hout beginning to understand
what masterly work means; and, by the time he has gained some
proficiency in them, he will have a pleasure in looking at the painting
of the great schools, and a new perception of the exquisiteness of
natural scenery, such as would repay him for much more labor than I have
asked him to undergo.

ix. That labor is, nevertheless, sufficiently irksome, nor is it
possible that it should be otherwise, so long as the pupil works
unassisted by a master. For the smooth and straight road which admits
unembarrassed progress must, I fear, be dull as well as smooth; and the
hedges need to be close and trim when there is no guide to warn or bring
back the erring traveler. The system followed in this work will,
therefore, at first, surprise somewhat sorrowfully those who are
familiar with the practice of our class at the Working Men's College;
for there, the pupil, having the master at his side to extricate him
from such embarrassments as his first efforts may lead into, is _at
once_ set to draw from a solid object, and soon finds entertainment in
his efforts and interest in his difficulties. Of course the simplest
object which it is possible to set before the eye is a sphere; and,
practically, I find a child's toy, a white leather ball, better than
anything else; as the gradations on balls of plaster of Paris, which I
use sometimes to try the strength of pupils who have had previous
practice, are a little too delicate for a beginner to perceive. It has
been objected that a circle, or the outline of a sphere, is one of the
most difficult of all lines to draw. It is so;[A] but I do not want it
to be drawn. All that his study of the ball is to teach the pupil, is
the way in which shade gives the appearance of projection. This he
learns most satisfactorily from a sphere; because any solid form,
terminated by straight lines or flat surfaces, owes some of its
appearance of projection to its perspective; but in the sphere, what,
without shade, was a flat circle, becomes, merely by the added shade,
the image of a solid ball; and this fact is just as striking to the
learner, whether his circular outline be true or false. He is,
therefore, never allowed to trouble himself about it; if he makes the
ball look as oval as an egg, the degree of error is simply pointed out
to him, and he does better next time, and better still the next. But his
mind is always fixed on the gradation of shade, and the outline left to
tak