ch may be made
longer and shorter, and it _must hold_ the canvas firmly. It is not
enough to lean the canvas on it. The wind blows it over just when you
are putting on an interesting touch, or the touch itself upsets it,
either of which is most aggravating, and does not tend to
satisfactory work. You must not be obliged to sit down to work just
where you don't want to, a little this side or a little that side of
the chosen spot, because the ground isn't even there and the easel
will not stand straight. You must be able to make a leg longer or
shorter as the unevenness of the ground necessitates. It is impossible
to work among rocks or on hillsides if you cannot make your easel
stand as you want it. These things are not to be got round. You might
as well not work as to sketch with a poor sketching easel. And you
must pay a good price for it. The sketching easel that is good for
anything has never been made to sell for a dollar and a half. Pay
three or four dollars for it, at any rate, and use it the rest of your
life. I use an easel every day that I have worked on every summer for
twelve years. Most artists are doing much the same. The easel is not
expensive _per year_ at that rate! It is such an easel as that shown
on the opposite page, and is satisfactory for all sorts of work.

[Illustration]

If you are working in a strong wind, or if you have a large canvas,
such an easel as this illustration shows is the best and safest yet
invented, and it is as good for other work, and particularly when you
want to stand up. And either of these easels will be perfectly
satisfactory to use in the house.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IV

BRUSHES

An old brush that has been properly cared for is generally better than
a new one. It seems to have accommodated itself to your way of
painting, and falls in with your peculiarities. It is astonishing how
attached you get to your favorite brushes, and how loath you are to
finally give them up. What if you have no others to take their places?

Don't look upon your brushes as something to get as few of as
possible, and which you would not get at all if you could help it.
There is nothing which comes nearer to yourself than the brush which
carries out your idea in paint. You should be always on the lookout
for a good brush; and whenever you run across one, buy it, no matter
how many you have already. Don't look twice at a