The Growth of Leaves.
There are certain forms of growth that belong to different plant families. In drawing from flowers and plants, these family likenesses must always be truthfully shown. A rose leaf does not grow like the leaf of a thistle, and a pine needle is not at all like the thick, round pad of a water-lily.
On this page are shown different growths from trees and plants that you know. Find the sketch of the slender leaves of the pine; the palmate or hand-like leaves of the horse-chestnut, with its seven leaflets growing from one footstalk; the honeysuckle, whose leaves sit closely on the stem; the familiar clover, with its three-parted leaf; the rose, and the wandering jew, or joint plant. Study the ways in which these different growths are expressed.
Bring twigs or sprays of different trees and plants, and draw them carefully with pencil. These are good studies for your sketch-book.
Interesting Growth of a Vegetable.
Vegetables from the garden make fine studies to draw and to paint. Almost any fruit or vegetable is more interesting if studied as it grows. We do not often choose to paint or draw a single flower without its stem, leaves, buds, and all of the parts that are included when we speak of its growth. It is the presence of all of these shapes that gives variety to a drawing. Do you not think the sketch of the tomato is much more interesting because it shows the growth of the plant? The leaves, stems, stalks, and the large and small tomatoes make an attractive arrangement of shapes. They were first drawn just as they appeared, and then the finder was moved about upon the sketch, to find its most beautiful part.
Beans, peas, beets, turnips, radishes, and many other vegetables may be brought from the school garden or from the garden at home, to use in a drawing lesson. A growth of cucumber vine would be an interesting study. Make a brush or charcoal drawing from something of this kind, and then use your finder to select the most interesting part. Cut out your "finder" picture and mount it neatly.
The Growth of the Orange Tree.
A Familiar Fruit. When you see the bright pyramids of oranges on fruit-stands or in store windows, do you wonder where the fruit comes from, or upon what kind of a tree it grows? In certain parts of our country there are a great many orange trees, and the children of Florida and Southern California know them as well as the children of the north know apple or cherry trees.
The Orange Tree. Look at the picture of the tree, on page 29. It is not a tree that one would choose to put in a landscape, because it is not what is called picturesque—it is too trim, even, and regular. Its chief beauty is in its coloring. Its "spheres of golden sunshine" hang in the midst of glossy, dark green leaves, and sometimes the fruit stays on the tree until the buds and blossoms of a new crop appear. It is no uncommon sight to see an orange tree bearing leaves, buds, blossoms, and fruit, all at the same time. One of the sketches shows you a spray of orange blossoms. They are white and waxy, with a strong, sweet fragrance.
Gathering the Fruit. Sometimes, the trees are so heavily laden with fruit that props are put under the branches to keep them from breaking off before the crop is ready to be gathered. The fruit is not allowed to fall from the tree, but when it is ripe an army of pickers, each one provided with a cutter and a canvas bag, comes to the grove. The pickers do not climb the tree and shake the boughs, as you would do if you were gathering nuts, but they mount ladders, carefully cut each orange from its twig, and put it in the bag. The bags, when filled, are emptied into boxes, which are carried to the packing house. There the oranges are sorted into lots, according to size, wrapped in tissue-paper—each orange by itself—and packed in boxes for shipment. You have seen them in their tissue wrapping, after they have reached their journey's end.
Designs from the Orange. One of the sketches on page 29 shows the growth of some oranges with their leaves and twigs. Below is a design made by repeating the shapes of the orange, its leaves and stem. Any shape or group of shapes that is repeated in a design is called a unit. Do you know what suggested the unit shown in one of the small sketches above the tree?
Sketch from the growth of any fruit you can get. Try to make from the shapes you find in your own study, a simple unit of design.
People and Animals.
An Out-of-door Picture. On the opposite page is a picture that seems to invite you to close your books and go into the country for a picnic or for a day's fishing. You cannot look at the grassy meadow, the little river, the tall trees, the distant hills and woods, without wishing that you might be there. What fun it would be to sit on those big, flat stones and dabble your feet in the water while you ate your lunch, or to hold your fish-pole over one of the deep pools, "where the gray trout lies asleep!"
A New Interest. If any one should ask you to tell what part of the picture interested you most, what would you say? Would you think first of the stream, its pleasant banks, the tall trees, the large stones, the distant hills and fields? Or would you say at once that it was the presence of the boys in the picture that first attracted you? You wonder where they came from, where they are going, what they are carrying over their shoulders and in their hands. You are glad that there are two boys instead of one in the picture, for in your own sports and games the pleasure is doubled if some one is with you.
