MODELLING THE LESSER CELANDINE 317 



described. The stem of the pin, therefore, must be held lightly 

 and easily with the right hand, the thumb and forefinger being 

 an inch and a half or two inches from the head, and the other 

 fingers curving slightly towards the underneath of the pin on 

 the side farthest from the operator ; it is used by applying 

 the head of the pin to the surface of the petal, sepal, or what- 

 ever is to be modelled — which must always rest either upon the 

 palm or the forefinger of the left hand, — and rolling it toward 

 the body, then raising it and repeating the process until the 

 desired thinness, concavity, or curvature has been obtained. 

 The stem of the pin is used in a variety of ways, such as rolling 

 up and down a stem to give smoothness, squareness, or any 

 other effect. Indeed, it would be impossible to describe in a 

 short space the number of purposes to which this simple tool 

 can be applied in modelling, and they must be left for the 

 ingenuity of the student to discover, except when they are 

 described in subsequent pages. 



Figwort Ranunculus {Lesser Celandine') 

 Ranunculus ficaria, Linn. 



This beautiful little yellow flower, closely allied to the com- 

 mon "buttercups," is, like the latter, a well-known denizen of 

 the meadows and plashy pastures, but, unlike it, is amongst the 

 earliest flowers of the year, and is therefore interesting, not only 

 to the general observer, who hails it as the floral harbinger of 

 spring, but to the artist in modelled foliage, as being one of the 

 very first to break the enforced idleness of winter. 



Properly and carefully managed, this makes a fine object, 

 and one or two clumps, with short grasses interspersed, are 

 very suitable to introduce into groups of various early birds of 

 passage. It is, though apparently a simple flower, by no means 

 easy to make, but is an excellent lesson, as it calls into play 



