in the world. It is called the Cathedral of St. Mark. The front of the
building faces a large open space, which is surrounded on three sides by
ancient palaces of marble. These old buildings, with their arches and
towers, and the nooks and crannies of the cathedral, form fine nesting
places for pigeons, and hundreds and thousands of them are found flying
about the square. Years ago, the pigeons were fed at the city's expense,
and any one who injured or killed one of them was fined or put in prison.
The people thought that the pigeons brought peace and prosperity to their
city, and kept it from being swallowed by the waves. If you should visit
the square today, and should bring with you one of the little bags of
corn that the street venders sell for a penny, you would be instantly
surrounded by pigeons.
Study a pet pigeon, which some one will bring to school. Notice the oval
shape of the body, the beautiful curve of the wings, and the lovely
spotting of light and dark values. The legs are set far back on the body,
and they and the little feet are as red as a rose.
Draw the leading lines with a brush stroke of light gray. Study carefully
the proportions of head, body, wings, tail, legs, and feet. When these
are correctly drawn, add the dark and middle values, to show spotting.
[Illustration]
"Life and Action" Shown in a Masterpiece.
Of all pictures in the world probably none are more interesting to us
than those which tell us of the lives of people; of their work, their
times of rest, their joys and their sorrows. You probably know many of
the pictures of Millet, who painted the simple country life of French
peasants, as they worked in the fields, watched their flocks, or cared
for their children at home. Millet's pictures make us feel great respect
for a man or woman who works.
The picture shown you on this page is from a painting called "Loading the
Cart," by Anton Mauve, a native of Holland. He, like Millet, was a
painter of quiet country landscapes and farm life. In this picture,
notice how few are the shapes and masses he has cared to paint. He seems
to have thought only of the big things--the sky, the ground, a clump of
trees, a bending figure, a patient horse, a loaded cart. It is the
artist's task to show us the beauty which lies in a simple country scene
like this.
Anton Mauve was born in 1848 and died in 1888. He made his first
exhibition of paintings in America at Philadelphia in 1876.
Home Exercises.
1. Paint from the pose of a little girl dressed as Red Riding Hood.
2. Make six brush drawings showing different positions of any pet animal
that you have at home.
3. Make a "skeleton" drawing in illustration of the following:
"Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jump over the candlestick."
4. Illustrate in a brush or outline drawing any one verse of "Old Mother
Hubbard."
5. Show in a drawing the game you like best to play.
6. Show by a "skeleton" drawing the action expressed by the figure of the
man in the picture on page 42.
[Illustration]
BEAUTY IN COMMON THINGS
[Illustration]
WE'RE MADE SO THAT WE LOVE
FIRST WHEN WE SEE THEM PAINTED, THINGS WE HAVE PASSED
PERHAPS A HUNDRED TIMES, NOR CARED TO SEE.
FRA LIPPO LIPPI. ROBERT BROWNING.
Learning to See Beauty.
=How We See Things.= The best thing that our lessons in drawing and
painting can do for us is to teach us to see. To truly see a thing means
that eyes and brains must work together. Our eyes must look and our
brains must think; that is what gives us the power to _see_.
=Interesting Things Out of Doors.= When you were making a special study
of landscape, you found that many things out of doors that you had not
thought about before, became very interesting to you. You began to notice
the colors of the sky and earth, the shapes of trees, the forms of
clouds, the change from day to night. These things had always been around
you, but you had not thought about them, and so you had not really _seen_
them.
=Observing Our Surroundings.= Your lessons from flowers and plants, and
from birds and animals help you to see and enjoy much more in nature than
you did before. A walk in the country, or even along the city street, is
never dull to one who is interested in what is going on around him, and
whose eyes are trained to really see.
=Beauty in Common Things.= Not all of the beauty of the world is out of
doors. Things about us in our homes are often interesting in their
character, and they should be beautiful as well. The picture on the
opposite page shows you an old-fashioned kitchen fireside. The wide
hearth, the logs of wood, the andirons, the pots and kettles hanging over
the fire, all give you a sense of homely comfort and cheer. Would you not
like to draw your chair close to the blazing logs on a cold winter night,
and roast apples, or pop corn, while the wind howled and roared up the
big chimney? There is real beauty in this picture of home and the common
things of every-day use.
