The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-08-23

walk before attempting to rum Nothing |
can exceed the attractiveness of faithful
delineaton of some simple rmstc object,
and tho most deliberately detailed landscape
fails to please half as well as an old pump
and bucket, provided the latter are accur-
atcly drawn and picturesquely grouped.
Begin then with the hnmblest station. DO
net ascend lofty ridge to delncatc the
view it offers from the summit, but remain
at the bottom and make study of one of
the rocks at the base. DO not take out an
elaborate equipment; do not attempt color
at all-nnt till you can dram from nature,
should you attempt to convey her chameleon
hued and evor-changing tints, Master one
difficulty at a time.
We shall try to be practical, sacrificing
graces of dicton to utility. Let the reader
who aims to conquer the difficulties of
sketching from nature follow the hints here
given and report the progress he makes.
First of all then, comes the question:
How shall | decide whether to make the
picture vertical or horiz )ntal in its greatest
length? 1hsoer, look at the object you arc
to depict. lit be a clump of tall trees in
which the chief interest lies in the direction
of the perpendicular lines, or if again it be
single house, or a solitary perpendicular
object, make your picture vertical III its
greatest length. On the other hand marine
views and scenes in which the chief interest
is centered along horizontal lines demand
that the greatest length Of the picture shall
be in the horizontal direction.
Secondly:-lTow shall decide how much
of the scene before me to embrace within
the limits of the sketch? Aasucr--lIold the
paper or board at arms, length, close one
eye and note with the othe" how much of the
view the sheet covers. Make hasty dots
with the pencil on the edges of tho sheet
noting the position of such objects. The
rest will follow naturally and easily.
What is the best medium to use in sketch
ing from nature?
Anscer-thc simplest You will have
quite trouble enough at first merely TO get
the outlines, without being bothered with
huge box of colorS and the miseries of
mixing them. Begin with a pencil or pen
pastel crayons, but the labor is doubled and in
nine eases out Of ten, the result will be unsat-
sfactory. A cake Of sepia with a little
Chinese white on tinted paper will give good
results. But the nc is an Improvement on this
method, and it is as follows:
Get sheet Of white card board, costing
ten cents. Cut it into four pieces, each
about ~ inches by eight. Tack one of
these pieces by the corners to smooth
sheet of pine board a little larger in size.
| Procure at an artists coorman's q tube Of
Asphaltum, an ounce of inseed oil, flat
fitch brush half ain inch in diameter, and a
cancels hair brush of medium size The
whole outfit will not cost dollar, and a
hundred dollars could not provide you a
better one.
Select a simple subjcct--say a large rock
with tree soping over it, slanting lines
being more picturesque than purely vertical
or horizontal ones. Squeeze out small
| quantity Of asphaltum from the tube and
use oil to dilute it for the lighter tint. Put
in the forms Of the rock and the tree trunk
boldly with solid asphaltum 50 as to get an
outline Of tile whole. Then work in the
foliage with the fitch brush nsnp the Ill
lutcd tint nearly dry. and manipnIatne ~
brush with a series Of vertical stobs "a ~
to give the light transparent feathcrv
appearance Of nature. The rocks NAV ho
treated in the same way, observing to leave
the surface Of the cardboard untouched for
the high light and to'socure transparency in
the shadows by making them fainter as tacy
reccde from the object which cast them.