

into the heart of the flower, the bright little orange 



" e_\-e " gives us a beautiful contrast with the purple 



tones, and we must notice as well how the petals 



pale at the base, and how beautiful)}' they are veined 



with purple. 



ILy^SBSi^' Xow begin, verj- lightly, With a soft pencil to 



A make j'our sketch. First indicate the general pro- 



I I portions and direction of the stems (the latter 



require as careful drawing as the flowers), then draw 



the petals, doing your utmost to portraj' faithfully 



the form and character you see before you. 



For a water-colour, reduce this pencilling with soft rubber, or a bit ot 



household bread, to the faintest possible outline, just for guidance, for 



the contact of water with a strong pencil mark will set the latter into an 



almost indelible line. 



The only colour at all approaching the 

 brillianc}' of the flowers is mauve, but as this is *" v.* / 



an aniline colour, and a very strong stain, I must 

 warn you against its indiscriminate use. Cobalt "*''-- 



blue and rose madder is a vevy good mixture, 



useful in shadows, which must be kept trans- ' - -< 



parent and warm. 



^ 



To look at our subject occasional!}- with 

 half-closed eyes helps us great!}- to a better 

 understanding of the relative value of tone ; we 

 see the object before us in broad masses of light 

 and shade, without being unduly influenced by 

 minor detail. 



.-\ ver}- easy pitfall for a beginner, as I 

 know from my own e.Kperience, is that, in the 

 desire to make our study forcible and strong, we 

 get our shadow-s too black and hard, thus pro- 

 ducing an artificiality absolutely fatal. Hold 

 some black object, such as a penholder or ruler, 

 up before our group, and notice the relative 

 difference betw-een that and the w-arm deep tones 

 of purple and brown in the shadows. 



We must try to put on our colours with 

 slow deliberate touches, bright and clean, for 

 repeated touching up and "niggling" will produce 

 a dirty, muddy effect and a woolly texture. How- 

 difficult it is I know full well. We start our 

 work w-ith a certain amount of confidence, for 



X:, 



Primroses (*rcw in the lonj* L^rccn grass, 

 At the Soot of the chosen tree; 



And the scent of sweet violets filled the ai: 

 Like odours from Araby. 



