742 ^ C65f cop, 2 Return this book on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/firstlessonsinpeOOcoeb FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, SKETCHING FROM NATURE; DESIGNED FOR SCHOOLS. A TEACHER. SAXTON & MILES. 1846 . <1 i * I Entered accordin;^ to the Act of Congress in the year 1846, by B. H- Coe, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern Distiict of New York. .1. A. Fkaetas, Pkintf.r f No. 7 Spnice-st. S WINKLER AUG lo 1943 PERSPECTIVE. 1 Perspective is the art of drawingthe ouilinesor pictures of objects, just as they would appear on a pane of glavss held upright, between the objects and the eye of the spectator. The Perspective Plane is the surface of the paper, canvass, or other material on which the picture is drawn. Difference between a Map and a Perspective Drawing. Hold a pane of glass horizontally over a small square ta- ble, or box ; look down through it with one eye, or almost close both, and you will see the top of it in its tfue shape, or with some water color, in a small brush, you can draw it on the glass : this would be a Map or Plan. Now stand directly in front of the table, but at a little distance from it, hold your perspective plane (pane ol glass) upright be- fore you, and you will see it in this shape : Now move a little so that the right edge of the table will go directly from you, still keep the perspective plane paral- lel with the front, and it will appear in this form : Now turn so far round that neither side of the table shall 4 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, be parallel with the perspective plane, and it will have this appearance. The Size of a Drawing or Picture depends on the dis- tance of the perspective plane from the eye. Mold the perspective plane close to the eye, and a chair or other object before you will appear on it only an inch or two in height ; but hold the plane a little from you and it will not be large enough to include the whole object. So if you draw an extended view on a small surface, you must imagine the perspective plane to be near the eye. In paint- ing a likeness, if the perspective plane is supposed to be near the Artist the picture is drawn small and is called a wAyiiature^ but if the perspective plane is supposed to be close to the sitter the picture is then drawn the size of life and is called a portrait. Objects appear large in proportion to the size of the ang le they form in the eye. A person of the same height appears at the distance of one rod from the eye, twice as tall as another at the distance of two rods, or three times as tall as another at the distance of three rods, &c. Figure 5, represents four columns of the same height, and of equal distance from the eye, and from each other. In the same angle you see twice as much of the second, three times as much of the third, and four times as much of the fourth as you do of the first. The two dotted lines coming to the eye from the top and bottom of the farther column represent rays of light and are called visual rays. AND SKETCHING THOM NATURE. 6 A horizontal ray of light extending directly from the eye to the point of sight, or nearest point on the perspec- tive plane, is called the principal visual ray. Perpendicular and Horizontal Lines, Hold your perspective plane (pane of glass) upright be- fore your eye, examine all the lines in the room, and in different directions, and you will discover : — I. That perpendicular lines never vary, but always ap- pear perpendicular on the perspective plane or picture. II. Horizontal lines when parallel with the perspective plane always appear horizontal. III. Horizontal lines when just the height of your eye always appear level on the picture. IV. Horizontal lines which are higher than your eye, and are not parallel with the perspective plane, descend as they go from you. V. Horizontal lines which are below the eye, and are oblique with the perspective plane, always appear to rise as they retire from you. Hold your perspective plane parallel with a door and it will be seen in its true shape, the perpendicular lines will ap- pear so on the picture, and all the horizontal lines will ap- pear horizontal. Now let the door be half opened : the per- pendicular lines are still perpendicular, but the front one has increased its length ; the horizontal lines have be- come much shorter, and none of them appear level on your picture unless one happens to be just the height of your eye. Horizontal Line and point of Sight. A level line drawn on the perspective plane and held before you at just the height of your eye is called the hori- zontal line^ and a dot marked on this line directly oppo- site the eye is called the point of sight. Point of sight the principal vanishing point. If you stand in the middle of a long level street, or on the track of a rail road, or at one end of a room, or a long covered bridge you will observe all the lines seem to con- verge as they retire, and would if continued, appear to meet in a point at just the height of your eye. Or if the per- spective plane were held before your eye, they would all vanish in the point of sight. 