The Project Gutenberg eBook of Recreations for Girls, by Lina Beard and Adelia Beard.

for that will depend much upon your own taste and ability. Rather low, flat, dish shapes are most easily handled and variations in the cup or flower-pot shape. After these may come the jars and vases. Set a well-shaped piece of pottery before you as a model to copy, until you have ideas of your own to carry out, and learn to handle your clay before attempting too ambitious a subject.

CHAPTER XVII

THE first chance you have go to Florida; you will be charmed with all you see. Go where the sky is bluest, where winter is changed to summer, where the wild mocking-bird, the Kentucky cardinal, the scarlet tanager, the blue jay and a host of other birds are on most friendly terms with girls and boys. Go where the wild squirrels live unmolested in the beautiful great live-oaks, whose branches are hung with long, soft gray moss which swings and sways with the slightest breeze. There you will find the home of many baby alligators, queer little things whose eyes are provided with three eyelids; one is transparent and slides across sidewise like a window-glass to keep the water out of the eyes when the little fellows want to see what is going on beneath the surface. A number of baby alligators in a dry, sunny spot, will delight in piling upon each other four and five deep. The young owner of twenty of these pets declares that on such occasions all the alligators sleep except one who, wide-awake, acts as sentinel. At the approach of anyone he will swing his long tail over all his companions to awaken them and warn them of the danger that may be near. Fig. 329 was modelled from a baby alligator who conducted himself in a most dignified and exemplary manner when placed flat down on a shingle lying on a table; but first he had to be held in position for a moment in order to recover from the excitement caused by being taken from his out-of-door home and brought into strange quarters.

All you need for the work is a lump of soft clay, a hat-pin, your fingers, and determination to succeed. Take a piece of clay (Fig. 330) and roll it between your hands until it resembles Fig. 331. Push the two ends together, causing the roll to hump up slightly near the centre, lay it down on a board or any hard, flat surface, and with the fingers carefully pat, squeeze, and push it into the form of Fig. 332. Gently smooth out all roughness; then nip off little pieces of clay from the big lump for the nose and two eyes; stick them on as in Fig. 333. Again smooth the rough edges until the clay looks like Fig. 334. With a little careful modelling you can make the head exactly like Fig. 335. Mark the eyes, mouth, and nose with the flat point of the pin. If portions of the head become too thick, take off some of the clay, and if at any time the head is worked down too thin fill in the hollow spots with clay. In modelling one can always pinch off pieces here and there when necessary; or add little bits, smooth it all down, and the places altered will never show the marks of the change.

When the head is finished cover it with a wet cloth to keep the clay moist, and begin to make

Mould another piece of clay like Fig. 336. Run the ball of your thumb along the sides, making the body the form of Fig. 337, broader and thicker through the centre than at the two ends. For the tail pull from the large lump a smaller amount of clay, roll it and model it like Fig. 338, larger at one end than at the other. The last portion (Fig. 339), like the others, is flat on the bottom, and with the exception of a small triangle at the heavy end of the tail the two sides meet at the top, forming a sharp ridge which decreases in height as it tapers down to a point at the extreme end. As each part is finished keep it moist with a wet cloth, and when the four sections are made place them in a row (Fig. 340), then join them together, rounding all the edges slightly. Fig. 341 shows how to mark the back of the alligator.

formed of small plates or shields, and in the clay one must imitate the real. Use the hat-pin for marking the lines on the head, and trace stripes sidewise across the entire length of the body in the manner shown by Fig. 341 from C to D, continuing the stripes down each side of the first section of the tail (Fig. 329). Next run a line lengthwise through the entire centre. D to E (Fig. 341) shows how to begin, only you must commence the central lengthwise line at C. Mark the plates on one side starting at C, as indicated from E to F (Fig. 341); then make them on the other side, which will cause a pointed scallop to stand out and up on both sides of the space from G to H (Fig. 341). On the last section the top ridge will be scalloped H to K (Fig. 341). The nostrils are distinctly marked by two round holes; make these with the point of the pin. Cover the alligator over with a wet cloth while you model his

Roll a small piece of clay (Fig. 342), break off a part (Fig. 343) and turn back the broken end (Fig. 344). Add another piece to it (Fig. 345), smooth the edges together, forming a bend like an elbow (Fig. 346), and press the end of the leg out flat (Fig. 346). Roll five small pieces (Fig. 347) and fasten them on the flattened portion of the leg in the positions shown by Fig. 348. The foot suggests a human hand, the toes taking the places of thumb and fingers. Rub the toes into the foot and spread out the extended, flattened part of the leg, making it appear web-like between the toes (Fig. 349). The foot of the real animal has nails or claws on three of the toes (Fig. 350), but you need not attempt this detail. If the foot is correct in form and proportion you have made it well. Fig. 350 is given merely to show how the natural foot looks.

