DRAWING. 



the crown of the head to the groin, and 

 thence to the sole of the foot two, one 

 bead and a half between the shoulders, 

 one of the body between the hips and 

 armpits ; the breadth of the limbs should 

 be ascertained from a healthy child. 



It is perhaps impossible to draw a per- 

 fectly beautiful figure from any one per- 

 son : the most skilful statuaries and pain- 

 ters, sensible of this fact, have composed 

 their finest works from different sub- 

 jects, as it is very common for the pos- 

 sessor of a truly Grecian head to have a 

 deformed trunk, or another to have 

 graceful limbs and the face of a gorgon. 

 To draw a figure correctly, the intended 

 length should be marked, and all the 

 preceding admeasurements strictly ad- 

 hered to, beginning the sketch on the 

 left hand, with the head, following with, 

 the shoulders, the trunk, the leg most in 

 action, then the other, finishing with the 

 arms, and making the outline j>erfect be- 

 fore any part is finished ; as we may ima- 

 gine a living or plaster model placed be- 

 fore the student, that will serve better 

 for improving him than any written in- 

 structions, but he will find the greatest 

 difficulty in* correctly copying the eyes, 

 mouth, ears, hands, and feet, and should 

 consequently be particularly careful when 

 employed on those parts to which rules 

 are utterly inapplicable. 



To represent the passions well, every 

 possible attention must be paid to their 

 particular influence on the muscular 

 system; certain determinate attitudes fol- 

 low each sensation of the soul, and it is 

 the muscles which express their energy ; 

 in sleeping or quiescent bodies, they are 

 not obtruded on the view, but when 

 their action is excited by some pleasing 

 r horrible cause, they become tense, or 

 relax, and are partially very prominent ; 

 the laocoon, and several of the single 

 figures of gladiators, are good studies 

 for the muscles; indeed the modern 

 brethren of the latter, of pugilistic cele- 

 brity, might afford many useful hints of 

 manly exertion : it should be recollected, 

 that the most violent emotions of the fe- 

 male sex do not produce the same ap- 

 pearances in their muscles as is observa- 

 ble from similar causes in men, it would 

 therefore be very improper to shew them 

 as prominently ; in addition, persons in 

 the lower ranks of life ought to be re- 

 presented more muscular than the mem- 

 bers of the highest orders of the com- 

 munity. (See article Muscles in ANATO- 

 WT). 



of Drapery follows : in this- 



particular we are in a great measure 

 compelled to have recourse to the an- 

 cients, as, however convenient our mo- 

 dern habits may be, they are decidedly 

 ungraceful opposites to the tasteful cloth- 

 ing of antiquity ; for this reason every 

 beautiful example from that pure source 

 ought to be studied, carefully distinguish- 

 ing the light, airy dresses of the heathen 

 deities, and angels of more recent con- 

 ception, and their almost transparent 

 folds clinging through motion to their 

 forms, from those intended expressly to 

 cover nakedness, and preserve the person 

 from the ill effects of cold air, observing, 

 besides, the particular shapes of gar- 

 ments, characteristic of the Jewish, Gre- 

 cian or Roman nations. 



Many statuaries have erred in repre- 

 senting their figures as if clothed in wet 

 linen, in order to shew the contour of the 

 limbs to greater perfection ; but this ab- 

 surdity carries its own condemnation with 

 it. It must be obvious to the most su- 

 perficial observer, that the texture of 

 drapery should be suited to the inner or 

 outward habit, and its richness, or the 

 reverse, to the situation, of the party 

 represented: to determine this point with 

 accuracy, it will be proper to read such 

 works as describe the official and other 

 habits of ancient times, and compare their 

 descriptions with antique statues and 

 paintings ; the ornaments and insignia of 

 the rich and powerful may be known by 

 the same means. 



In drawing of fine linen, the folds 

 should be made delicate, inclined to an- 

 gles, and numerous or otherwise, accord- 

 ing to the disposition of the habit on the 

 body ; where it is confined by a girdle, or 

 broach, they are multiplied, and in lines, 

 but those should neither be parallel nor 

 disposed like rays: the reflected and 

 transparent lights are particularly pleas- 

 ing in this material, nor are the shades 

 ever deep and harsh. In clothes made 

 of wool, care must be taken to shew it 

 fine on the rich, and coarse on the poor ; 

 in either case the folds should be large, 

 and by no means numerous, partly cylin- 

 drical in their form, sometimes angular, 

 and at others waved; the lights must not 

 be very strong, but the shades deep, and 

 the reflected lights faint, if the colour of 

 the dye is dark. Silks fall into the least 

 graceful folds of any material used in 

 clothing; it will-be best therefore to draw 

 them from reality, endeavouring to catch 

 the most natural, and copying with great 

 attention the brilliant edges which are 

 their characteristics, and the numerous 



