i-X Vsi'sii: oil 



perhaps the most sahent lines ma}- 

 be left white at first, and then lightl}- 

 gone over with a faint wash of colour 

 as the study nears completion, or 

 they may be taken out afterwards. 

 Using a fine sable brush filled with 

 clean water, we must delicately trace 

 their direction on the already dry 

 colour surface of our leaves, and then 

 with a clean soft rag and a firm 

 pressure, wipe out the colour. This 

 line will, of course, need touching up 

 after, defining here, losing there. 



^ 



^sm 



A spray of rose-leaves is a very 

 beautiful study. Take a single leaf 

 first and study its shape, noting not 



only its form of five leaflets, but the way they are arranged on the stem. 

 The serrations on the leaves require care, they are not a mere jagged 

 edge, but each little spine points towards the tip of the leaf. Then 

 again notice the position of the thorns on the stem ; they are somewhat 

 hooked in shape, the prickly part pointing downwards. Nature has a 

 special purpose in arranging them thus, as they defy the approach of 

 predatory insects. 



Some species of rose, like the Niphetos, for instance, have leaves 

 somewhat drooping in form, and in colour rather a cold dark green. 



The foliage of the Gloire de Dijon is very beautiful ; the green is 

 bright but warm in colour, and slightly tinged with a bronze hue at the 

 edges. The " Griiss an Teplitz " leaves are a rich red brown. In every 

 case there is great variety in individual sprays. For the Dijon leaves 'l 

 would try aureolin yellow with cobalt, Indian yellow with emerald green, 

 and a mi.xture of rose madder and Indian yellow washed in lightly 

 where the leaves are tinged with red. Brown pink is very useful for 

 giving a warm olive tint in the depths. 



I think it would be a most interesting and absorbing study to one 

 who had time to make it, and interest in the work, to sketch the leaves 

 of any particular tree at various stages of their development. Take the 

 oak, for instance. At the time I am writing, the new young leaves, very 

 tender and somewhat flabby in texture, are unfolding to the spring 

 sunshine, while the pretty catkins of the male flowers are still waving 

 in the breezes ; here and there a bunch of tan-brown leaves from 

 last year hang perseveringly on, having defied the winter's storms. 



Then later on in the year the leaves will have lost their delicate 

 tints of early spring ; they are Sturdier and stronger, and darker in 



1 windina eladc with leaflcl 

 h An odorous dewy dark im 

 nd maple and hazel caHed 

 into shadowy solitude. 



79 