Model two front and two hind legs and feet; see that the hind feet and legs are larger and differently formed from the front ones. The hind feet have only four toes (Fig. 351). The line A (Fig. 340) designates the place where the front legs should be joined to the body, and the line B (Fig. 340) shows where to fasten on the hind legs. That you may have a thorough understanding of the manner and direction in which the joints of the legs bend, we will suppose that you rest on the floor on your knees and elbows. You will then find that your knees bend forward and your elbows backward, with your arms corresponding to the front legs and your legs to the hind legs. Now, when you draw or model hereafter, you will not make any mistake in regard to it. Look again at Fig. 349. The foot, V, corresponds to or rudely resembles your hand; T, your wrist; P, your elbow; O, your shoulder. Examine Fig. 329. On the hind leg are the foot, ankle, knee and hip joint. While the alligator is in a plastic state make him open his mouth, by cutting a slit in the head from the front along the waved line up back beyond the eye; carefully pull apart the jaws (Fig. 352). Have your alligator measure at least fourteen inches from tip to tip, for it will be more difficult to model a smaller one. Once having made the little creature, you will find it easy to model similar animals; select something else in the same line and try to make it.

is very simple to copy. Roll a piece of clay, making the ends bluntly pointed; bend it slightly as in Fig. 353 and, paying strict attention to proportion, carefully form the work like the original, adding, taking from, smoothing and flattening as may be required (Fig. 354).

The "Father of His Country" always commands admiration, and everything pertaining to him is interesting.

modelled with your own hands would have a double value. You could show the head to your friends and tell them how you made it, and should they wish to become amateur sculptors, you might help them with their work. Make a thick cake of clay for the bust. On the back part of the top lay a small, round cake to form the neck, and push a stick down the centre of the neck through the bust to the board beneath, allowing a portion of the stick to extend up beyond the neck; then roll a piece of clay into the form of an egg for the head—three times the size of a hen's egg—and push it down on the stick (Fig. 355). The stick enters the head near the centre of one side, so do not push the clay egg on through one end. Continue to push the head down until it meets the neck. The stick is necessary to give firmness and support to the work. Model the head, neck, and bust until it looks like Fig. 356. While modelling you must not neglect any part of the head; the work should go on at the sides and back as well as the front; every now and then turn the stand on which your work is placed that you may model other portions of the head. In sculpture it is essential that objects be made as they are; therein lies the difference between sculpture and painting; in painting and drawing objects are not made as they actually exist but as they appear.

Be sure to have the head of correct proportions before beginning the features; then take away a little of the clay where the nose joins the forehead and cut away more clay under the nose straight down to the chin, according to the dotted lines which appear in Fig. 357. Hollow out places for the eyes and indicate the mouth with a straight line. Add more clay for the hair, forming it into a queue at the back.

Be careful to study well the character of Washington's face before going on with the work. Notice that it is strong, the chin firm and square, the lips tightly closed and the mouth almost a straight line, the nose not perfectly straight but inclined to be aquiline, the eyes rather heavy-lidded; and the hair, following the line of the head on the top, is puffed out on the sides, covering both ears. Fig. 358 gives the front view, Fig. 359 the profile, and Fig. 360 the back view of the head. Make the neck full and large. You can keep the clay moist with a wet cloth and work on the head a little each day. Persevere until you make so good a likeness of George Washington that it will be recognized at a glance, and ever afterward you will enjoy and appreciate much more all portraits of him.

