Page:Drawing for Beginners.djvu/72

 that, very much above you, you will have a more complicated problem.)

Try to draw it in a simple position&mdash;a side view.

At first sight one is apt to think a high-heeled shoe a rather complicated shape, but if you try to analyse it as a rough block, it is no more or less than a wedge. the high heel gives the greatest depth, the toe gives the narrowing point, the tread of the foot&mdash;heel and sole of the shoe&mdash;a flat line. Having marked this simple triangular shape we note the large oval opening, the stumpy and rounded toe, the beautiful 'slick' curve of the heel. Of course we know that no part of the foot enters the high heel, which is merely compressed leather or wood; and we should, therefore, trace the foot within the shoe, in our thoughts if not with our pencil.

Then perhaps we shall catch Jack in a specially charitable frame of mind, ready to sit bare-footed.

Quick! let us get pencil and paper, and plant Jack on a stool with his foot resting on the floor, and to give more action&mdash;and consequently more interest&mdash;to our study we will raise his heel by propping it up on a fairly thick book.

Next we sit down on a low seat or cushion on the floor, as near as possible to the level of Jack's foot.

Again we are all for simplicity. A profile of Jack's foot presenting an angle with the angle and leg, would be an interesting study.

Having roughly drawn the triangular shape of the bending foot, we next proceed to note important facts. The mass of the heel, the shape of the ankle, the broad fine sweeping line of the instep (jack has a particularly well-shaped instep), and the ball of the foot&mdash;the springy cushion upon which the tread of the foot presses.

Afterward observe the masses of light and shade, and see how the light picks out the strong tendons about the ankle. I find it helpful to shade as if I were chiselling out shapes&mdash;a method that may not appeal to you. So long as you shade intelligently, not beginning a shadow and leaving it off without reason, but using the shadow to emphasize