THE BOY AS ARTIST
It would be idle to pretend that it is possible in the chapter of a
book, or indeed in a book itself, to give instruction that would make a
boy an artist; but most people have the capacity to make sketches, and
this is a pleasing and useful training of the eye and hand. The power
to bring away a sketch of a scene that has charmed us is one well worth
the cultivation, and in the making of the sketch we see many things
that would otherwise escape our notice. If a boy finds he has special
ability in this direction he should read the lives of artists, visit
picture galleries, and join an art class, where he will be conducted
through the severe discipline that leads him to drawing the living
human form, amusing himself meanwhile by sketching in the lanes and
woods, among the mountains, or wherever he happens to be, even if it is
in the streets.
$Hints on Sketching.$--The drawing of a cathedral with all its
complexities and innumerable details is governed by the same rules as
the drawing of a barn or even of a brick, and these rules are simple,
and are easily stated.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
In sketching we have to draw things as they seem, not as we know them
to be. The top of a bucket is a perfect circle; yet when we draw it,
unless we look down upon it from a point exactly above its centre,
we represent it by an oval. Similarly, when we look along a stretch
of railway line we know that the lines are exactly parallel, but
they seem to draw nearer to each other. The rails of a fence are of
equal height, and have been put at equal distances apart, but as we
look along the fence it seems as though further away the workman had
used shorter posts, and had put them nearer together. If we can see
through a railway tunnel, it looks as though the way out at the other
end were smaller than the way in at this; but we know they are of the
same size. The rules under which lines seem to draw together and spaces
become smaller have been called the rules of perspective, and it is
important that we should learn these rules. Luckily they are few and
not difficult to understand, and we will learn them as we go along in
drawing a few simple forms that shall include them. In Fig. 1 we have a
box, its corner towards us. In the box itself the lines A B, C D, and
E F would be the same distance from each other from end to end, and if
they were made ever so long would never meet, but here in the drawing
they meet at G. In the same way the lines A H, C E, and D F, which in
the actual box are parallel or equi-distant and so draw no nearer to
each other, meet in the drawing at I. In the drawing, as in reality,
the lines E H, C A, and D B are parallel, and would never meet, however
far we might lengthen them. The lines of the brass round the key-hole
follow the same rules. Let this box illustrate another matter. We move
it into a slightly different position, so that we almost lose sight of
the end E C A H. This end, in the language of artists, is now said to
be "fore-shortened." The lines that draw nearer together are said to
"vanish." The point where they meet is their vanishing point.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
We will give some further examples of the same rules of perspective
applied to different forms. The young artist standing before a scene he
is going to sketch should decide what point is opposite his eyes. It
may be some place in a church wall or in a tree, or even in the sky.
However, having fixed it, mark it also upon your paper, and then draw a
horizontal line through it. (Fig. 3.)
[Illustration: FIG. 4. RIGG'S FARM, NEAR AYSGARTH, WENSLEYDALE.]
In the scene we have selected we stand upon a hill and look at a
farmhouse that stands upon another hill. The point opposite our eyes
is the window A. It will be noticed that the lines above the eyes come
down to the line of sight or horizontal line, B C. Those below rise to
it. Lines that are parallel to each other, whether they are roof lines
tiles, the tops or bottoms of windows, meet in the same point, so that
if you get one of those lines right, it is easy to get all the others
right by continuing them to the same point.
From this sketch, and the foregoing examples, we arrive at the
following rules:--
[Illustration: SKETCH AT NORTON.]
Parallel lines, as they recede, vanish to a point.
Horizontal, receding lines, if they are below the level of the eyes,
appear to rise.
Horizontal, receding lines, if they are above the level of the eyes,
appear to descend.
Spaces, as they recede, appear to become smaller.
[Illustration: SASKIA VAN ULENBURGH, REMBRANDT'S WIFE. _From a drawing
by Rembrandt in the Berlin Museum._]
Objects, as they recede, appear to become smaller.
All horizontal receding lines have their vanishing point upon the line
of sight.
All parallel retiring lines have the same vanishing point as each other.
All horizontal lines which are parallel with the picture plane are
drawn parallel with each other, and with the line of sight.
All horizontal retiring lines forming right angles with the picture
plane, or with our position, have the point of sight for their
vanishing point.
We have here introduced a new term, the picture plane. The best way to
understand this is to imagine you are looking at everything through
a pane of glass. In this case the glass would be the picture plane,
and if we could stand steadily enough in one place and trace upon the
window pane the lines of the streets and houses, we should find the
lines upon the pane following the rules we have given.
Many of the rules of perspective are to be seen in the sketch of Rigg's
Farm, Wensleydale, Yorkshire, Fig. 4. The receding lines of the road,
the grass edges, and the walls; the front of the farmhouse is so much
foreshortened that it is possible to see only a very small part of it,
though the building is really a long one.
We have given also a sketch by Rembrandt, and a pen and ink landscape
drawing made at Norton in North Derbyshire by Charles Ashmore.