6 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE Fasten a thread to one end of the room at just the height of your eye, stand at the opposite end of the room and di- rectly in front of the point to which the thread is attached. Let one take the other end of the thread and place it on any level line in the room, as the edge of a table, mantle corner of the ceiling, or floor, or any line in the room which goes in the same direction you are looking (ie.) if you look exactly north let him apply it to any level line in the room going north, and you will see the line appear to rise or descend just as the thread does. Now it makes no dif- ference where the thread is applied to these lines, nor is it material whether it be attached to the point on the op- posite wall, or to a point exactly the height of the eye and a mile before it ; for in either case it would vanish in the point of sight, and would appear precisely of the same length on the picture. Parallel Perspective, When you stand directly before a house, you see only the front and would draw it in its true proportionSj this would be a plan or elevation. Now if you stand a few feet to the right or left in addition to the front you have a view of one side, but the drawing of the front will be the same as before if you still keep the perspective plane paral- lel with it, and as the level lines on the side of the house, are at right angles with the perspective plane, or in other words, as they go in the same direction you are looking, they must vanish in the point of sight. Figure 6, S /\ / \ / \ represents a box seen directly in front the lines of the top converge, and meet in the point of sight on the horizon*- tal line. Neither end is seen. AND SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 7 Figure 7. The same box viewed on the right hand, the front be- ing still parallel with the perspective plane is drawn just as before. All the other level lines are at right angles with the picture or are parallel with the principal visual ray and must vanish in the point of sight S, because, the eye of the spectator is supposed to be exactly before that point. To obtain the width of the Box- Hold up your perspective plane, notice carefully how much space the top occupies, compared with the height already drawn, and make it in that proportion on your pic- ture. That is, if the height of the box occupies one inch on the perspective plane, and the width of the top but half an inch, draw it half as wide as it is high. The end may then be drawn to correspond with the width of the top. The proportions may be obtained in the same way by marking them on the edge of your picture, or a pencil may be held up for the same purpose. Figure 8. 8 FIRST LESSONS TN PERSPECTIVE, A table seen on the right hand in parallel perspective, the bottoms of the legs vanish in the same point as the top, be- cause they are parallel with it. If your horizontal line be made too high or low the drawing will still be in true perspective if you imagine the eye to be so much higher or lower than the point from which you view it. So if you place the point of sight far- ther to the right or left than you actually view it, the per- spective will still be correct if you imagine the eye to be just opposite that point. Figure 9. Two houses seen in parallel perspective on the oppo- site sides of a street. The ends next you together with the windows are drawn in their true proportions as they are parallel with your picture, the sides with the door and windows next the street appear quite narrow because they are viewed obliquely. The bottom of the cottage is level, because it stands on a bank which is on the horizontal line, or just the height of your eye. All the level lines next the street vanish in the point of sight S, because they are at right angles with your picture and parallel with the principal visual ray. AND SKETCHINa FROM NATURE. 9 Figure 10 . An interior in parallel perspective. The farther end of the room and pictures on it, with the end of the bureau and sofa next you are all drawn in their real shape, because they are parallel with your picture. The side walls, ceil- ing and floor all converge towards the point of sight S., and if the room were a mile long the opening of the extreme end would be seen at that point and would not appear so large as a pea when held near the eye. Observe in most of the above figures you have but three kinds of lines, and there are but three directions in which any of them can be drawn. I. Perpendicular lines which never vary, but are always drawn perpendicular. II. Level lines which are parallel with the perspective plane, and are always drawn level. III. Level lines which going directly from you are at right angles with your picture, and must always be drawn to the point of sight. OsLiauE Perspective. When you look towards one corner of a table, house box, (fee., neither of the sides will be parallel with your 10 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, picture, and your drawing will be in oblique