DRAWING. 



727 



tlte sketches of great masters, of which there are rich 

 collections. 



Studies are copies of single parts of subjects, made 

 either after life or from models ; as heads, hands, feet, 

 sometimes also whole figures. Drawings from skele- 

 tons and anatomical preparations, those of drapery, 

 animals, plants, flowers, scenery, &c., are also called 

 by this name. 



Academy figures are drawn from living models, 

 who stand in academies of fine arts and other estab- 

 lishments, intended for the education of artists. The 

 models, male and female, of all ages, are placed in 

 different situations and attitudes, on an elevated spot, 

 by lamp light. The pupils stand round and draw, 

 under the direction of professors. Experienced 

 painters and sculptors likewise continue to draw from 

 living models, either in private or in company. The 

 most perfect figures, of course, are selected. In 

 order to study drapery, a little figure of wood, with 

 movable limbs, is placed so that the student can draw 

 from it. The drapery is often put on wet, that it 

 may follow more closely the form of the body, and 

 that the folds may be more marked and expressive. 



Cartoons are drawings on gray paper, of the same 

 size as the paintings which are to be copied from them. 

 These are, for instance, large oil paintings, fresco 

 pictures, &c. Artists make use, also, of other means, 

 in order to transfer the outlines of a painting upon 

 another canvass, if they wish to copy very faithfully. 

 If the copy is to be on a larger or a smaller scale 

 than the original, it is customary to place on each 

 canvass frames of wood, the space enclosed by which 

 is divided, by means of threads, into quadrangular 

 compartments. The compartments on the original 

 are larger or smaller than the others, as the case may 

 be. The artist then draws in each square of his can- 

 vass what he finds in the corresponding square in the 

 original. If the copy is intended to be precisely of 

 the same size with the original, the outlines are often 

 traced through a black gauze, from which they are 

 afterwards transferred by pressure to the canvass of 

 the copy. This, it is true, does not give any distinct 

 forms, but it indicates precisely the spot where every 

 object is to be placed, which saves much time. If 

 the intention is to copy the outlines of the original 

 exactly, it is necessary to make a caique, that is, a 

 paper saturated with varnish, and quite transparent, 

 which is put on the painting ; the outlines are drawn ; 

 then the paper is blackened with crayons on one side, 

 put on the new canvass, and the outlines are followed 

 by some pointed instrument, and thus transferred to 

 the canvass. It is evident that it is never allowable 

 to take a copy in this way from very valuable pic- 

 tures. The sketches of great masters are always 

 valued very highly, because they show most distinctly 

 the fire and boldness of their first conceptions. But 

 for this very reason, because their excellence depends 

 on the freedom with which they are thrown off, it is far 

 more difficult to make copies from them than from 

 finished paintings. 



The great schools in painting differ quite as much 

 in respect to drawing as in respect to colouring. The 

 style of drawing of the old Italian school is as hard, 

 dry, and meagre, as that of the old German school. 

 The defects of the former are more often redeemed 

 by beautiful forms and just proportions, whilst in the 

 latter a meaning is frequently expressed which in- 

 clines more to poetry than to art. At a later period, 

 the Roman school became, in Italy, through the in- 

 fluence of Raphael's exquisite sense of the beautiful 

 and expressive in form, and through the study of the 

 antique, the true model of beautiful drawing. The 

 Florentine school strove to excel the Roman in this 

 respect, and lost, by exaggeration, the superiority 

 which it might, perhaps, otherwise have gained from 



its anatomical correctness and deep study of the art. 

 The masters of the Florentine school often foreshorten 

 too boldly. In the Lombard school, delicate draw 

 ing appears through enchanting colouring ; but per- 

 haps it is more true to nature and feeling than to 

 scientific rules. The Venetian school, in reference 

 to the other schools of Italy, has many points of re- 

 semblance, good and bad, with the Dutch school, in 

 reference to Germany. In the Venetian school, the 

 drawing is often lost in the glow and power of the 

 colouring ; and it is very often not the nobleness of 

 the figures and ideas in the drawing, but the rich- 

 ness, boldness, and glowing nature of the painting, 

 which delight us. The French school was, in Pous- 

 sin's time, very correct in drawing ; and he was justly 

 called the French Raphael. At a later period, the 

 style of this school became maniere. David intro- 

 duced again a purer taste in drawing, and a deep 

 study of the antique. This study of the antique, to- 

 gether with the precision of their drawing, are the 

 distinguishing characteristics of the modern French 

 school. In Britain and Germany, there cannot be 

 said to be any general style of drawing peculiar to 

 their artists. 



To make up a finished drawing, four parts are es- 

 sential: namely, an outline, lights, shadows, and 

 colour. By outline is meant the boundary line of the 

 object represented ; which is next to be filled up with 

 lights and shadows, and lastly washed over with pro- 

 per colours. The great advantages of drawing are, 

 that it speaks an universal language, presenting at 

 one view the most complicated forms in mechanics, 

 and which no words alone could sufficiently describe ; 

 whilst to the traveller it affords the means of bring- 

 ing home scenes of remote countries, with the cos- 

 tume or dress of different nations, their implements of 

 war, &c. Moreover, it stamps an additional value on 

 the manufactures of a country, by exhibiting the most 

 elegant forms which it is possible to impart to any 

 object ; whilst, as an accomplishment .and branch of 

 liberal education, its advantages are considerable, by 

 furnishing us with a continual source of amusement, 

 giving a higher relish for the beauties of nature, and 

 a more intimate knowledge of all works of art, and 

 indeed of whatever is connected with the pleasures 

 of the imagination. 



The best means of acquiring the art of drawing, is, 

 to commence by the simplest geometrical lines, pro- 

 ceeding on to geometrical figures, from the more 

 simple to the most complex. The learner should 

 first practise drawing accurately perpendicular, ho- 

 rizontal, oblique, curved, and waved lines ; then he 

 should draw squares, triangles, circles, and ovals. 

 These forms being by far the best for early in- 

 struction, because from their simplicity any devia- 

 tion from them is easily detected, and children being 

 made to practise them early as an amusement, may 

 be readily prepared for the more complicated forms. 

 When the learner has conquered the difficulty of 

 making these forms with accuracy, he should pro- 

 ceed to draw those of a more arbitrary kind, such as 

 the scroll and cylinder ; then cubes, pyramids, obe- 

 lisks, or vases, cups, books, baskets, &c., by which 

 fie will gradually become possessed of a more correct 

 vision, and be able to give a proper degree of grace 

 to his curved lines. 



Having acquired a sufficient facility in drawing and 

 shadowing these simple forms, he ought next to com- 

 mence on the outlines of antique busts and statues, 

 as being the best calculated for giving a greater cor. 

 rectness to the eye, from their beauty ana perfection, 

 whereby any slight deviation from their just propor- 

 tions instantly offends and is detected ; whereas in 

 the irregular shapes found in landscapes and flowers, 

 the faults, bing much less obvious, the pupil gets 