Our Companions and Friends. Suppose you were able to live in that part of the world that seems most beautiful to you. Do you think that the landscape alone, or the most interesting of plants and flowers would be enough to make you happy? No matter how much you enjoyed these things, or how much you might love the beautiful country, nothing could take the place of companions and friends. No books or toys or fine houses could keep you from being lonely if you had no one to talk to or to play with. Our brothers and sisters and friends are worth all the books and toys and fine houses in the world.
Our Friends among the Animals. We have many good friends, too, among the animals. It is true they cannot talk with us, but some of them seem to understand what we say to them, and they show us in many ways what they think and how they feel. Do you not know when your dog is glad or sorry, thirsty or hungry, proud or ashamed? How does he tell you?
Drawing our Friends. In the chapter that follows, you will study your playmates,—the boys and girls that you know and like,—and some of your friends among the animals. You will learn to draw them as they look, and to express their action just as you expressed what you discovered about flowers.
Drawing from a Pose.
Little children with their bright dresses and picturesque bonnets make delightful studies for us to draw and to paint. They are generally glad to "pose" for a few minutes, while having their pictures taken.
The sketch of this little child was made from the pose, in a school-room. The little girl stood on a table in front of the pupils and held a string, which was fastened to a toy boat. The color and shape of her sunshade and of the color-mass of her dress, the position of her arm, the size and length of her legs and feet, were all carefully studied and drawn. The blue waters of the lake, the sail-boat, and the sandy shore, were added from memory to complete the picture.
Make a pose drawing from your small brother or sister, or from some little friend. A pink or blue bonnet might be used as part of the costume, instead of a hat. Let the pose represent some character or occupation. Add a very simple landscape. Use water-color or colored crayons.
Different Positions of the Same Pose.
In your study of plants you found that the appearance of a leaf or flower depended upon its position. In making a picture of a daisy as it grows, we do not show the exact size and shape of leaves and petals, as they would look if we laid them on paper and traced around them. Such a drawing, while it might show certain facts of the plant, would not tell the truth about its appearance.
In drawing from boys and girls, also, we must study appearances. We know that our model has two eyes and two ears, and that the nose is in the middle of the face. Yet the model may stand so that we do not see all or any of those features. Study the four drawings above, and tell how the girl is standing in each sketch.
One of your schoolmates will pose while you make four five-minute sketches from four different positions of the same pupil. Make large drawings, using charcoal or crayon. Your model should not stand more than five minutes without resting.
Three Steps in Pose Drawing.
When you drew the shapes of trees, you found that if you made a mistake in the proportions of a tree you could not make the picture truthful by drawing the branches, the foliage, or the little twigs ever so perfectly.
So it is in drawing from the figure. Suppose you plan a sketch that is ten inches from the top of the head to the foot. A good way to do would be to draw a light line or place two dashes, to indicate the height. Then decide how much of that height is needed for the head; for the waist; for the length of skirt or trousers; for the legs and feet. Next, think about the width and shape of these various parts, and sketch them in as lightly and brokenly as the lines are in the first sketch on this page. If your work is correct up to this point, you can finish the shapes a little more, as in the second sketch. You will now have studied the shapes and proportions of the things of most importance in the sketch. Then the masses of light and dark may be expressed.
From the pose of one of your schoolmates, try one large sketch, done by the three stages shown above. Use charcoal or crayon.
Some Proportions of the Human Figure.
Although these skeleton figures are stiff and angular in appearance, from them you can learn something about the human figure that you will be glad to know. In each of them the thigh line is exactly half way between the top of the head and the foot. The knee-joint is half way between the thigh line and the foot. The shoulder line is placed at the base of the neck, and the elbow-joint is between two slanting lines that represent the lower and upper arm.
A knowledge of these things will help you in drawing the garments or clothes of a pose. The waist is a little above the thigh line, and is so drawn in Figure 4. The bottom of the blouse in Figure 2 is a little below the waist line, but is still above the thigh line. Stand up and hold your arms close to your sides, and notice where the tip of the middle finger comes, in relation to the knee-joint. Be careful not to draw the arms too short or too long.
Draw two skeleton figures like Figure 1. Make them at least four inches tall. On one skeleton draw the garments of a boy, carefully studying the clothes worn by a real boy. The other is to be dressed like a girl.
Actions and Attitudes of the Human Figure.
