Holding Pencils Correctly When Drawing for Proper Freedom of Movement that Can be Had with Proper Hand Positions

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Freedom of Movement.

The importance of freedom of movement in drawing cannot be overestimated. It produces lightness of touch, quickness in execution, begets confidence in one's ability to draw, and when acquired by a class of pupils, materially lessens the work of the teacher. Experience among thousands of pupils shows conclusively that too much stress cannot be laid on the need for the early development of freedom of movement. The ability to sketch rapidly and easily cannot be attained without it.

A set of drawing-books, finished as draughtsmen would finish them, rarely indicates the best teaching. It is of far more importance that the child should have opportunity to work first for freedom of movement rather than for straightness of line.

Position.

The children should sit on the left half of the seat facing the desk. They should sit erect, feet flat on the floor. the eyes never nearer the paper than is necessary for a clearer view of the lines. They should not bend forward unnecessarily, and should learn to work at a distance, as thus they can get a better idea of their work as a whole. In drawing at the blackboard, children should stand at arm's length from the board.

Pencil.

Young children should be led to use such a pencil with restraint so as not to get extreme effects : that is, the rendering too heavy and black. The pencil should be used for drawing only. Short pencils should not be used.

For ordinary work, the pencil should be held lightly three or four inches from the point, so that it will have the support of the middle finger and be held by the thumb and forefinger, as shown in the illustration. Lead the pupils to attain this pencil-holding from a desire to draw freely and well.

The pupils should be led to see that frequent' erasing injures the surface of the paper and the eraser is disastrous when applied to shade or shadow, therefore it is better that the pupils should draw at first with very light lines, correcting these if necessary by drawing other light lines over them. When a satisfactory outline (or blocking of the whole) is secured then the pupil may proceed to carry out the effect desired, any obtrusively incorrect lines being first taken out with an eraser.

For pencil-painting where the drawing is clone in mass with broad in termingling strokes, the pencil should be Kehl under the fingers as shown in the second illustration.

Practice Paper.

It is desirable that pupils should have some practice in free movement in connection with work in the drawing-book and sonic, of the exercises call for quick sketches by the pupils in order to fix in the mind the purpose of an exercise as in the pose or animal study that the lines of action may be studied from life as preliminary to work in the drawing-book. For such purposes sheets of manila paper, six by nine inches are desirable.* The sheets may be used on both sides for drawing. Provision should be made for at least twenty-five to thirty sheets for each pupil for use with one drawing-book. The teacher should guard against too much practice as preliminary to any exercises in the drawing-book lest the children lose interest and the spontaneity of their effort suffer. Still further, the work in the book should generally differ from that upon practice paper. For instance, if sketches have been made of clusters of grass on practice paper, it is well to use a different cluster for the drawing-book page.