwixt the collar-bones, one face.

If you would be satisfied in the measure of breadth from the extremity of one finger to the other, so that this breadth should be equal to the length of the body, you must observe that the boxes of the elbows with the humerus, and of the humerus with the shoulder-blade, bear the proportion of half a face when the arms are stretched out.

The sole of the foot is the sixth part of the figure.

The hand is the length of a face.

The thumb contains a nose.

The inside of the arm, where the muscle disappears which makes the breast (called the pectoral muscle), to the middle of the arm, four noses.

From the middle of the arm to the beginning of the head five noses.

The longest toe is a nose long.

The utmost parts of the teats and the pit betwixt the collar-bones of a woman make an equilateral triangle.

For the breadth of the limbs no precise measures can be given, because the measures themselves are changeable, according to the quality of the persons, and according to the movement of the muscles.

The best example of the measures of an ancient statue are by Audran, an author whom Sir Joshua Reynolds recommends as being the most useful; and on this department of our subject we now add the following table of the measurements and comparisons of the three celebrated statues of the Apollo, the Venus, and the Hercules, as published by Volpato and Morghen at Rome, in a work called Il Principi del Disegno. To preserve uniformity in the measurements, the head of each figure is divided into twelve parts, and each part into six minutes.

In the foregoing table, we by no means have set down the ancient formula as an infallible guide, since the changes which the human form undergoes from infancy to old age preclude the possibility of limiting its measurements to definite proportions, and much depends upon the order or rank of the figure to be represented. Thus the Apollo Belvedere and the Venus de' Medici have more than ten faces in their length; and in other respects these figures, which by their authors were intended to represent divinities, are considerably different in their proportions from others of the antique statues. It is enough if something approximating to accuracy of measurement be kept in view when the student is engaged in making his drawing; and this he should do without the use of compasses or any other mathematical means, which ultimately cramp his powers of imitation, and retard his progress towards perfection.

Light and shade are the means by which the actual appearance of substance in the object represented is conveyed, and they should be studied with every attention, from the objects themselves which are assumed as the models for imitation. No rules can be laid down so good as the study of nature herself, and no language can explain the beauties of her varied appearances of lights, shadows, or reflections.

It is by means of light and shade also that the figures in a picture or composition are made to keep their proper places: thus the principal figure is generally illuminated with the strongest and broadest light, and the others kept subordinate. It is with considerable diffidence, however, that we state this as the practice most to be approved of: every artist, and indeed every school, has a peculiar mode of management in this, and we are aware that a different practice has often produced excellent results.

The general rule with regard to the relative proportions of light, shadow, and middle tint in a well-ordered effect is, that there should be rather more shadow than light, and more middle tint than either of the former, provided the subject does not require a different arrangement. In the infinite variety of forms of composition of the various schools, rules for the attainment of excellence can hardly be laid down with safety; and we must on this account refer the student to the contemplation of the works of the most esteemed masters, for examples to direct him in the practice of the chiar' oscuro of his pictures.

The study of anatomy is of the utmost importance to-

wards a correct knowledge of the human figure, and is most beneficial in leading the way to an accurate representation of its various parts and attitudes. Without it no proper estimate can be formed of the movements of the joints of the limbs, nor of the swellings and undulations of the muscles, which, when in action, are constantly varying, and must be seized at the moment. It was by the careful study of this branch of science that Michel Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other eminent artists, attained to such excellence in representing the forms when engaged in action, and displayed that accuracy of outline and show of energy which appear in the various members of their figures.

