These projection drawings may be of any convenient scale, but most draughtsmen use one inch or one and one-half inch to the foot. With drawings made at these scales before him, the draughtsman has little difficulty in making his sketch correctly.

As any design becomes more attractive by a neat presentation, it is well to make first a study of the sketch with pencil, obtaining the general proportions and outline. Then, to save the time of making erasures and corrections, lay a piece of tracing paper over this rough study and make a more careful drawing. Repeat the process of making tracing copies, correcting the drawing each time until a satisfactory sketch is obtained. This may then be transferred to bristol board for the final rendering, or the last tracing copy is mounted and used as the final sketch. This is, indeed, a good way to do.

It is advisable to keep the rough studies, tracings and notes made when working up a design, either by pasting in scrap-books or classifying in portfolios. They will often be found convenient for duplicating sketches, suggesting ideas, etc.

The mediums and methods of rendering the final sketch are dependent on the personality of the draughtsman. The materials used by one designer might not please another, and each may hav* a different way of presenting the same object. Certain methods have been used by the best men, and seem to give satisfactory results, but someone may rightfully claim that other ways are equally as good.

LOUIS XIV. DESK. HOENTSCHEL COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

PLATE XVIII. LOUIS XV. TABLE. METAL ORNAMENT APPLIED WHERE STRUCTURAL CARVING MIGHT BE USED.

PLATE XIX. LOUTS XVI. CABINET. METAL APPLIQUE AS ORNAMENT ONLY. NOTPLACED ON STRUCTURAL LINES.

PLATE XX. LOUIS XIV. CHAIR. HOENTSCHEL COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

PLATE XXII. LOUIS XV. CHAIR. HOENTSCHEL COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

PLATE XXIII. LOUIS XVI. CHAIR. HOENTSCHEL COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN< MUSEUM OF ART.

PLATE XXIV. LOUIS XVI. CHAIR. HOENTSCHEL COLLECTION, METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.

PLATE XXV. PEN AND INK SKETCH OF A LOUIS XV. CHAIR.

The student can study the advantages and disadvantages of the leading methods and choose the one best suited to himself.

The lead pencil is an exceedingly pleasant medium for furniture sketching when used on a smooth, soft card, like ordinary mounting board. The point should not be too sharp, and with pencils of different degrees of hardness any amount of elaboration may be given the sketch. It may be delicately drawn in outline or it may be bold, broad and shaded if desired. Pen and ink are perhaps the best instruments for a clear indication of the facts. They are used by the majority of designers of experience, and many seem to prefer them to any other mediums. The inks available are the liquid India inks, Prout's brown, and writing fluids.

India ink has the advantage of giving a solid black line that does not change and that may be photographed for reproduction readily. It has the objection of being thick and of making an intensely black line, sometimes too heavy on smooth paper, unless a fine pen is used.

Prout's brown ink is not as intense in color as India ink, but it requires the proper combination of pen and paper to give the fine, delicate line best suited to furniture work.

Writing fluid, when used with a smooth surface writing paper and a moderately fine pen, gives very pleasing results. It flows readily, produces a fine line without the use of an exceedingly fine pen, and though not black when first used, it turns shortly after. The paper should be selected according to the ink and pen used; rough paper requires a coarse pen, and vice versa. Bristol board, India ink and a Gillot 303 pen make a good combination.

Sketches may be made in color, but this medium sometimes makes the furniture appear clumsy and uninteresting. The amount of small detail necessary to make a sketch serviceable is lost in a water color if it is broadly done, and if it is otherwise the drawing requires considerable time in rendering, besides seeming hard and mechanical. Water color is an excellent medium, however, for sketches of upholstered work. It enables the draughtsman to show the color of the goods, the pattern, and also to indicate the tufting with the least labor. Occasionally a combination of line drawing and color is serviceable, but it requires judicious handling, or the result is anything but artistic.

The purchaser of furniture is sometimes at a loss to know how much is necessary to furnish a room comfortably, and he can be advised most readily by the designer if a plan of the room is made and on it the furniture is laid out at scale. A convenient scale is one-half inch to the foot.

LOUIS XIV. OUTLINE PLANS.

LOUIS XV. OUTLINE PLANS.