many of its richly variegated leaves a yard or more in length, will sympathise with the warmth of our defence of it. The merest tip of one of these magnificent leaves is all that space, unfortunately, will allow us, and the task of realising the whole leaf from this is as hopeless to any one who does not know the plant as judging the style of a house would be from a specimen brick, or reconstructing some antediluvian creature from a chance vertebra. We have already asserted that the milk-thistle will afford a considerable amount of practice both in its delineation and in painting, and even the small portion we are able to represent will no doubt be found to bear out the truth of our statement. The great globular head, with its fierce array of diverging leaf-like and spiny forms, will in itself call for considerable care in the representation, and the forms of the waving outlines of the foliage are scarcely less complex. The colour of the flower-head is crimson lake, qualified by the addition of a little cobalt, some portions being bluer than others. Over a considerable portion of the spiny head from where the blossoms spring a light greyish-green may be first applied, but the whole thing is so varied and changing in colour that mere washes of colour will do but little, and it will be necessary to resort largely to stippling, a method of working that has been already fully explained in our comments on the first series. The pale markings on the lower leaf should first of all be washed in with a very light grey as a guide, or they run a considerable risk of being painted over with green, and thus a very characteristic feature lost. The whole drawing will call for a very considerable expenditure of patience.

SCARLET GERANIUM.-Scarlet flowers are perhaps the most difficult of all to do full justice to, more difficult even than white ones; in the one case we have to give a sense of perfect purity, and in the other of vivid intensity, and when Nature is vividly intense, as in the scarlet petals of the geranium, or the deep blue of the gentian, she ordinarily leaves the pigments of the colour-box hopelessly in the rear. In such cases one either gives way to despair, and tears the work up after a more or less prolonged contest with the difficulties of the position, or finishes it to the best of one's ability, and then puts it aside, taking refuge in the pleasing hope that when next seen, unconfronted by the splendour of Nature, it may not look so very bad after all. As the beginner looks into his newly-acquired paint-box, by far the most brilliant colour he sees there will ordinarily be the vermilion, and its vivid scarlet will at once mark it out in his eyes as the very thing for such a task as painting the scarlet poppy or the geranium before us. Its opacity is nevertheless greatly against it, and it is perhaps at once the colour that will be most likely to be found in every one's box, and the one that could best be spared from it. It has a way, too, of drying to a duller tint than when first put on that is very objectionable. There are one or two other pigments that take its place, but they would appear to be of a very evanescent character, very much resembling in this respect the "permanent white" that was in use before the introduction of Chinese white, and which may often be seen represented in old drawings by a patch or streak of dirty brown. The best scarlet for the present purpose may be made by the admixture of either cadmium and crimson lake or gamboge and carmine. In painting the very pale grey

seen in parts of the leaf this colour may at first be taken all over the surface of the leaf, except where the greatest brightness of tint is required, and then the darker cold green worked upon it. The brighter green is got by the use of gamboge and Prussian blue together. After the flowers have been painted the water will have got so changed from its original colourlessness that none of these greens will be possible without a fresh supply. The dark ring or "horseshoe" on the leaf will call for considerable care; as it cannot possibly be laid on in a wash there will be nothing for it but patient and persevering labour.

MOUNTAIN POPPY.-The scarlet poppy is so universal, and its vivid colouring is so gorgeous, that even the most careless cannot choose but see it as it clothes the cornfields or the banks in its rich profusion of brilliant scarlet. To most persons, indeed, the idea of a poppy at all can only be that of the glowing denizen of the harvest-field, and we can well imagine that to many people our drawing will have a certain strangeness. They will certainly admit that the flower looks something like a poppy, in its four expanded petals, in its foliage, in its crumpled bud, in its fruit, even in the quaint angularity of its stalks, and yet, mirabile dictu, the thing is a pale yellow instead of the gorgeous scarlet they had looked for. The facts, nevertheless, are duly as set down, and the yellow poppy is one of the most undoubted facts of Nature. Yellow flowers are commonly considered to be the commonest of all, and certainly this statement holds true in the matter of British wild flowers. The yellows are, however, very various in their nature, some being cream-like in tint, others, like the primrose, a delicate sulphur, others a clear golden yellow, like the buttercups, while not a few, like the marsh marigold or the corn marigold (two plants that are brethren in their name alone), have a rich and vivid intensity. The mountain poppy petals may be placed somewhere between the second and third of these broad divisions, for while they leave the modest tints of the primrose far behind, they scarcely attain to the clear brilliancy of the petals of the buttercup. Gamboge alone is rarely quite the colour we want for any flower, as it has a greenish tinge that needs to be corrected, but it is the very thing we want for the yellow poppy flowers; but for the bud we must add a little cadmium, as it will readily be noted that the bud, like those of the apple or the Japan quince, is deeper in colour than the expanded blossom. A little of this deeper tint of yellow will also find its way on to the petals, but it must not by any means be over done, or the character of the flower will be lost. The ring of stamens must not be too distinctly made out, or the sense of mystery arising from their number will be lost. The leaf is of very pleasing form, and must be carefully and sharply drawn: its colouring will present no difficulty.

