Page:Pencil Sketching from Nature.djvu/26

 with the pencil to model round each form, giving through the strokes the sense of direction which the form conveys (Figure 8). A broken bit of rock work, a group of bushes, or a group of out buildings will give capital practice in simplifying details and in modeling planes in three or four values.

If the student has access to reproduction of sketches such as have been named, he is urged to turn back to these repeatedly, that he may analyze them, and then betake himself to the field once more, to seek similar scenes for reproduction. A crooked street end, a window garden full of blossoms, a church tower or porch, or the trim doorway of a colonial mansion all offer excellent material. There is no town but presents countless "good subjects," and the student with eye a-search for the subtle beauty of contrasting light and shadow will have revealed to him the picturesque where it is quite hidden from his companions. Simple sketches should be at first attempted, bits of detail and uncomplicated masses. Only when these have been successfully rendered should there be an attempt to draw a prospect filled with brilliant lights and shadows. It is good practice at times to render the same scene in different ways, using one scheme of contrasts in the first drawing and a varying scheme in a second. This will reveal the range of such variations and will cause a realization of the fact that the successful pencil sketch is one dependent largely upon the taste of the draughtsman. Other things equal, he will make the best and who can as a pattern, weave together his blacks and whites most skilfully.

Director of Art and Manual Training, New York City (Manhattan and The Bronx.)