SCIENCE 
IS 
KNOWLEDGE. 
KNOWLEDGE 
IS 
POWER. 
A PRACTICAL JOURNAL OF 
HOME ARTS. 
Vol. III. 
NEAY YORK, AUGUST, 1880. 
No. 8. 
How to Learn to Draw. 
A. N Y young- 
people who are 
anxious to 
learn the art of 
drawing in 
some of its nu- 
Ik.. 'V -.^ merous depart- 
^^--r-, ments cannot 
■ '^C^ procure the as- 
h; •^'^vOkSS' sistance of a 
B 'v?'^^^^ teacher, and 
K t3r- are therefore at 
how to begin. 
In drawing, as in many other things, it is 
the first step that is the most difficult, and 
too often we find young people discour- 
aged and confused because they com- 
mence some department for which their 
natural talents and previous training has 
not fitted them. It has occurred to us 
that a few words in regard to the different 
departments of the subject, and the pre- 
liminary studies required, would prove of 
value to many of our readers. 
The art of drawing enables us to repre- 
sent upon a surface objects which have 
more or less depth or solidity, and we can 
thus convey to the mind a correct idea of 
whatever we wish to represent, whether it 
be a landscape, a house, a machine or a 
person. And wdien the drawing has been 
accurately made, according to correct 
rules, it enables us to reproduce exact 
copies of such subjects as are within the 
scope of our constructive abilities. 
There are several distinct branches of 
the art, and these several branches re- 
quire varying degrees of natural talent, 
and different kinds of preliminary train- 
ing. The principal divisions are free-hand 
and instrumental drawing, and each of 
these has its sul^ordinate but distinct sec- 
tions. ~By free-hand drawing is meant the 
production of figures by the hand and 
pencil alone, without the use of rulers, 
compasses or other guides, while instru- 
mental drawing allows the use of rulers 
for straight lines, squares and triangles 
for setting off angles, and compasses and 
templates for laying out curves. These 
two methods, free-hand and instrumental, 
may be applied either to simple projec- 
tions or to the most intricate methods. 
Thus we have sketching, in which, by a 
