Archery. Archery for ladies, besides | be kept a little apart, while the head being one of the most healthful pas- should incline slightly forward, but the times, is highly valuable for giving grace figure should be kept straight from the to the figure. It is much to be regret- waist. Care must be taken not to overted that ladies should have allowed this draw the string without an arrow atdelightful game to have so much dwin-tached; keep the longer limb of the dled out of use. Much importance is properly attached to the attitude assumed by a lady archer. To this end care should be taken to attend to the following instructions: To keep the heels a few inches apart, the neck slightly curved, and the face and side turned towards the target. bow upwards, for it is liable to break if held downwards. The Target.-The face of a target generally contains four circles, with a gold centre; the inner circle is usually red; the next, white; the third, black; and the outer, white, bordered with green. The mode of counting the hits, is by the following increased scale; one in the gold, counts nine; one, red, counts three; inner white, one as two; in black, four counts as five; the outer white, one counts as one. The prize can be computed in this manner by numbers, or, as is sometimes preferred, by the hit nearest the centre of the gold. The Aim.-When the arrow is three parts drawn, the aim is to be taken; in doing this, the pile of the feather should appear to the right of the mark; the arrow is then drawn to its head, and immediately loosened. Observe well the distance and the lateral direction in taking aim, for there is no bow that will send an arrow many feet straight without some elevation, though it may To Draw the Bow.-The bow should be slight; but when the distanc is be held with the left hand, placing the many yards, and the bows weak, the arrow on the under side of the string, elevation would be considerably in- and the upper side of the bow, until the creased. To meet this unavoidable con-head of the arrow reaches about three tingency, the bow should be somewhat inches beyond the left hand, and there raised above the object aimed at. It secure it with the fore-finger while the is impossible to shoot an arrow straight | right hand is removed down to the to a point, and, if so shot, will fall be-notch, or "nock," as it is more genelow it, for it is subject to the earth's attraction. Therefore much practice is required properly to arrange the elevation, and in this nice matter much will depend of course on the strength of the bow and the distance of the shot. Again, there is the lateral direction to be considered-by the lateral direction we mean the side to which the bow is directed-which depends very much on the state of the wind, by which the arrow in its flight is materially affected. If the wind blows from the left hand, the bow should incline to the left, and if from the right hand, to the right. The Position.-A glance 'at our Illustration will at once show this. Stand at right angles with the target, turning the face over the left shoulder. The heels, as we have before observed, must rally termed amongst archers. Then raise the arrow until the dark feather is uppermost; then pass it down the bow, and fix it on the “ nocking" part of the string. Have shooting-gloves on the fingers when drawing the bow. Place a finger on each side of the arrow on the string, and, to steady it, the thumb on the opposite side; then extend the bow by means of the arrow and the string to the full length of the outstretched left arm, till the right hand reaches beyond the bottom of the left ear; and thus the arrow is raised or pointed to an exact line with the centre or bull's-eye of the target, when nothing more is required than to speed the arrow on its lightning way to the object aimed at. Implements. The bow best adapted for the use of ladies is made of lance archer. wood, and should not exceed five feet be not above the strength of the fair in length. The resisting power should not be more than twenty-three pounds, and scrupulous regard should be ob Arrows, in their weight, must be duly proportioned to the power of the bow, served when purchasing a bow that it and preference given to those which cable to different positions and purposes. For such fine and delicate work as is to be placed near to and upon a level with the eye, small beads are most pleasing in effect; but when the work is to be considerably elevated, or is intended to be seen from a distance only, tolerably large beads are to be preferred. Generally speaking, neatly rounded beads are those most appropriate; but in some parts of the work, as, for instance, where perfectly straight lines have to be represented, these mere pieces of glass tub ing, cut in lengths, and known as bugles,' may be found serviceable, and time will be economised by using them. Beads of as many different colours as possible should be provided, and the mosaicist will do well to have a large stock of these to select from; but those beads which are of mixed colour should be avoided, as they will give more trouble, and not be so good in effect as the self-coloured beads. If gold beads which are thickly gilt with genuine metal can be procured, they will be of great value for enriching the work. Steel beads should be avoided, as being liable to rust. the beads may be enhanced. It will in all cases be necessary that a rim, as of wood, or a gilt moulding, should surround the space to be filled, to give support to the mosaic, and to prevent its being dislodged by accidents. Process. Suppose, then, that the design from the well-known fable of the "Fox and the Crow," (p. 17), has been traced on the panel. A quantity of the isinglass cement, which is transparent, should be warmed, and a coat of it spread with a brush over the whole panel; when this has somewhat dried, a smaller brush should be taken, and a little of the cement applied with it to a portion of the outline of one of the objects in the design, as the back of the fox. To hold the beads while at work, it is well to have a number of little