44 A STUDY OF LEAVES. 



HOW TO DRAW LEAVES. 



The shapes of most leaves resemble in their 

 outlines some geometric figure, as an oval, triangle, 

 pentagon, etc. First, determine which of these 

 figures will most nearly inclose the leaf to be 

 drawn, and construct the figure of proper size in 

 faint, light lines. Then draw a vertical line 

 through the center, and a horizontal line at the 

 greatest breadth of the leaf. In some figures it 

 will be better to make these lines first. Next, 

 carefully sketch the outline of the leaf, allowing 

 its longest projections to touch the figure. Erase 

 the construction lines, and add necessary details. 



It is interesting to study the geometric pro- 

 portions of leaves. Thus, in the maple the breadth 

 is one sixth more than the length ; the base-veins 

 form a right angle with the mid-vein ; the side- 

 veins form an angle of 45 ° with the mid-vein, 

 and consequently a right angle with each other. 



In the rose, the first pair of leaflets is at right 

 angles to the petiole, while the second pair is at 

 an angle of 45 °, holding the terminating leaflet at 

 the center of their divergence. 