perspective. In this case, none of the level lines can be drawn level un- less they happen just the height of your eye. The two Vanishing Points of rectangular Figures will be at an angle of 90 degrees from the eye. Figure 11, represents a block of buildings one side of which yon may suppose on a street going north and the other on a street going east or exactly at right angles with the former. The spectator is supposed to stand on the opposite corner of the street at E. V and V R, the two vanishing points make a right angle with the eye of the spectator. The level line from V to V R, is the horizontal line. It the buildings were continued for miles on either side, those on the right could never be seen beyond a line going exactly east from the eye, nor could those on the left ever appear beyond a line going just north from it; but as the buildings and width of the street diminish as they recede on each side, they would at length vanish in two points at a right angle from the eye. If you were to took at the buildings through the perspective plane, the points where the two sides vanish would appear in the same direction on the picture, or would be seen at the same angle. If the perspective plane were held near the eye the vanishing points on it would be near together, if held at a greater distance they would be farther apart, but in either case, they would make a right angle with the eye. Place a box at a little distance from one corner of a square table, so that its sides shall be parallel with the sides of the table ; attach the middle of a thread to the up- jkND SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 11 per, nearest corner of the box, let the ends of it be suspen- ded over the edges of the table by small weights which may be kept in their places by pins, Figure 12 . as shown in figure 12, where the spectator is supposed to look towards one corner of the table with his eye a little above the top of the box. In this case, the level lines of the table and of the box rise as they go from the observer, and the sides of each would vanish in their respective points on the horizontal line. Figure 13 , represents the box in the same position on the table, the bottom of which, and the upper edge of the table are pre- cisely level, because they are now supposed to be on the horizontal line. Bring the eye close to the corner of the table E, and you will see the two lower lines of the box appear level, but the upper edges of the box appear to go down towards the sides of the table just as the thread does, 12 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, and as the comer of the table makes an angle of 90 de- grees it shows the two vanishing points of rectangular ob- jects, to be at that angle from the eye. Place the perspective plane on the table between the eye and the box, and you will notice the upper edges of the box appear to descend on the picture in the same direction as the thread, and that the two vanishing points, though near together in proportion as the plane is held near the eye, are still seen at an agle of 90 degrees on the picture. If the box were removed farther from you so that the sides should vanish several yards apart, they would still be seen at the same distance from each other on the perspec- tive plane, for they would vanish at the same angle of 90 degrees* Now if you turn the box a little, so as to. see one side more obliquely, you will find that side does not appear to follow the direction of the thread as before, but will go down more rapidly, or will vanish sooner : and as the op- posite side is less oblique, or is nearer parallel with your picture, it will vanish farther from the eye. But in all cases, the two vanishing points vrill make the same angle ; for if one side vanish at an angle of 45 degrees on the left, the other vanishing point will be 45 degrees on the right, which make 90. Or if one side vanish at 60 degrees on the left, the other will be at 30 on the right which make 90. Figure 14. A Box in Oblique Perspective, The level lines on the left appear to rise more than those on the right, because they are more oblique with the perspective plane, or go more directly from you. The key hole is a little beyond the centre, because the nearest half of the box appears larger than the other. The vanishing lines on the right would if continued meet in a point on the horizontal line H* AND SKETCHING FROM NATUHE. 