Aims of Student and Artist

Art Book with chapters on Charcoal, Pencil and Brush Drawing

CHAPTER III

AIMS OF STUDENT AND ARTIST

THE STUDENT'S AIM

Drawing must be natural. — To produce a great work of art, the mind must be perfectly free to express itself without thought of the materials or methods employed. The painter cannot do this if his attention is frequently diverted to the drawing, light and shade, or color involved, or to the manipulation of his materials. To work freely he must give the drawing, light and shade, and color readily, and be as little conscious of the handling of the mediums used as is the orator of the separate words by which he expresses the emotions of his mind.

Art simplifies nature. — Some of nature's effects are beyond the power of paint or other mediums, and in order to convey a suggestion of them it will be necessary to simplify the subject and to omit detail seen in both the strong light and the deep Shadow. This simplifying is often advisable when not necessary, as the aim of the artist should be to represent only what will best express and is essential to the sentiment of the subject.

Simplifying the most difficult art. — Art students have the idea that omission of detail is essential to the best work, and so think that good work will result simply from the omission of detail. They do not understand that the artist always has the sentiment which he desires to express in his mind, influencing every stroke that he makes, and that it is this effort to secure the ideal whole which eliminates all not essential to it. The art student does not understand that he cannot work as the artist does until after studying as long as the artist has studied to obtain the power to see, to think, and to work artistically ; that is, to see the beauty and the poetry in nature and to overlook blemishes or details not essential to the sentiment of the subject. This being the case, the beginner who thinks to improve his work by omitting detail has no guide and no end to accomplish, and his drawings are consequently without merit.

Simplifying follows exact drawing. — The student asks how much detail he shall represent, and often is inclined to feel that he is imposed upon if requested to represent all or nearly all that he sees. But he ought not to feel satisfied until he can represent truly and readily all that he sees. To do this requires, in the first place, the capacity for seeing form and values truly, and, secondly, the power to 'taw. If the student can see and draw, it is simply a question of patient work to finish the drawing. If he cannot see or draw truly, he certainly needs the study which will enable him to do this, and which is to be obtained only by studying detail until it can be correctly represented. When the student is able to draw correctly and readily, then and then only will he be able to express artistically whatever he may feel.

Fine perceptions due to long study. — The power to feel and to see the finer effects of form and color can be acquired only by long continued hard work and study ; it cannot be imparted by one who possesses it to one who does not possess it. Consequently there is no easy road for the student who would become an artist. All must win whatever success they attain at the cost of repeated failures and much hard work.

Students are too apt to think that fame is due to genius which is the birthright of nature's favorites. Genius has been defined as the capacity for hard work, and the art student will do well to accept this definition ; for though we must admit that all are born with different powers, we must also acknowledge that those whose fame in art is greatest began to work while young, and kept on drawing and painting till they were in the prime of life before they produced their best work. The art student who hopes to achieve success without work expects to do what the most highly gifted and most famous artists have not been able to accomplish.

Detail subordinate to mass. — The student who is told to represent detail must remember that no part should be exaggerated so as to interfere with the effect of the masses of light and dark. These masses must be represented in their proper relations even if, in order to do this, some of the finer gradations are not given or are given less strongly than they are seen. For instance, in representing a white polished sphere, the contrast between the glitter point and the parts near it is quite marked ; and if the sphere is in a group in which there is a very dark object, it may not be possible to represent the glitter point as strongly as it appears without getting the mass of the light of the sphere so dark that the dark object cannot be represented in its actual relations to the white sphere. In this case it is much better to express the relations between the masses of light and dark truly and merely suggest the glitter point on the sphere ; indeed this must be done if the mass of the light of the sphere is to be light enough to express the effect of the sphere in contrast with the dark object.