HERB ROBERT.-This graceful little wildling will tax the young draughtsman's powers in its representation. It may, in fact, be considered an ideal illustration for bringing out the various points and cautions that we have, usque ad nauseam, dwelt

upon, for it is very certain that the beginner's copy will not be recognisable as such unless a very fine pencil be employed, and much loving patience to guide it withal, nor unless perfect cleanliness of surroundings permit of perfect purity of tint. In drawing leaves of this complexity and richness of outline, it is always safer to first of all draw the central lines of each of the leading parts of the leaf, and then proceed in the same way to get the central lines for the subordinate sections before thinking of the outline at all. When these are once correctly placed, the serrations will follow readily enough; it is, in fact, the only way to reasonably ensure success. The same rule may very advantageously be observed in drawing many flowers-those, for example, of the present plant-where central guide-lines would be most useful. A circle seen in perspective, in any position in which it does not look either a true circle or a straight line, is always an ellipse, the form which most persons erroneously call an oval. It is often a valuable guide in drawing a flower to begin by lightly drawing the circumscribing ellipse, and then getting the central lines of the segments before putting in any details of the forms. The blossom of the herb robert may be painted in with pale crimson lake, a darker shade and a little madder brown being used in portions, while the colour of the calyces will be got by first using crimson lake as a ground, and then painting the green over it. All the leaves are clear and bright in colour, but present no difficulty in mixing the tint to those who have travelled thus far through our series. In the autumn the whole plant, stems and leaves together, is a glowing crimson, hence the introduction of a leaf in our drawing that seems to have no affinity with the others. The whole plant is very hairy. These fine lines present a difficulty; if put in with a finely-pointed pencil the effect is not good, while the use of the brush is apt to make some at least of them too thick. Our own plan is to put them in with grey colour by means of a fine steel pen.

LABURNUM.-In our remarks on the sweet pea we have already dwelt on the necessity of careful drawing in all flowers of the papilionaceous type, and the present spray of the golden laburnum blossoms fully bears out those remarks. If the flowers are immediately facing one, or if they present themselves in what we may be allowed to call side elevation, there is no great difficulty, but Nature scorns thus to play into the hands of the idle or incompetent, and, regardless of their feelings, wreaths her blossoms in rich profusion and in every conceivable position. Some look up, some look down, others are what portrait painters would call three-quarter face, while others assume a position that the portrait painters never select, and which we must, therefore, coin a word of our own for, and call three-quarter back. They are, in fact, presented at every conceivable angle, and the representation of each flower is a separate problem. Many of the sprays, too, of this beautiful tree, not inaptly called by country folk the golden rain, are far more densely covered with blossom than the piece we have here selected. Having solved the difficulty of drawing it, the next thing will be to proceed with the painting. We may, however, here say that though absolute correctness is far and away the most desirable thing, that at the same time it is, perhaps, better to

MONTHLY, price ONE S'IILLING.

THE

Magazine of
MAGAZINE

ART.

A Richly Illustrated and Varied Record of the Beauties of
Ancient, Medieval, and Contemporary Taste.

A BALNEATRIX.

"THE MAGAZINE OF ART' contains a very storehouse of art. The illustrations are numerous; the letterpress is particularly good and varied, being designed to suit all tastes, from the most to the least artistic. . Every year 'THE MAGAZINE OF ART' more surely justifies its name, both by the quality of its illustrations and its letterpress."-Times.

"The exquisite beauty of the engravings in THE MAGAZINE OF ART' and the excellence of the letterpress should carry the magazine into every home where Art is appreciated. The lowness of the price-a shilling-is another recommendation in its favour, and we hope that the desire of the publishers to bring the finest art-work within the reach of the great body of the public will meet with its reward."Standard.

"THE MAGAZINE OF ART' is far superior to any artistic serial ever produced for a shilling."-Daily Chronicle. Every sort of fine or decorative art is represented in 'THE MAGAZINE OF ART.'"-Spectator.

"THE MAGAZINE OF ART' is studded with excellent engravings."-Graphic.

"THE MAGAZINE OF ART' is full of really good and interesting popular papers, full of information."-Saturday Review.

The beauty of the engravings in this periodical are notable, even in these days of beautiful engravings."-Notes and Queries.

""THE MAGAZINE OF ART' is a triumph of art. There is no other work of equal comprehensiveness and magnitude and cheapness."-Yorkshire Post. "THE MAGAZINE OF ART' is calculated to do a good and lasting work in the development and cultivation of correct ideas on matters connected with painting, sculpture, and design."-Exeter Post.

CASSELL, PETTER, GALPIN & CO., Ludgate Hill, London.