mouth is put in in very light ink with a finely pointed brush.

[Illustration: BEARING A BURDEN]

There are many ways of painting the hair. Sometimes a fine brush is used
with single parallel lines, and sometimes it is washed in with a broad
brush with light ink below and darker above. In old silk pictures great
depth used to be obtained by painting the hair on the back of the silk
as well as on the front. For painting leaves a mixture of indigo and
gamboge is generally used with a full brush, the tip of the brush being
dipped in indigo. By this method, the dark colour on the tip of the
brush being after a time exhausted, the lighter green appears, and thus
a natural variety of gradation is given to the colour of the leaves.
Trees and rocks, etc., are often scrubbed in with a rather dry brush
worked sideways and forming broken lines.

Another method of drawing a figure is to outline in charcoal, after
which the face with its markings is outlined with a kind of Indian ink.
Then with the same Indian ink, but with broader lines and a large brush,
the drapery is boldly swept in with lines that should break in parts and
form a drag. This drag must come naturally by pressing the brush firmly
on the silk or paper; any attempt to force it would end in failure. The
hair should then be worked in with a large spread brush, care being
taken to give the hairs a radial tendency and not let them cross
confusedly. Sometimes this hair is painted with a fine brush and with
single lines. For the background two large brushes are used, one fitted
with light ink and the other with plain water to shade off the black.
The face and the breast are treated in the same way. The outlines of the
drapery are sometimes washed in with a lighter tone to project over the
edge and soften them. The face is washed with a mixture of red and ink,
leaving only the eyes. The work is finished by using a small brush and
very black ink for the markings of the mouth, centre of the eyes, under
the eyelids, nostrils, and ear-rings.

Japanese artists study a great deal from life, and in order to draw a
figure full of spirit and action they will often work in this way.
Beginning with a very full brush, they sketch in the general swing of
the figure with a few well-chosen broad black lines--as, for instance,
when drawing the legs of a horse or a lobster they will put them in with
one broad wash. Then they strain thin Japanese paper over this spirited
sketch, and begi