THE ARTIST'S AIMS

The artist an impressionist. - By means of paint, crayon, or any other medium we cannot reproduce any object, but can only produce what may create a more or less satisfactory impression of it. The artist should always aim to produce the strongest effect of his subject that can be produced by the medium chosen ; he must be called an impressionist, whatever his style of painting or methods of work. As such he may seek to convey ideas of beauty of form or of color, but his first aim must be to produce the strongest impression of the spirit of the subject, that is, of the impression it creates upon himself. It is not his aim to represent it as any other person may see it, or as the camera would reproduce it with all its unimportant details.

Sentiment more important than truth. —Art does not require exactness of representation, but rather the embodiment of the sentiment of the subject ; this being so, we can understand why the artist disregards exact appearances, and that the best impression of the form of any object is often given by a drawing which is not like the image created by the object in the eye. We can also understand why the artist who works in light and shade may not give exactly the values he sees ; and why in color work his aim is often not so much to give just the colors he sees as colors which may create in, the eyes of those who observe the picture the same sentiments concerning the color effect of the subject as the artist felt when he was before it. To awaken these ideas, he often does not paint what he sees, because a much stronger impression of the color effect is produced by the contrast of colors which , are different from those he sees. The artist is justified in departing from nature as regards either form, values, or color, when by so doing the result more truly gives the sentiment of the subject.
That a drawing is often improved by making the spirit of the subject more important than exact representation of details is shown by the drawings on page 71 of " Free-Hand Drawing," where Figs. 24 and 26 represent the actual appearance of the side boxes and Fig. 27 shows that when these boxes are to be shown by one drawing, it is better not to give the actual appearance of the side boxes, but to show instead the fact that the boxes are arranged in a straight line. The difference between absolute truth of detail and the artist's drawing is shown by Figs. 22, 23, 24, and 25. The photograph gives the actual facts, and the three drawings give the facts most important to suggest the spirit of the subject. These drawings are not like the photograph as regards either the principal lines or the detail. Thus the long lines of the bank are more curved than in nature and the details much simplified, being suggested instead of represented. The artist always works in this way whatever his subject, for he feels its spirit, its long lines and principal masses, and so represents them as to produce the effect of beauty which he feels. His work is not careless or inaccurate drawing, but the best drawing of all the essentials. It differs from truth in order to produce the most truthful representation of the beauty the artist sees' with his discriminating eyes, which do not dwell upon the ugly or commonplace features.

A true drawing of a near object unsatisfactory. — The student may be assisted to understand that the best drawing is due to feeling, and not to a literal representation of what the eye sees by studying. photographs of figures in which he will often find unpleasant effects, due to the perspective of a hand or foot which is too near the camera to seem in harmony with the other parts of the figure. As illustrated in Chap. VII of " Free-Hand Drawing," the photograph is liable to distortions due to the camera not being pointed directly at the object. But the unpleasant photograph may be taken with the camera pointed directly at the figure and thus be nearly like the image of the eye; in this case its distortion is due principally to the nearness of the camera to the figure.

Artist draws by feeling. — If an artist draws just what he sees when very near a figure, the drawing resulting will be as unpleasant as the distorted photograph of a horse, for it disregards the fact that the artist should not be nearer the figure he draws than two or three times its height. - If the artist is obliged to draw a figure when so near to it that representing the nearer parts of their actual visual proportions would make these parts seem too large for the farther parts, he changes the proportions until they represent those he feels concerning the figure and not the apparent visual proportions. When drawing out of doors he represents the proportions he feels and not those of the photograph, which often reduces and changes important lines very much.
The perspective of an object very near the eye is so large that when the eye is not at the station-point all the more distant objects seem very small. The most distorted photograph will give a perfect impression of nature if it is seen from the proper station-point. Fold a card two inches from one edge, so that a right angle is formed. Then place the card above Fig. 25a, so that one part is parallel to the page and two inches from it ; and twist a sharp lead pencil into the card to produce a hole about of an inch in diameter, and opposite the center of the figure. When the picture is seen with the eye stationed at this hole, 2 inches from the page, it will not appear distorted. It is not wise to represent a figure or other object which is quite near the eye when other figures are far from it, for the correct visual proportions will produce a drawing which makes the distant figures appear as if dwarfs. Often a fence retreats into the picture from a point near the artist, and if its nearer parts are represented by their visual proportions, they will dwarf all other parts of the subject. In such cases the artist should change the proportions of the nearer parts so that they feel right.

