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J.Shury Sculp

London. Published by Thomas Tegg. 73. Cheapside.November 11826.

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of a considerable size, which is the only method of acquiring a free and bold manner. 3. He should practice drawing till he has gained a tolerable command of his pencil, before he attempts to shade any figure or object of any kind whatever: and, 4. He should not aim at finishing perfectly any single part, before he has sketched out faintly, with light strokes of the pencil, the shape and proportion of the whole figure; correcting it afterwards wherever necessary.

SECT. III.—OF DRAWING EYES, EARS, FLOWERS, FRUITS, BIRDS, BEASTS, &c.

The learner should begin with drawing the outlines of eyes, ears, &c., as in plate II. with noses and parts of faces as in plate III., after either of the modes directed in section I. He may next proceed with flowers, fruits, birds, beasts, and the like; not only as it will be a more pleasing employment to those who do not aim at the severer beauties of the art, but as an easier task, particularly to young ladies, than the drawing of hands and feet, and other parts of the human body, which require not only more care, but greater exactitude and nicer judgment. Very few instructions are necessary upon this head. The best thing that a learner can do is, to furnish himself with good prints or drawings by way of examples, and copy them with great care and exactness. If it is the figure of a beast, let him begin with the forehead, and draw the nose, the upper and under jaw, and stop at the throat. Then he should return to the top of the head, and trace the ears, the neck, and the back; continuing the line till he has given the full shape of the rump and buttock. Then proceed to the chest and breast, mark out the legs and feet, and delineate the belly. And, lastly, as before directed in sect. I., when the learner has acquired some proficiency in the art, let him draw the outline as there instructed, and finish it with shadows, or with the proper colors after nature as directed in section XII. It would not be amiss, by way of ornament, to add a small sketch of a landscape, appropriate to the country of the animal, either by way of a vignette, or determined by a parallelogram like a picture; of these, and other subjects, the learner will find many examples among the plates of this work.

SECT. IV. OF DRAWING LEGS, ARMS, HANDS, FEET, &c.

In the drawing of legs and arms, the learner will have very little more to do than to copy carefully the examples of arms given in plate IV., and of legs in plate V. But the actions and postures of the hands are so many and so various, that no certain rules can be given for drawing them, which will universally hold good. Yet, as the hands and feet are difficult to draw, it is very necessary to bestow some time and pains about them; carefully imitating their various postures and actions, so as not only to avoid all appearance of lameness and imperfection, but also to give them life and spirit. To arrive at this, great care, study, and practice are requisite, particularly in imitating at first, that is before beginning to draw from statues or from nature, the best prints or drawings that can be obtained

of hands and feet; examples of which are given in plates IV. and V. As to mechanical rules for delineating them by lines and measures, they are not only difficult and perplexing to the student, but are also contrary to the practice of the best masters. And here the general rule above mentioned must be applied, which is, to sketch out faintly, with light strokes, the general shape and proportion of the whole hand, with its action and turn; and after considering whether this it may be amiss, to proceed to the bending of first sketch be perfect, and altering it wherever the joints, the knuckles, the veins, and other small particulars, which, when the learner has obtained the whole shape and proportions of the hand or foot, will not only be more easily, but also more perfectly drawn.

SECT. V. OF DELINEATING FACES.

The head is usually divided into four equal parts, namely, 1. from the crown of the head to the top of the forehead. 2. From the top of the forehead to the eye-brows. 3. From the eyebrows to the bottom of the nose. 4. From thence to the bottom of the chin. But this proportion, as may justly be inferred, is not invariable; these features being, in different men, often very different as to length, breadth, and shape: in a handsome well-turned face, however, it is nearly correct. In delineating a perfect face, therefore, the learner's first business must be to sketch slightly an oval or egg-like figure with its broadest hemisphere upwards; then to bisect it with a perpendicular line from the top to the bottom. Through the middle of this line he will draw a diametral one, directly across from one side to the other of the oval. On these two lines all the features of the face are to be delineated as follows: first divide the perpendicular line into four equal parts, the first of which is to be allotted to the hair of the head; the second is from the top of the forehead to the top of the nose between the eye-brows; the third is from thence to the bottom of the nose; and the fourth includes the lips and chin. The diametral line, or the breadth of the face, is always supposed to be the length of five eyes; it must therefore be divided into five equal parts, and the eyes placed upon it so as to leave exactly the length of one eye of a full front face as in plate I., for if it turn to between them. This is to be understood only either side, the distances are to be lessened on that side which turns from you, more or less in proportion. The top of the ear is to rise parallel to the eye-brows, at the end of the diametral line. The nostrils ought not come further out than the corner of the eye in any face; and the middle of the mouth must always be placed on the perpendicular line.

SECT. VI.-OF DRAWING HUMAN FIGURes.

When the student is tolerably perfect in drawing faces, heads, hands and feet, he may next attempt to draw the human figure at full length. He should hegin by sketching the head; then draw a perpendicular line from the bottom of the head seven times its length, or as many heads as the figure is high from which he is drawing; for in general the length of the head is about one-eighth

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