$Stencilling.$--The use of stencils is familiar to most people in one
form or other. Ladies frequently use stencil plates in which their
names or initials are cut out to mark linen. A commoner use is that of
metal plates in which the letters of the alphabet are cut out in thin
metal for use in labelling trunks, boxes in commerce, with the name
and destination of the owner, merchant, or goods. It is possible that
a very delicate form of stencilling is familiar to many of my readers,
which is used to multiply copies of letters, circulars or notices to go
through the post. The machine consists of a handle to which is attached
a small wheel which has projecting from its rim a series of sharp
points. The letters are formed by writing with this wheel. As the wheel
passes over the paper the points pierce small round holes, sufficiently
close to each other to indicate the letters, while the paper between
the holes are bridges or ties holding the inside of the loops firmly
to the rest of the sheet. This writing becomes the stencil. To obtain
copies, the stencil is laid over a sheet of paper, and a brush charged
with colour is rubbed across. The colour passes through the holes
to the paper beneath, and the copy is secured. In making the metal
stencil plates of letters, ties or bridges have to be left to prevent
the inner parts of the letters becoming solid like a printer's.
Such letters as I, F, J, T, and some others, can be given in their
complete form, though in the case of the F, it would be better, that
is, the stencil plate would be firmer, if a tie were left where the
top horizontal line joins the perpendicular stem. In cutting stencils
this matter of tying or supporting all the interior or enclosed parts
of the composition is very important, and should never be lost sight
of. It is better to err in an excess of ties, than to risk the falling
to pieces of the whole by insufficient support. The reader will
perceive that if the white parts of the loops in the letter B are not
connected with the outer surrounding whites, they would fall out, and
the letter would stencil solid, while if only one tie is given, the
loops would get out of position, as the paper swells with the moisture
of the paint. Instances of these ties will be found in nearly all the
illustrations, particularly in the Mooresque design, Fig. 2. It is the
aim of the designer to make these ties a part of the composition, and
an assistance in the effect of the whole. But cases will occur where
the composition must be ruthlessly cut across as in the Greek design,
Fig. 1, where in one repeat the central portions are shown with ties,
and in the other in its complete form. The restoration is made with the
brush afterwards. The ties should be broad or narrow according to the
strength of the material of which the stencil is made, and the number
of repeats for which it will be used.
[Illustration: FIG. 1. FRIEZE OR DADO.]
[Illustration: FIG. 1A. ALTERED FOR VERTICAL USE.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2. MOORESQUE DESIGN FOR DADO.]
Stencilling is employed as an easy method of repeating the same
ornament, figures, or letters, with exactness and speed. If I desired
to use the simple Greek composition Fig. 1, as a frieze in the study
in which I am writing, not by any means a large room, being about 14
feet by 11 feet, it would be necessary to repeat it between 90 and
100 times. If I had to draw this in by hand, and laboriously paint
it, probably the enthusiasm for art which projected the scheme would
be frittered away long before I completed it, and I should throw it
up in disgust and call in the paperhanger to put on the usual wall
furnishing. But if the design were cut out in stencil, it would take
but little if any longer to stencil the frieze than it would for the
hanger to paper it, and the scheme being carried out in the other
details, I should have the satisfaction and enjoyment of a room
specially decorated to suit my own taste, and unique according to the
originality of the design.
[Illustration: FIG. 3. FRIEZE: SILVERWEED, FROG.]
[Illustration: AND TOAD.]
In the article on the use of leaves which follows, it is suggested
that the forms of leaves to be met with in the field, hedgerow or
wood, are peculiarly adapted to ornamental purposes, stencilling in
decoration of the home among others. But this use of natural forms in
ornament requires taste and consideration. To stick a leaf here and
another there, without a purpose or design in the composition, is not
ornament. I propose, with the aid of the printer, to give an idea
of the principles which govern the making of designs. The first one
is _repetition_. To use a star thus * singly, is not ornament. Place
a number of stars side by side at regular distances between parallel
lines thus:--
================================
* * * * * * * * * * *
================================
and you have a design, elementary, it is true, but as far as it goes
decorative. In place of the star put a clover leaf, a conventional
flower such as is used in Fig. 3, or a briar leaf laid slanting to the
right or left, and you have a border which may be used for a light
frieze or the top of a dado. Arrange the stars in parallel rows thus:--
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
* * * * * * *
* * * * * *
so that each star falls midway between the star above and below, and
you have the elements of a design such as is very commonly used in
wall-papers, prints, and nearly all forms of decoration under the name
of diaper patterns. Again, in place of the star put some other form,
as an ivy leaf or a small spray. But in this class of design we shall
not be much concerned in room decoration, as they are only used for
large panels. Another principle in ornament is _alternation_. It may be
illustrated thus:--
====================================================
|| * || * || * || * || *
====================================================
in which parallel lines alternate with stars. This composition is not
more crude than much of what passes for decoration at the present
time. For our immediate purpose let a shapely leaf take the place of
the upright lines and a flower the place of the star, and you have a
more advanced border, and if the masses are well balanced and drawn,
one agreeable to the eye. I think the printer can illustrate another
principle of design for us in _symmetry_ thus:--
===========================================
* ! * ! * ! * ! *
!=! !=! !=! !=!