Action and attitude, as well as proportion, can be expressed by the simple line figures on this page. You do not need the second and fourth sketches to tell you of the action expressed in the first and third.
In the figures on page 35, the lines were nearly all vertical and horizontal; the figures were standing still. In Figure 1 on this page, you notice that every line is slanting; the figure expresses action. Stand erect, and think of the direction of lines that your body takes. Then push hard with both hands against a wall. You can feel that your erect position is changed. The vertical lines become slanting, or oblique.
Study the lines and their changed relations in Figure 3. Draw several line sketches that express a familiar action, such as walking, jumping, running, lying, or sitting. "Clothe" these action sketches.
Hands and Feet.
You have drawn from the figure long enough to find out that hands and feet are by no means the easiest things in the world to draw. Like almost everything else, they change their appearance with every change of position. We cannot learn to draw a hand or a foot so that we can use it in all kinds of poses. We can only learn to see the different sizes and shapes which each new position shows, and try to draw them as they appear.
The sketches on this page are good studies for you to copy. When you can do this well, try to draw the hands or feet of one of your friends. Sometimes a pair of boots or rubbers may be placed in exactly the same position that they would be in were the pose actually standing. Practice drawing from studies like these until you are better able to see shapes, and to draw them truthfully.
An Animal Pose.
Have you a dog that will sit up and beg, or carry a basket? Perhaps he would not object to posing in school, with his master or mistress.
If your teacher can arrange for a lesson of this kind, choose large paper, and sketch rapidly with charcoal or crayon. Begin with the dog, for he will change his position soon, and you must get quickly the main lines that will show his attitude and shape. Then you can sketch the figure of the boy or girl after the dog has grown tired.
Do you notice in the picture, the fine arrangement of light and dark? The boy's light waist contrasts well with his dark trousers and cap. The little dog, too, is more attractive because of his white spotting. Finish your drawing by adding dark masses, as suggested by the pose.
Actions and Attitudes of Animals.
You will enjoy making skeleton sketches of animals. On this page are shown three different positions of a dog. Very few lines are used in Figure 1, yet they are so placed that you know at once the animal that is represented, its attitude, and its shape. Lines that tell the important facts about an object are called leading lines. The skeleton figures we have been studying show us the leading lines in certain attitudes of people and animals. If the leading lines of any object are correctly drawn, the finished sketch is almost sure to be good.
From the pose of a dog, or of any other animal that you can study, make leading line sketches. Before you try to clothe these skeletons, study carefully the proportions expressed by your first drawing. If a mistake is there, correct it. Then study and draw the shapes and sizes of head, legs, tail, ears, etc. Sometimes parts of your leading lines can be used, as parts of the finished outline. Use pencil or charcoal for work of this kind. These are good studies for your sketch-book.
The Spotting, or Light and Dark Values, of Animals.
When you wish a more finished sketch of an animal, you should first study and draw the leading lines, just as you did in the lesson before this. The proportions and shapes of all parts of the sketch must be true, before any thought is given to the planning of eyes, ears, nose, or any other small feature. If you are able to express quickly, with a few lines, the most important facts, it will not matter so much if the pose moves about or changes position. We cannot expect a dog or a pigeon to keep one position until we have made a finished sketch. The quick use of eyes and pencil will enable you to make notes of something that you can work on after the pose has changed position.
Study an animal pose, and plan to make a large sketch that will show its coloring, or values of light and dark. A black and white cat, or a spotted rabbit will do as well as a dog. Let the animal take a natural position on a table before the class. Sketch the leading lines that show this position. Then draw the shape of the head and body, the legs and tail. When all these shapes and proportions are truthfully expressed, add the dark masses that show the spotting of the animal.
Study of a Pigeon.
In the beautiful city of Venice is one of the most celebrated cathedrals in the world. It is called the Cathedral of St. Mark. The front of the building faces a large open space, which is surrounded on three sides by ancient palaces of marble. These old buildings, with their arches and towers, and the nooks and crannies of the cathedral, form fine nesting places for pigeons, and hundreds and thousands of them are found flying about the square. Years ago, the pigeons were fed at the city's expense, and any one who injured or killed one of them was fined or put in prison. The people thought that the pigeons brought peace and prosperity to their city, and kept it from being swallowed by the waves. If you should visit the square today, and should bring with you one of the little bags of corn that the street venders sell for a penny, you would be instantly surrounded by pigeons.
