390 DRAWING THE FIGURE. 



Care should be taken not to make the hnes harsh 

 and hard, Hke those of an engraving; they should 

 be softer and more mellow. On this account, 

 draxvings are much better to learn from than 

 prints ; as, by copying the latter, the student is 

 very apt to acquire a dry and hard manner. 



But we particularly caution him to avoid copy- 

 ing with a pen all the lines in engravings used for 

 the shadows, which some, who have not been ac- 

 customed to see good drawings, are apt to do. 



Many productions of this kind have been exe- 

 cuted with an immensity of labour, and have been 

 thought very fine by those who had but little 

 knowledge of the art ; yet artists, and those who 

 are good judges, always lament to see so much 

 patience and labour misapplied. 



In copper-plate engravings, shadows are gene- 

 rally produced by lines : but this arises from the 

 nature of the process ; and in drawing, which is of 

 a very different nature, there is not the same ne- 

 cessity for them. In general it should be ob- 

 served, that the less labour there appears in any 

 drawing the better ; and that though every possi- 

 ble pains should be taken to make drawings or 

 paintings excellent, yet this labour should be al- 

 ways disguised as much as possible, and the whole 

 should appear as if executed with the greatest ease. 



*' In learning to draw, it is of more importance 

 than is generally supposed, to copy from the 

 finest works only. The most prejudicial quality 

 of a model is mediocrity. The bad strike and dis- 

 gust ; but those that are not good, nor absolutely 

 bad, deceive us by offering a dangerous facility. 

 It is for this reason that engraving contributes to 

 the progress of the arts, when it is employed on 

 subjects that are judiciously chosen ; but is too 



