WE TRUST that you followed the advice of our former chapter, that you tried to draw a hat in several positions, and that you then found, as we prophesied, that you were led to observe the hats that you saw in the street with a new sense of discernment; if that is true, you will appreciate this chapter, we think, though it be very short.
We select two more caricatures for you, in which we find hats that are very similar. Now we can tell you quite positively whether you have an eye for drawing or not. Stop a moment, and before reading the next paragraph, look at these hats, pages [28], [29], and argue out the reason why they are drawn as they are; if your reasons are somewhat like the following, your chances for learning to draw are good; if not, you have much study ahead of you, even before you can make a start.
Your observation is good if you realize that in drawing almost anything you may represent it as a silhouette. The Egyptians did much of their writing in hieroglyphs, using silhouette pictures of thousands of different objects; helmets and crowns, hands and feet, men and animals, tools and utensils were employed as characters in their alphabet; and if you see plainly how a silhouette is made by outlining an object as it is seen from one point {27} of view, usually a perfect side view, the object on a level with the eye, and that the outline is filled in with black, you may be sure that you have been observing correctly. You will notice then that these two hats are (1) on a level with the eye, for if (2) below the eye, you would see the top of the crown and into the brim; if (3) above the eye, you would see underneath the brim. You notice also that the “Hedin” is the true silhouette, which is made by leaving out the lights on the side, the suggestion of the band, and the upper edge of the brim. You will also notice (4), particularly in the “Jörgen,” that the feet are as though the gentleman were walking on a chalk-line on a table and the spectator sitting on a low chair, so that the feet were on a level with his eye; this is a characteristic feature of Egyptian hieroglyphs. If the feet were drawn realistically they would not only not be on a line one with the other, but we would seem to look down upon the shoes, as ordinarily a man’s feet are below the spectator’s eye.
We think that this is enough for one lesson, and if you find that the propositions that we have numbered are not clear to you, you would better work out the problems on a sheet of paper. We take it for granted that Nos. 1 and 2 are clear to anyone who drew the hats according to our last chapter; but Nos. 3 and 4 may not be so evident; if not, get a pair of shoes and put them on the mantel on a level with your eye; next place them upon the floor in the position in which one ordinarily walks or stands, and our propositions will be clear to you.
It is most important that you should understand all these matters of optics, though it makes little difference {28}
“HEDIN”—A CARICATURE. By Albert Engström. The hat and coat are pure silhouette, the face “suggestive outline.”
{29}
“JÖRGEN”—A CARICATURE. By Albert Engström. The hat and shoes are partially silhouette; but the high lights upon them are connected with finished work.