2H 



TJie Oak Tree, considered 



the very last twig ; although sometimes, from the great weight 

 of foliage, and perhaps from some difference in the species 

 of the tree, an oak may be found with pendent boughs. 



The ramification of trees is of great importance to the 

 painter. As well, it has been observed, might an artist attempt 

 to delineate the figure of a Hercules, without expressing any 

 of the muscles in his body, as to give the drawing of an oak 

 tree without a scientific regard to the anatomy of its form, in 

 a just display of the various angles and tortuous irregularities 

 of its branches. The accompanying example (j%. 100.) is 

 sketched from the denuded boughs, to give a more uninter- 

 rupted view of their peculiar character. 



The foliage of the oak is particularly suited to the pencil. 

 In those portions which are Jbrought nearer to the sight, the 

 form of the individual leaves [fg, 101. a) may here and there 

 be expressed, as shown in the sketch, which also exhibits what 

 is technically called the touch {b) necessary to express its 

 character as it recedes from the eye. 



The colouring of the oak, and, indeed, of all natural objects 

 connected with landscape, admits of so great a variety, that it 

 is impossible to give any precise rules on the subject. A dili- 

 gent attention to nature will alone, in this respect, avail : for, 

 besides the ordinary varieties induced by change of season, from 

 the tender and emerald hues of spring to the deeper bloom of 

 summer, and the rich and glowing tints of autumn, an astonish- 

 ing diversity of colour is effected by accidental circumstances, 



