DRAWING. 



activated from the most remote antiqui- 

 ty, and received many improvements, 

 which were frequently lost and recovered 

 through the temporary patronage and ne- 

 glect of the rich, under whose auspices 

 only the art of drawing can ever flourish. 

 To form a just conception of the earliest 

 state of drawing, it will be necessary to 

 recur to the distorted forms produced by 

 man in an uncultivated state of nature, in 

 which we may discover genius struggling 

 with ignorance, and always -without suc- 

 cess ; such were the productions of the 

 first population of the world, and such are 

 still tlie productions of European youth, 

 before the kind hand of experience has 

 pointed out the paths of correctness and 

 taste. The scriptures furnish numerous 

 proofs, that the art of drawing had before 

 their date arrived to considerable per- 

 fection, and the remains of Egyptian 

 sculpture, still extant, shew that people 

 to have been tojerable proficients in de- 

 lineating the outlines of men and ani- 

 mals ; but the ancient Greeks appear to 

 have studied nature with infinitely great- 

 er success, and we are indebted to them 

 for the best of statues, formed with ex- 

 quisite skill, from the most noble and 

 graceful models of male and female beau- 

 ty, v.liich cannot be too frequently exa- 

 mined, and copied, by the student who 

 wishes to excel. The Romans, inspired 

 by emulation, imitated the Greeks, and 

 although they never attained the excel- 

 lence of their masters, have left multipli- 

 ed specimens of correct knowledge in 

 the human outline. Long after the fall 

 of their empire, Italy produced a succes- 

 sion of men, who brought the art of draw- 

 ing almost to its greatest possible perfec- 

 tion; of those, Michael Angclo and Ra- 

 phael were particularly" celebrated, and 

 though the latter seems to be most ad- 

 mired for his taste and correctness, the 

 former once convinced him he had drawn 

 the figures too small in a painting of Ga- 

 latea, on the ceiling of a chamber in II 

 Picciolo Farnese, by sketching a large 

 and admirable head of a Faunus on a 

 wall with charcoal, which was preserved 

 with the utmost care in Keysler's time, 

 who relates the circumstance. Roused 

 by the successful exertions of the Ita- 

 lians, every nation in Europe made their 

 works their study, :tnd many persons at 

 different periods might be mentioned, 

 belonging to each, who have excelled in 

 particular branches of drawing ; nor are 

 the modern English at all inferior to their 

 rivals in this essential foundation of all 

 the ramifications of the fine arts, as, with* 



out truth in the drawing or formation of 

 the outlines, a statue becomes a disgust- 

 ing copy of human deformity, and ob- 

 jects delineated in painting or water co- 

 lours, destitute of this requisite, the re- 

 presentations of creatures of the fancy, 

 unlike those of nature or of art : from 

 these positions it must be obvious, that 

 the student should begin his operations 

 with the greatest caution, acquiring a 

 thorough knowledge of geometry, and 

 the laws of perspective, which will ena- 

 ble him to comprehend the various cir- 

 cular forms adopted by nature, and the 

 peculiar shapes they assume when placed 

 in particular positions. 



Drawing may be practised with lead, 

 chalk, crayons, charcoal, water colours, 

 and Indian ink. 



To proceed regularly and methodically, 

 the learner must be provided with wove 

 paper, in other words drawing paper, 

 without wire marks, of different thick- 

 nesses and sizes, and middle tint paper, 

 brown or grey, equally calculated to shew 

 the white and black chalks, or coloured, 

 for which it is expressly intended. As pa- 

 per, when wet, will present an uneven 

 surface, it becomes necessary to stretch 

 it during the operation of colouring by 

 means of drawing-boards, one descrip- 

 tion of which is merely a strong and true 

 square of deal secured from warping, on 

 which the paper may be fastened by wet- 

 ting it with a sponge, tracing a border of 

 paste or glue along the edges, and laying 

 it smooth on the board ; thus prevented 

 from blistering, the drawing may be cut 

 away from the border of paste when com- 

 pleted ; but the most convenient board is 

 composed of a square frame, with a move- 

 able panncl, on which the paper is laid 

 wet^then pressed into the frame, and se- 

 cured by -wedges on the back, when it will 

 dry perfectly f ven, and become fit for use. 



Other instruments required are, com- 

 passes for ascertaining distances between 

 lines, forming circles, taking measure- 

 ments by scale, &c. 8cc. ; a steel pen, for 

 drawing very fine clear lines; a parallel 

 ruk-r, formea of two pieces of hard black 

 wood fastened together by brass bands, 

 turning on pivots at the extremities so 

 exactly, that, when opened, lines drawn 

 along the outward half must be parallel 

 with the half held firm on the paper; and 

 a T ruler or square so contrived as to su- 

 persede the above on the drawing board, 

 by applying the stock or shortest end to 

 the edge of the board, where it is slid 

 backwards or forwards, and the long part 

 usd for tracing the line. 



