Modeling

“ It is of great importance to his future growth that the student acquire the habit of freely expressing himself through the art modes of modeling, painting and drawing, since much of his mental power depends upon such expression; for by holding in mind, while in the act of expression, the images acquired through observation, more of the details of the object or scene as well as the generalities are recalled. ”

“ The most lucrative and the steadiest calls for models come from sources not seeking those who might be employed in industrial cities for modeling. They hook on as hostesses, guides, ushers, and to decorate the booths and exhibits at conventions and trade shows, which are numerous. ”

“ If modeling aprons of strong material, buttoned with one button at the neck, be hung near the jar of clay, the children may work in this material without spoiling their clothes. Clay-modeling is an excellent form of manual training, developing without forcing the delicate muscles of the fingers and wrists, and giving wide opportunity for the exercise of the imagination. ”

“ A Model School of Industrial Art.
We cannot, at this time, speak of its provisions by which drawing, modeling, designing, etc., are taught; but we desire to call particular attention to the facilities that are offered for a practical instruction in weaving and textile design. Special courses are provided for teaching designing for all varieties of textile fabrics, and its practical application to loom work. As a complete course in its theoretical and practical utility we do not hesitate to say it is without an equal in America. ”

“ The modeling exercise may well be a hammer handle, the metal part of which is to be worked in the metal class the other half of the first year. The glue joint may well be made upon wood of sufficient size that it may be used later, such as the taboret top. The mortise-and-tenon and miter, however, will be most profitable as exercises pure and simple. A moment’s thought will indicate the reason for making the distinction.
Many courses give modeling in the grades. Modeling to be of value requires judgment and experience. This a grade pupil has not. ”

“ As skilled as these peoples were in modeling life forms, and in engraving geometric devices, they seem rarely to have attempted the linear representation of life forms. We have, however, two very good examples. ”

“ The work of the same grades in the other schools of the city is done; and, in addition, extra work in drawing, color, form, work in modeling, parquetry, folding, cutting, sewing, and shop work with carpenter's tools. ”

“ Modelling differs from drawing and painting in that every side of the model is visible, while only the face of the painting is presented to the eye, where the impression of form and outline is worked out on a flat surface. ”

“ Working Models.—A working model may be a scale model as you have seen or it may be a full sized machine or of any size between these limits.
When you have your invention past the drawing board and up to the shop bench by all means make a working model of it and if possible make it full size. This kind of a model is the proof you want that your invention will work when it is put to the test and by making a working model you will find lots of changes little and big that are needed and which when made will improve its operation wonderfully. ”

“ PASTEBOARD MODELS FOR A HOME DRAWING
CLASS
Study drawing at home and make your own models; form a class of several girls and work together; criticise one another’s drawings, and get a criticism from an artist whenever you can. Much may be accomplished in this way if you have the enthusiasm, perseverance, and will to carry it through. Starting with one object, complete in itself, a variety of forms may be evolved, and combinations can be made until an entirely new model is produced. ”

“ Never try to place a model in a pose which he can only hold by an unnatural strain. You will not get a satisfactory result from it. Study your model; see what poses he most naturally falls into, and then take advantage of one of these, and arrange your picture with reference to it.
Never attempt to represent a character in your picture by using a model of a different class or type from it; you will not be successful either in painting a lady from a model who is a peasant, nor in painting a peasant from a model who is a lady. ”

“ And to confess the truth, there are easier tasks than obtaining clean, clear, correct geometrical and perspective diagrams, whether in pencil or in ink. And on examination days, woe be to those who are not “well up” in these absolute essentials of certificated merit. To model drawing succeeds the “figure from the flat,” “ornament from the cast,” and lastly, the “figure from the round.” Let it be remembered that each of these studies must be thoroughly mastered in its outline before the pupil is permitted to attempt its shading. ”

“ Look well at the model first; try and be moved by something in the form that you feel is fine or interesting, and try and see in your mind's eye what sort of drawing you mean to do before touching your paper. In school studies be always unflinchingly honest to the impression the model gives you, but dismiss the camera idea of truth from your mind. Instead of converting yourself into a mechanical instrument for the copying of what is before you, let your drawing be an expression of truth perceived intelligently. ”

“ Imagine yourselves before a living model, man or woman, with a pencil, and a piece of paper twice the dimensions of your hand, on which to copy it. Certainly, you cannot be expected to reproduce the magnitude of the limbs, for your paper is too small; nor can you be expected to reproduce their color, for you have only black and white to work with. What you have to do is to reproduce their relationships, and first the proportions, that is to say, the relationships of magnitude. ”

“ The tools are driven with a mallet or with the palm of the hand, but in most cases with the latter.
6. A capacity for designing, and a knowledge of drawing and modelling, are particularly necessary to make a finished carver. Without these qualifications, at least in some degree, one may be a mechanic, but not an artist. The subject most difficult of execution, is the human figure, and in producing it with accuracy, the same qualifications in the artist are required, and the same general process is pursued, as in producing it in marble. ”

“ The contour of proportion is the most difficult part of modelling, and for this reason it is to the student and amateur one of the most beneficial branches of the fine arts. Having successfully mastered the head, next attempt a foot from a plaster cast. Select a simple foot, and afterwards a more elaborate subject, such as a whole figure, can be tried.
FIG. 5.
With the wire modelling-tools and the fingers begin to work away the clay to obtain the general outline and form; continue this in a rough manner, until a perfect composition is obtained that compares favorably with the original model ”

