Page:Drawing for Beginners.djvu/41

 A toy tree might well bring up the rear of our procession. And a toy tree is a very simple affair, a thimble-shape on the end of a stick, very like a large T with elongated lines drooping on either side.

Looking at the tree as a whole mass we see that the branches extend more than half-way down the stem. Lightly we sketch the line of these branches. Then we look at the trunk of the tree. It is thick and solid for its height. Then thick and solid we will draw it. Next we come to its little green stand, like a slice of the one which supports Mr Noah, and this stand is smaller than the circumference of the tree at the widest part.

Baby Tom's unbreakable Bunny is surely the simplest of all shapes&mdash;a flat base from which rises a rounded hill, steeper on one side than on the other. The steeper, more massive end corresponds with the crouching hind-legs (which we know to be the largest part of the rabbit and which help him to run so fleetly across the warren).

From the top of the head the ears lie flat along the body. Then we mark the small eye, the rounded soft nose, and the tiny forepaws. We look for folds of leg, paw, and ear, and we shade these with a light but firm touch. Bunny Rabbit is white and therefore must not be shaded too strongly. And if you wish to insist on his white coat, look for shadows cast by his rounded body on the ground or background.

The fish of painted celluloid is interesting and by no means difficult to draw, although at first glance we may be slightly puzzled where and how to begin.

A fish is long&mdash;one almost might term it domino-shape. Begin, then, as always, by sketching out this general shape.

This done, we trace from the wider and larger end of the fish the long sloping line to the branching tail. The forepart slopes steeply down from the 'shoulders' and finishes with a rounded blunt nose. Next we notice that our fish&mdash;unlike a real fish&mdash;has a flattened underside upon which he rests on flat surfaces&mdash;and this we draw.