99. Understanding, then, thus much of the use of outline, we will go
back to our question about tree-drawing left unanswered at page 48.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

We were, you remember, in pursuit of mystery among the leaves. Now, it
is quite easy to obtain mystery and disorder, to any extent; but the
difficulty is to keep organization in the midst of mystery. And you will
never succeed in doing this unless you lean always to the definite side,
and allow yourself rarely to become quite vague, at least through all
your early practice. So, after your single groups of leaves, your first
step must be to conditions like Figs. 14 and 15, which are careful
facsimiles of two portions of a beautiful wood-cut of Duerer's, the
"Flight into Egypt." Copy these carefully,--never mind how little at a
time, but thoroughly; then trace the Duerer, and apply it to your
drawing, and do not be content till the one fits the other, else your
eye is not true enough to carry you safely through meshes of real
leaves. And in the course of doing this, you will find that not a line
nor dot of Duerer's can be displaced without harm; that all add to the
effect, and either express something, or illumine something, or relieve
something. If, afterwards, you copy any of the pieces of modern tree
drawing, of which so many rich examples are given constantly in our
cheap illustrated periodicals (any of the Christmas numbers of last
year's _Illustrated News_ or others are full of them), you will see
that, though good and forcible general effect is produced, the lines are
thrown in by thousands without special intention, and might just as well
go one way as another, so only that there be enough of them to produce
all together a well-shaped effect of intricacy: and you will find that a
little careless scratching about with your pen will bring you very near
the same result without an effort; but that no scratching of pen, nor
any fortunate chance, nor anything but downright skill and thought, will
imitate so much as one leaf of Duerer's. Yet there is considerable
intricacy and glittering confusion in the interstices of those vine
leaves of his, as well as of the grass.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.]

100. When you have got familiarized to his firm manner, you may draw
from Nature as much as you like in the same way; and when you are tired
of the intense care required for this, you may fall into a little more
easy massing of the leaves, as in Fig. 10 (p. 55). Th