china palettes, or similar shallow receptacles, into which a small number of each of the different coloured beads may be poured. From one of these, with a boxpoint, finely tapered to enter the holes in their centres, take some of the beads of the required colour, and arrange them side by side in a row within the outline; carry this round the entire animal, varying the shade as required, and applying more cement from time to time. In Cement. There are two or three kinds of cement used in bead mosaic. The most easily prepared is made by moist-side this line another similar one must ening isinglass in as much acetic acid as will quite dissolve it; or (another) by melting best Russian glue and adding to it a small quantity of flake-white. These cements must be applied warm; but the latter is inapplicable where tracing is necessary, as it will completely obscure it. Groundwork-The groundwork to lay the beads on may be either wood or metal, or in some cases the mosaic may, if desired, be applied to evenly plastered walls. Where panels of wood are employed, it is always desirable that they should be formed of mahogany, that wood being less liable to warp. Whatever substance is used for a background, it will be well, before commencing, to paint it white, in order that the drawing of the design may be seen more plainly, and also that the brilliancy of be placed in the same manner, and if the object to be represented be of a large size, three or even more of these outline courses will be desirable; but for small objects two will generally_be sufficient. After this the interior has to be filled up, by working across it, in curved lines (aecording to the direction of the shading) in a rounded object, and in straight lines in a flat one. In a similar manner all the other objects in the design would be worked. Afterwards the background must be filled up, by placing, first, a single row of beads, following the outline of the object with which it comes in contact, and by filling the remainder of the space in straight or curved lines, as may be best suited to its character. Thus, in the example given, the wall in the background would be composed of straight rows of beads, while above and below it the lines might | mine, or crimson lake, gamboge, Prusbe flowing. As the work proceeds, it sian blue, and opaque ivory black. should be smoothed and flattened, by These colours are in fine powder, and, pressing it gently with a small and per- when used, must be mixed with picture fectly smooth piece of ivory or box-copal varnish, diluted, when necessary, wood; and when the whole design is with spirits of turpentine. finished-for the purpose of finally correcting any irregularity of surface-a piece of paper should be laid over it, and it should be pressed down with a flat iron, moderately heated. There were also be required a few sable pencils, a flat camel's-hair brush, some picture copal varnish, and a little spirits of turpentine. The materiais being ready, proceed Finally, linseed oil must be spread as follows :-Lay the glass flat on the over the work, and allowed to run be- print or drawing to be copied, and with tween the beads, and finely-powdered a very fine sable pencil and ivory black, whitening sprinkled upon it, and well mixed with varnish, trace all the outworked with the brush into the inter- lines. When thoroughly dry, raise it to stices. This will at the same time tho- a slanting position, by placing it upon a roughly cleanse the surface from any frame with pieces of upright wood upon cement, and by forming a kind of putty either side, and a sheet of white paper between the beads, combine them into flat beneath it; by this means the effect a compact mass. The face of the bead-of the colouring, which may at once work may be wiped clean with a soft be proceeded with, will be better seen. rag. In a few days, when the linseed One caution is perhaps here necessary; oil and whitening have become tho-be careful not to rub up the black in roughly dry, and have set, the whole the colouring, as it is liable to smear if will be so firm that it will bear any rea- much worked over On this account sonable amount of rough usage without moist ivory-black is frequently, and injury to the work. with advantage, substituted for putting in the outline. It may he used with a pen most conveniently, fine or coarse at the points, according to the nature of the work. When finished, the painting should be fixed up in the window with the unpainted side outwards. The subjects most easily worked in bead mosaic are those of a flat character, such as geometrical patterns, and the art is admirably adapted to the representation of heraldic devices. Strictly pictorial subjects are more difficult of treatment, especially if they are brought very near to the eye. A few hints as to mixing the colours may be useful. The nearest approxiWhere a rim of dark wood surrounds mation to scarlet is made by the adthe mosaic, it will always be well to mixture of gamboge with rose madder, place next it a border of gold, yellow, crimson lake, or carmine; for greens, or other light beads; but where the verdigris is very brilliant, and almost rim is gilded, if there be no suitable dark every shade may be made by adding colour next it in the design, a border yellow lake, or brown pink, in different of black beads should be placed adjoin proportions. When a flat even tint is ing it. required, the camel-hair brush is used, Painting upon Glass with Var-and a dabber (made by simply covering nish. This method is adapted well for copying pictures on windows. The following colours, specially prepared by Messrs. Barnard and Son, 339, Oxford Street, are nearly all the materials necessary for its due fulfilment : a little cotton wool with fine leather), which is particularly useful for backgrounds in figure subjects, and skies in landscapes, and this applies also to the use of water-colours. When your painting is finished it must be carefully varRaw and burnt sienna, brown pink,nished. This pretty art may be exeyellow, lake, ultramarine, verdigris, car-cuted at small cost. |