=Finding and Expressing Beauty.= In the houses we live in nowadays, there
may be no kitchen fireplaces like this; but the thought that we get from
the picture is that beauty may be found in those things for which we
sometimes care the least. Let us study the common dishes we cook with,
the vegetables that come from market or garden, the furniture we use
every day. Let us discover for ourselves whether these things are
beautiful or ugly. If beauty is there, let us find it, and show it to
others. If we enjoy those things which are really beautiful, we shall
find them everywhere, and if we try, we ourselves shall be able to do
something which will add, in some small way, to the beauty of the world
in which we live.
[Illustration]
A Bowl in Charcoal Mass.
The bowl from which this sketch was made is of common earthenware, not
unlike the clay used in making flower-pots or tiles. Although this
material is neither costly nor rare, articles made from it are beautiful,
if they are pleasing in shape and proportion, tasteful in coloring, and
well adapted to their uses.
This little bowl was probably meant to hold short-stemmed flowers. Notice
that it is low and broad, with a wide mouth or top. It will hold plenty
of water for its purpose and will not easily be upset. The inner curve
near the top suggests a vase or flower holder. A bowl designed for
holding liquids or liquid food would probably be without this curve in
its outline.
The simple coloring of the bowl has also been carefully planned. It is
not by accident that the glaze on the inside is in darker value than the
outside color. This contrast of light and dark is one of the elements of
beauty. Look for it in things about you, and try to show its effect in
sketches that you make.
Choose a bowl of simple form showing light and dark contrasts. Place it
at some distance from you, so that you can see a little way into it. Draw
the bowl in charcoal mass, using the flat side of a short piece of
charcoal or crayon.
[Illustration]
A Wash-Drawing of the Bowl.
The drawing on this page, the one on the page before this, and the two on
pages 48 and 49, are all pictures of the same bowl. They do not look
alike, because they are done with different materials, or, as we
sometimes say, with different mediums. It is well for us to know how to
draw with charcoal, brush and ink, pencil, crayons, and water-color, so
that we can choose the medium or material that seems best suited to the
particular object which we may wish to represent. A good workman
understands the use of many tools.
Drawings that are made with a brush and water mixed with ink or color are
sometimes called wash-drawings. In such work, light and dark effects are
shown, rather than actual color. Wash-drawings differ in character from
drawings made with pencil, charcoal, or crayons. You can easily tell
which sketches of the bowl were made with a wet medium and which with a
dry medium.
In the sketch on this page do you see that there are two values shown on
the inside of the bowl? Although the inner glaze was everywhere the same
color, the deep shadows in the bowl give the effect of a darker value.
Make a wash-drawing of the bowl you studied in charcoal mass. Do not draw
its outline first. Wash in the shape of the top, and then the mass for
the front or outer surface. Notice the use made of the white line in
suggesting the edge.
[Illustration]
The Bowl in Outline.
You know that the true shape of the top of this bowl is a circle. But
when the bowl is placed on a table in front of you, its top appears
narrower from front to back than it does from left to right. The shape
that you have often drawn to show this appearance is called an ellipse.
In a circle, all diameters are equal. In an ellipse, one diameter is
always longer than the other.
Some ellipses are more beautiful in their proportions than others. If the
bowl had been placed in a position where the width of the ellipse looked
twice as great from front to back as it is shown here, the sketch would
be less pleasing. Generally, a narrow ellipse is more beautiful than a
wide one, and in arranging objects like the bowl for studies, we should
be careful to place them so that the ellipses do not appear too wide from
front to back. The beauty of the proportions of an ellipse has much to do
with the beauty of the whole drawing.
Make an outline drawing from a bowl, carefully studying its shape, and
the proportions of the ellipse seen at the top. Sketch the ellipse first,
beginning at the middle of the front edge, and drawing the shape with one
stroke of the pencil. Try to draw the sides of the bowl just alike. Place
a table-line in the proper place. A table-line suggests a surface on
which an object may rest.
[Illustration]
The Bowl in Color.
