REPORT OF MR. MILLETT.
199
observation,—this same mistaken system is taught and employed. The professors begin to instruct exactly the wrong end first; they teach to finish, and insist upon details before the pupil has learned to mass a figure, or indicate by a few lines the character of the movement, and the just proportions. Their models for primary instruction are all after this plan, and their corrections of students’ work all tend to the development of this petty manner of drawing. No arguments are necessary to prove the value of a general indication of the character, as opposed to neglect of grand lines and movements in the elaboration of minutiae. A few charcoal lines, giving the direction of the members, and indicating, in the simplest way, the action of a figure, are more indicative of the Impression the figure makes upon the spectator, than the most carefully studied drawing of the same object, where the grand lines fail and the action is faulty. Any one who has
drawn the fio-ure knows the value of the first few strokes,
, ©
indicating, not the sum-total of the impression made on the mind, but the characteristics of it. Then, in teaching, show the beginner the grand movements of the body, the most characteristic contours, and the just relations of the masses; instruct him how the directions of the branches vary in different species of trees, how the foliage is massed in each, mid everywhere insist on grand character and simplicity. The importance of detail is in general the uppermost idea in the beginner’s mind, and the instructor will rarely have to insist on this quality in beginners’ work. As for finish, this acquirement comes of itself; certainly enough skill in this direction will be gained by the pupil, long before he has learned the grand lessons of his profession. Another fault m English drawings—common, however, with the French— ls ? the absence of any indication of the relations of tone, and 111 the Belgian school alone is this commonly insisted on. This fault cannot be excused in a drawing where there is any attempt at effect of light, for this suggestion of color, and its accompanying tone, is so important a quality of drawing, that even by a simple contour one may judge whether the artist is a colorist or not. It is undeniable that the eye may trained to distinguish relations of tone with great pre- cision, even where there is no innate feeling for color in