Values are often changed. — In the matter of values the artist changes more frequently than in the form. Thus in a portrait it is important that the head be the principal feature, and to make it such the light upon other parts, the hand, for instance, is often represented very greatly subdued in tone so that it does not attract the eye; and always in all work the artist omits or subordinates features which are unpleasant or not essential to the sentiment which the subject creates.

The student cannot imitate the artist. — The art student cannot imitate the artist in work which is the result of feeling only to be obtained after years of study, and these explanations have been made in order that the student may be content to study until he can give truly just the form, values, and color seen before he attempts the most difficult problem in art.

CHAPTER IV

TECHNIQUE AND METHODS

TECHNIQUE

Depends on individuality. — Little would be said upon this subject here if it were not for the fact that so much attention is often given to it that it is necessary to show that matters of technique are not of first importance. Technique or handling means the way in which any medium is used to produce an effect, and to the artist it is of great interest and importance, for upon the way in which the medium is handled depends the effect of the sketch and the time required to produce it. Handling is the result of temperament and education, and is very different with different people. The same subject may be represented by half a dozen different artists, and the handling of no two sketches be alike. The time spent upon them may range from a few hours to many days, and to the public the results may not be very different in effect, or, on the other hand, they may be so different that they would hardly be accepted as painted from the same subject.

Depends on education. — The average person rarely changes the habits and ideas which are his by birth and education. Almost every one has perfect faith in the theories which he holds, and often will not admit that the theories of others are worth consideration. On the contrary, he tries to convert those who differ from him, and sometimes he refuses to consider an opinion for which no authority is found in the school to which he belongs. If his mind questions the correctness of any point decided by his authorities, he is often too timid to let his doubt be known, and he thus sees and thinks through others.
We often recognize in the work of an artist the technique of the teacher with whom he has studied, and, if we know him, find that he sees no merit outside the work of his own school. The ability to be independent is possessed by the few who lead. Naturally the majority seek some one to follow, or, rather, follow instinctively the leaders with whose temperaments they are in harmony. In art this causes the different schools, and gives rise to the conflicting ideas concerning art education.

Art judged by unimportant details. — The public generally is pleased by detail, the more detail the better, and it compares all with that of a Meissonier or with a photograph. Some who have studied have passed beyond the stage of search for detail, but even to many of them art often consists principally of the technique of the picture, which is good if similar to that of the artists whose work they have chosen as ideals.

Art instruction influenced by fads. — The instruction in schools, both elementary and advanced, is too largely influenced by the latest technical fad, which is the technique of those who influence art matters at any particular time. So method supersedes method — there is no accepted standard, and art instruction often deals with matters relating to a medium and its handling, while the foundation of drawing and values receives far too little attention.
This is especially true of the work in the public schools, where it has often been necessary to have instruction in drawing given by teachers who have had little opportunity to study drawing. Consequently students have sometimes been told that all methods except one are out of date and harmful, and that drawings made in other ways are bad. For instance, it has been claimed that a charcoal or other light and shade drawing must be made wholly with the point of the charcoal or other pencil and consist of separate lines, and that a drawing in which the lines are at all blended to form a tint is not good. The results of such teaching are generally most mechanical drawings, although they are often better than some of the copies provided to show public school pupils how to make light and shade drawings.

