de-light on the model, and a
second light on the canvas. To arrange this, have a sort of crane made
of iron, shaped like a carpenter's square, which will swing at right
angles with the wall, the arm reaching, say, six feet into the room.
Swing this by means of staples well up to the ceiling, so that the
light cannot get over it, and near to the right-hand window. From
this arm you can hang a thick, dark curtain, which will cover and shut
out the light from the right-hand window when swung back over it. If
you want to pose your model in the light of that window, while you
paint in that of the other, swing the curtain out into the room at
right angles to the wall, and it will prevent a cross light from the
two windows; so that when the model is posed back of the curtain the
light from that window will not fall on the canvas, nor the light from
the other fall on the model.
The light will be best on your picture coming from well above you as
you work. There will then be no reflections on the paint. You may find
it necessary to cover entirely the lower half of the window which
gives your painting-light. You will find it useful to have a shade of
good solid holland, arranged with the roller at the bottom, and a
string running up through a pulley at the top; so that you may pull
the shade _up_ from the bottom instead of _down_ from the top, and so
cut off as much of the lower part of the window as is necessary.
If you need the light from the lower part of the window, you may make
a thin curtain of muslin to cover the lower sash, which will let the
light through, but diffuse the rays and prevent reflection.
=The Size of the Studio.=--Of course a large studio is a good thing,
but it is not always at one's command. But you should try to have the
room large enough to let you work freely, and have distance enough
from the model. The size that I have mentioned, twelve feet by
sixteen, is as small as one should have, and one that you can almost
always get. If the room is smaller than that, you cannot do much in
it, and fifteen by twenty will give ample space.
PART II
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER X
MENTAL ATTITUDE
There is a theoretical and a practical side to art. The business of
the student is with the practical. Theories are not a part of his
work. Before any theoretical work is done there i
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