Evening star., 1896-10-31

laOOr1OOS III Il SCHOOL tu6n IN pEIVdt6
studio. In a school the poses are largely
Of stock character. easy to fall into and
maintain without WEAKNESS, and the models
are not compelled to remain in a single
pose fo- such long periods as in the studios
of individual artists, where, besides, they
stand the chance of being frequently posed
in the most excruciating attitudes.
Posing n Model.
The models at the Corcoran school stand,
recline or are seated on q platform in full
view of all the students. They are posed by
Prof Andrews, and this posing, with
models whose experience has been limited,
sometimes occupies considerable time.
THE arm just trife higher there,
that's more Eke-now the foot little more
forward-so-ah! but you've lowered your
arm again-right-just a little less rigidity,
please-easy, natural-be good enough not
the muscles of Psyche were not tense or
strained, think-now you have 1t! Begin!'
Adjurations like these the professor has
often to employ in the posing Of the more
inexperienced models, but those who have
been in the business for a long time drop
into exactly the proper attitudes with
scarcely any direction from the instructor.
The experienced models have read up and
studied all of the characters, NEUROLOGICAL
and real. whom they are likely to be called
upon to stand for" Good female models
possess an intelligent understanding of
hundreds Of poses which they may be re-
quired to assume, from Sappho or AS
pasta to Lucretia Borgia or Charlotte Cor
day, and the best models among the men
who make posing profession are familiar
with the whole range of subjects which ar
lists select for their pictures.
They make good Hectors and Jack
Cades as they do Mirabeaus and John L.
Sullivans. All of them, however, male and
female. have a speciality. The man with
the fine torso Is used for Hercules, and
he with the fine head for Antinous. Fe-
male models with exquisite arms or busts
In thar thr,n
making the employment of different models
for different anatomical drawing purposes
a necessity.
The Point of Vantage.
Professor Andrews selects the point of
vantage from which each student draws or
paints from the nude or draped figure
Thus, the students are all seated in a
kind of semi-circle around the platform
upon which the model is posed, the draw
ings upon the frames. front. quarter. half,
profile and rear views, would, If they were
all reduced in size and embraced on a
single sheet, very much resemble the
kinetoscopic photographs which have late
ly made their appearance. When the pose
Is a difficult one. Professor Andrews, out
of consideration for the model, enjoins the
students to work carefully. but rapidly.
Students who exhibit great excellence in
drawing from the nude at the school are
often singularly backward and inapt in
drawing from the draped figure and this is
one of those exceptional rules which works
both ways. for the best sketchers Of the
draped figure frequently utterly in
competent in depicting the unclad human
figure. When the instructor discovers the
penchants of students as indicated by their
work In these two styles of drawing, he
wastes no time in advising them to devote
the greater share Of their attention to
the style Of drawing for which they have
the greatest talent.
1t is on this point that some of the stu
0f0 no1 hi 1,f II
quite unreasonable perversity Upon the
same principle that famous comedians have
been known to maintain that they were
cut out for great tragedians and to make
private moan over their wrong selection it
often happens that student who displays
positive genius In catching every fold and
line OF the draped figure, and who draws
the nude figure hideously and out of all
proportion, will insist to the instructor that
she was simply born to become an unsur-
passable portrayer Of the undraped figure
and that the ambition of her life will never
be realized until she becomes one. Pro-
fessor Andrews by means of mild expostu-
lation and advice, eventually succeeds In
directing the efforts of such students into
the proper channel, but he confesses that
ne never quite succeeds In convincing them.
The Plodders Succeed.
The Star reporter asked Professor An
drews If his pupils who have since acquired
regulations for their work displayed their
under his direction.
''They certainly did not, a great majority
of them" was his reply. 1.-The students
who succeed are not those who exhibit the
greatest talent at first. The plodders are
the successful ones. The student who
starts out in meteoric fashion Is very likely
to arrive at certain point beyond which |
progress is impossible. When this school
was first started, 1 had several pupils who
were so clumsy at the outset in their
handling of materials and in their treat
ment of subjects that 1 despaired Of them.
Il may have unconsciously indicated that
1 regarded their work as hopeless; but, at
any rate, these very pupils, who started in
so inauspiciously, set their teeth hard and
worked with the determination of soldiers
battling in hopeless fight, and surprised
me beyond measure by the improvement |
they soon began to show. Moreover these
were the pupils who. in time, got the an
nual gold medal, and who are now con-
spicuously successful artists Talent dis |
played at the outset is exceedingly likely to |
be OF purely superficial, slap-dash order, |
Incapable of much further development.
For instance. there was young woman
who came here several years ago who |
could. in five minutes, sketch from mem |
ory, with bit Of crayon. as perfect a |
venus %as we Ma hep as eyer saM But the
nothing else. After weeks of instruction. |
she could not draw q plaster cast of a |
mans arm with any sort of skill even ap- |
TO give her up. In common with MANY |
others, she possessed what is known as |
the 'skin-deep' talent for drawing, exhibit |
ed In single subject, and 1t is as idle to !
attempt to carry on the instruct ton of such |
persons as 1t is to endeavor to instruct per
sons in music who cannot carry an ordi- |
nary air In their heads. 1t is the slow fire |
that burns the longest, and 1 have learned |
TO thoroughly believe In Carlyle's maxim |
that genius Is an infinite capacity for tax |
ing palms,"
Negligence Discouraged.
Students who start in to work with a
will, and then gradually permit their inter- |
est In their studies to relax, quickly dis |
cover that there Is a corresponding lack of |
interest on the part of the instructor at the
Corcoran School. Professor Andrews re- |
CARDS with such disfavor the students who |
habitually make a practice Of absenting
themselves from their respective classes |
that the delinquents soon discover the de- |
STABILITY of Withdrawing from the school. |
When the instructor passes by the easels |
OF pupils OF this negligent character with |
out commenting, either favorably or un- |
favorably. upon their work. they cannot |
fail to draw the inference that their lack Of |