CHAPTER XVIII

SUCH a funny little porcupine! See how his pointed spears bristle out in every direction, forming a fine coat of mail (Fig. 362). If he was only alive, he could coil himself up into a prickly ball—not a ball, though, that one could handle without being hurt. This little fellows differs from the Hystrix cristata, or real porcupine, in that he did not wait until his quills grew to turn into a ball, but was a ball to begin with, for he commenced life as an apple, and an apple is one of the nicest kinds of balls, as it may be tossed back and forth and then eaten later.

If you can find an apple with a bump on one side, you may make a porcupine in less than five minutes, for all that is necessary is to stick the apple full of wooden toothpicks, and that work will be as easy as putting pins into a cushion. Let the bump on the apple form the head of the animal. Bend four toothpicks like Fig. 361 and push them up into the apple to serve as legs and feet. Make the bent toothpicks balance the apple perfectly, so that the porcupine will stand firmly on its feet without other support. Use black pins for eyes and broom straws for the whiskers. Stick them into the head of the animal as shown in Fig. 362. Begin at the extreme back of the porcupine to insert the wooden toothpicks that are to serve as quills; although they are not hollow it makes very little difference, as this wee creature cannot shake them, causing the quills to knock against each other, as does the real animal when he wants to produce a rustling sound to warn off an enemy. Continue pushing in the toothpicks until the apple resembles Fig. 362. Keep the quills inclined backward and be careful not to have them stand out too far; slant the quills as much as possible, as the length of the porcupine must appear greater than the breadth. Now, if you could endow the animal with life, you would find that he was a vegetarian; that is, he could not eat meat, and you would be obliged to feed him on fruit, roots, and certain kinds of bark. You may be glad, though, that this porcupine is only a "make-believe one," for, if he lived, he would sleep all day and want to run about and take his exercise during the night; and, more than that, you would feel very sorry for the poor little fellow, because he would be extremely lonesome so far away from his native land of India, Africa, or some part of Southern Europe. So of the two, all things considered, the apple porcupine makes a better pet for the small members of the household.

(Fig. 363). With the small blade of a pocket-knife cut the eyes near the centre of the apple, placing them far apart to give an innocent expression to the face (Fig. 363). Cut the lower line of the eyes straight and the upper curved, as in Fig. 364; then push the small, pointed end of an apple-seed in the centre of each eye; run the seed in so far that only a small portion of the blunt end stands out (Fig. 365). Cut away a small, half-moon-shaped piece of the skin (Fig. 366) to indicate the nose. The mouth must be open and made the shape of Fig. 367. Cut it into the apple a trifle more than an eighth of an inch in depth. Make the curls of two narrow strips of paper rolled up tight like Fig. 368; then pulled out as in Fig. 369. Pin one curl on each side of the head (Fig. 363). Cut a round piece of white paper for Sally's collar. Make a small hole in its centre and slip the collar on the end of a stick; then push the stick well up into the lower part of the head (Fig. 363). Keep the collar in place by two pins stuck through it into the apple.

is very different in coloring and expression from Sally (Fig. 370). Notice how near together his eyes are; and see how long and narrow his nose is. If you examine the face of the next red man you see, or the picture of one, you will probably find that he has two deep, decided lines from his nose to his mouth, and that the mouth itself is firm and straight. Remember these hints when making the Indian's head. Select a dark-red apple, one that is rather long and narrow, if possible, for the red man seldom has a round face. Cut two eyes of white paper and pin them on the apple with black-headed pins pierced through the centre of each eye. Make the long nose of paper (Fig. 371). Cut two slits close together on the face and slide the sides of the nose (AA, Fig. 371) into the slits (Fig. 370). Cut two more slits, one on each side of the nose, down to the corners of the mouth, and insert in each a piece of narrow white paper to form the lines; then cut one more slit for the mouth and push in a strip of white paper, which may be bent down to show a wider portion (Fig. 370). Last, but not least, come the ornamental feathers. If you can obtain natural ones so much the better; if not, make paper feathers of bright, differently colored paper. Fig. 372 shows how to cut them. Roll the bottom portion to make a stiff stem and after punching holes in the top of the apple, forming them in a row around the crown of the head, push each feather in place, having the tallest in the centre, as in Fig. 370. Run a slender stick up into the bottom of the head and you will have something better than taffy-on-a-stick.

