Page:Drawing for Beginners.djvu/15

 FOREWORD

AVE you heard the reply given by a small boy to a query, "How do you draw?"

"I think," he said, "and then I draw round my think."

It is an excellent answer to a very difficult question.

Many an artist could not give as lucid a reply. As far as I can judge, and I have been peculiarly fortunate in meeting many artist, the great artist would probably say:

"How do I draw? Here&mdash;give me a paint-brush"&mdash;and if he were inclined to be brutally frank&mdash;"don't ask me full questions; watch&mdash;this is how it is done." And he would proceed with a few swift strokes to paint something, at which you would gasp and feel no wiser than before. It would look perfect. It would be perfect. But how was it done? He thought, and then drew round his thought. The great artist speaks with his tools; more often than not he is a man of few words.

We are told that when a Japanese artist wishes to paint a flower he watches its growth from bud to blossom and then to seed. After a little time has elapsed he takes up his brush and paints his remembrance of the flower. Whether he could describe the manner in which he intends to paint that flower is doubtful.

We must think with the brush an the pencil; we must think first and then draw round our 'think.'

I hope that this book may help you to arrange your thoughts.

It is but a helping hand on the broad highway that leads to the great world of art.

D.F.