* - * - * - * - *
===========================================
in which three exclamation marks are placed side by side at different
levels, with parallel lines and a hyphen below, alternating with stars.
Or a simpler form still of the same principle may be given thus:--
=====================================================
+ + + + +
* | * | * | * | * | *
+ + + + +
=====================================================
in which the double dagger alternates with a star. If you draw a
perpendicular line up the central exclamation mark or the daggers, the
right and left sides will be found to be alike or symmetrical. In
place of the daggers or the exclamation marks, draw the leaves of the
wild rose, one in the centre and one inclining to the right, another
to the left; put a flower in place of the parallel lines, and you will
have a symmetrical composition, the stalks being prolonged below. This
principle of design is clearly shown in the two designs, Figs. 1 and
1a. A perpendicular line divides the designs into two equal parts.
This is two-sided symmetry, what we are more particularly concerned
with. Another principle in ornament is _balance_ of _parts_. This is
symmetry of another order, in which the two sides of the composition,
although different in all the details, yet preserve the same weight
or balance. The general effect is the same. This is illustrated in
Fig. 3, which is a design for a frieze. In no place could a line be
drawn which would divide the composition into two similar parts, but
by the disposition of the leaves of the silverweed there is an equal
distribution of weight on either side of the design. This balance
of parts is important to preserve when the design departs from the
symmetrical in its arrangements. It makes all the difference between
a pleasing and unsatisfactory composition, and is not to be acquired
without considerable practice. The chrysanthemum design, Fig. 6, is
an illustration of this principle. It is designed for the panels of a
door, or the sides of a grate, or to go round a door in the form of a
vertical border, but in every case where it can be placed in pairs with
the flowers away from the centre, to be done by reversing the stencil.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. DADO OR FRIEZE: OAK AND SQUIRRELS.]
Having thus cleared the ground for practical work, we can describe the
way to make stencils. For our purpose the best material for the stencil
is the oiled paper used in the letter-copying press. This will be found
strong, hard, and non-absorbent. It is comparatively cheap and can be
purchased at most stationers. In cases in which this paper would not
be large enough, which may happen in some of the running patterns,
cartridge paper, or better still, hot-pressed Whatman's, if coated on
both sides with knotting varnish (to be procured at any oilman's shop),
would do very well. For smaller subjects, which are not required for
more than a score repeats, ordinary note paper, the highly polished
kind that crackles like sheet iron when bent is excellent, and has been
largely used by the writer. The knife used is one with a blade that
runs to a sharp point. This point must be kept with a keen edge, so
that one cut will go through the paper, leaving a clear edge. Hold the
blade of the knife at right angles to the paper, which must rest upon
a clean sheet of glass. If cut upon any yielding surface, the paper
will bruise. A hone should be close at hand to keep a good edge to
the knife. It is important to get a clean, square cut, with no ragged
margins.
To get the drawing on the paper, first make a rough sketch giving
the size and general character of the design on ordinary sketching
paper. If the design is symmetrical, _i.e._, both sides alike, rule a
perpendicular line. Draw as clearly and carefully as possible one-half
the composition, that is all that will appear on the left-hand side
of the line. When you are satisfied with this, place a piece of
looking-glass exactly on the vertical line; you will see the image of
your drawing in the glass, but in reverse, thus completing the design.
If looking-glass is not available, a coat of Brunswick black on one
side of any piece of glass will give you a sufficiently good reflector.
Probably you will not be altogether satisfied with the drawing as shown
complete in the glass. The lines are not agreeable ones, or pretty in
curve, or the balance of the parts is not quite as you would like it.
Make the alterations you feel necessary, and apply the glass again.
When satisfied, place tracing-paper over the drawing. This may be
fastened down by drawing-pins, a touch of gum, or pieces of the free
edge of postage-stamps. Indicate carefully by clear marks the position
of the vertical line, and proceed to draw a firm outline of the design,
with, say, an F pencil or an HB. When done, remove the tracing-paper
and fold it exactly down the vertical line, with the pencil drawing
outside. Double it, in fact. Then placing it on a sheet of white paper,
draw the other half, thus completing the design. Put it, pencilled
side downwards, on the oil paper or note-paper, and rub off with your
thumb nail. Go over the design, marking all the ties very distinctly.
Then cut out as before, taking care not to cut through the ties. In
practice you will find it best to begin cutting at the ties; the paper
will readily spin round on the glass so that you can follow the curves
of the design with your knife. Should you cut through a tie, it must
be made good. Cut off a slip of paper of the same size, put on some of
the knotting, and when it is tacky, stick down the strengthening slip.