13 Figure 15. To draw a Door. In figure 15 the frame is drawn in its real shape because it is parallel with the perspective plane, but as the door is partly open, it becomes oblique with the picture and the edges and pannels vanish on the horizontal line H. Now if you stand so far to the left as to make the door parallel with your picture, that must be drawn in its true shape and the frame must be made to vanish. Point of Distance, The space between the eye of the draughtsman and the perspective plane is called the distance of the picture. This distance when set off from the point of sight and marked either perpendicular to it or on the horizontal line, is called THE POINT OF DISTANCE. To obtain a distinct view the distance of the picture from the eye should not be less than its length ; that is if you make your drawing one foot long your perspective plane must be held at least one foot from the eye, or if your pic- ture be two feet in length your perspective plane must be supposed to have been at least that distance from you. 14 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE. When you look directly towards the corner of a house, square table, box, &c., so that the two sides make the same angle with the perspective plane, or when you view one side just as obliquely as the other, they will both vanish in the points of distance, that is the vanishing point, for each side will be on the horizontal line at precisely the same distance from the point of sight that your eye is, in front of that point. But if you view one side more obliquely than the other, the vanishing points will not be the distance points as before, but the side seen most obliquely will vanish nearer the point of sight than the distance of your eye from the picture, and the opposite side will vanish be- yond the point of distance. But in drawing rectangular figures, a point made on the centre of the horizontal line will in all cases be at just the same distance from the eye of the draughtsman as it is from each of the two vanishing points. Figure 16 . To Draw a House in Oblique Perspective. 1. From the point E, draw the nearest perpendicular line of the building ; this you may make longer or shorter at pleasure, but when the length is once fixed, let it be a scale by which you determine the measure of all the other lines. AND SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 15 2. Hold a card horizontally before your eye and observe the point wliere it appears to intersect the nearest corner of the house, and this will be the height of your horizontal line, or suppose the house to stand on level ground and the height to the eaves to be 15 feet, your eye will be about 5 feet from the ground, or one third the height of the building. 3. Continue the level line H through the perpendicular A, already drawn, and at one third its height from the ground, this will be your horizontal line. 4. Hold up your perspective plane and ascertain how much the base line of the right hand side of the house ap- pears to rise and draw it at the supposed angle till it meets the horizontal line in V. This will be the vanishing point for all the level parallel lines on that side of the building. 5. To obtain the vanishing point on the left hand side, hold up the perspective plane as before, and consider how much the base line rises, or the angle it makes with the horizontal line and draw it to the point 2 V. Or if you as- sume the perspective plane to be at a particular distance from the eye, the exact vanishing point may be obtained by raising a perpendicular from the point of sight kS. to the distance your eye is supposed to be from the perspective plane. Suppose you hold the plane at such a distance from the eye that the nearest perpendicular line of the house, box, or other object appears on it two inches long, suppose the perspective plane to be three times that distance, or six inches from the eye, then your real distance point or eye would be six inches directly before the point of sight S.; but as you cannot rule a line directly out of the paper towards the eye, you may accomplish the same purpose by setting off the point of distance D perpendicular to the point of sight S, and six inches from it. Remember the line from S to D represents the distance of the eye from the nearest point on the picture. 6. Draw a line from the vanishing point V, to the dis- tance point D. 7. Draw a line from the point D, making a right angle with the line D, V, and continue it till it meets the hori- zontal line in 2 V ; this will give the vanishing point for all the level lines on that side of the building. Suppose the two lines forming a right angle in D, and extending to the two vanishing points, to be a wire bent at 16 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, the same angle in D, and turning on pivots at the points V and 2 V. Hold the figure upright, turn the wire down so that the angle D shall be exactly opposite fhe point of sight S, and it will give the real situation of the eye, or your distance from the picture. So if two lines forming a right angle at the eye of the draughtsman were continued till they meet the horizontal line on the perspective plane they would give ihe same vanishing points as are obtained by setting off an equal dis- tance either above or below the point of sight, and drawing lines at right angles from them till they meet the horizon- tal line. 8. The point of the roof will not be exactly over the cen- tre of the left hand side of the building because the half next you appears the largest, but draw diagonals from the opposite corners, and their point of intersection F will be the true perspective centre. From this point, raise a perpen- dicular to C, the supposed height of the roof. 9. The two oblique lines