ELEMENTS OF DRAWING EXEMPLIFIED Cover IN A VARIETY OF FIGURES AND SKETCHES OF DRAWN AND COMPILED BY H. WILLIAMS. CONSISTING OF TWENTY-SIX COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS, WITH INSTRUCTIONS for the YOUNG BEGINNER. PUBLISHED BY H. WILLIAMS, PORTRAIT & MINIATURE PAINTER, SCHOOL-STREET; G. JEFFERYS, AGENT. 1814. FA6497.3 1881, Nev. 9. Mrs. 5. 18. Folsom, DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit: District Clerk's Office. BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the first day of September, A. D. 1814, and in the thirty ninth year of the Independence of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA, Henry Williams, William B. Annin, and Merrill Butler, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: "Elements of Drawing exemplified in a variety of figures and sketches of parts of the human form. Drawn and compiled by H. Williams. Consisting of twenty-six copperplate engravings, with instructions for the young beginner." In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, intitled, " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the Times. therein mentioned;" and also to an act, intitled, " An Act supplementary to an Act, intitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the Times therein mentioned; and extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching Historical and other Prints." WILLIAM S. SHAW. Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. neir INTRODUCTION. NONE of the arts, which have been invented for the use or amusement of mankind, can boast so great a number of admirers as that of drawing; and very justly, for it gives such an agreeable representation of things, that we are apt to fancy we see objects which have no real existence, and that the imagery before us, which is no more than a painted cloth, actually breathes. The whole creation, with all its works and wonders, comes within the power of its imitation. It sets before us things long since buried in oblivion, exhibits to perfect view the most noted actions of people who have been long in their graves, and shews us our ancestors, in a perfect resemblance of their features, through several successive generations. There is scarce any art or profession which receives not some assistance from drawing; without her help, no designs or models can be well executed; to her the mathematician, architect and navigator is continually indebted; no station of life is exempted from the practice of it, from the general at the head of an army, to the mechanic, who subsists by his handicraft. This excellent art seems inculcated by nature herself, for we see it not only practised by grown proficients, but even children frequently drawing various figures, and that so curiously, as even to astonish us with their productions. That therefore youth may be instructed how to attain to a good degree of perfection in the art, we shall prescribe the best rules we are able, at least such, as we apprehend, are absolutely necessary for their information. Materials for drawing.-A drawing board in order to strain your paper, size 8 by 10 to 20 by 26 inches. It is a frame, mortised, and a smooth piece of board, about a quarter of an inch thick, its size answering to the inside of the frame, on the back part of which it has a ledge round it to prevent the board from slipping through. There are two thin pieces of wood, which slip into holes mortised into the frame, that the board may not fall out backwards. Having furnished yourself with drawing paper suitable to the size of your board, spunge your paper till it is pretty thoroughly wet, then spreading it over your board smoothly, press it into the frame, and force in your back piece to keep all firm, and let it dry.—Black, red, and white chalks, a black lead pencil, and Indian ink must be provided, to be used as occasion may require, according to the nature of your drawing. The chalks ought to be fixed into a port crayon.-A ruler and compasses will also be useful. You will first commence with the lunar circle, and then the line of the eye, (vide principles, plate 1, fig. 1,) and so on till you are able to compound all the parts of the eye; (examples plate 1.) when done, you must divide the eye by lines into four parts, strike the horizontal and perpendicular lines, and care must be taken to make your drawing fall on these lines, which will enable the young beginner to under 4 stand the divisions of the eye, and get good proportions. The lines are fewer in number agreeably to the turn of the head or eye, and also agreeably to its perspective. The beginner should make himself master of every feature separately, before he attempts to draw a whole head or face; and when he has made himself acquainted with them, then he may begin to compound them from the examples, pages 1, 2, and 3. Next proceed to draw hands, feet, &c. for the due proportions of which, see the examples, pages 18, 19, 20, 21, and 22. When you have become well acquainted