34() IMPLEMENTS FOR DRAWING. 



more convenient for use than the bottles above- 

 mentioned. 



Indian Ink. — This very useful substance comes 

 from China, where it is used for common writing, 

 which is there performed with a brush instead of a 

 pen. It is a solid substance, of a brownish black 

 colour. When ground up with water upon a clean 

 tile or earthenware plate, it may be made either 

 lighter or darker, as required, by adding to it more 

 or less water. The best Indian ink is always 

 stamped with Chinese characters, breaks with a 

 glossy fracture, and feels smooth, and not gritty, 

 when rubbed against the teeth. The composition 

 is not accurately known. An inferior kind is made 

 in this country ; but it may be easily distinguished 

 by its grittiness. This is made of lamp black or 

 ivory black, ground up with gum. 



Hair pencils are made of camel's hair, put into a 

 goose or swan's quill. To choose these, moisten 

 them a little, and if they come to a point without 

 splitting, they are good ; if they do not, they are 

 not fit for drawing with. 



Charcoal is used for slightly sketching in the 

 outlines of figures, in order to get the proportions, 

 previous to making a drawing in chalk. The best 

 charcoal for this purpose is that of the willow ; it 

 is cut into slips, and the strokes made with it may 

 easily be rubbed out with a feather of goose's or 

 duck's wing. 



Black chalk is a fossil substance resembling slaty 

 coal, which is cut into slips for drawing, it is 

 generally used in an instrument called a port 

 crayon, which is made either of steel or brass. It 

 is much employed for drawing figui'es, and is the 

 best substance i'or this purpose, in making drawings 