Less important than truth. — Technique bears the same relation to drawing that style does to the study of the elements of language. Therefore the teacher of elementary work should not allow his pupils to consider technique at all. The pupil should think simply of the truth of the drawing, and the teacher of the way in which the pupil may obtain the truth most quickly and easily. The teacher should remember that every medium may be used in many different ways, and should not restrict individuality of expression that produces true drawings.
The aim of a drawing is to create an impression of nature, and any drawing must be bad which, instead of doing this, causes one to think at once of paper and crayon or whatever other medium may be used, or of the way in which it is used. This is a good test for poor technique.
With any medium certain facts are self-evident, as, for instance, that the surface of the paper must not be destroyed by erasing ; but such essential points will be discovered by any one who studies, and what is meant is that the spirit of the drawing should always be thought of first, and that difficult methods should not be studied because they are interesting to some noted person.

Concerns the advanced student. — The art student must be interested in technique, for it involves the mechanical points which he must master thoroughly before he can express himself freely; but questions of technique concern principally advanced students. The elementary student should be taught that the medium must not force itself or its handling upon the eye ; that there must be in any drawing a harmony of treatment throughout its parts ; that it will not do to finish one part perfectly and smoothly and have parts equally important imperfectly and roughly finished.
The ability and training of the student, and his aim in studying, must decide whether any medium or particular way of using it should be chosen ; but the elementary teacher must consider simply how he can most quickly train his pupils to see and draw correctly, and he will discard any method which makes the pupil think of the point and the kind of line he is drawing instead of the form or value that should be represented.

Many ways of using every medium. — The pictures and drawings of the best artists should be studied, for the student will be greatly helped and inspired by them. Great variety of handling will be found in them and also in those by any one artist, and study of the technique of others will soon convince one that there are many ways in which any medium may be used with the best results, if one with artistic feeling can draw well. Less important than beauty. — The public should be taught that the technique of a picture concerns them little, and that if a picture is beautiful in form, color, and sentiment, it should be admired for these qualities, and not because it is smoothly painted or roughly painted, or because it gives evidence of rapid work or of the greatest labor; for art does not consist in technique, but in results which come from and appeal to the soul, and are embodied in mind and not in medium or its handling. If this could be understood and the public would look beyond the surface of the canvas, a great advance would be made.

METHODS

Harmony of methods. —In "Free-Hand Drawing" it is shown that the pupil who studies outline drawing should first suggest his impression of the mass of the group and of its important lines ; that he should begin with its essentials and from the first express character by light touches suggesting the most important features ; and that he should change these touches without erasing until finally the form is correctly represented.
There should be from first to last a harmony in the methods employed by the pupil, whatever the mediums used, and if the above is the best method for studying outline drawing, it must be the best for the study of light and shade. In practice the student who has thus studied outline will continue these methods, and the transition from outline to light and shade will naturally follow the making of outline drawings, for the touches required to obtain the correct form will often blend together and suggest the light and shade effects of the object.

Outline study leads to that of values. — To make a shaded drawing giving simply the relative values of a cast or a figure without the use of a background is a natural continuation of the process by which the outline should be obtained ; for the trial lines follow the surface they represent and give: the effect of shade as it is rendered by the pencil of the artist. The artist feels the surface he represents and expresses its form and gradations of shade by strokes which, following the surface, help to give the roundness and character of the part whose contour and value they represent.

When a drawing such as Fig. 26 is to be carefully shaded, the masses of shadow should be carefully indicated and defined by light touches until all the contours and shadows are seen to be in correct drawing. The shadows may then be strengthened, the accents added, and the drawing finished as in Figs. 27 and 59. This natural process of making a light and shade drawing has been followed by the most famous artists of the past, and is an artistic method of studying form. Many of the old masters' drawings illustrate this method and also the fact that drawings with light and shade effects may be very conventional and far from representing truly all the values of the subject. They are drawings rather than paintings ; that is, they are studies of form more than of values, and do not give either the relative values of the object alone or its values in comparison with its surroundings. The word " painting," as here used, means a drawing in which values and the effect are made of first importance ; and in this sense a painting may be done in charcoal or the pencil as well as with the brush.