The stencil may include more than one repeat of the pattern, the more
repeats there are the quicker the work can be done. Some decorators
in making stencils do rather more than they intend to use when
stencilling, so that parts overlap, which is done to get the repeat
true. I find it better, more exact, to work from two lines on the
stencil, one a horizontal line and another a vertical line. By using
a needle point (a needle in a wood handle), I rule a horizontal line
upon the wall in the position the horizontal line on the stencil should
fall. This is altogether indistinguishable when the work is finished.
Then, vertically to this line, with the same point, I indicate where
the repeats should fall, and then go ahead. It is a considerable help
to get a friend to join in the work, as he can assist in holding the
stencil on the surface to be decorated, giving you more freedom in the
use of the right hand. If working alone the stencil is held with the
left hand while the colour is applied with the free hand. The straight
lines are not stencilled, they are run on by the help of a bevelled
straight-edge. The position of these lines is indicated by ruling as
above or by twanging a piece of string charged with charcoal dust in
the position required.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. RUNNING BORDER.]
In decorating your room, the first point to be decided is to what
extent and where you will apply the work. If cost is not a great
consideration, undoubtedly the best thing to do is to paint the wall
over with a pleasing tone in oil colours. A frieze running round the
room immediately under the moulding, the depth being according to the
height of the room; a dado running round the bottom of the walls, high
enough to clear the top of the chair-backs: and if the room is large
enough, the division of the room into panels by ornamental columns at
the corners, and appropriate divisions. A border may be run round the
doors and the sides of the fireplace may receive separate attention
if there are surfaces suitable for stencilling. But it is usual to
apply this system of decoration to distempered walls, in which case
the decoration to be applied would probably be above the dado (which
would be papered in some richly decorated pattern), a frieze under the
ceiling, and a border round the door. In mixing the distemper (whiting
and size), powder colours are used to get the tone desired. This will
vary with the taste of the reader, the use the room is put to, and the
aspect, whether on the shady or sunny side of the house. Do not let it
be too dark, or muddy in tone: a cheerful terra-cotta, with a dash of
amber in it, if on the shady side; or some tone of sage green, French
grey, or peacock blue, if on the sunny side. Perhaps the best way is
to keep your eyes open when passing some decorator's establishment,
or buying the paper for the dado, and fix upon the tone of colour
you would like. Then mix some harmonizing tints which will go well
with the wall colour for your stencil work. You will find that if you
decide upon stencilling in dark tones upon light, that it will be
more pleasing to get these richer, that is more pure, than the ground
colour. The three rich or primary colours are red, blue, and yellow.
In mixing your stencil colours, approach these in purity, according to
the tone used. These powder colours are obtained by ounces or pounds
at colourmen's shops. The first thought to the beginner, if he wishes
to darken a tone, is to put black (lamp-black) in. In practice this
must be used sparingly. Rather get your strength of tint by using pure
colours. With distemper colours, you will find that they are much
darker wet than dry. If you wish to employ more colours than one, each
colour should have a separate stencil.
[Illustration: FIG. 6. PILASTER: CHRYSANTHEMUMS.]
Having made your stencils, fixed upon and mixed your colours, and
indicated the position of the repeats, the next step is the direct
application of the colour. This is usually done with flat-headed
hog-hair brushes, about 3/4 of an inch across, specially made for
the purpose. With your palette knife spread out a thin film of the
colour on the palette, which may be the back of a plate, or a glazed
tile, charge the flat end of the brush with it, and bring it down
perpendicularly upon the stencil. Don't overcharge the brush. If the
pattern is irregular in its details, do every other one with one side
of the stencil, and then having been round, wash off the colour from
the stencil, and turn it round and do the intervening repeats. The
lines are put on with a smaller brush, using the bevelled side of the
straight-edge to guide the hand, using more pressure for a broad line,
and charging the brush heavily with colour. Brushes specially made
for lining, known as Fitch hair tools, cost, according to size, from
1-1/2d. to 5d. each. Stencilling brushes cost only a few pence.
The method of producing designs, stencils, and using the stencils is
employed in the production of designs for paper-hangings, carpets,
floor cloths, damasks and most flat manufactured materials, except
that the white used is flake-white, and the colours are mixed with gum
and water. The colours are known in the trade as tempera colours.
The ground is laid evenly upon strained cartridge paper, and absolute
flatness of tint in working out the design may be gained by using
stencils. In making irregular designs, that is designs which are not
symmetrical, the whole composition has to be drawn and traced.
In decorating a room, there is a very considerable range of choice in
the styles available, some idea of which is given in the accompanying
designs, from the purely ornamental ones of Figs. 1 and 2 to the
natural treatment of Figs. 4 and 6. The design suitable for the top
of a dado as Fig. 1 would, with a slight modification, equally suit
the frieze of a room, as both are horizontal treatments; but for
perpendicular applications, the designs should be redrawn. Some idea
of the fresh treatment required is given in Fig. 1a, where the parts
of the composition have been re-arranged to suit a vertical position.