with the drawing of limbs, try an entire figure, of which we shall give you the most approved proportions. The Measures of a Human Body, as taken by DU FRESNOY from the statues of the antients, translated from the French, by Sir JosHUA REYNOLDS. "The ancients have commonly allowed eight heads to their figures, though some of them have but seven: but we ordinarily divide the figures into ten faces ;* that is to say, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, in the following manner; From the crown of the head to the forehead is the third part of a face. The face begins at the root of the lowest hairs which are upon the forehead, and ends at the bottom of the chin. The face is divided into three proportionable parts; the first contains the forehead, the second the nose, and the third the mouth and the chin; from the chin to the pit betwixt the collar-bones are two lengths of a nose. From the pit betwixt the collar-bones to the bottom of the breast, one face. From the bottom of the breasts to the navel, one face. From the navel to the genitories, one face. From the genitories to the upper part of the knee, two faces. The knee contains half a face. From the lower part of the knee to the ankle, two faces. From the ankle to the sole of the foot, half a face. A man, when his arms are stretched out, is, from the longest finger of his right hand to the longest. of his left, as broad as he is long.. From one side of the breasts to the other, two faces. The bone of the arm, called humerus, is the length of two faces from the shoulder to the elbow. From the end of the elbow to the root of the little finger, the bone called cubitus, with part of the hand, contains two faces. From the box of the shoulder-blade to the pit betwixt the collar-bones, one face. * The Apollo and Venus of Medicis have more than ten faces. 5 If you would be satisfied in the measures of breadth, from the extremity of one finger to the other, so that this breadth should be equal to the length of the body, you must observe, that the boxes of the elbows with the humerus, and of the humerus with the shoulder-blade, bear the proportion of half a face when the arms are stretched out. The sole of the foot is the sixth part of the figure. The hand is the length of a face. The thumb contains a nose. The inside of the arms, from the place where the muscle disappears, which makes the breast, (called the pectoral muscle) to the middle of the arm, four noses. From the middle of the arm to the beginning of the head, five noses. The longest toe is a nose long. For the breadth of the limbs, no precise measure can be given, because the measures themselves are changeable, according to the quality of the persons, and according to the movement of the muscles." Slightly sketch your piece with pointed charcoal, as this in case of mistake may be easily rubbed out; when your drawing is correct, you may retouch and finish with black chalk. Take point in your picture, head or pattern to begin from, in order to get your distances. For instance, if you are drawing a head: Having formed an oval, place the features by drawing a perpendicular line in the centre, crossed by two other lines at equal distances; the uppermost of these two lines you divide into five equal parts, each being the length of an eye; the eyes are placed in the second and fourth parts in this division. Such are the general principles, but these are raised by many circumstances and in many subjects. For a profile, form an equilateral triangle, and divide one of its sides into three parts; these divisions correspond to the places of the top and bottom of the nose, the forehead, mouth, and chin; a little rising from the forehead form the nose; and about one third from the chin place the mouth; the other point of the triangle indicates the place of the ear. This rule serves equally, whether the face be looking horizontally, upwards, or downwards. Limbs and attitudes of the human body are formed by squares and transverse lines, which enable the better to balance the figure and get the proportions. When you draw with a black lead pencil and intend finishing with Indian ink, provide three or four pencils of sable or camel's hair, a blotting or filtering paper to place under your hand, an earthen palette, a cup of sharp vinegar and water; rub off your ink with it, tempering and mellowing its strength of colour, by adding more or less of the vinegar and water, as your shades are to be lighter or deeper. Vinegar has a property which water alone has not for working Indian ink; it binds your ink to the paper, and gives it an agreeable warmth; it will also enable you to touch and draw with uncommon sharpness and sweetness. In washing masses, you must have two pencils on one handle, the first to wash, the other to sweeten and mellow the edges, which must be done very quick, which gives your head or picture a fine effect. For the lighter parts of your picture, you wash with faint filtered ink, and the reced |