We must draw our horizontal line, and be guided by it; also know where
to fix and keep in mind our points of sight, stand-point, and dots of
distance; be able to place our vanishing lines, know where they are
going, and why they are so going. We must also know where to drift our
shadows, and when to trail them; how long our reflections ought to be,
and why at one time we make them longer than the object, and why at
another time so much shorter. This is all imperative to the art student,
although it may be overdone. The rules are not so hard as some imagine,
and, like painting, are best demonstrated in nature. Sit down to draw
part of a city with two or three streets slanting different directions,
pass lines about from your horizontal line, until you fix on the right
slope, and you have gleaned all that there is to get practically out of
Perspective.
Many a good picture is spoiled by the painter 'showing off' his
knowledge in this line, where a little deviation from the stiff law
would have redeemed the whole; just as many a clever speech is often
spoiled by the speaker weighing it down with complex and ornate words.
And on Anatomy; for, although the classic Greeks are supposed to be all
ignorant on this subject, it is no excuse for our ignorance; the science
is now established, and it is our duty to learn it if we would be
perfect draughtsmen of the human body and its exertions.
Gustave Doré, through his great knowledge of anatomy, can take the
liberties he does with his figures, and yet be to a certain extent
natural. Look at his thousands of figures, with their countless twists
and contortions, if you desire to know the ease and power the study of
anatomy gives to a man.
The Greeks had perfect models. Their customs, exercises, abstinence and
games gave them this advantage over us; but times have changed: our
climate, our costumes, our habits are all against us, and without the
knowledge of bones and muscles we should never discern between the
natural and the deformed, and just picture Venus rising from the salt
foam with a corset-curbed waist or the traces of a badly-set joint!
And how should we know what ought to be, and what ought not to be, in
our model, if we are ignorant of his or her construction?
True, the Greek statues are there, to copy and educate our eyes to the
true and lovely; but how are we to know whether the Greek statues are
perfect, if we do not know why that lump starts out when the arm or leg
is planted so? The study of the Greek statues is about as long as the
study of anatomy, and not so satisfactory, but both are best.
And now one word on Exhibitions and Academies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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