Artists and other people who draw and paint often speak of objects such
as you have lately been studying as "still life."
"Still life" means objects without life, like most of those studied in
this chapter, although fruits and flowers are also frequently included.
Mounted birds and insects or other animal forms from which life has gone
are also classed as still life. It would be correct to speak of the
drawing on this page as a study of still life. The group on page 50, the
familiar objects shown on page 51, and the lanterns on page 54 are all
examples of the kind of objects that are included under the head of still
life.
The little bowl appears again, now, perhaps, in its most attractive way.
It is always a delight for us to see a beautiful bit of color. In
studying the sketch, you can see how freely and simply the brush has done
its work, showing the fresh, clear color of the bowl, the darker value of
the inner lining, and the gray-violet shadow cast upon the table.
Make a water-color painting of a simple piece of still life, choosing a
color not too brilliant. Make the entire drawing with the brush, trying
not to "work" your colors until the life and freshness are lost.
[Illustration]
A Group of Still Life.
Here are two common articles that might be found in any kitchen. The dish
is a sort of earthenware kettle, and shows that it was designed for
cooking purposes. It is provided with short legs and a handle or bail.
The legs serve as supports for the kettle, and keep its rounding surface
from rocking, while the handle is useful in lifting the kettle and its
contents from the fire.
The kettle is simple in form, of pleasing proportions, and shows a good
contrast of light and dark values. As you study the sketch, notice the
drawing of the rim. Is it of the same thickness at every point? Study the
appearance of rims in different bowls, and find out where they appear
thickest.
The beet is decidedly darker in value. It is less regular in shape, and
its surface differs in quality from the hard, smooth surface of the
kettle.
Choose for a group two common objects of household use, that seem to
belong together. In your group you should have something large and
something small; something tall and something short; something light and
something dark; something near and something far.
Sketch your group lightly in outline, and finish in charcoal mass.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
A Growing Plant.
Hyacinths and tulips grow easily indoors, and their bright blossoms fill
the florists' windows just at the time when we are beginning to grow
tired of winter and to look forward to the coming of spring. You can
plant bulbs so that they will grow and blossom in the school-room. There
is nothing more beautiful for a window decoration than a row of tulips,
hyacinths, or daffodils.
A growing plant of this kind is a fine study in still life. We enjoy
looking at it, and we become much interested in trying to express its
beauty. We are beginning to understand some of the elements or laws of
beauty.
Let us study the drawing on this page. We have found that a group of
still life, a spray of plant growth, or a landscape should show variety
in shapes, in sizes of shapes, and in light and dark, or values. Does the
hyacinth show these contrasts? Notice the shape of the mass of bloom, as
differing from the shapes of the long, slender leaves, the stem, and the
flower-pot. You will also find large shapes and small in different parts
of the sketch. The flower-pot and the mass of bloom are large in
proportion to the leaves and stem. Contrast and variety in color you can
easily see.
Make a drawing with colored crayons or with water-colors from a growing
plant, in bloom. Select one that shows simple growth, few leaves, and a
bright mass of color in the blossom.
The Plant in Values.
[Illustration]
It is often well to paint in grays a study that you have painted in
color. On page 9 is a picture in values of the sunset scene on page 8.
While we cannot express the actual color of objects with anything but
color, we can show the light and dark effect of color with a gray medium,
such as pencil or charcoal, ink or charcoal-gray water-color.
In using a gray medium, we must try to keep our contrasts as well marked
as though we were using the actual color itself. Suppose in this
wash-drawing of the hyacinth, the flower, the leaves, and the flower-pot
had all been of the same value. Can you not imagine how much such a
picture would lose in interest? The difference in values, in the picture
on this page, suggests to us the difference in color seen in the plant.
If you look again at the drawing of the hyacinth on page 52, you will see
that the darkest colors in it are the red-violet of the blossom and the
red-gray of the flower-pot. These are represented in the wash-drawing by
dark gray. The gray-green of the leaves is shown in a lighter gray value.
In washing in the flower-pot, the flange, together with the ellipse for
the top, should be drawn first. Then the base can be added, in a value
which is deepened a little directly under the flange.
