LETTER III.

MY DEAR SIR;

I WILL now suppose, that the pupil has filled his sketch-book with outlines from nature, and is anxious to try his hand at shading. I therefore think it necessary to advise him not to attempt this upon sketches he has previously made, as I am of opinion that outlines from nature should never be touched upon in the absence of the originals; for it is more satisfactory to see even a slight memorandum made upon the spot, than one touched up and finished nicely afterwards indoors, which is too often the practice. There is also another idle and perfectly useless custom, which the learner should avoid, and which con

sists in making a number of unmeaning scratches upon his paper, and then writing the names of the various objects, as trees here, water there, and so on these are afterwards finished at home and passed off as drawings from nature. I must, however, observe, that writing a few remarks upon any particular and striking effect of light and colour, when circumstances will not permit the artist to complete his sketch, is very useful in assisting the memory, and may be done upon the sketch; but if much writing is required, it would confuse the drawing, and therefore had better be written on the adjoining leaf. But to proceed. Shading at the first may be produced by various means, either with the black lead pencil, or black and white chalk upon gray paper. But the pupil must still make his outline as carefully as before, and check any impatient desire to see the effect of shading before the drawing is well attended to; for if this is indulged, a careless manner will soon

become a habit. Outlines, that are to be shaded with the pencil, should be very firmly marked, particularly the foreground, the dark parts of buildings, trees, &c. The pupil should commence with the sky, and then proceed to the distance, shading it delicately with strokes separated a little from each other, as this will give great clearness; whereas merely rubbing the pencil over the parts will produce the contrary effect. The direction of the shading should be varied according to the form of the object, and when it becomes necessary to increase it, the strokes should be in a different direction from the first, crossing them obliquely. There is also another way of using the pencil, by shading with it without any attention to regular strokes, and then spreading the shadows, so as to produce an even tint, with what is called a stump, made either with soft leather or paper rolled up tightly, and then bound round the middle with a strip of the same and fastened with paste, and

afterwards cut to a point with a sharp knife. A cork is sometimes used as a substitute. The whole should afterwards be marked with some forcible touches to give it clearness and spirit. In the first manner it will be well to proceed from the left, to prevent the hand from rubbing the part already shaded; but if that should happen to the light side of a building, a piece of paper cut to the form of the shadow and held upon it will protect it while the smeared part is being cleaned with India-rubber. By the latter method a very powerful effect may be produced by a vigorous application of the pencil. Two pencils will be required, one moderately soft, the other as black as possible; the first is marked with one B, and the second with two: but unfortunately the further a drawing is carried in this way, the more it is liable to injury. I will, therefore, point out the best mode of securing it. The following I have found to succeed completely. In the first place, a deep vessel, sufficiently large to

admit of the drawing, should be filled with water, and the drawing should then be introduced (edgeways), and as near to the side of the vessel as possible, and carried below the surface of the water to the opposite side, and then withdrawn in a perpendicular direction; this will leave all the loose dust behind. It should then be immediately hung up for a short time to drain; the size, however, in a fluid state to fix it should be at hand, and the drawing, quite damp, passed through it. A flat dish for this purpose will be the best. If the drawing should be very dark, a second, or even a third, coat of size may now be passed over it with a flat brush, termed a flat tin by the colourmen. To make the size, boil isinglass, white leather, or parchment; but as there is some little trouble attending these, strong ale may be used instead of them, and will impart a pleasing tint to the paper. Sometimes gum water, or milk, is made use of to fix the pencil; but I object to

C