Use of background. — A drawing begun in this. way may be carried as far as is desired; it may give all the values of the object alone, it may suggest a background, or it may give the full values of the object and its background.
A drawing such 'as, Fig. 27 may be relieved by a background wherever the object appears lighter than the background. Without being strong enough to be a complete study of values, such a drawing may be interesting and true in expressing the character of the subject — its solidity and construction.
Light and shade drawings,. carried on as explained above, give the very best practice. in drawing, and whatever the aim of the pupil may be, he should work in this way part of the time, less time being required to study the relative values of the object or figure than is required to represent the object and its surroundings.

To study values. — The best method of studying when values are first in importance must now be considered. In this case it is most necessary to obtain the effect of the masses, and the student should begin by suggesting them. As quickly as possible the entire surface of the paper should be covered so as to lightly express the principal lights and darks. When the masses of dark have been suggested. the student should study form and construction until the masses are seen to be correctly indicated; then, they should be strengthened, their details brought out, and the study finished by carefully representing all details just as in the case of the drawing (Fig.-27) which is a study of form and local values instead of a study of full, values. But the student must not forget the impression of light and dark which the subject creates, and while perfecting the. drawing, the greatest pains must be taken not to lose the values.

Drawing and painting. — In reality the student should be working in one of two directions without regard to the medium with which he makes the light and shade drawing. He should be studying drawing or studying painting, — using the word " painting " in the sense that a representation of all the values causes one to think of the subject simply and not of the medium employed, and in the sense that a drawing or picture is a work of art in proportion as it hides the medium employed and its handling.
To obtain the best results the art student must both draw and paint, and, even while working with black and white, he must use both methods. Frequently art students study drawing alone, and this accounts for the general disregard of values. Representing a. cast or a figure with crayon or pencil upon white paper without the use of a background is study of drawing, and certainly cannot give the effect of the object, when the object is light against dark instead of dark against light. It is not surprising that pupils whose work has been largely of this nature, should not be able to see the values in a simple group of still life.
The difference between a sketch and a study, and that between a study or drawing, and a painting (using painting in the sense of a drawing giving values), is shown by Figs. 26, 27, and 28.
Fig. 26 is by Raphael, and represents the Virgin and child. It shows the first light touches and the stronger ones by which the form was gradually obtained, and illustrates the fact that the artist works upon figure subjects just as the student was directed in " Free-Hand Drawing" to begin his study of the geometric
Fig. 27 is from a pencil study by Leonardo da Vinci ; it is a careful and true drawing as far as character and modelling are concerned, but it does not give the values, and is not a painting in the sense of repreSenting light and color in addition to the form.
Fig. 28 is from a charcoal study by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and when compared with Fig. 27 illustrates the difference between a study of form simply, or a drawing, and a study of values which may be called a painting. Although done with charcoal, this drawing gives at first glance the effect of nature as regards light, color, and form, which it should be the aim of the painter to represent ; and it is much more satisfactory as a painting than many colored paintings which are not true in values.
When the student is at work he should always have in mind the making of a sketch such as Fig. 26, or a study such as Fig. 27, or a painting such as Fig. 28, but he must not forget while working for tone and values that Fig. 28 is as careful and as true in drawing as Fig. 27.

Painting method advisable. — The public school pupil should begin with pencil outline ; from this he should advance to light and shade work with the pencil, which may at first represent objects without a background ; but in the high school he should study values, and although pupils study drawing without intending to make a specialty of art, they should be taught to look at nature artistically so as to realize the effects of light and dark and color which she presents. To do this pupils must study values, and nearly all light and shade study in high and all elementary schools should represent the object and its surroundings in their true relations of light and dark.

Time-sketches. — Students so frequently forget the subject they are studying, while thinking of the medium or of unimportant details, that time-sketches are necessary if rapid progress is to be made ; and, regardless of the medium used, students of light and shade should be obliged frequently to make time-sketches in so short a time that they are compelled to work in the right way. If the time of the first sketches. is limited to a few minutes each, pupils are obliged to look for the essentials, and to suggest them by light touches. If they mechanically try to produce finished results representing details their drawings are too incomplete and poor to satisfy themselves. Students who work mechanically and study details will, on comparing their work with the drawings of students who have worked properly, generally try to see effects, and to suggest them lightly and quickly.