Select a plant in bloom, from which to make a wash-drawing. A tulip or a
daffodil would make a good study. Study its growth, the shapes and sizes
of its different parts, the values of its blossom, leaves, and stems, and
of the jar in which it grows. Show how beautiful a picture of a plant and
its bright flower may be made, without the use of color.
[Illustration: A]
[Illustration: B]
The Accented Line.
Have you ever heard any one read aloud in an even tone of voice, without
changing the pitch or giving what is called expression to the story? You
soon grow tired of listening to such reading even though the words are
distinctly spoken. The same thing read with the right accent and
inflection will hold your attention. You will enjoy and remember what is
well read, because more truth and beauty are brought out by beautiful
expression.
It is so in our drawing. We can make pictures of objects in a way that
will give the facts of their forms and proportions, and still will not
show the real beauty and character of those objects. Compare the two
sketches of the barrel at the top of this page. Sketch B gives the facts
of the barrel as well as Sketch A. But who would care for a picture that
expressed so little of real interest? In Sketch A you feel the roundness
or width of the barrel from back to front, and the quality of its rough
and splintered surface. The line that is used to express all this is
called an accented line. Such a line is varied in strength, being
deepened in some places to express certain accents of form or color, and
lightened in others. Sometimes it is broken off altogether, the eye
seeming to continue the outline. It differs from the even, uniform line
used in Sketch B just as the even, monotonous voice in reading differs
from the voice that is full of expression and feeling.
Select a basket, or a wooden box of somewhat rough surface, and make an
outline sketch, using the accented line.
[Illustration]
Japanese Lanterns in Values.
The wash-drawings on this page show some Japanese lanterns that are
beautiful in their light and dark quality, as well as in their color.
They are fine studies in values. The lantern on the left was red, with
violet spots; the light one just behind was yellow, with blue and red
spots; and the right lantern was a soft dark green at the top, blending
to light green at the bottom. The dark bands and the wooden hangers
provide sharp contrasts in values, and give character and accent to the
picture.
Choose two or three lanterns of contrasting colors, sizes, and shapes.
Arrange them on a cord, hung across the corner of the room. It does not
matter whether they hang above or below the level of your eyes. Paint
them in values of ink or charcoal-gray.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
Selecting with a Finder an Interesting Arrangement of Shapes.
You will remember that you used a finder upon certain sketches, in order
to select parts that seemed more interesting than others. Any drawing
looks much better if the space around it is carefully planned and adapted
to the shapes shown in the drawing. This is the reason we use a finder on
a sketch like that on page 55. Although the lantern on the right is well
drawn and is a pleasing part of the whole sketch, it seems to have
received added beauty in the left sketch on this page. It has been taken
away from other interests, and placed within an enclosure which is well
adapted to its shape, size, and color. The gray oblong at the bottom
brings the eye to a part of the picture, not so important as the lantern.
This oblong would be a good place for the initials or name of the artist,
which should be as thoughtfully placed as any other part of the sketch.
See what a different enclosure is used in the second selection. The two
lanterns make a large dark mass which needs more space. The dark
name-place on the right is placed just where it is most needed.
Use a finder on the sketch of lanterns you made. Find a beautiful
arrangement of shapes, adjusting the finder until you have found the
enclosure and the shapes that suit you best. Cut out your selection and
mount it neatly.
Home Exercises.
1. Make an outline drawing of an empty flower-pot, standing upright.
Carefully study the rim, and show where it appears thickest.
2. Draw in outline a plain glass dish, with three apples in it.
3. Make a wash-drawing of any cooking-bowl which shows light and dark
values.
4. Find at home any one of the objects pictured on page 51. Group some
other suitable object with it, and make a sketch in charcoal, showing
light and dark effects.
5. Find five drawings in this book in which the accented line is used.
6. Make a large outline drawing of a boy's straw hat. Show the use of the
accented line.
[Illustration]
APPARENT DIRECTION OF EDGES AND OUTLINES
THE RAILWAY TRAIN.
