It is commonly said that everybody can sing in the bathroom; and this
is true. Singing is very easy. Drawing, though, is much more difficult.
I have devoted a good deal of time to Drawing, one way and another;
I have to attend a great many committees and public meetings, and at
such functions I find that Drawing is almost the only Art one can
satisfactorily pursue during the speeches. One really cannot sing
during the speeches; so as a rule I draw. I do not say that I am an
expert yet, but after a few more meetings I calculate that I shall know
Drawing as well as it can be known.
The first thing, of course, is to get on to a really good committee;
and by a good committee I mean a committee that provides decent
materials. An ordinary departmental committee is no use; generally
they only give you a couple of pages of lined foolscap and no white
blotting-paper, and very often the pencils are quite soft. White
blotting-paper is essential. I know of no material the spoiling of
which gives so much artistic pleasure--except perhaps snow. Indeed, if
I was asked to choose between making pencil-marks on a sheet of white
blotting-paper and making foot-marks on a sheet of white snow I shall
be in a quandary.
Much of the best committees from the point of view of material are
committees about business which meet at business premises--shipping
offices, for choice. One of the Pacific Lines has the best white
blotting-paper I know; and the pencils there are a dream. I am sure
the directors of that firm are Drawers; for they always give you two
pencils, one hard for doing noses, and one soft for doing hair.
[Illustration: Fig. 1]
When you have selected your committee and the speeches are well away,
the Drawing begins. Much the best thing to draw is a man. Not the
chairman, or Lord Pommery Quint, or any member of the committee, but
just A Man. Many novices make the mistake of selecting a subject for
their Art before they begin. Usually they select the chairman; and when
they find it is more like Mr. Gladstone they are discouraged. If they
had waited a little it could have been Mr. Gladstone officially.
[Illustration: Fig. 2]
As a rule I begin with the forehead and work down to the chin (Fig. 1).
When I have done the outline I put in the eye. This is one of the most
difficult parts of Drawing; one is never quite sure where the eye goes.
If, however, it is not a good eye, a useful tip is to give the man
spectacles; this generally makes him a clergyman, but it helps the eye
(Fig. 2).
Now you have to outline the rest of the head, and this is rather a
gamble. Personally, I go in for _strong_ heads. (Fig. 3).
I am afraid it is not a strong neck; I expect he is an author, and is
not well fed. But that is the worst of strong heads; they make it so
difficult to join up the chin and the back of the neck.
The next thing to do is to put in the ear; and once you have done this
the rest is easy. Ears are much more difficult than eyes (Fig. 4).
[Illustration: Fig. 3]
I hope that is right. It seems to me to be a little too far to the
southward. But it is done now. And once you have put in the ear you
can’t go back: not unless you are on a _very_ good committee which
provides india-rubber as well as pencils.
Now I do the hair. Hair may either be very fuzzy and black, or lightish
and thin. It depends chiefly on what sort of pencils are provided. For
myself I prefer black hair, because then the parting shows up better
(Fig. 5).
[Illustration: Fig. 4]
[Illustration: Fig. 5]
Until one draws hair, one never realizes what large heads people have.
Doing the hair takes the whole of a speech, usually even one of the
chairman’s speeches.
[Illustration: Fig. 6]
This is not one of my best men; I am sure the ear is in the wrong
place. And I am inclined to think he ought to have spectacles. Only
then he would be a clergyman, and I have decided that he is Sir Philip
Gibbs at the age of twenty. So he must carry on with his eye as it is.
I find that all my best men face to the west; it is a curious thing.
Sometimes I draw two men facing each other; but the one facing east is
never good.
There, you see (Fig 6)? The one on the right is a Bolshevik; he has a
low forehead and beetling brows--a most unpleasant man. Yet he has a
powerful face. The one on the left was meant to be another Bolshevik,
arguing with him. But he has turned out to be a lady, so I have had to
give her a “bun.” She is a lady solicitor; but I don’t know how she
came to be talking to the Bolshevik. Here are some more men facing
east. They are all a little unconvincing, you see.
[Illustration]
When you have learned how to do Men, the only other things in Drawing
are Perspective and Landscape.
[Illustration: Fig. 7]
Perspective is great fun: the best thing to do is a long French road
with telegraph poles (Fig. 7).