forming the sides of the roof are in the same direction as the level lines on the corres- ponding sides of the house, except they are slanting, or in- clined to the horizon, and will vanish in a point exactly perpendicular to the point 2 V. 10. The doors and windows if represented in the plate would on each side of the house go to their respective van- ishing points, and as they recede, would decrease in width as they decrease in height. Figure 17, i / I A Perspective View of a Level Walk. The posts stand at equal distances each way so that the first four posts would be the corners of an exact square. AND SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 17 Suppose the wtilk to be just four yards wide, and the spa- ces between the posts as they recede to be of equal width. 1. Draw the two front posts at such a distance apart as you wish to represent them, say two inches. Suppose the posts to be one yard in height, or equal to one fourth the width of the walk, then you must draw them half an inch in height, or one fourth of two inches, the width between your posts already drawn. 2. Consider how much your eye is above the first post, that is, whether it is once, twice or tliree times as high and at the supposed height, draw your horizontal line S D. In the plate, it is drawn just twice the height of the post which supposes your eye to be six feet from the ground. Mark on the horizontal line exactly opposite your eye the point of sight S. 3. From the two front posts draw lines to the point of sight which will give the perspective width of the walk ; draw lines also, from the top of the front posts to the point S, and you will have the perspective height of all the others. 4. Mark on the horizontal line the point of distance D, which represents the distance from the point of sight S, that the eye of the draughtsman is supposed to be in front of it. 5. Draw a line from the bottom of the left hand post to the point of distance, and where it intersects the line already drawn from the right hand post to the point of sight will be the situation of the second right hand post. 6. From this post draw a level line till it meets the op- posite vanishing line of the walk, and it gives the situation of the second post on the left hand. 7. From the second post on the left hand, draw another line to the point of distance and its intersection with the vanishing line will show the situation of the third post on the right hand. Continue the same process till the walk is completed. By setting off another point of distance on the left hand the situation of the posts on that side might be obtained in the same way as those on the right. 18 FIRST LESSONS IN PEKSPECTIVE, Figure 18. To obtain the situation of Windows, From the point N, draw a level line N L, which you may consider the real length of the line N C. Suppose this side of the house to be 25 feet in length and to contain 3 windows, each three feet wide, in all 9 feet. Let each of the four spaces represent 4 feet, or 16 feet in all, which added to 9 feet, the width of the windows makes 25 feet, the true length of the house. On the line N L, set off the windows in their true pro- portions, making the spaces on each side and between them once and a third the width of the windows. Draw a line fiorn the point L, through the corner C till , it meets the horizontal line in H. Draw lines from each of the other points set off on N L to the point H, and exactly under the intersection of these lines in N C, will be the perspective situation and width of the windows. If the line N L had been longer or shorter, the situation of the windows would be the same in case the line L H had been drawn through the corner, C. A Circle when viewed in front appears in its true shape, but when seen obliquely it becomes oval. If a cir- cle were drawn on a door by opening it you would see the perpendicular diameter remain nearly the same, while in the other direction it would become narrow till at length it would vanish. This principle must be applied in drawing cart wheels, arches, the head of a barrel, top of a pail, earthen ves- sels, (kc. AND SKETCHING 1 ROM NATURE. 19 Figure 19. ^ - To square a Circle to be put in Perspective. 1. Describe a circle with a pair of compasses. 2. Enclose this circle in a perfect square. 3. Draw the diagonals A D and B C. 4. Through the points where the diagonals cut the cir- cle draw two perpendicular and two horizontal lines. To put the Circle when thus prepared in Perspective. 1. Parallel with A B draw the horizontal line S D, and observe the lower it is drawn the more oblique you are supposed to view the figure, and the narrower will be the circle. 2. Mark on the horizontal line the point of sight S, which may be made at pleasure perpendicular to the centre of the square already drawn, or on either side of it. In this case the spectator is supposed to be on the right of the square, to be put in perspective. 