I LIKE TO SEE IT LAP THE MILES,
AND LICK THE VALLEYS UP,
AND STOP TO FEED ITSELF AT TANKS;
AND THEN, PRODIGIOUS, STEP
AROUND A PILE OF MOUNTAINS,
AND, SUPERCILIOUS, PEER
IN SHANTIES BY THE SIDES OF ROADS;
AND THEN A QUARRY PARE
TO FIT ITS SIDES, AND CRAWL BETWEEN,
COMPLAINING ALL THE WHILE
IN HORRID, HOOTING STANZA;
THEN CHASE ITSELF DOWNHILL
AND NEIGH LIKE BOANERGES;
THEN, PUNCTUAL AS A STAR,
STOP--DOCILE AND OMNIPOTENT--
AT ITS OWN STABLE DOOR.
EMILY DICKINSON
[Illustration]
The Circle in Three Positions.
In order to understand the sketches on this page, you must place a large
bowl on a table in front of you, so that its top will be exactly opposite
the level of your eyes. You can manage this by putting some books on the
table for the bowl to rest upon, piling them up until just the right
height is reached. Then sit directly in front of the bowl, and at some
distance from it, as you would naturally do when making a sketch. Hold
your pencil straight out in front, at arm's length, so as to hide the
entire upper edge of the bowl. If the top of the bowl is exactly opposite
your eyes, your pencil will be exactly horizontal when it hides the edge
from you. You will not be able to see into the bowl, nor to find that the
edge curves above or below the pencil. The appearance of the circular
top, in this position, will be a horizontal line.
If you lower the bowl a little, you will find that you can no longer hide
the top with a horizontal pencil. The top looks more natural in this
position. You have often drawn a narrow ellipse for the appearance of a
circular shape seen slightly below the eye.
If the bowl is lowered still more, the ellipse will appear wider from
front to back.
Make sketches from a bowl, in these three positions.
[Illustration: 1]
[Illustration: 2]
[Illustration: 3]
[Illustration: 4]
[Illustration: 5]
[Illustration: 6]
The Foreshortened Circle.
When a surface, because of its position, appears less wide than it really
is, we say that it is foreshortened. The circular top of the bowl appears
in three positions on page 59. In the first picture it is foreshortened
to such an extent that its width from back to front has disappeared
altogether. In the second, the foreshortened circle appears as a narrow
ellipse. In the third, the ellipse is wider, because the bowl is seen
further below the eyes.
On this page are some sketches of a half-orange and a half-apple. Can you
tell the positions in which they were held? Notice the foreshortened
circle in Sketch 2. The sections of the orange are changed in appearance
very much as the petals of the daisy are foreshortened, in the middle
sketch on page 22.
Read again the lesson on page 48. Then decide which sketch of the
half-orange is most pleasing. Which picture of the half-apple do you like
best?
Draw a half-lemon in a position showing a foreshortened circle of
pleasing proportions.
[Illustration]
The Foreshortened Square.
Circular shapes are not the only ones that are foreshortened when they
are seen under certain conditions. Figure 1 on this page is a picture of
a square hat-box, showing the top and two sides. Not one of the three
shapes is seen as it would actually measure. The top looks like a long
narrow diamond. It is not so different from the shape of a narrow ellipse
as you might at first suppose. If you changed the straight lines into
curved lines, rounding off the four corners or angles of the diamond, you
would have an ellipse. You could also place a box like this turned
cornerwise, so that its top would look like a straight line. Where would
the top be to look like that?
The two sides of the box are also foreshortened in this position; they
appear shorter from front to back than they really are. You can see that
the two farther vertical edges or corners appear shorter than the nearer
one, just as trees in the distance appear smaller than trees of equal
size near you. The lines on the top and bottom of the box appear to slant
upward, instead of keeping their actual direction, which is horizontal.
Figure 2 shows the same box with the cover off. The inside was lined with
colored paper and the dark value of the diamond-shaped mass adds interest
to the picture.
Place cornerwise, on a table in front of you, a large box with a square
top. See if the three faces in sight are foreshortened. Notice if the
edges appear changed, in direction and in length. Make a sketch in
outline, showing just how the box appears to you.
[Illustration]
Measuring a Foreshortened Surface.
A good way to prove to yourself that the appearance of a surface or shape
differs from its reality, is to test it in some way.