OUTLINE—ANIMALS.
Having made as plain as I can the method to be adopted in piping the
preceding outline sketches, I will leave the aquatic subject in the
hands of the advancing student, and, as we have gone fairly well—as far
as variety is concerned—into ornithological designs, I think we may
venture to touch upon the borders of that boundless field for
practice—the animal world. Here it is somewhat difficult to select
anything for the initial stages as being easier of execution than its
fellows—that being a matter of opinion. All are beautiful in design, and
well fitted for their usefulness and their needs, and we as copyists
from Nature have first of all to acquire an anatomical knowledge of the
general form of our living model, and then crown that knowledge by a
never-ceasing observance of its characteristic attitudes, so that we
may, by a few slight pressures of the paper cornet, give expression to
the animal we endeavour to portray. However, I think that the deer
tribes have, from time immemorial, lent themselves to the causes of art,
and, as far as I can see, are as easy as anything; but I would advise
anyone to avoid, as much as possible, the study of those to be seen on
some of the old tapestries, or reproductions, which we see occasionally
in the illustrated papers from the pictures by the “old masters”;
because, if these were taken from life, we can only come to the
conclusion that the breed of stags in those days was very different to
what it is now—and we don’t want to study deer as they _were_, but as
they _are_. It is not very easy for the young piper to study these
beautiful creatures from life, unless he happens to live within easy
distance of such places as Windsor or Richmond Park. True, the Londoner
can view a few specimens in the Zoological Gardens; but they are mostly
foreigners, and, of course, are not seen at their best within a wired
enclosure, although even that is an opportunity which should not be lost
sight of; and, failing that we can all have the benefit of the great and
accurate pictures which England’s greatest animal painter—Sir Edwin
Landseer—has left behind for our admiration and our education.
Supposing, then, for a start, we take a couple of deer—the ordinary red
deer of deer-stalking fame—wild and unfettered in his Highland home. We
have few opportunities of seeing him, so we have to draw a little on the
imagination and the description of those who have. True, he is used for
stag-hunting in England, but on entirely different conditions to the
first named sport; for here he is deprived of his horns, and kept in a
semi-domesticated condition, taken to the place of meeting in a cart,
released, and, after a time limit, the hounds are laid on his track. He
seldom gets killed, however, for, when he has had enough of the sport,
he usually trots into some farmhouse or out-building, is recaptured, and
lives to run another day.
[Illustration: Plate 7.—PIPED STAG.]
To commence the subject I have selected, take a fine-pointed cornet,
with the usual amount of Glacé Royal therein, and start piping the top
part of the head of stag, which is intended to represent one that is
looking the other way; in this position I think it advisable to complete
the head, including the antlers, before starting with the body. Now take
your line down the front part of the neck to the lowest point of the
shoulders, and then another line from the back of the neck over the
withers to the root of the tail, then over the haunch down to the hock
of the left leg, which it will be noticed is slightly forward. The fore
legs may now be completed, and the line brought under the stomach, the
left hind leg finished, and the right hind leg slightly extended
backward, as if suddenly brought up to the halt by something which has
attracted the animal’s attention. The tail can now be added, and a very
brief inspection will suffice to convince the student if this outline
figure is in proper proportion, always remembering that a stag has a
rather “tubby” appearance about the body in proportion to the thinness
of his legs. He does not appear to be symmetrically built for speed,
like the racehorse or greyhound, for instance; but he can go for all
that. His mate, the hind, which is represented on the left, may be piped
first from the top of the head and down to the throat; the ears may then
be put on, and the line for the back of the neck brought down over the
withers along the back, over the rump, and down to the back of the
forelegs which may now be put in; then the stomach and the hind legs
completed, and this will constitute the first outline group in the
animal life. Of course, there is a variety of positions in which we may
pipe a stag, and, later on, these will be touched upon: but while the
student is learning the one thoroughly, he is laying in a store of
ability to branch off in whichever way his fancy leads him.
We will now take for our object-lesson, that good all-round servant of
man—the horse. Although we need not go far afield to get our model this
time, he is by no means so easy to accomplish as his plentitude would
imply—for there are horses _and_ horses; they have not got that “turned
out of the same mould” appearance that stags have, but the variety is
very great indeed, while some that we may see in our travels are just
beyond the attentions of the R.S.P.C.A., and others there are, though
sound in wind and limb, are anything but “things of beauty.” Still, we
must make our selection, and as the average Englishman invariably prides
himself on some sort of knowledge of our equine friend, it is to be
assumed that the reader will know what sort to select and that to avoid
when he comes to originate his own subjects.
We will take for our model the ordinary hack. He is, perhaps, the most
plentiful, and although even he possesses various degrees of form, his
general shape is such as to call forth the oft rehearsed title of “a
useful looking nag.” I propose to delineate him to the best of my
ability in the act of standing, trotting, and leaping—and by following
out the instructions in regard to the stag, the reader may accomplish
the outline work of this and most other subjects in the animal line. The
horse standing is intended to represent one in a field—turned out to
grass, in fact—without halter or trappings of any kind. By simply
placing the ears slightly forward it will convey the idea of
“Expectancy,” or that his attention has been drawn to some distant
object, such as his owner or driver coming through the gate.
[Illustration: Plate 8.—THREE HORSES IN OUTLINE.]
