her day I would confine my attention
to eyes, ears, mane, etc., always with reference to the work
immediately in hand, as that is the time to get the best results from
life study; because the difficulties have presented themselves, and one
knows exactly what to look for. Five minutes spent thus after the work
has been started (provided the start has been right and involves no
mistake in the general masses) is more valuable than hours of labor in
making preliminary drawings.

[Illustration: FIG. 70.]

The use of experimental models in clay or wax has, of course, its
advantages, but it will be well to know just how far such an aid is
valuable, and at what point its use becomes hurtful to one's work. It is
a common practise in large carving shops for one man to design the
figure or animal subjects in clay, while another carves them in stone or
wood. Now, apart from the difference in material and the unnatural
"division of labor," which we have discussed before, it is beyond
question that a model of this kind has even a more paralyzing effect on
the actual carver than a drawing would have. Of course, the work is more
certain to reach a recognized standard, and the risk of total failure is
reduced to a minimum, but there is literally nothing left for the
carver to invent; who, if he is a man with a turn for that kind of
thing, and of a nervous temperament, must suffer untold irritation in
its execution. The good and bad results of the use of a modeled pattern
attend in a modified degree even where both are done by the same hand,
but for all that it is a useful and convenient way of making experiments
in doubtful passages of the work. The "how far" a model is to be carried
must be regulated by the amount of confidence the carver has in his own
foresight, but in any case it is always well to remember the difference
of treatment required in plaster, clay, and hard wood, which lead to
such different results that often fresh difficulty arises in having to
translate the one manner into the other. For the purpose of roughing out
the general scheme, the clay, if it must be resorted to, should be used
in soft masses, then a drawing in outline made from this; but all
doubtful detailed work should be carved, not modeled, and for this
purpose the clay should be allowed to harden until it is nearly dry.

The opinions of the well-known wood-carver, Mr. W. Aumonier, on this
subject, will be of value to you; he says with regard to the bes