Study a pet pigeon, which some one will bring to school. Notice the oval shape of the body, the beautiful curve of the wings, and the lovely spotting of light and dark values. The legs are set far back on the body, and they and the little feet are as red as a rose.
Draw the leading lines with a brush stroke of light gray. Study carefully the proportions of head, body, wings, tail, legs, and feet. When these are correctly drawn, add the dark and middle values, to show spotting.
"Life and Action" Shown in a Masterpiece.
Of all pictures in the world probably none are more interesting to us than those which tell us of the lives of people; of their work, their times of rest, their joys and their sorrows. You probably know many of the pictures of Millet, who painted the simple country life of French peasants, as they worked in the fields, watched their flocks, or cared for their children at home. Millet's pictures make us feel great respect for a man or woman who works.
The picture shown you on this page is from a painting called "Loading the Cart," by Anton Mauve, a native of Holland. He, like Millet, was a painter of quiet country landscapes and farm life. In this picture, notice how few are the shapes and masses he has cared to paint. He seems to have thought only of the big things—the sky, the ground, a clump of trees, a bending figure, a patient horse, a loaded cart. It is the artist's task to show us the beauty which lies in a simple country scene like this.
Anton Mauve was born in 1848 and died in 1888. He made his first exhibition of paintings in America at Philadelphia in 1876.
Home Exercises.
Learning to See Beauty.
How We See Things. The best thing that our lessons in drawing and painting can do for us is to teach us to see. To truly see a thing means that eyes and brains must work together. Our eyes must look and our brains must think; that is what gives us the power to see.
Interesting Things Out of Doors. When you were making a special study of landscape, you found that many things out of doors that you had not thought about before, became very interesting to you. You began to notice the colors of the sky and earth, the shapes of trees, the forms of clouds, the change from day to night. These things had always been around you, but you had not thought about them, and so you had not really seen them.
Observing Our Surroundings. Your lessons from flowers and plants, and from birds and animals help you to see and enjoy much more in nature than you did before. A walk in the country, or even along the city street, is never dull to one who is interested in what is going on around him, and whose eyes are trained to really see.
Beauty in Common Things. Not all of the beauty of the world is out of doors. Things about us in our homes are often interesting in their character, and they should be beautiful as well. The picture on the opposite page shows you an old-fashioned kitchen fireside. The wide hearth, the logs of wood, the andirons, the pots and kettles hanging over the fire, all give you a sense of homely comfort and cheer. Would you not like to draw your chair close to the blazing logs on a cold winter night, and roast apples, or pop corn, while the wind howled and roared up the big chimney? There is real beauty in this picture of home and the common things of every-day use.
Finding and Expressing Beauty. In the houses we live in nowadays, there may be no kitchen fireplaces like this; but the thought that we get from the picture is that beauty may be found in those things for which we sometimes care the least. Let us study the common dishes we cook with, the vegetables that come from market or garden, the furniture we use every day. Let us discover for ourselves whether these things are beautiful or ugly. If beauty is there, let us find it, and show it to others. If we enjoy those things which are really beautiful, we shall find them everywhere, and if we try, we ourselves shall be able to do something which will add, in some small way, to the beauty of the world in which we live.
A Bowl in Charcoal Mass.
The bowl from which this sketch was made is of common earthenware, not unlike the clay used in making flower-pots or tiles. Although this material is neither costly nor rare, articles made from it are beautiful, if they are pleasing in shape and proportion, tasteful in coloring, and well adapted to their uses.
This little bowl was probably meant to hold short-stemmed flowers. Notice that it is low and broad, with a wide mouth or top. It will hold plenty of water for its purpose and will not easily be upset. The inner curve near the top suggests a vase or flower holder. A bowl designed for holding liquids or liquid food would probably be without this curve in its outline.
The simple coloring of the bowl has also been carefully planned. It is not by accident that the glaze on the inside is in darker value than the outside color. This contrast of light and dark is one of the elements of beauty. Look for it in things about you, and try to show its effect in sketches that you make.
Choose a bowl of simple form showing light and dark contrasts. Place it at some distance from you, so that you can see a little way into it. Draw the bowl in charcoal mass, using the flat side of a short piece of charcoal or crayon.
A Wash-Drawing of the Bowl.
The drawing on this page, the one on the page before this, and the two on pages 48 and 49, are all pictures of the same bowl. They do not look alike, because they are done with different materials, or, as we sometimes say, with different mediums. It is well for us to know how to draw with charcoal, brush and ink, pencil, crayons, and water-color, so that we can choose the medium or material that seems best suited to the particular object which we may wish to represent. A good workman understands the use of many tools.