The most necessary preparation for all drawings executed with Indian ink, sepia, bistre, or the like, is an accurate in Indian outline, which should be made with a black-lead pencil, or ink, sepia, pen and ink if the work is only meant to be finished in a sketchy manner. Care must be taken in both to regulate the strength of the touch or line by the nearness or distance of the object represented. The shades should be laid in a good deal lighter at first than they are intended to be when the drawing is finished, and the hard edges of the touches softened with a water brush. The greater the attention paid to the subject as a whole in this stage, and the broader and less minute the washes are laid on, the better; for it is only as the drawing advances towards completion that the minutiae should be attended to. In Plate CCI. we have given an example of the method of proceeding with a drawing washed in with one colour only. Fig. 1 exhibits the outline; fig. 2 the first broad wash; fig. 3 the second working; and fig. 4 the finished drawing. Each shading should be allowed to dry thoroughly before the succeeding wash is laid on; and there are many modes, we had almost said tricks, by which certain excellent effects are produced, which are only to be acquired by practice. Thus the use of a sharp pointed penknife will be found most serviceable in taking out irregularly-formed lights in the foreground; and much advantage will be found in wiping out lights and middle tints with a towel or handkerchief during the progress of the work; but regarding these no rules can be laid down. The artist must use his own discretion; though too much of such practice is not to be recommended.

The study of landscape ought to be commenced by imitating the most simple forms, as in the following figures.

These or similar figures may be copied two or three times over before attempting such a work as we have given in Plate CCI. Plate CC. exhibits two examples of the style of sketching landscape by Claude; and we strongly recommend Turner's Liber Studiorum to the careful perusal of the young artist in this department. The studies of the human figure by Raffaele, Parmigiano, and others, or their imitations by Rodgers, are the best.

There is no branch of the art in which such a variety of means may be adopted for attaining the same end, namely, the imitation of nature, as in water-colour drawing; consequently we shall not attempt to lay down particular rules for the guidance of the student. Practice, as we have already stated, is the only means of arriving at the wished-for perfection; we shall therefore limit our notice to a few of the details most in use among painters in water colours.

The substances used in painting in water colours are to be had in all the shops in prepared cakes, which are rubbed down upon a stone pallet or plate with a little water. The paper upon which the drawing is to be made may be either smooth or rough; and if greasy on the surface, so that the colours do not adhere pleasantly, it may be sponged over, or the colours may be mixed with a little ox-gall, either in its native or prepared state. One drop of gall in the former condition, or the size of a large pin-head in the latter, will be enough to saturate a tea-cupful of water for the purpose of mixing with or softening off the colours.

The paints chiefly used are ultra-marine blue, indigo, Antwerp and cobalt blues, gamboge, ochre, Indian, and crome yellows, Indian red, vermilion, lake, carmine, burnt ochre, and brown pink reds; and although these may be denominated the primaries out of which all other modifications of tints can be made up, yet we may add to them a number of

browns which will be found to be serviceable, such as terra di sienna, both raw and burnt, Vandyke brown, umber, sepia, &c.

The paper ought to be stretched upon a drawing board or frame, which is effected by soaking it in water, or by the paper being sponged over on both sides, then removing the superabundant water with a piece of blotting paper or towel, and afterwards folding back the edge for about an inch all round, and applying the paste to the folded portion, and also to that part of the drawing board which the paper is to adhere to. The part so pasted should be pressed strongly, or the finger may be dipped into the paste and rubbed upon the pasted edge, and then the paper sponged all over, that the pasted edge may be permitted to dry more quickly than the centre part. Care must be taken not to let any of the paste touch the middle of the paper, which would destroy the drawing when cut from the board.

Whatever may be the subject, it will be advisable to begin with light colour, and gradually work up both effect of light and shadow, and strength of tint, in a broad manner, without much attention to minutiae, as already described in Indian ink drawing. The earlier water-colour painters were in the practice of working with a gray or neuter tint at the commencement of their drawings; and as this method is very simple, it will be the best for beginners, though in the end there will not be produced that richness of effect, and freshness, depth, and warmth of colour, which is the result of the contrary practice of the best masters of the present day; we mean the laying on of the colours almost at once, without any under preparation of neuter tint. In landscape painting, the paper where the sky is represented ought to be well soaked with water from a sponge, and afterwards dried moderately with a towel or piece of bibulous paper, to make the tints lie on