'Wh-isi iJiiiiD tills 



able to draw it carefully, before we 



can dare to leave it as a mere 



suggestion, and I want especiall)- to 



impress upon you that we must learn 



it b}- ourselves alone. Each pair of 



e}'es, when they open on this world 



of ours, have their own individual 



way of looking at what they see ; 



the decided preference quite 3.-oung- 



children show for special colours and 



forms will teach you that ; but this 



latent individuality needs training to 



bring it forth, and that rests with 



ourselves. 



W'e all know the story in the old " primers " uf 



" E\-es and No-eyes, or the Art of Seeing." How 



true it is ! Take, for instance, this narcissus. Ask 



"Mr. Xo-eyes " what it is, and he will answer at 



once " A white flower," and perhaps, if we press him 



for details, to supplement this bold description he 



will say, " It has six petals and a yellow middle." Ask him with what 



he would shade the flower, and he will exclaim, " Win-, gre\-, of 



course!" (I heard of a Frenchman once who said, "Black and vite 

 makes von good grey!") Ikit while he 

 is busy with his dirty, crude, inky 

 conception of this pure bloom, let us ask 

 the opinion of " Mr. Eyes," who has 

 meanwhile been studying the same flower 

 with enthusiasm and delight. 



" White ? " he says. " Yes, but just 

 hold a bit of white paper near, and see 

 what a white ! How pure and delicate are 

 the dainty pearly greys in the modelling 

 of the petals ; I see cobalt blue, rose 

 madder and a lovely pure yellow in this 

 grey, but so subtly blended, that I am 

 simply longing to make a trial fif the right 

 proportions on mj' palette. Then how- 

 warm and transparent are the shadows, and 

 what a luminous yellow the reflected lights ! 

 What wonderful drawing in the edges of 

 the flower ! How delightfully they melt 

 off indefinitely into the background in the 

 shadows, giving immense value to the 

 lights on the more prominent parts." 



17 



