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LIGHT AND SHADE.
A few remarks may here be made on the mode of representing shadow.
There are seldom found two persons who use the same means for the purpose, that method being adopted which each finds from experience the best suited to express his peculiar feelings. It must be remembered that it is the mind that draws, not the hand only, and therefore whether a shadow be represented with lines or by a smooth tint it matters little, so long as the impressions of truth which it conceives are properly conveyed by the drawing. Perhaps on the whole the Student had better be left to choose his own method, because if his mind has been educated to understand, his hand will best express itself in a way peculiar to its own constitution.
But this remark applies rather to the advanced Student than to the beginner, as one method is certainly preferable to another in. training the hand.
Some rub in the shade with a stump and powdered chalk, touching up the darkest parts with the point ; others use the point and rub it down with the stump or finger or a piece of rough paper; others shade with the point from beginning to end; which latter mode is preferable for beginners, as it is cleaner and demands a greater degree of care and knowledge. There may be other methods and modifications or mixtures of these which can be used as they best suit the object to be represented.
In regard to materials, the best paper is white or tinted Imperial, made by hand. Another crayon paper has been introduced, made by machine, which although preferable for sketching, is not so well adapted for chalk drawings, on account of the tendency of its surface to rub up and become woolly. The former is of rough and firm texture throughout, and being made in separate sheets, may be known by the selvage on all sides ; the latter is made in lengths, on rollers, and may be known by its edges having been cut, and by its surface in front being smooth, and at the back marked with a transverse grain.
Tinted paper is preferable for shaded drawings, as the use of white chalk for the lights renders the color of the paper available for the half-tint, which is a great saving of work.
In the selection of paper it is necessary that the dimensions should correspond with the proportions of the subject to be delineated. For instance, the proportion suitable for heads is about 5 to 4, and the paper best adapted for this purpose is called Royal, measuring 24 x 19. For the entire figure the proportion should be about 3 to 2, and the fittest papers for it are the Imperial, which measures 30 x 21, or half a sheet of Doable Elephant, which measures 26 x 21. A larger or smaller size may be used according to the dimensions of the drawing ; but unless attention be paid to the foregoing rule the subject will be found to have a disproportionate margin, which always has an awkward appearance.
The chalks generally used are Italian, French and Academy, chalk. The first is of a grey tint, clean, firm, and easily erased, and therefore preferable for shading with the point, and known by its being cut into irregular sticks, which retain the marks of the saw. The French is soft and black, better adapted for stumping, but when used for lines is liable, in unpracticed hands, to look too gritty and black ; it is made in square sticks, and stamped " Conte a Paris," Nos. 1, 2, 3. The "Royal Academy Chalk" is a recent introduction, manufactured. in England, by Messrs. G. Rowney, with the object of combining the advantages of the other two; it is a very useful )
