many irrelevant stars which do not fit the figure. Originality does not
require the avoidance of principles used by others. Pictorial forms are
world's property. Originality only demands "the causing to pass into our
own work a _personal_ view of the world and of life."(9) Personality in
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred is a graft. The forms of artistic
expression have been preempted long ago. The men who had the first
chances secured the truest forms of it and in a running glance through a
miscellaneous collection of prints one's attention is invariably arrested
by the force of the pictures by the older masters; so dominating is the
first impression that we concede the case upon the basis of effect before
discovering the many obstacles and omissions counting against their
greater efficiency. But the essence is of the living sort. With this
conceded and the fact that nature's appeal is always strongest when made
through association with man it is for us to cultivate these associations.

"Study nature attentively," says Reynolds, "but always with the masters in
your company; consider them as models which you are to imitate, and at the
same time as rivals, with whom you are to contend."

A wise teacher has said the quickest road to originality is through the
absorption of other men's ideas.

Before going forth therefore with a canvas or plate holder, it behooves us
first to know what art is. Certainly the most logical step from the study
of constructive form is through the practical technique of work which we
would emulate. To copy interpretations of outdoor nature by others is
commendable either at the experimental period, when looking for a
technique, or as an appreciation.

Besides this mental preparation, the next best equipment for finding
pictures is a Claude Lorraine glass, because, being a convex mirror, it
shows a reduced image of nature _in a frame._ The frame is important not
only because it designates the limitations of a picture, but because it
cuts it free from the abstracting details which surround it. If one has
not such a glass, a series of small pasteboard frames will answer. The
margin should be wide enough to allow the eye to rest without disturbance
upon the open space. Two rectangular pieces that may be pushed together
from top or side is probably the most complete device. The proportion of
the frame is therefore adaptable to the subject and the picture may be cut
off top, bottom