“ You must not look for so much decision, and you must study [Pg 368] values closely. Look more for the modelling of the mass than for the modelling of surface. Look more for the vibration of light and air on the flesh and drapery colors than for these colors in themselves. Look for color of contours in the model. Study the subtleties of values of contours, and make your figure relieve by the contrast of value in mass rather than by the modelling within the outline. ”

“ Some rearrangement will always be necessary if you do not use as a model the same person who originally gave you the idea for the picture. Every human being has a different manner. You cannot hope for exactly the same expression in one person that you found in another. But put the model as nearly as you can in the same situation and pose, and then when the model eases from the unnatural muscular balance into the one natural to him, you will find the idea taken from your first observation translated into the characteristics of your present model. ”

“ When the chosen model rightly inspired him—and without that model his invention was often vapid and inert—he could succeed in a degree which no other artist has matched or surpassed in registering not only the permanent facts of beauty in form and feature, but in arresting with equal felicity the most fleeting moments of tender or passionate expression. ”

“ The quality of the surface left by the skilled artist or artisan is more regarded than symmetry of design, or even than correct modelling. Frequently only the important parts in a design are carefully finished and the rest merely sketched: the mode of working, whether by modelling-tools or hammer, being always left apparent. ”

“ Models illustrating Varied Shapes and Textures it will tend to quicken your observation, and this is worth any extra trouble or discouragement that may be entailed. There is a temptation to look continually at our models, and in consequence we look at them more often than is necessary. If, after looking at the model, we hide it from sight and then proceed with our drawing, obviously we must work from memory. ”

“ When you get an abstract idea for a design or a [69] machine that you want to put in concrete form take a rule and compasses, pencil and paper and draw it out to scale, that is, make a drawing of it and mark the sizes, or dimensions, of each part just as it should be when the thing is done. ”

“ It is neither necessary nor desirable to make elaborate and carefully shaded drawings from a posed model; an equal number of hours spent in copying and analyzing the plates of a good art anatomy, supplemented with a certain amount of life drawing, done merely with a view to catch the pose, will be found to be a more profitable exercise, for it will make you familiar with the principal and subsidiary proportions of the bodily temple, and give you sufficient data to enable you to indicate a figure in any position with fair accuracy. ”

“ And however carefully you have worked out your invention on paper you will find that when you come to make a model, or have one made, you will have to change it not once but many times, that is if it is a machine in which a number of parts are made use of and you may have to re-design it and re-construct it several times. ”

“ Ways to Make a Model.—The way in which you get your model made depends on several things and over these you will have little or no control.
There are two ways for you to get a model made of your invention and these are (1) to make it yourself and (2) to have a model maker make it for you.
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These two general ways may be further divided into several sub-ways and among these are (a) for you to have your own workshop, or laboratory and hire machinists, or electricians, or chemists, and have them do the work under your direction ”

“ The students in an art class, drawing from the living model on the platform, and each one striving to follow that model literally, all show it. The sketches indicate by the placing of the figure upon the paper, the size of the figure, the height or depth of the shadows, the clearness or vagueness of the outline, that the personal element—individuality—is present, influencing and 37practically dominating the work of everyone in the class-room. And this, too, in charcoal work, where the color problem is eliminated. ”

“ Each child is required to make a series of useful articles called models, in which round work and the square work of the carpenter are duly alternated; and each model introduces, with the nicest regard to the graduation of difficulties, some new tool or fresh exercise with a tool. It is used as a means of developing physical power and of forming character and habit, rather than of attaining utilitarian ends. ”

“ The direction of line used in relieving forms, and expressing modelling and details, must depend much upon individual taste and feeling as well as knowledge of form. The element of beauty of design also comes in, and the question between this and force or literalness—the difference between a study or direct transcript from nature, and a design with a purely ornamental aim, or a composition directed mainly to the expression of a particular idea or emotion. ”

“ As a carver in stone blocks out his work in square surfaces, the modelling of a figure or any complex surface that is being studied should be set out in planes of tone, painting in the first instance the larger ones, and then, to these, adding the smaller; when it will be seen that the roundnesses have, with a little fusing of edges here and there, been arrived at. Good modelling is full of these planes subtly fused together. Nothing is so characteristic of bad modelling as "gross roundnesses." ”

“ IF you place yourself close to your model, as young artists often do, you will see the top of the head, the top of the shoulder, the upper part of the body, and the feet. You will have the curves of the features very much accentuated, and it will be exceedingly difficult to get the whole picture 'in drawing.'
Artists when painting full-length portraits invariably pose their models a good distance away from their easels, and sometimes the models are placed on a low platform. We can dispense with platforms, but we cannot dispense with distance. ”

“ Working by the methods of graphic statics, the engineer’s task is, in theory, one of great simplicity. He begins by drawing in outline the structure which he desires to erect; he calculates the stresses and bending-moments necessitated by the dimensions and load on the structure; he draws a new diagram representing these forces, and he designs and builds his fabric on the lines of this statical diagram. He does, in short, precisely what we have seen nature doing in the case of the bone. ”