DIAGRAM NO. 1.
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DIAGRAM NO. 2. NO. 4—Study of Pine Tree, by Hubert Herkomer, with lines added showing rectangles w x y z, containing the whole group; polygons 1 to 14, containing branches, lines going through axes of trunk e d, and f g, and p, plumb-line to which f g is compared—that is, its angle obtained—as shown in diagram NO. 1.
{62} first put in as axes, F G being compared with the plumb-line P. W, X, Y and Z suggest a quadrangle, into which the whole tree could first be placed.
We wish to say, however, that we do not consider it advisable to reduce freehand drawings to geometrical forms to too great an extent. The art student in Paris does not think of his model as a combination of cubes and cylinders, but as a human figure; nor when he leaves the atelier does he consider a tree as a combination of cylinders and cones, but as an oak tree, or a maple or a pine; and whether his drawing is a moment’s jotting in a sketch-book, or a week’s study on canvas, he tries to get as much of the characteristics of the pine tree or the oak, in the moment or in the week, as his perception will allow.
You would be surprised, if you practiced this method for a few months, to see how much meaning these first polygons will have to you. If you will map out an elm tree, for example, and then turn to our diagram No. 2, you will instantly recognize that the forms A, B, C, could never be intended for an elm. This negative recognition would be followed by positive recognition, and you would guess at least, if you were not sure, that, in a sketch of a sea coast, certain polygons put more on one side of a line than on the other, which represented a tree trunk, were meant for the branches of a pine!
CHAPTER VII.
ORIGINAL “PLACING” AND FINISHED DRAWING COMPARED — SIZE OF THE FRAME DOES NOT AFFECT THE PROPORTIONS IF THE SAME DIMENSIONS ARE RETAINED — BLOCKING IN SHADOWS BY OUTLINE BEFORE SHADING — ALL PRACTICE IN DRAWING LINES WILL BE HELPFUL — LINES USED FOR CONTOUR BOTH OF OBJECTS AND OF SHADOWS — FINDING THE DIRECTION OF SHADOWS — WHY PLASTER CASTS ARE USED AS STUDIES — JAPANESE ART ENTIRELY WITHOUT LIGHT AND SHADE OF THE SORT MOST USUAL IN OCCIDENTAL MODELING — NOTING VALUES — MERE SHADING NOT THE END OF DRAWING.