3. From the termination of the perpendicular lines in A B draw lines to the point of sight S. 20 FIRST LESSONS I’N PERSPECTIVE, 4. On the horizontal line mark D, the point of distance. This may be nearer or farther from the point of sight S, because you can imagine the perspective plane to be nearer or farther from your eye. 5. From the point A, draw a line to the point of distance and when it intersects the line B S, will be the perspective width of the square. 6. From the point of intersection F, draw the line E F parallel with A B, which will complete the perspective square. 7. Draw the diagonal E B. If this were continued to the horizontal line, it would give the other distance point on the right at the same distance from S that D is on the left. 8. Draw the horizontal lines through the points where the diagonals cross the converging rays. 9. You have now obtained points as seen in the figure through which your perspective circle may be traced lightly with a pencil, and afterward be redrawn with a pen. To drav) Flowers in Perspective. You will observe that the leaves of plants can only be drawn in their true shape when one side is exactly parallel with the perspective plane, and that they become longer or shorter, broader or narrower in proportion as they are view - ed more or less obliquely. In sketching plants or flowers from nature, take at first only two or three leaves, put them in a vial of water to confine them in one position ; set your perspective plane close before them ; keep the eye in one position and you will see them on the glass in their true perspective form which you can copy on your paper. Figure 20. AND SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 21 length, but quite narrow, the second pointing towards the picture appears in its full width but much shorter than its true shape. Drawing from Objects, Do not be satisfied with inspecting the figures in this book, but make careful drawings of them. Make them about twice the present size. Rule them lightly at first, using a hard pencil, and the permanent lines may afterward be neatly drawn with a steel pen. Let this exercise be followed by drawing every article of furniture about the house. Draw also, the buildings in the neighborhood. At the same time draw from the eye all kinds of vessels, cooking utensils, and other objects about the house, observing when the surface of any object is viewed obliquely, it is drawn narrow in proportion. In sketching from nature, do not begin with difficult or extended views. A single plant as the dock, thistle, fern, or mullen, a rustic bridge, the decayed trunk of a tree, a rock partly concealed by vines, or briars, or a single cot- tage with one or two trees and a glimpse of the distance will be found suitable objects for first studies. When you wish to include several objects in the same picture, stand at such a distance as to see them distinctly without turning the head, hold up your sketch book about its length before your eye and mark on its edge the situa- tion of the principal objects : after drawing these in their true position the other parts are easily made to correspond. It is best in sketching, to use a rather soft pencil, hav- ing a blunt point with which you can give dark, spirited touches where deep shadows are required. Some artists finish their drawings on the spot, but as this requires much time and patience, most are satisfied with making a careful outline touching in the strongest shadows, making memorandums of other parts, and depend- ing on their recollection for the finish. The sketch may then be re-drawn and shaded at home. In sketching trees do not attempt to imitate the separate leaves ; but if you are at some distance and partly close your eyes, you will see in thick foliage that the prominent masses which project towards you catch the light, and that under them are the deepest shadows. 22 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE, Avoid spotHness, or lights and darks scattered indis- criminately through your picture, but bring your light and dark objects each into distinct groups connecting them by others in middle tint. To make a picture pleasing^ this must be done when necessary, at the expense of making some of the objects darker, and others lighter than they are in nature. But many objects which are subject to change, such as clouds, figures, cattle, sails of vessels, autumnal foliage, (fcc., may be made light or dark at pleasure. The distance in a picture should be soft and indistinct. In the middle ground, the forms should be more definite ; but still keep them in masses and avoid detail. In the foreground the parts should be distinctly drawn, the lights and shadows made strong, and sometimes the branch of a tree or plants, which are quite near, may be finished so as to show the separate leaves. Sketches are either taken from the imagination or from nature. When the imaginary sketch proceeds from the hands of a master, it is very valuable. It is his first con- ception^ which is commonly the strongest, and the most brilliant. With regard to sketching from nature, your first consideration is, to get it in the best point of view ; a few paces to the right or left, make a great difference. The ground which folds awkwardly