Should it be desired to adopt two colours, the principle to be acted
upon is to make the smaller masses darker tones, and more intense
colours, the larger the mass, the lighter and more neutral the tone
should be. Fig. 4 is equally adapted for a frieze or dado top. It
is designed in squares, so that by a re-arrangement of the squares,
_i.e._, by placing the squirrel squares under the oak-leaf squares, it
can be made suitable for a vertical treatment, or for the body of the
dado. In designing such patterns as Fig. 6, where again two or more
colours may well be used, care should be taken that the repeats fit
well in with one another, so that no ugly spaces are left unfurnished,
as decorators say, and also to prevent the recurrence of horizontal or
diagonal lines. This is a failure with many commercial designs and is a
fault very distressing to the eye.
$How a Portrait Bust is Made.$--The chief work of the sculptor consists
in working in clay; therein lies the main portion of his art, and there
are those at the head of their profession who rarely handle a chisel,
and then only to give a final touch here and there after their carver
has finished his work. Moreover, there are many more busts made in
bronze and in terra-cotta than in marble; but the initial procedure of
building up is the same in all cases.
The first thing a sculptor does in setting about a bust is to fix a
square, upright peg, or support, about twenty inches in length, into
a wooden platform eighteen inches square. The platform, in order to
prevent warping, should be made of two pieces of board so joined as to
have the grain of the one running transverse to the other. The peg is
generally furnished with a bar, like a Latin cross, and is provided at
the top with what is called an armature, that is, two pieces of lead
piping looped over the peg from side to side, so as to form, as it
were, the outline of a head. The ends of one piece are nailed to either
side of the top of the peg, and the ends of the other to the back and
front of it; or the armature may consist (as some sculptors prefer that
it should) of a "loop" of lead-piping, fixed to a large nail, with what
is called a "butterfly" attached (see illustration). The transverse, or
crosspiece, is fitted into a slot cut in the upright, and is intended
to support the shoulders of the bust, the armature serving as the
skeleton, so to speak, of the head. Being made of lead, the armature
can be bent this way and that, and twisted about, even after it has
been covered with clay. This is a very important matter, as a portrait
frequently consists as much in a characteristic pose of the head as
in the exact representation of features, and the peculiarity or habit
of the one whose bust is to be made cannot always be perceived at the
first sitting, everybody attitudinising more or less at first when
about to have a likeness taken. But after a while the sitter is sure to
forget himself; then the natural pose comes, and the sculptor flexes
his armature this way or that, and secures the right expression, in so
far as the turn or "cant" of the head is concerned.
[Illustration: HOW A BUST IS MADE.]
Having thus prepared his skeleton, the sculptor is now ready to begin
with the more important matter of modelling. But first of all he has to
see that his clay is all right. The clay commonly used for this purpose
is the china clay of the potter; but at a pinch any clay will do, and I
know of more than one sculptor who, in his impecunious days, has been
obliged to turn to the common clay of the brick-field. The essential
thing is that it should not be rotten and friable, but rather elastic,
spreading easily and cohering well. When the clay is too dry it is
put in water over night. In the morning it is in such a state that it
may be passed through a coarse sieve, and so the rough particles be got
rid of. Then, when it has dried until of the consistency of putty, it
is ready for use.
The sculptor now takes four or five largish lumps and rolls them with
his hands into long strips, from half to three-quarters of a foot in
length, and of the thickness of a good-sized ruler. He then takes
portions of these strips and applies them bit by bit to the armature
and the transverse bar, thus gradually building up the general shape of
the head and shoulders. Care has to be taken from the first to have an
eye to the features and contour of the head that is being modelled. It
is not necessary that the model should keep seated in the same attitude
all the time. If required to do so, he or she, as the case may be, is
apt to acquire a very stiff pose, with the result that the stiffness
may be transferred to the bust. The best way is to let the sitter
converse freely, and assume a natural position. By this means the
habitual expression is seized, and a good likeness is more likely to be
the result.
When a general rough outline of the head has been secured, it is then
time to begin to work for exactitude of feature and facial expression.
This the artist does by putting on a bit here, and taking off a bit
there. All this is done with the fingers and thumb. Occasionally it may
be necessary to use a tool, but rarely. The best sculptors work mainly
with the instrument nature has provided them withal, the hands. With
his fingers the artist has more freedom in handling his material, and
in communicating to it that life-like expression which is the aim and
object of his art. No tool yet invented by man enables him to enjoy
such fineness of touch, or to give so much breadth or such delicacy of
detail to his work, as that which he naturally commands in the use of
his fingers.
Of course, a bust is not modelled in an hour, nor in a day. A good
sculptor will finish one in four or five sittings of an hour or an
hour and a half each; others will require a dozen or more. Everything
depends upon the facility of the artist in seizing upon expression.
