brought up with, that they refuse to have anything to do with it.
Whereas, if they only took the trouble to find out something of the
point of view of the modern artist, they would discover new beauties
they little suspected.

If anybody looks at a picture by Claude Monet from the point of view of
a Raphael, he will see nothing but a meaningless jargon of wild
paint-strokes. And if anybody looks at a Raphael from the point of view
of a Claude Monet, he will, no doubt, only see hard, tinny figures in a
setting devoid of any of the lovely atmosphere that always envelops form
seen in nature. So wide apart are some of the points of view in
painting. In the treatment of form these differences in point of view
make for enormous variety in the work. So that no apology need be made
for the large amount of space occupied in the following pages by what is
usually dismissed as mere theory; but what is in reality the first
essential of any good practice in drawing. To have a clear idea of what
it is you wish to do, is the first necessity of any successful
performance. But our exhibitions are full of works that show how seldom
this is the case in art. Works showing much ingenuity and ability, but
no artistic brains; pictures that are little more than school studies,
exercises in the representation of carefully or carelessly arranged
objects, but cold to any artistic intention.

At this time particularly some principles, and a clear intellectual
understanding of what it is you are trying to do, are needed. We have no
set traditions to guide us. The times when the student accepted the
style and traditions of his master and blindly followed them until he
found himself, are gone. Such conditions belonged to an age when
intercommunication was difficult, and when the artistic horizon was
restricted to a single town or province. Science has altered all that,
and we may regret the loss of local colour and singleness of aim this
growth of art in separate compartments produced; but it is unlikely that
such conditions will occur again. Quick means of transit and cheap
methods of reproduction have brought the art of the whole world to our
doors. Where formerly the artistic food at the disposal of the student
was restricted to the few pictures in his vicinity and some prints of
others, now there is scarcely a picture of note in the world that is not
known to the average student, either from personal inspection at our
museums and loan exhibitio