Drawing of Drapery follows : in this particular, we are' in a great measure ? compelled to have recourse to the an cients, as, however convenient our mo dern habits may be, they are decidedly ungraceful opposites to the tasteful cloth ing of antiquity ; for this reason every beautiful example from that pure source 1 ought to be studied, carefully-distinguish- 1 ing the light, airy dresses of the heathen deities, and angels of more recent con ception. and their almost transparent folds clinging through motion to their forms, from those intended expressly to cover nakedness, and preserve the person from the ill effects of cold air, observing, besides, the particular shapes of gar ments, characteristic of the Jewish, Gre cian, or Roman nations.
Many statuaries have erred in repre senting their figures as if clothed in wet linen, in order to shew the contour of the limbs to greater perfection ; but this ab. surdity carries its own condemnation with it. It must be obvious to the most su perficial observer, that the texture of drapery should be suited to the inner oe outward habit, and its richness, or the reverse, to the situation of the party represented: to determine this point with accuracy, it will he proper to read such works as describe the official and other habits of ancient times, and compare their descriptions with antique statues and paintings : the ornaments and insignia of the rich and powerful may be known by the same means In drawing of fine linen, the folds should be made delicate, inclined to an. glcs, and numerous, or otherwise, accord- I mg to the disposition of the habit on the , body ; where it is confined by a girdle, or ,l broach, they are multiplied, and in lines ; but those should neither be parallel nor disposed like rays : the reflected and 1 transparent lights are particularly pleas ing in this material, nor are the shades ., ever deep and harsh. In clothes made of wool, care must be taken to shew it fine on the rich, and coarse on the poor ; in either case the folds should be large,• and by no means numerous, partly cylin drical in their form, sometimes angular, and at others waved ; the lights must not be very strong, but the shades deep, and the reflected lights faint, if the colour of the dye is dark. Silks fall into the least graceful folds of any material used in clothing; it will be best therefore to draw them from reality, endeavouring to catch the most natural, and copying with great attention the brilliant edges which are their characteristics, and the numerous reflections occasioned by the gloss on the inferior projections. Jewels and orna ments of gold, embroidery, &c. will at times be useful, but there are no rules applicable to the drawing of them. In the general disposition of the drapery, the posture of the figure and of the limbs must uniformly be consulted; they must accord, or there can be no other effect than stiffness in the person represented. Drapery gently agitated by the wind, in running or flying figures, has a good ef fect when it is made to flow in one direc tion, and not too much extended ; the lights require great care, and should be directed on the most rotund parts, and those must not be crossed by dark shade, or the limbs or body so treated will ap pear broken.
Lest it should be supposed the fore going rules are rather calculated for a person in some degree acquainted with the art of drawing, than one beginning with the first rudiments, we shall de , scend to still further minutiic.
When a picture highly varnished, a drawing in brilliant colours, or glazed print, is to be copied, it should be placed in a reclining position, that the light may I not glare on it and confuse the eye ; if the painting is large, the distance should be proportionably increased, so as to enable the copyist to see the whole at once. Af ter marking the spaces between the fea tures, and the different parts of the body, the outlines must be faintly sketched ; and if the subject contains several figures, it will be proper to find the centre, and mark it, which will give the learner an opportunity of ascertaining the places of the most conspicuous correctly on either side. Having completed the outline, it must be critically examined, and amend ed where faulty, ere the least attempt be made at finishing. If a print is to be imitated, the lines which compose it are to be followed in every particular with a good pen and Indian ink, as an engraving supersedes all directions.
There are several useful rules to be ob served in drawing a truly proportioned head and face :the former contains four equal parts, measuring from the crown to the upper part of the forehead, to the eye brows, to the lower part of the nose, and to the chin. The first step towards draw ing a full face is to form an oval, through which make a perpendicular line, and a second across the centre, then divide the former into four equal parts, the first is to include the hair, the second the fore head, the third the nose, and the last the lips and chin ; the transverse line. is to be. considered five times the length of the eye, one length of which is to be left for the space between the organs of sight ; the cars should never be higher than the eve-brows, nor lower than the bottom of the nose ; the mouth is the length of the eye, and the middle of it must be on the perpendicular line, and the exterior of the nostrils ought not to extend beyond the inner corner of the eyes. To trate the above directions prcatically,. they may be followed on an oval of wood made for the purpose, which, when turned sideways, upwards, or downwards, will spew the true lines of the face in ihose positions. See PLATES-DRAWINO. In drawing the profile, the line of the oval is still to be preserved, but the projections of the nose, &c, must be left to the learn er's observations on living figures. It has been`observed by an eminent painter, that nothing is more easy than to represent an infant smiling, or under the influence of grief, which is accomplished by raising the corners of the month in the first case, and depressing them in the second : in smiling, the eye-brows undergo but little alteration ; but in frowning, they arc vio lently contracted, and drawn towards each other. In other parts of the figure, care should be taken to avoid skewing the muscles too strong, even in represent ing large persons ; in youth they are less visible, and in corpulent figures they are almost concealed from view. In the breadth of the limbs it will be found, that the calf of the leg is double the di ameter of the ancle, and that the largest part of the thigh is three times the dia meter of the smallest.