This will be the difficult point with the beginner. He may, after a
while, get the general outline of the head and face of his sitter and
feel utterly helpless to go further. But then is the time to exercise
patience. Michael Angelo did not become a sculptor in a day, nor
yet in a year. When the tyro feels that he cannot go further, it is
generally because he does not see further. Of course, he sees that his
portrait is not like; but he has not yet learned to see in detail,
in minutiae. That he must now begin to do by observing every little
point, depression, curve, wrinkle, wart, hair, and so forth. And then,
what his mind has learned to take note of, his hand will soon learn to
imitate.
All the time the work is in progress the clay must be kept moist,
otherwise it will crack and fall to pieces. This is commonly done by
spraying it with a garden syringe, and covering it over at night with
wet cloths.
When the bust is finished, if it has to be cast in bronze, or
reproduced in marble, a cast of it is taken in plaster of Paris; but
if it is intended to fire it, and make a terra-cotta bust of it, the
operation of hollowing it is necessary. This is effected by slicing off
the crown of the head with a piece of thin wire or thread, and then
scooping out the inside until a uniform thickness of about an inch and
a half is left. When this is done the bust will be easily freed from
its peg, and the armature attached to it. The next thing is to set it
aside to dry. This takes some time, and only when it is quite free
from all moisture is it ready to be taken to the kiln to bake or fire.
The kiln in which it is fired is the ordinary one of the potter. This
having been done, the work is complete.
If the bust has to be reproduced in bronze, the plaster cast must be
taken to the bronze casters, where the transformation will be effected.
The process of making an exact reproduction in marble is generally done
by the sculptor himself, or by his assistant, and is more or less a
mere mechanical operation, the carvers working by points, as they are
called, mathematically accurate, by means of which he is enabled to
make an exact copy of the cast. When this is done the sculptor goes
over it carefully with his chisel and gives some final touches by way
of finish, and to add to the vividness and life-likeness, so to speak,
of expression.
$How to Use Leaves.$--There is one desirable quality in the hobby I
am about to recommend boys, and that is its inexpensive character.
A quarter of a yard of nainsook muslin, a tube or two of oil paint,
a good-sized handful of lint or cotton wool, two or three sheets of
foolscap, and as many of cartridge paper, and you are set up for any
number of wet days or vacant half-holidays. The leaves can be obtained
free of cost, anywhere and at any time, winter or summer, and in any
number. Ivy leaves do well, leaves of the black or red currant or
gooseberry bushes are better, and the flowering currant better still.
Brambles, lime, and plane trees which grow everywhere, and most trees
or bushes except holly, will give you excellent subjects. Some boys
know how to keep in the good graces of the housekeeper, and would
"borrow" the muslin from her. (Say you would like it fine.) Probably
one of your sisters paints a bit, and would lend you the burnt sienna
tube (oil colour) upon the same terms; of course, the wool or lint you
would get from the housekeeper with the muslin; while an application
to the pater for some foolscap--you would prefer blue, it is more
business-like--would be sure to be successful, for somehow fathers like
to encourage boys when they mean to do something serious; and there is
left only the cartridge paper to finish the outfit. Perhaps somewhere
in the establishment there is even a store of this; if not, there is
nothing for it but a visit to the stationer and an attack upon the
pocket-money.
Now to proceed. Make the cotton wool into a nice round even ball, quite
free from lumps, particularly at the bottom. Fold the muslin to get a
double thickness, place the wool inside, make it into a mass about the
size of a cricket-ball, tie this tightly, leaving enough muslin free to
take hold of easily. (See Fig. 1.)
[Illustration: DABBER. Fig. 1.]
[Illustration: MAPLE LEAF CENTRE. Fig. 3.]
Next get your leaves. The front or back garden, or the greenhouse,
will probably afford all you want, to begin with. Choose in preference
leaves which lie flat, with no bulgings or cockles; you will get much
better results. Put them in a dish or basin large enough to take them
easily, and cover with a damp cloth. If you have to go farther afield
for your leaves take with you, if possible, a tin box or botanist's
vasculum, and sprinkle a little water upon them. If not able to obtain
such a box, then a wooden or cardboard one must do, but pack the leaves
in damp moss, if able to get any. When you reach home cover up as
before.
You are now ready to commence. Squeeze out some colour upon the
foolscap, spread this evenly with the muslin dabber, not by smearing
but by dabbing, with a slight twisting motion of the wrist, taking care
that the colour is evenly distributed on the paper and the dabber. Then
try it by bringing down the dabber upon a clean sheet of paper with a
smart blow. If the colour comes away evenly you are ready to begin upon
the leaves; if not, work away with the dabber on the foolscap till you
get better results. Patience will do it.
