Page:Drawing for Beginners.djvu/221

 we must be observant, but we must note and compare the little unobtrusive characteristics and traits which distinguish individuals.

One sits erect, another lolls in a languid manner, another slouches into awkward attitudes. Some perk up their chins, or incline their heads slightly to one side. All of which are valuable helps to the getting of a good likeness.

It will lessen your difficulties if you remember to leave a space between yourself and your model. It is a sheer impossibility to see such a large object as a human being in proportion unless we remove ourselves a good many paces away.

IF you place yourself close to your model, as young artists often do, you will see the top of the head, the top of the shoulder, the upper part of the body, and the feet. You will have the curves of the features very much accentuated, and it will be exceedingly difficult to get the whole picture 'in drawing.'

Artists when painting full-length portraits invariably pose their models a good distance away from their easels, and sometimes the models are placed on a low platform. We can dispense with platforms, but we cannot dispense with distance.

Naturally, when drawing the head you can sit near your model with safety. But when the object is large then you must move away until you get a good and comprehensive view.

I would not discourage you from drawing people who happen to be near if you feel a strong desire to attempt it. Do not resist the impulse to sketch some one who his bending over the same table as yourself, for example, but bear in mind that you are close to your model and make allowances.

It may be that you are not able to procure many sitters, that you live where there are very few people, and your opportunities of observation are therefore very restricted. That need not prevent you from drawing portraits. You must study the few. Even the greatest artists have contented themselves at times with a moderate range of subjects. And