A ruin invariably presents a crumbling, and softened, and somewhat elusive outline.
Rough in the whole mass, the general structure. Look for the highest point, compare the position of each thing with that point, then, having settled on the principal forms, look for the darkest dark and brightest light. Try to give an impression of the roughened surface. Draw the near shapes with care. If you sketch the masonry in the foreground with accuracy, then the parts that lie farther away can be more slightly drawn. The little bit of knowledge acquired by sketching something with care has a very solid value. Young sketchers faced with picturesque ruins are often tempted to try a tricky way of drawing.
We have all seen ruins 'touched in' with sharp and telling bits of light and shade (apparently with ease and quickness), and we are fired with a desire to do likewise.
Believe me when I say that this is yet another pitfall for the unwary. The tricky methods of drawing never advance us one step. We must sketch only what we see, and that with care.
Look also for the perspective (another thing that is often ignored when sketching out of doors), check the top angle, and the base of the arch, also the fragment of carving and the window in the wall with the near and projecting masonry.
Once we are fairly embarked on the subject of ruined buildings and trees, we feel more capable of trying real landscapes on a larger scale.
As an introduction to this more ambitious task, try your hand at thumbnail sketches. By thumbnail I mean tiny impressions of fairly large things, small houses, small trees, and the broadest indication of the curve of the ground, of fields, hills, and hedges. Not scribbles, but honest though minute sketches marking the chief characteristics: the lie of the ground, the position of the houses, the shape of the roof (whether pointed or flat), the comparative size of the trees or shrubs, the thing or tone of trees, grass, roof, and walls. (See the examples in Fig. 66.)
