Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1905-1906, 1906-01-19

ScuOOiS, Has d very INTERESTING dilA-
Gle in the January number of the Ed
ucator Journal, published at Indian
apolis. The Educator Journal is the
official organ of the state schools and
is combination of the Inland Jour
nal and the Indiana School Journal,
well known educational publications.
Mr.. Hiser's subject is "The Relation
Between Art Study and Manual
Training and it will no doubt be of
special interest to the local teachers.
The article is as follows:
At the international congress for
the teaching of drawing held at
Berne last summer, exhibits were
made of public school drawing from
different countries. Our cousins
across the sea, after they had exam
ined the work of the American
schools expressed the judgment that
what our art system needs is the bet
ter teaching of drawing.
1t must be apparent to any unbi-
ased mind that the first obligation of
the art department of any public
school is to supply mechanical draw
ings, design drawings, and decorative
drawings for models or articles to be
made in the manual training labora-
tory, and in the school rooms of ev-
cry grade. To do otherwise is a
a. nf LOT and 10 nj
violation of sound pedagogy. Fur
Their, the drawing or art department,
in supplying these crying needs, will
eliminate any of its impractical
theories and come in touch with the
needs of everyday life. 1t will tend
to cure a general ailment, that is not
local, affecting our public school art
work. Some symptoms of this all
ment are here presented. 1t is equal
y obligatory upon the manual train
ing department to make some con-
cession to the other department. 1t
is always willing. But it is my OBJ
servation that the elder child (draw-
ing) is jealous of her sturdy and pop
ular brother (manual training). She
is inclined to isolate herself.
The arguments for the first intro
duction of drawing were that it was
valuable in producing skilled hands,
quick and sure judgment Of the eye.
II was argued that it WOULD be use
Ftt1 IN, nf lral Il fTa,an4
arts and trades in which the learner
might find himself.
But the Lessons that once were de-
voted to model and object drawing,
are now devoted to copying pictures.
composition and picture making, Civ
en- to the pupil when he is unable to
represent accurately simple model
in manual training. Further, he is
unable to read the simple mechanical
drawings put into his hands to be
used in making manual training ar
ticles or models. Too much effort
is made and time spent in attempting
to teach the pupil subtleties of color
ard space arrangement that he can
not appreciate. There is no demand
in his nature that they should be pre-
scented to him at every age in all the
grades. There is no present demand
for this almost exclusive kind of art
work in his other school subjects.
The child must now work with the
brush and all inclination toward out
line (almost mechanically drawing
must be stamped out as vice. He
must work in mass. "Mass draw
ing" involves two things closely al
lied to each other: (I slletchiness, a
acknowledgements distinguished
from the tracing of contours; and the
representation of the third dimen-
surfaces light and
shade. These characteristics are not
dominant and should not be uncondi-
encouraged. We hear it
said today that mass comes before
outline. IF that means that model
ing comes before drawing, that it
comes more naturally to the beginner,
we agree.
1t is a more direct process to repre-
sent form by actual form than by
lines and tints and shades. 1t is d.
rect copying in the one case and in
the other ease translation from the
terms of three dimensions.
This is explained by the difficulty
of representation upon fiat surface.
This baked the continued efforts of
man for thousands of years. Nor