[Illustration: CHALK-WORK]
The peculiarity of all art is that it cannot
be communicated in writing alone, craft is a
term which is synonymous with art; a craft
requires manual dexterity which cannot be
taught in books.
Chalk Work.
The blackboard has been well called the great weapon of the modern
educator; this is especially true in reference to instruction in an art
dealing with lines, curves and figures.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.]
Many a man can chalk out on a blackboard, or on a piece of sheet-iron,
or on the floor, just what he wants to show, and make his meaning very
plain; hence, in every workshop, and many other places, a blackboard is
more than useful, and it has been said that no draughting office is
complete without one.
Fig. 6 represents a chalk-crayon.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8.]
Figs. 7 and 8 need no explanation, as they represent two forms of the
well-known blackboard.
Chalk lines have this advantage--they are easily altered or rubbed out
when not needed any longer. The work executed upon a blackboard is
mostly done by hand, without aid from instruments; a few tools, however,
are useful--such as, 1, large wooden blackboard compasses holding a
crayon, which are made and sold by the trade in size twelve inches to
thirty inches in length; 2, a straight-edge; and 3, some crayons. With
the compasses circles and part of the circle can be made, and with the
straight-edge the larger lines can be drawn.
These instruments are shown on page 29, and are, 1, compasses, for
holding chalk for making circles; 2, a tee-square; 3, a straight-edge;
4, a protractor for measuring angles; 5, a triangle 60° and 30°; 6, a
brass holder for crayons.
Blackboard Drawing.--The use of a blackboard comes principally and
properly under the head of free-hand drawing, but its importance is such
that a separate division of the volume is assigned to it.
[Illustration]
Thus, chalk-work may be considered the first lesson in “free-hand,” as
all the examples can also be most profitably practiced with pencil and
paper.
Very rapid drawing upon the board should not be encouraged, as it is
likely not to be accurate enough; again, the board should be entirely
free from grease. Cloths, sponges or chamois skin rubbers may be used to
erase or change the chalk marks. Vertical lines should be drawn from
above downward; short lines should be drawn with the fingers alone,
those somewhat longer with the hand, using the wrist-joint; the still
longer lines with the forearm, using the elbow-joint; those longer yet
with the whole arm, using the shoulder-joint; lines should always be
drawn with a uniform motion, slow enough for the eye to follow.
Practice in chalk-work should alternate with sketching in a sketchbook
and with geometrical drawing--to be hereafter described. The student
should practice a short time on the board, at least once a week; large
sizes are the most profitable for the representations to be made; when
drawing in different directions the hand should be turned, not the paper
or board; the hand should never be allowed to obstruct the sight, hence
the hand and fingers should be held in a position of freedom--with
fingers not nearer than 1¹⁄₂ or 2 inches from the board.
NOTE.--The first lesson of any kind the author received in drawing was
to make a straight line; this was effected by holding the pencil
nearly erect and guiding it along by the aid of the little finger held
pressed against the edge of a board; this was a useful item of
knowledge, as proved by passing years.
A well-known artist, in telling his early experience, said: “The first
thing I was taught was to draw a line, divide it, erect a
perpendicular from its center, and afterwards to divide the angle made
by the perpendicular.” In answer to a question asking how long he was
kept at the lines, he replied, “about two months--or a month or two,”
indicating that even the longer time would have been well spent in
learning to draw a straight line.