The horse trotting I have done by completing the head first to the back
of the ears, the line has then been drawn down the back of the neck,
over the withers, along the back, over the rump, and down to the “near”
or left fetlock joint. The paper cornet is then taken to the base of the
jawbone, the throat, or front part of the neck is put in, and the line
carried along the extended left foreleg to the point of the hoof. By
looking at this it will be found that the top line of the horse is
complete, and you will see pretty clearly at this stage if the back is
likely to be too long or too short. If satisfactory, the left foreleg
may be completed, and the line carried under the stomach with a slight
curve upwards, as it nears the flank, and then the under line of the
extended left hind leg, including the hoof. We have now what appears to
be the extended half of a horse with but two legs—and can see plainly
enough if it is going to be a failure when complete by the proportion of
all the parts delineated; if apparently satisfactory, we put in the
“off” or right legs, slightly doubled up under the stomach as shown, the
tail can then be added and the eye. I have gone into these details
because I have an idea that there are, perhaps, more critics on the
points of a horse and his action than on any other animal living. Every
Englishman seems to be a judge, more or less, and great are the
arguments, friendly or otherwise, even among experts in horseflesh,
although they would not bestow a glance or waste an opinion on the most
perfect cow.
However, we are not experts, but only casual observers, and we will try
and get our models as they are, if we can. It will be as well, however,
to note that there does not seem to be so much argument about a trotting
horse as one that is galloping, and photography itself seems to settle
the arguments pretty clearly about the first-mentioned mode of
propulsion, for, judging by the snapshots, I find the legs of the
trotter are very often placed as the artist draws them, and as we are
accustomed to see them in our daily walks. But it is not so with
galloping; so rapid is the motion that we cannot follow the legs with
our eye, so the artist has to draw a good deal from his stock of
imagination, and the accuracy of that is very often greatly upset by the
unerring snapshot, which “fixes” the striding racehorse in perhaps the
hundredth part of a second. What do we see then? A horse with head
almost erect, his hind legs extended, one of his forelegs extended, and
the other in a vertical position with the hoof touching the ground
looking, at the distance, as if he were poised on a broomstick, and
three-parts of the weight being behind—looking like some equine
experiment to defy the laws of gravitation. That this position was
correct when the snapshot caught him is beyond doubt; but we need not
copy it for all that, for he was but the fraction of a second in that
position, and we can select others which will better answer our purpose.
Moreover, if some great artist were to exhibit a painting of last year’s
Derby winner passing the post in the position, say, at this year’s Royal
Academy Exhibition, the least they would say of him would be that he was
bordering on the “eccentric,” correct though he might be.
We will now proceed with the horse that is jumping. In adopting this
position, I do not think we are trespassing on the impossible or the
improbable, as our vision is capable of taking in the attitude of the
jumper. Moreover, that lightning detective, the camera, “snaps” him in
similar form; so that with such an ally at our side, we may venture to
proceed.
The horse’s head may be piped in first, as in the preceding case; and,
in doing the line for the back, great care should be observed to bring
it nicely downwards, because our horse, this time, is rearing, so to
speak, from the ground, and his great thigh muscles have propelled him
upwards and forwards. We have to get the angle of his backbone according
to the height he is supposed to be jumping, and, of course, his legs and
stomach have to be treated accordingly. Having got the back line down to
the root of the tail, carry it down to the hock, and thence to the point
of the hoof—which is supposed to be about a foot from the ground. A line
may then be made from under the jawbone down the chest, and the bent
foreleg put in, the line taken under the stomach to the flank, and then
the hind leg completed. Here we may see if any alteration is necessary,
and, if not, the other two legs may be added, the tail, and the eye
also. As an accessory to this, a rustic fence may be added, and even in
the placing of this some discernment is required, for, if you get it too
far forward, the horse will have the appearance of overreaching himself
and doomed to come down on the top of it; on the other hand, if you get
it too far back, it will have an impossible look, and give the animal
the appearance of flying, instead of leaping. I think the best effect
can be obtained by piping the first or foreground post of the fence
somewhere under the hoof of the foreleg, and then, by a little
management of perspective, take the rails under the stomach, just about
where the saddle girth or the stirrups would be and just a medium
distance below them. This detail may seem somewhat unimportant; but,
simple though it seems, it is really surprising what a difference even
the eighth of an inch will make in the placing of these posts and rails,
and it is always best to do them after the horse is completed, as it is
far easier to alter them, if necessary, than it is to alter him to suit
the rails.
[Illustration: Plate 9.—OUTLINE OF LADY FEEDING PIGEONS.]
As we are now rapidly nearing the end of the outline stage of figure
piping, it will be absolutely essential to touch on the “human form
divine.” There are innumerable other outlines which might be practised;
but I think the student—be he of average ability—might be almost left at
this juncture to choose his own subjects. If still more elementary
outline work is needed, and if he has thoroughly “grasped” the methods
and can turn the specimens out to his own satisfaction, at the present
stage, why a wide field is open to him for further progress, which needs
no introduction. The human figure, though almost ever present for study,
is, perhaps, more difficult than anything else in the way of piping—in
fact, we might consider that we are bordering on the “classical” stage
when we can manage the _genus homo_; but still there are various degrees
we can touch upon before we arrive at the culminating point.
In piping a human being, it will generally be found that the face is the
most difficult—especially in three-quarter or full-face; in profile, a
fairly good expression can be obtained, and even that with the greatest
possible care; but as our mission is now on outlines, we will leave that
for a brief space, and study more in proportions. We will take for our
subject a lady feeding pigeons, and, without ignoring the animal world
altogether, what more appropriate than a dog of the St. Bernard kind
looking on as an interesting spectator? A few fowls may also be
introduced, and these will complete the subject. First of all pipe the
outline forming the lady’s hat, and then the head; the back and front
lines may then be gracefully brought down to ankles, and the lower part
of the skirt completed. A lady friend of mine has told me that my
feminine ideals are not quite up to date in regard to the fashions; this
may be so, and I fully appreciate this little bit of friendly criticism,
with a promise to study the fashion-plates a little more than I have
hitherto done. Having got your back and front lines completed, the arms
may heighten the effect. The pigeons and fowls can be piped in, and
lastly the dog.
[Illustration]