^ Violiii by 31 



honest work, we must be full of 

 enthusiasm for our subject, and who 

 would not be enthusiastic on a bright 

 March morning, when the joy and 

 vitality of awakening spring, the thrill 

 of delight at the passing of winter, 

 is coursing through our veins ? 



Following the advice of the 

 famous cookery book, to " first 

 catch your hare," let us start in quest / 



of our little models. Let us don our 

 thickest boots and shortest skirts, 



and, armed with a basket, and an ancient pair of leather gloves, 

 in which we may grub delightfully in damp earth regardless of 

 consequences, brave the muddy lane, with its wild, untrimmcd 

 hedgerows, high banks, and deep ditches. 



There, in a tangle of frost-tinted ivy, red-brown beech leaves, 

 feathery moss, prickly brambles, and lichen-coated twigs, we shall 

 surely find the objects of our search. 



How beautiful they are in their natural environment ! We feel 

 a certain sadness in taking them, however tenderly and lovingly, away 

 from so much beauty. But the wind is cold and searching, the rain- 

 clouds are hurriedly chasing each other over the cold, clear sky, and, 

 however anxious we might be to make a study of the dear thino-s as 

 they grow, it would hardly be wise to risk the consequences, especially 

 as, to be on a level with our subject, our feet would probably have to be 

 immersed in the boggy water at the bottom of the ditch. 



What an infinite variety of colour we see in these little denizens of 

 the hedge bank, from creamy white through delicate shadings of mauve, 

 to deep purply blue ! 



And let us notice, for future reference, the wonderful effect the 



changing sky has on them, perhaps more especially on the leaves. That 



great inky rain-cloud throws a cold grey shadow, and everything reflects 



a sombre hue ; but now the raindrops have fallen, and the bright 



spring sunshine beams forth again, the violet leaves, 



glistening with liquid diamonds, are dancing with delight 



in the breeze, a golden green that would defy the 



brightest mixture of emerald and aureolin our palettes 



could afford. 



Do not be in too great a hurry to make " pictures " ; 

 we must walk, or even crawl, before we can run ; and a 

 k\v careful drawings in pencil, or studies of single 

 flowers in colour, will teach us more in drawing than 

 an elaborate group. A musical student would not 

 dream of attempting the grand chords of Beethoven, 