here, appears to fold more easily there, and that long blank curtain of the castle, which is so unpleasing a circumstance, as you stand on one side, is agreeably broken by a buttress on the other. Having thus fixed your point of view, your next consid- eration is, how to reduce it properly within the compass of your paper. If the landscape before you is extensive, take care you do not include too much : it may, perhaps, be di- vided more commodiously into two sketches. When you have fixed the portion of it you mean to take, fix next on two or three principal points, which you may just markon your paper. This will enable you the more easily to as- certain the relative situation of the several objects. When a sketch is intended to convey, in some degree, our ideas to others, it is necessary it should be somewhat more adorn- ed ; to us, the scene familiar to our recollection, may be suggested by a few rough strokes. In the composition of landscape, alterations may be in- troduced. I hold myself at perfect liberty to dispose the foreground as I please, restrained only by the analogy of AND SKETCHlNCi FROM NATURE. 2;^ the country. 1 take up a tree here, and plant it there. I remove a piece of paling, a cottage, or a wall, which I dis- like. In short; I make a few of those simple variations, of which all ground is easily susceptible, and which, indeed, time itself is continually making. No beauty of light, col- oring, or execution, can atone for the want of composition. It is the foundation of all picturesque beauty. No finery of dress can set ofi* a person, whose figure is awkward and uncouth. In sketching, black lead is the first instrument commonly used. It is enough if you express general shapes, and the relations which the several intersections bear to each other. A few lines drawn on the spot will do this. The leading ideas must be fixed on the spot ; if left to the memory, they soon evaporate. The lines of black lead, and indeed of any one instru- ment, are subject to the great inconvenience of confounding distances. If there are two or three distances in the land- scape, as each of them is expressed by the same kind of line, the eye forgets the distinction, even in half a day’s travelling ; and all is confusion, 'lo remedy this, a few written references made on the spot are necessary, if the landscape be at all complicated. The traveller should be accurate in this point, as the spirit of his own view depends much on the proper observance of distances. At his first leisure, however, he will review his sketch ; add a few strokes with a pen to mark the near grounds ; and by a slight wash of Indian ink, throw in a few general lights and shades, to keep all fixed and in its place. I should advise the traveller by no means to work his adorned sketch upon his general one. His first sketch is the standard, to which, in the absence of nature, he must, at least, recur for his general ideas. By going over it again, the original ideas may be lost, and the whole thrown into confusion. Great masters therefore, always set a high value on their sketches from nature. On the same princi- ple, the picturesque traveller preserves his original sketch (though in itself of little value) to keep him within bounds.” — Gilpm, “ Sketches are extremely valuable to artists and the ad- mirers of art. It is certain that in these hasty productions, there is often a spirit or grace, which is too apt to vanish in the finished performance. The artist’s sketch book, is 24 FIRST LESSONS IN PERSPECTIVE. not only valuable for wiiat it contains as materials for fu- ture practice, but it affords a pleasure in the retrospect, a history of times and places which come with double inter- est to his recollections. Sketches are made in different ways, and with a differ- ence of character in point of care and finish : in some, every form is sedulously made out, and the detail given with the greatest accuracy : others, again, are executed with a rapid pencil, omitting the detail to catch the general resemblance and efect : but this latter style should never be practised till the correct and accurate manner is acquired. Care should be taken against too much minuteness on the one hand, and too much looseness on the other, and of every subordinate quality of art the same, as many are apt to stop at the means, without ever arriving at the power of produ- cing a finished performance. Too much technical skill, will often lose sight of the general character and effect, while the power of fixing the expression and general air, will often lead to the neglect of finishing and detail. It will, therefore, be well to watch these mutual encroachments which often imperceptibly steal on the practice of the artist himself. The sketches of Gainsborough had great freedom, but this artist had studied minutely the character^of every thing he drew. Wilson towards the latter part of his life, contented him- self with marking slightly the forms of his objects : his memorandums were mostly for effect.” — Dagley. UNIVERSrTY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0 12 070053027