The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-01-05

Ia M AYBE your boy isn't men.
IN $50 tally constructed for trade
W. or any of the so-called or.
slNZE binary occupations Of life.
r' and doesn't care anything
about amassing a fortune
or fame in mercantile or mechanical
lines II he is that kind of lad. he
may have any one Of a number OF spe.
Cial lcanings For instance. he might
aspire to be n great traEedian. or u
pianist, or or an artist
Il is the last occupation Dusing "oc-
.cupatiDn' advisedly ncrcl that shall be
tn" subject of this little talk II your
boy has loanings toward painting or
the higher forms Of drawing and by
lcan.ugs means native ability. more
than mere inclination by all means
encourage him; Tor there is big fu-
turc awaiting him out IN the world.
md he will not have to 20 through so
many hardships as he might find IN
other lines of cudCayor before he sue
Ccrds. There are plcnt OF illustrators
and painters that make money, big
money. and there is room for innumcr
able others on the same high plane.
However, ont OF all the millions that
take up various lines of life work,
probably greater percentage fail by
the waysidc IN art than I'm any other
line not even excepting the stage And
oil oi this or most OF il. comes from
the enthusiastic praises Of relatives
and friends for the foolish littl, draw.
inGs natural to every boy and girl
which are mistaken for high artistic
promise
Because gour boy can make draw
ings that seem fairly good Of houses
and barns and COWS. It means In itself
nothing more than that he might be-
come good copylst ultimately ana
draw a fair ordinary salary It certain
ly does not mean that he is an artist.
But If he has Imagination ana original
ideas and can get AT tn" underlying
reality, tn" point, OF The thing h. Is
IT. ing to depict. and can push these
ideas out through the end OF his pen
or pencil or brush. he has something
in him worth cultiyatiug. even if his
drawing. his technique. Is faulty.
Technique can be acquired, but he can
never learn to be original and to have
Imagination.
The art schools are crowded TO the
doors with students that mistook abil.
ity % draw for artistic instinct, and so
great is this percentage that more than
one woll.known and sensible artist has
declared that 1t would be vast benefit
to the people at large II every one of
these institutions was transformed into
n school Of craftsmanship, Tor the dor.
mant artist will find a way to make
himself known, even II there is not
single school to go to-
These remarks are not made TO dis
courage you, nor to hinder your boy II
he is an artist in embryo. These OBJ
servations are only to encourage eau.
ton.
But. taking It for granted that your
boy has Imagination and originality
not genius or rare talent. but only the
average, ordinary degree-he will have
shown 1t long before he Is sixteen. as
the walls and barn doors and fences
and school books and teachers com.
ments will have made manifest At
that age he can go to art school II he
wishes; that is, If YOU are able to pay
his expenses. These will not neces
sarily be any more than his cost OF liv.
ing: for there are numerous institu.
lions provided with funds giving free
tuition to deserving young aspirants,
But Il you cannot afford to send him
to school. and he must go to work,
don't make the mistake OF putting him
at some trade on the false idea that he
can make more money; for he can
probably earn as much In the begin.
ming at an occupation in keeping with
his ambition. and he will have the
greater reward az he advances.
One OF the best schools of training Is
in newspaper offices where art STATS
arr employed ccoursc the method
OF getting a Job is by applying to the
manager of the art depart TENT. The
newcomer will spend most { his time
in the beginning at the duties of an or.
binary Office boy: but before long he
will be SET to drawing borders on pic.
lures. and pasting pictures together on
what are known as "layouts" quitting
groups together in groups just as they
are to appear in the paper. before be-
ing sent to the engrayer). He will, OF
course, be observing what the artists
are doing. and will be practising him
self whenever he gets an opportunity,
and. possessing determination. will ar.
range to attend school during odd
hours
After awhile the manager will give
b. ~, ,nIuportopt aaeipn M ptc apH ha