The first time-sketches in light and shade may do little more than suggest the principal masses of light and dark. Students should understand, while making them, that their aim must be to represent what is seen as far as this is possible in the time, and to do this by telling the truth always, and never allowing any part of the drawing to be different in effect from the part it represents. Students often work 'carelessly, knowing that parts of the drawing are different from the parts they represent, but intending to change them later on. Such work produces drawings which are dark when they should be light, and which are very unsatisfactory and different from what the students know they ought to be.
A student should not begin to make a drawing until he has studied the subject and determined just what he has to do, in order to place no darks upon the drawing except to suggest corresponding darks of the object, and in order to avoid representing unimportant details either of light or of dark before the masses are correctly expressed. The spirit and the effect are the important things, and these should be thought of first and last ; if this is not done the drawing must always be mechanical. The artistic method is that which at first lightly suggests the important features, and then, as they are found to be correct, strengthens them and accents the drawing, never allowing it to remain false in effect or values, so that whenever the student stops work the drawing is satisfactory and true as far as it has been carried.

Unsatisfactory methods. — Students are often allowed to draw an object or a group of objects by studying and finishing its parts in detail. As explained in " Free-hand Drawing," this method is very unsatisfactory, for no one has an eye perfect enough to obtain masses and proportions correctly by simply considering the details of the masses.
Another method is that of " blocking out," which considers curves as composed of straight lines, and curved surfaces as composed of many plane surfaces. The student will be assisted in making a cor rect drawing if, after having suggested the form, he studies it in detail to discover any tendency to angularity in parts which at first glance seem of regular curvature. But he will not be assisted in studying nature by any method which makes his drawings become false in any particular, or become mere illustrations of methods of working or teaching.
An illustration of the blocking-out method is given by Fig. 29. This drawing shows how students sometimes represent the masses of light and dark by two tones without gradation, and often separated by arbitrary straight lines, when in nature the gradation from light to shadow is quite gradual and not at all angular. Frequently many hours are spent upon drawings which are not carried beyond this conventional stage. Such work is intended to cause the student to realize that the effect of the object is due to opposed masses of light and shadow which are but slightly varied in tone and are often sharply defined. But too often pupils fail to realize that this is their purpose, and consider them as serious studies. After having worked some time in determining arbitrary dividing lines of light and shade which they do not see, and which are so untrue as only to be suitable for the most conventional work in design, pupils then begin to make more finished drawings in the same way by blending with the stump the separation between light and dark determined as in Fig.29. Drawings such as Fig. 29 are so different from nature that while at work upon the blended drawings all effect of the masses is often destroyed ; and though, when rightly presented, good will result from the making of a few blocked-out drawings in two values and without gradation, students should never be allowed to spend much time on such drawings. A drawing of this nature should be made in a few minutes and should not be highly finished or *considered as more than a conventional mode of expression which illustrates the fact that nature's effects are those of masses of light and of shadow in contrast. Students should never be allowed to use a medium in a way which suggests an attempt at light and shade effects but Which does not represent nature well enough to give, the impression of the roundness and particular solidity of the object.

Line method. — Fig. 3o represents a method similar to that illustrated by Fig. 29, but which makes use of separate lines to produce the effect of shadow. As a representation of a sphere Fig. 3o is very unsatisfactory, for certainly, if unassisted in any way, no one would think of a sphere when looking at the illustration. But it is common for drawings to be finished in this way, and copies which are even less satisfactory than Fig. 3o are often given to public school pupils in order to show them how to make light and shade drawings.
The origin of this method is probably found in the fact that the use of the stump tends to careless work on the part of the pupil, and also in the fact that separate lines can be reproduced by cheap processes. But as often taught, it illustrates the absurdity of attempting to formulate rules by which light and shade drawings may be made.