Drawings that are made with a brush and water mixed with ink or color are sometimes called wash-drawings. In such work, light and dark effects are shown, rather than actual color. Wash-drawings differ in character from drawings made with pencil, charcoal, or crayons. You can easily tell which sketches of the bowl were made with a wet medium and which with a dry medium.
In the sketch on this page do you see that there are two values shown on the inside of the bowl? Although the inner glaze was everywhere the same color, the deep shadows in the bowl give the effect of a darker value.
Make a wash-drawing of the bowl you studied in charcoal mass. Do not draw its outline first. Wash in the shape of the top, and then the mass for the front or outer surface. Notice the use made of the white line in suggesting the edge.
The Bowl in Outline.
You know that the true shape of the top of this bowl is a circle. But when the bowl is placed on a table in front of you, its top appears narrower from front to back than it does from left to right. The shape that you have often drawn to show this appearance is called an ellipse. In a circle, all diameters are equal. In an ellipse, one diameter is always longer than the other.
Some ellipses are more beautiful in their proportions than others. If the bowl had been placed in a position where the width of the ellipse looked twice as great from front to back as it is shown here, the sketch would be less pleasing. Generally, a narrow ellipse is more beautiful than a wide one, and in arranging objects like the bowl for studies, we should be careful to place them so that the ellipses do not appear too wide from front to back. The beauty of the proportions of an ellipse has much to do with the beauty of the whole drawing.
Make an outline drawing from a bowl, carefully studying its shape, and the proportions of the ellipse seen at the top. Sketch the ellipse first, beginning at the middle of the front edge, and drawing the shape with one stroke of the pencil. Try to draw the sides of the bowl just alike. Place a table-line in the proper place. A table-line suggests a surface on which an object may rest.
The Bowl in Color.
Artists and other people who draw and paint often speak of objects such as you have lately been studying as "still life."
"Still life" means objects without life, like most of those studied in this chapter, although fruits and flowers are also frequently included. Mounted birds and insects or other animal forms from which life has gone are also classed as still life. It would be correct to speak of the drawing on this page as a study of still life. The group on page 50, the familiar objects shown on page 51, and the lanterns on page 54 are all examples of the kind of objects that are included under the head of still life.
The little bowl appears again, now, perhaps, in its most attractive way. It is always a delight for us to see a beautiful bit of color. In studying the sketch, you can see how freely and simply the brush has done its work, showing the fresh, clear color of the bowl, the darker value of the inner lining, and the gray-violet shadow cast upon the table.
Make a water-color painting of a simple piece of still life, choosing a color not too brilliant. Make the entire drawing with the brush, trying not to "work" your colors until the life and freshness are lost.
A Group of Still Life.
Here are two common articles that might be found in any kitchen. The dish is a sort of earthenware kettle, and shows that it was designed for cooking purposes. It is provided with short legs and a handle or bail. The legs serve as supports for the kettle, and keep its rounding surface from rocking, while the handle is useful in lifting the kettle and its contents from the fire.
The kettle is simple in form, of pleasing proportions, and shows a good contrast of light and dark values. As you study the sketch, notice the drawing of the rim. Is it of the same thickness at every point? Study the appearance of rims in different bowls, and find out where they appear thickest.
The beet is decidedly darker in value. It is less regular in shape, and its surface differs in quality from the hard, smooth surface of the kettle.
Choose for a group two common objects of household use, that seem to belong together. In your group you should have something large and something small; something tall and something short; something light and something dark; something near and something far.
Sketch your group lightly in outline, and finish in charcoal mass.
A Growing Plant.
Hyacinths and tulips grow easily indoors, and their bright blossoms fill the florists' windows just at the time when we are beginning to grow tired of winter and to look forward to the coming of spring. You can plant bulbs so that they will grow and blossom in the school-room. There is nothing more beautiful for a window decoration than a row of tulips, hyacinths, or daffodils.
A growing plant of this kind is a fine study in still life. We enjoy looking at it, and we become much interested in trying to express its beauty. We are beginning to understand some of the elements or laws of beauty.
Let us study the drawing on this page. We have found that a group of still life, a spray of plant growth, or a landscape should show variety in shapes, in sizes of shapes, and in light and dark, or values. Does the hyacinth show these contrasts? Notice the shape of the mass of bloom, as differing from the shapes of the long, slender leaves, the stem, and the flower-pot. You will also find large shapes and small in different parts of the sketch. The flower-pot and the mass of bloom are large in proportion to the leaves and stem. Contrast and variety in color you can easily see.
