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.