Center lines. — A common way of beginning is by drawing a center line about which parts may be symmetrically placed. Thus in Fig. 8 the axes of the cone and cylinder would be drawn before any parts of the contours, and in figure drawing a diagrammatic skeleton might be sketched by means of lines representing the center lines of the limbs and the body as in Fig. 31, or a variation of Fig. 31 might be made by suggesting the mass of the ribs and that of the pelvis.
Center lines are not usually seen, and those mentioned for the group, Fig. 8, and those of Fig. 31, serve simply to suggest the directions of the masses. The student who draws from nature will obtain the results given by the center lines much more satisfactorily by suggesting, instead of center lines which are invisible and which are often difficult to imagine, the principal contours of the parts ; these are visible, no act of the imagination is required to determine them, and the light lines which suggest them are an aid in the completion of the drawing and often will remain in the final effect, while center lines, if drawn, must be erased.
When the student does not draw from nature, center lines will be of great assistance, and the student is advised to draw them. Much pleasure and profit will be derived from the designing of figure compositions in which the figures are represented as in Fig. 31, or by variations of this sketch ; but when it is not necessary to depend upon the memory, unnecessary lines should not be drawn, and the progress of the drawing should depend not so much upon analysis of the construction as upon a feeling of the form which from the first leads to the expression of its essentials by means of the most important features actually seen.

Authority for all methods. — It is possible to find noted authorities for almost any view of any question, and in art the words or work of men who are or have been prominent are used in support of methods opposed to those of this book. The study of values, for instance, has been neglected in many of the schools of this country and Europe, and is given little attention even now in some quite noted ones. In some schools pupils are allowed to finish one part of a drawing before other parts are even suggested. Thus in a figure we find them painting the first day the head, the second the shoulders, and so on till on the last day of the pose they get to the feet or possibly not so far as this, the background being carried along with the figure. By such work it is almost impossible to obtain a harmonious whole, for the effect which any part will produce cannot be determined until it can be compared with all the other parts, and until the whole canvas is covered so as to give the desired effect. This principle applies as much to an outline or a light and shade drawing as to a color study. But even if the eye were trained to work correctly under such difficult conditions, it would be impossible to obtain harmony by correctly drawing what is before the eye at different times, for the light and shade and color effects of the subject are continually changing. Even in the studio the effects due to sunshine and a gray day are entirely different. Not only this, but during different hours of the same day the effects of color and light and shade are different, and it will be impossible to produce a satisfactory whole by simply representing what is seen when the pupil works upon and finishes the different parts.

Effect must be chosen. —The sentiment of the drawing and its effects of light and shade and color must be selected by the artist from the different changeable effects which the subject presents, and then he must work all the time with these desired effects in mind. To do this he must suggest as quickly as possible the desired effect when it is before him, and in all later work he must be careful not to lose or injure it. It is most important that both the student and the artist work for the spirit and the effect of the whole_until it is correctly suggested; then the detail may be studied and the parts finished.

Public ideals often false. — Not only in values but in outline work is authority to be found for inartistic methods. Thus we are told that a drawing should be finished bit by bit with firm, decided, and exact fine lines, or perhaps with soft gray lines drawn at one touch. It is not strange the public has come to regard the perfect circle drawn at first touch by Giotto as the symbol of the best art work, and to believe that perfection at first touch is not only desirable, but possible to obtain. We are told that there must be no variety of line in an outline drawing, and that in light and shade an exact and perfect outline should be secured, and then the light and shade placed within it. If instead of following the advice of any one author, artist, or teacher, each person should study for himself all the points involved, the adoption of inartistic methods would be far less general. Those who study for themselves will be led to ask why begin in light and shade work with an outline which often represents contours that are lost in the shadow, and which can no more express roundness than the circle suggests the light and shade upon the sphere.

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