Take one of your flattest leaves, and remove all moisture from the
surface. A piece of blotting-paper is good for this purpose. Then, with
a series of good hard raps with the dabber--don't be afraid of hurting
the leaf--get the colour evenly upon the face, working as near to the
veins as possible. Cut a piece of cartridge paper twice the size of the
leaf--and now comes the careful treatment--put the leaf down, handling
it by the stalk, in the place you want it; don't shift it about or
attempt any fresh arrangement. To do so would smear the paper. Bring
down the upper half of the paper upon the leaf, and hold steadily with
the left hand. Then, with the forefinger of the right hand inside your
handkerchief or a cloth, rest upon the outside of the paper, taking
care not to let the leaf inside slip about. You may use some amount of
pressure; the colour will not yield itself up too readily. If the leaf
is full of sap, less force must be used, or you will crush the tissue.
Now raise the paper and remove the leaf. Probably you will not be
satisfied with the first attempt. Some parts will be faint, other parts
loaded with colour. Possibly also the leaf has shifted a little. If
this has not occurred you will have got a portrait of the leaf, showing
the cutting of the edges and the ramifications of the veins. Now try
again, either upon the same leaf or a fresh one. At each fresh attempt
you will be getting more skilful in handling the leaf, in the use of
the dabber, and the careful placing and rubbing to get the impression.
And the dabber, too, will be getting into better condition. The colour
will have penetrated the muslin and gone a little way into the wool.
Use as little colour as possible, getting the colour on rather by smart
blows than any other way. It would be well to have the cartridge paper
folded ready for use, in appropriate sizes, a little too large, to
permit of after-trimming.
[Illustration: HAWTHORN BORDER. FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: PLAQUE: W. VEITCH'S CREEPER LEAVES. FIG. 5.]
You will find that leaves are not alike in the character of the
surface. Some are covered with hairs, like the mulleins; these will
take almost any quantity of colour. Perhaps you had better begin upon
such leaves. Others have a few stiff hairs, and others, again, are
quite free from such appendages. These require least colour of all.
You will find, too, that it is better to commence with the back of the
leaf. The veins are usually more prominent, and the impression obtained
is more interesting. There is greater difficulty in getting the colour
on all parts of the leaf, close up to the principal veins, and the
rubbing for the impression is harder. But by patience and perseverance,
to quote the copybook, you will soon obtain pleasing results.
I don't think I can tell you much more that will aid you in getting
good impressions. I have recommended the use of burnt sienna, because
it is a cheap and easily worked colour; but any oil colour can be used,
either straight from the tube, or mixed to suit your judgment or taste.
Greens, olives, russets, browns, greys, yellows, or even reds, can
be used. You can certainly get some startling effects with these, if
removed some distance from Nature; or by using two or more colours and
dabbers you may graduate the tones or colours on the same leaf. Suppose
you want an autumn effect. Mix or choose your yellow, and prepare also
an orange-red colour. Coat the leaf first of all with the yellow--don't
use gamboge--then with the red dabber apply that colour to the end or
margin of the leaf, and take off as before
[Illustration: LEAVES OF THE GINKO TREE. Fig. 4.]
You may say, What is the use of it all when the necessary skill is
obtained? You will find it a very good and useful hobby even to so
obtain a series of prints of the leaves of our forest trees. There are,
perhaps, more of these than you are aware of. And there is another
point--the leaves of any particular plant vary very much in shape. A
collection of these variations, if at all complete, would be held even
by botanists to be very valuable indeed. Then, what a number of forest
trees there are! The common and wych elms, the oak and maple, the two
chestnuts, the Spanish and horse--a full-grown leaf of the latter you
will find a large order--the beech and hornbeam (note the difference
in the margin), the wild cherry, crab, and sloe, the dogwood, the
two buckthorns, the service tree, the wayfaring tree, the back of
the leaf of which you will find good to begin with. A good instance
of the variety in form in the leaves of one plant is the now common
wall plant, Veitch's Virginian creeper, which I have used to decorate
a plaque in Fig. 5. The seedling leaves, too, are well worthy of
collection--they vary very much from the more adult leaves. I have no
need to write more upon this, as, if you make the collection of leaves
a hobby, these details will come.
But the use of leaves does not stop here. More than any other part of
the plant, leaves are used by the designer for sculptural details, and
for decoration in all its branches. But most boys are not designers
or skilful draughtsmen, neither have they the time to make drawings
or paintings which would give the results so easily obtained by
this process. Even excellent artists shrink from giving the amount
of details which are secured in these transfers from the objects
themselves. Some applications of foliage which can be done from the
leaves themselves are given as hints of what is possible. These vary in
difficulty, until the results are to be described only as works of art.
Figs. 3 and 4 are applications of leaves to the decoration of
occasional tables, which more frequently than not are ebonised.