(Fig. 373) features are formed very differently from those of either Sally or the Indian. His eyes are shaped like narrow almonds, rather bluntly rounded at the inner corners and pointed at the outer corners. Cut the eyes like Fig. 374 of black paper and stick them on the head with white-headed pins driven through the centre of each. Let the eyes slant up at the outer corners, for that is the way real Japanese eyes grow. They never have eyes like Sally's.

Make the nose crescent-shaped, and pin it on with two white pins. The mouth must be much larger than the nose, though cut in similar shape. Hold the mouth in position by running a row of white pins through it into the head. The pins will also form the Jap's teeth. Cut the hair of black paper (Fig. 375); if you have no black paper, make some with ink. Fringe the hair as in Fig. 376; then fasten the circle of stiff black hair on top of the head with black pins. Use a russet apple or a yellow one for the Jap, because, you know, these people do not have red cheeks or fair skins. When the head is finished, push it down on the top of a stick across which has been fastened another shorter stick near the top (Fig. 377). Make a simple kimono-like gown of paper and hang it on over the Jap's arms. If you wish, you can paste the edges or seams of the garment together (Fig. 373).

(Fig. 378). Cut the fruit into rather thick slices, select the middle slice, that being the largest, and stick four toothpicks into it (Fig. 379). Take the slice next in size and push it down tight on top of the four toothpicks (Fig. 380). Stick four more toothpicks into the second slice (Fig. 381), placing the toothpicks in the spaces on the second slice between the lower first four toothpicks (Fig. 381). On the tops of the last toothpicks fasten another slice of apple, then stick in more toothpicks and so on, always remembering to place the top toothpicks in the spaces on the apple slice left between the lower toothpicks. Build up the tower at least seven slices high and do the work carefully, keeping the toothpicks straight and even, that the apple tower may stand erect and not resemble the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa; for if your building should incline to one side, as does the Pisa tower, it would not long retain that position, but the entire structure would come tumbling down, obliging you to try building again with another apple.

A fine Dutch windmill can be made of one apple and a paper pin-wheel, and there are lots of other interesting things you may manufacture from the same fruit.

CHAPTER XIX

HERE are Mary, Mary's lamb, and Mother Goose's goose all waiting for you to dress them and make them into Marvel pictures. Mary must be attired in her clothes, the lamb in his wool, and Mother Goose's goose in its feathers, and you can do it every bit yourself. Then when all are nicely finished you can tack them up in your room for everyone to admire and wonder over. We will begin with

because a little girl is vastly more important than a lamb or a goose, however much the others may be petted and loved.

Take a smooth piece of white tissue-paper, lay it over the drawing of Mary given here, and with a moderately soft pencil make a careful tracing of the little figure. Turn the paper the other side up and go over the lines again with a very soft pencil; then lay the paper right side up on a piece of white cardboard, a little larger than the page of this book. See that the figure is exactly in the middle and again go over the lines with your pencil. Remove the tissue-paper and strengthen the lines of your drawing with your hardest pencil. If you have a box of water-color paints, tint Mary's face, her neck and arms flesh-pink. Redden her cheeks a little, and paint her lips a darker red. Make her eyes blue and her hair a light brown and she will be quite ready for

Fig. 382 is the pattern, which you must make by tracing it on tissue-paper and then cutting it out. Choose any material you like—wool, cotton, or silk, for her dress and any color, only let it be quite smooth. Lay the tissue-paper pattern down on the goods, pin it in place and cut around close to the edges. Try the dress on Mary to see that it fits perfectly; then cover the wrong side thinly with paste, adjust it to the little figure and press down firmly, smoothing out any wrinkles that may appear. Cut a white lawn apron like the pattern (Fig. 383), and paste it over the dress bringing the upper edge up to the waist line.

of the white lawn also. Fig. 384 is the brim, Fig. 385 the crown of the bonnet. Cut out Fig. 384 first and fold back the flap according to the dotted lines, then Fig. 385, which you must plait fan-shape like Fig. 386, and then cut the shape of Fig. 387. Put a little paste along the lower edge of Fig. 387, and over it lay the top edge of the brim (Fig. 384), pasting them together like Fig. 388. Fit the bonnet on Mary's head and paste it in place, but leave the side-flaps to stand out loosely from her face.