Drawing Outlines

METHOD OF OUTLINE.

It being supposed that the pupil has now made himself acquainted with the proportions which the different parts of the figure bear to each other, and that he is about to commence a drawing from a copy, he must first consider the quantity of the surface or paper he intends it to occupy, and making a mark for the top, and another for the bottom of the work, he must endeavour to obtain the general character of the subject, and without paying too much attention to details; sketching as much as possible in straight lines and angles, and leaving out some small parts rather than putting too many in, or making them too prominent.

In Plate XII., Fig. 1, these principles of the first sketch are shown. The curved lines are produced upon straight ones, the points and degree of curvature being thus more easily determined. The eye is very likely to be deceived by the roundness or fulness of the muscles, and the outline frequently drawn as if it were swollen, as in Plate XIII., Fig. 2. In making the curve, observe at what part there is the greatest deviation from the straight line; make a dot at such place, and draw your curve through it thus (Plate XII., Figs. 1 and 2.) :

In other cases it will be best to draw them first in rectilineal angles, as in Fig. 3, and to make the curves by taking off the points ; by the adoption of these methods, a certainty of hand is acquired, and freedom and vigour given to the drawing. The student should not neglect to pay attention to anatomy ; it is the foundation of knowledge in this branch of art ; it assists to explain, and enables us to judge of proportion and disproportion : for this purpose he should procure a plaster anatomical figure, which can be had at a reasonable rate from any of the plaster-figure moulders. From this figure the names and situation of the muscles, with their uses, origin and insertion, may be learnt, with the aid of any work of reference on the subject.*

We have spoken, in the preceding pages, of the importance of acquiring a facility in making a straight line between two given points ; and we will now suppose the pupil to be acquainted with the proportion which the different parts of the figure bear to each other, and that he has had some practice in copying. He should now proceed to draw " from the round," as it is termed, that is to say, from plaster casts.

The drawing should be made in all cases conveniently large, and charcoal may be used instead of the pencil for sketching the work in, as in making large lines it obeys the hand more readily than the pencil does. The marking should be as lightly made as possible, as it may then be easily removed or dusted off with the handkerchief. The work should then be corrected with the chalk; and the shadows should be put in, with a repetition of lines crossing and recrossing each other, until these lines are lost in an even tone of gradation from the dark to the lights of the figure.

The next step will be the copying, in colour, from pictures of established reputation, and care must be taken that, in so doing, time be not lost in making a servile copy of every part of the picture, the attention being given to the arrangement of colour, to the quantities of dark and light, and to the principles upon which the picture is composed—in fact, to the making a careful analysis, to the best of the pupil's ability, of the work before him.

Having now gone through the proportions of the figure, and directed the student's attention to the method considered advisable to be pursued in the continuation of this study, little remains to be added. The theory of drawing is comprised in a very small compass. To make the accomplished draughtsman, practice and experience are required ; all the teacher can do is, to direct the practice; and the best result is obtained when the pupil is taught to think for himself, and form by experience his own conclusions.

Drawing, like writing, is an imitative art; letters are first formed, then combined into words, and those words form the means of explaining our requirements and communicating our ideas.

In drawing, we produce the resemblance of objects; the combination of these objects represents circumstances, and realises to the mind the pictures formed thereon by the poet or historian.

All rules are formed from practice; and while some are content to bound their knowledge by received rules, others, with more praiseworthy courage, think for themselves, and form theories upon their own practice, or that of others.

A pupil should never rest satisfied with copying from the works of others, however beautiful they may be, any more than a person, who has been taught to read or write, should be content in always using the words or sentences that have formed the examples on which he has been instructed.

It is to be supposed that the best models in both cases have been placed before him, in order to the formation of his taste ; and, as in language we can only use words that are to be found in its Dictionary, so in drawing we can only copy some object that has had a previous existence ; it is the arranging, comparing and combining, in both cases, upon which we found our claims to originality, and by which we form our estimate of past ages, and by which too we ourselves shall be judged in ages to come.