Draining from Nature. Il lustrated by eighteen coloured and litho- graphic
plates and more than 100 woodcuts. By George Barnard. (Longman.)—The able Professor of Drawing at Rugby has produced a volume which will be serviceable to pupils and their instructors, and at the same time find a place on the drawing-room table. It contains a series of progressive lessons in sketching, from the simple lines and touches that will best give the shape of a branch or a leaf, to the most effective illustrations of mountain or forest scenery, and the lessons are afterwards shown in practice in a number of interesting tours. The first half of the volume is devoted to trees and foreground studies, and includes notices of lane and hedge plants, and the picturesque grouping that is to be met with by the roadside, on the heath, or along the borders of the stream. In the latter part, after a chapter of practical hints and some remarks on such kindred matter as the use of water colours and lithography, our author proceeds with the sketching tours before alluded to. Here he revels in his subject ; perhaps with a little diffuseness, but with a sincere love for nature and his art, he takes the reader through the beautiful country about Dorking, Sylva Evelyn's country, as he calls it, in affectionate remembrance of the squire of Wotton, to the forest of Fontainebleau, and finally to the Alps and the Pyrenees. This part of the work will please everybody. Mr. Barnard's touch is very light and graceful, and he is particularly happy in foliage ; nothing could be better than many of the wood engravings illustrative of rural scenery, amongst which we may instance the "Evelyn Woods," the views from Fontainebleau, and the small cuts in the chapter on foreground studies. We have no intention of treating the large plates with disrespect; they are all carefully executed, and some of them, as, for example, the "Far de Cheval, from the valley of Sixt," and the sepia sketch of " Les Ottleys," a queer mass of obelisk-shaped rocks off Sark, are remarkable specimens of vigorous drawing, and add to the charm of the volume. But the woodoats, we think, are choicer in their way, and constitute the special attraction of the work. A good deal of it is, as our readers will see, of general interest, and, specially useful as it will be found by students, professional or amateur, it is also worthy of the attention of all who have a taste for natural beauty or any fellow-feeling with a con- scientious artist.
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