The text guides students through drawing human heads, emphasizing the parallel alignment of facial features and the importance of comparing parts and distances to achieve accuracy. It instructs on sketching, shading, and refining details while adhering to principles observed in the original work. The student is advised to practice from different angles and eventually draw other body parts, with examples found in subsequent plates.
On Drawing.
Two of the nose and mouth: nothing can be seen better expressed, nor better suited to form the taste and hand of young people.
The student will then move on to complete heads, using the principles they have just copied; that is to say, for example, they must ensure that the lines where the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears are placed are parallel to each other, and even though these lines are not drawn on the original before them, this principle is no less precisely observed. Based on these considerations, they will start by sketching or lightly tracing the whole ensemble of the head; by comparing the parts to one another, and the distances between them, they will examine if their drawing matches the original. Then they will strengthen this ensemble; that is, they will further confirm what they have outlined: then they will add the shadows, following the original exactly. They will first outline the main masses of shadow, softening them towards the light with half-tones, using less pencil pressure in their drawing. They will also compare the shadowed parts to each other, the half-tones to the reflections, and reserve their final pencil strokes for the strongest touches.
The student will continue to copy designs of heads viewed from different angles until they are sufficiently familiar with these initial principles to follow them reasonably. They will then draw feet and hands, arms and legs; examples can be found on the twelve following plates, from number 13 onwards.