Fig. 4 is an arrangement of the leaves of the "Ginko," or Adiantum
tree. When the table is ready for the varnish, apply the leaves in
the positions marked out beforehand. In the illustration a band of
colour is supposed to be previously painted to the shape indicated, and
should be some rich olive or russet tone, upon which the leaves are
printed in a lighter, say a sage green. A very good scale of colours,
adapted for use on black, is used by the Japanese on the trays to be
found in almost any house. You may not be able to get "Ginko" leaves,
but several of the adiantums have fronds the pinnæ of which could be
similarly used. An arrangement of maple leaves in Fig. 3 could be
copied for the centre of the table, and similarly treated. By-the-by,
should you in placing the leaf make any false marks, these can be
easily removed while the colour is wet by wiping off with a cloth,
using turpentine or spirit of wine if obstinate.
[Illustration: PHOTO. MOUNT DECORATED WITH BRAMBLE LEAVES. FIG. 6.]
Fig. 6 is an arrangement of bramble leaves. A very considerable
variety of form is usually found on the same plant; this variety has
been utilised. Use pale tones of colour, and make out the stalks with
a brush afterwards. It will be found useful to roughly indicate the
position of the leaves by pencil or chalk after having placed them, and
before applying their painted surfaces. It is intended as a decoration
to a photographic mount. If the mount is of a dark tea-green colour
a very considerable richness of effect can be obtained. The chief
difficulty will be the careful adjustment and selection of the leaves.
Fig. 5 is the application of Veitch's Ampelopsis to a terra-cotta
plaque. You will find this more difficult, as the surfaces to which
the leaves are applied are not flat, and the material is absorbent to
a high degree. First give the plaque a coating of size; this will keep
the colour on the surface. Roughly sketch the position of the leaves
in pencil; apply colour more copiously to the leaves, and transfer.
When dry give a coating of quick-drying varnish. Copal, dissolved in
methylated spirits, will prove the most satisfactory. The end of the
spray is done all at once. The stems, stalks, and tendrils are put in
afterwards by brush work.
Fig. 2 is the most difficult of all. It is an arrangement of hawthorn
leaves in different tones of colour, and intended for a title-page or
elaborate mount. The leaves can be easily obtained in considerable
variety. Roughly mark out the places the leaves should occupy. Some
are in front of others; do these first in a paler green. Cut out paper
shapes to cover them, and stick them down temporarily after they are
dry. Then, in darker and richer tones of colour, transfer the back
leaves; when dry remove the covers, and touch up with a brush any
deficiencies. Add the stalks, stems, and thorns, and paint in the haws.
There are many other applications to which these prints from leaves
could be put. A branch of oak running across the panels of a door, a
simple leaf upon the cover of a book, nicely done; in the making of
stencil plates, for borders, friezes, and dados, or a conventional
pattern for wall papers. Studies for wood carving can easily be
obtained from the store of prints from leaves, such as the strawberry,
potentilla, goose-grass, buttercup, dandelion, and many wayside plants.
When the stalk or principal vein is too succulent or thick, it would be
well to pare it down, to permit of easier rubbing, not attempting to
get an impression from more than one surface of the leaf.
It may be useful to some readers to give the prices at which the
materials may be obtained. The cheaper colours are in every respect
quite as good for the purpose as the more expensive ones, and should
cost about threepence a tube from an artists' colourman. A small
camel-hair brush, from a penny upwards, would do; but it might be
sable in preference, from sixpence upwards. You can get a good-sized
sheet of cartridge paper for a penny. The nainsook muslin should be
new, and of a fine quality. Any holes in it would be fatal to good
work. A penny or two would buy the foolscap paper.
[Illustration: THE APPARATUS.]
[Illustration: THE POINTS.]
$Pyrography.$--The outfit consists of a platinum point, sometimes
called the burner, an alcohol lamp, and a benzine bottle with rubber
tubing terminating in a bulb as shown in the illustration. The points
or burners may be obtained in many sizes for fine or broad lines. The
work is done upon unvarnished wood, which should be seasoned and free
from resin. Sometimes designs are drawn too upon calf, cardboard, and
even upon velvet, but upon these materials be careful the point is
not too hot. To use the pyrography apparatus fill both the alcohol
lamp and the benzine bottle half full. Upon the benzine bottle put the
rubber stopper that has the metal nozzle and join the bellows and the
tubing. Now light your alcohol lamp, and in its flame hold with your
right hand the platinum point, and with your left hand work the bulb
steadily and continuously. The platinum point will thus become red hot
and it must be kept so. With this hot point draw upon the wood and you
will find that all kinds of designs and effects are possible by using
different points, and, indeed, by using the same in different ways and
at different temperatures. The judicious use of sandpaper improves
the general effect afterwards, and a wax finish may be obtained by
the application of pure bees'-wax slowly melted in turpentine. When
it is in a syrupy state apply it with a cloth, and a few days later
brush away the superfluous wax and wipe tenderly with a soft cloth.
The general effect may be heightened by the use of colour. The young
pyrographist may practise upon some of the designs given in the other
sections of this chapter, and he will be able to purchase his outfit
with directions for its use. Messrs. Gamage, in Holborn, and Messrs.
Benetfink, in Cheapside, have many kinds of apparatus and accessories.