DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2086#0183
EUSTIC FIGURES. 135
rest assured that tlie time will not be lost in the employment, for it enlarges the
ideas, and greatly contributes to form a good style. A few hints may, however, he
given to the landscape student here, which, in the absence of these opportunities,
may assist him in sketching the rustic figures he meets with in his rambles. They
should always be introduced appropriately; they should be naturally employed,
connected with the scene, and not divide or distract the interest, but add to it.
Their actions, positions, &c, should be seized at once, and put clown, that the spirit
may not be lost; the truthfulness that this gives to the poorest sketches is sur-
prising. To effect this with rapidity, the decision and correctness which has been
gained by copying geometrical figures of lines, angles, and forms in different
positions and quantities, will be very useful. A certain firmness or squareness of
line or form, which results from drawing from point to point in straight lines, begets
a firmness or largeness of style in sketching the figure. This mode of viewing
everything in large masses, without subdivision, is seen in all the best painters, and
is applicable to works of any class or school; it prevents timidity or meanness in
the execution, and should not be confounded with caricature, which is an exag-
geration of peculiarities. If the figure be upright and equally balanced on the feet,
a horizontal line or a mark should be put where the feet are to come, this being
very important, as indicating the distance it is from the base of the picture; then
a mark for the top of the head, this gives the height; a perpendicular line is now
made, and this comes of course, in the case mentioned, between the feet; but if the
figure is standing more on one foot than another, this line will be in the middle of
the foot upon which it is standing, or rather between the two points. If the
figure is in action, as walking, running, or carrying anything of weight, the pro-
portion of the body on each side of the line will vary; in the case of progression,
the body is, of course, thrown forward; and it will at once be perceived that the
leg must be advanced, or the figure would fall. A rustic figure may be considered
as about seven heads high; a child, having the head larger in proportion, may be
about five. A line across the shoulders will next assist the student most, as by it
he may give the action as well as proportion. If the action of the figure throws it
considerably out of the upright, a line should be struck, which may be supposed to
indicate the spine, then lines to denote the direction or position of the aims and
legs. It may seem strange, but it is the custom of most landscape painters who
only sketch the figure generally and rapidly, to put in the head after the trunk, and
a portion of the limbs, thus taking the most effective lines while they are visible.
In drawing the head, the oval of the face, the frontal line which goes down the
centre of the brows, nose, lips, and chin, and which curves with the direction of the
face, the lines through the eyes, nostrils and mouth, all agreeing and curved either
rest assured that tlie time will not be lost in the employment, for it enlarges the
ideas, and greatly contributes to form a good style. A few hints may, however, he
given to the landscape student here, which, in the absence of these opportunities,
may assist him in sketching the rustic figures he meets with in his rambles. They
should always be introduced appropriately; they should be naturally employed,
connected with the scene, and not divide or distract the interest, but add to it.
Their actions, positions, &c, should be seized at once, and put clown, that the spirit
may not be lost; the truthfulness that this gives to the poorest sketches is sur-
prising. To effect this with rapidity, the decision and correctness which has been
gained by copying geometrical figures of lines, angles, and forms in different
positions and quantities, will be very useful. A certain firmness or squareness of
line or form, which results from drawing from point to point in straight lines, begets
a firmness or largeness of style in sketching the figure. This mode of viewing
everything in large masses, without subdivision, is seen in all the best painters, and
is applicable to works of any class or school; it prevents timidity or meanness in
the execution, and should not be confounded with caricature, which is an exag-
geration of peculiarities. If the figure be upright and equally balanced on the feet,
a horizontal line or a mark should be put where the feet are to come, this being
very important, as indicating the distance it is from the base of the picture; then
a mark for the top of the head, this gives the height; a perpendicular line is now
made, and this comes of course, in the case mentioned, between the feet; but if the
figure is standing more on one foot than another, this line will be in the middle of
the foot upon which it is standing, or rather between the two points. If the
figure is in action, as walking, running, or carrying anything of weight, the pro-
portion of the body on each side of the line will vary; in the case of progression,
the body is, of course, thrown forward; and it will at once be perceived that the
leg must be advanced, or the figure would fall. A rustic figure may be considered
as about seven heads high; a child, having the head larger in proportion, may be
about five. A line across the shoulders will next assist the student most, as by it
he may give the action as well as proportion. If the action of the figure throws it
considerably out of the upright, a line should be struck, which may be supposed to
indicate the spine, then lines to denote the direction or position of the aims and
legs. It may seem strange, but it is the custom of most landscape painters who
only sketch the figure generally and rapidly, to put in the head after the trunk, and
a portion of the limbs, thus taking the most effective lines while they are visible.
In drawing the head, the oval of the face, the frontal line which goes down the
centre of the brows, nose, lips, and chin, and which curves with the direction of the
face, the lines through the eyes, nostrils and mouth, all agreeing and curved either