One of the most common faults a beginner is apt to commit is to try to do too much, either by choosing too great a subject, such as a large landscape, or by putting too many little things into the composition. Take care of the large things, and the little things will take care of themselves.
If our subject be a clump of trees at some distance, we should not attempt to draw in separate leaves, but endeavor to get the true shape of the tree, simply indicating the leaves by a few lines. Neither must we attempt, in our first sketches, to put in all the shadows we see; the strong principal ones are all that are necessary. A background of hills and trees should be merely suggested by a few lines, because the light striking upon them gives a very light appearance.
Draw as simply as possible. Ten pictures are spoiled by putting in too much work, where one is spoiled by too little.
Don’t be discouraged. Every effort will show improvement, if you really put your mind and heart in your work. As for
a sheet of drawing-paper, a No. 2 lead-pencil, and a piece of soft rubber are all you really need to commence with. Later it will be well to have a drawing-pad and several more pencils.
[E] The material for this chapter is from an article written by Professor Frank Beard for Harper’s Young People. By permission of Harper & Brothers.
THERE is a certain charm in water-color painting—a charm distinctly its own—which lies, as Penley says, “in the beauty and truthfulness of its aerial tones.” Without this quality a water-color, as a water-color, is a failure.
This transparency of effect does not depend alone upon the manner of painting or the colors employed, but much rests with the paper we use. In the days when our mothers and grandmothers were taught painting at school, the finest, smoothest cardboard was thought necessary; but we have since learned that the flat, smooth paper tends decidedly toward producing a flat, smooth effect in the picture painted upon it, while the rough, uneven surface of the paper now in use helps to produce depth and atmosphere. Therefore it is always best to have rough paper to paint upon. We give below the
1. A block of rough drawing or water-color paper.
It is better to buy it in blocks than by the sheet, as it is much more easily handled, and is always ready for use.