Make a drawing with colored crayons or with water-colors from a growing plant, in bloom. Select one that shows simple growth, few leaves, and a bright mass of color in the blossom.
The Plant in Values.
It is often well to paint in grays a study that you have painted in color. On page 9 is a picture in values of the sunset scene on page 8. While we cannot express the actual color of objects with anything but color, we can show the light and dark effect of color with a gray medium, such as pencil or charcoal, ink or charcoal-gray water-color.
In using a gray medium, we must try to keep our contrasts as well marked as though we were using the actual color itself. Suppose in this wash-drawing of the hyacinth, the flower, the leaves, and the flower-pot had all been of the same value. Can you not imagine how much such a picture would lose in interest? The difference in values, in the picture on this page, suggests to us the difference in color seen in the plant. If you look again at the drawing of the hyacinth on page 52, you will see that the darkest colors in it are the red-violet of the blossom and the red-gray of the flower-pot. These are represented in the wash-drawing by dark gray. The gray-green of the leaves is shown in a lighter gray value.
In washing in the flower-pot, the flange, together with the ellipse for the top, should be drawn first. Then the base can be added, in a value which is deepened a little directly under the flange.
Select a plant in bloom, from which to make a wash-drawing. A tulip or a daffodil would make a good study. Study its growth, the shapes and sizes of its different parts, the values of its blossom, leaves, and stems, and of the jar in which it grows. Show how beautiful a picture of a plant and its bright flower may be made, without the use of color.
The Accented Line.
Have you ever heard any one read aloud in an even tone of voice, without changing the pitch or giving what is called expression to the story? You soon grow tired of listening to such reading even though the words are distinctly spoken. The same thing read with the right accent and inflection will hold your attention. You will enjoy and remember what is well read, because more truth and beauty are brought out by beautiful expression.
It is so in our drawing. We can make pictures of objects in a way that will give the facts of their forms and proportions, and still will not show the real beauty and character of those objects. Compare the two sketches of the barrel at the top of this page. Sketch B gives the facts of the barrel as well as Sketch A. But who would care for a picture that expressed so little of real interest? In Sketch A you feel the roundness or width of the barrel from back to front, and the quality of its rough and splintered surface. The line that is used to express all this is called an accented line. Such a line is varied in strength, being deepened in some places to express certain accents of form or color, and lightened in others. Sometimes it is broken off altogether, the eye seeming to continue the outline. It differs from the even, uniform line used in Sketch B just as the even, monotonous voice in reading differs from the voice that is full of expression and feeling.
Select a basket, or a wooden box of somewhat rough surface, and make an outline sketch, using the accented line.
Japanese Lanterns in Values.
The wash-drawings on this page show some Japanese lanterns that are beautiful in their light and dark quality, as well as in their color. They are fine studies in values. The lantern on the left was red, with violet spots; the light one just behind was yellow, with blue and red spots; and the right lantern was a soft dark green at the top, blending to light green at the bottom. The dark bands and the wooden hangers provide sharp contrasts in values, and give character and accent to the picture.
Choose two or three lanterns of contrasting colors, sizes, and shapes. Arrange them on a cord, hung across the corner of the room. It does not matter whether they hang above or below the level of your eyes. Paint them in values of ink or charcoal-gray.
Selecting with a Finder an Interesting Arrangement of Shapes.
You will remember that you used a finder upon certain sketches, in order to select parts that seemed more interesting than others. Any drawing looks much better if the space around it is carefully planned and adapted to the shapes shown in the drawing. This is the reason we use a finder on a sketch like that on page 55. Although the lantern on the right is well drawn and is a pleasing part of the whole sketch, it seems to have received added beauty in the left sketch on this page. It has been taken away from other interests, and placed within an enclosure which is well adapted to its shape, size, and color. The gray oblong at the bottom brings the eye to a part of the picture, not so important as the lantern. This oblong would be a good place for the initials or name of the artist, which should be as thoughtfully placed as any other part of the sketch.
See what a different enclosure is used in the second selection. The two lanterns make a large dark mass which needs more space. The dark name-place on the right is placed just where it is most needed.
Use a finder on the sketch of lanterns you made. Find a beautiful arrangement of shapes, adjusting the finder until you have found the enclosure and the shapes that suit you best. Cut out your selection and mount it neatly.