The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-04-06


There may be an extra five or ten
cents for paper during the year; blot
tiers are given away, and paint rags
cost nothing, for ALAS most of us own
more rags than clothes. The second
year the cost should be less, for If the
child takes care Of his ruler, compass.
etc, only paper, new cakes of paint,
pencils, eraser, and book will have TO
be bought, making the cost ga cents
per month, or 20 cents for the school
year.
This outlay is not to make him an
artist, but to train the eye, hand. and
mind Philip Gilbert Hamilton. artist
and critic, says: 1.-THE eye which is
trained by drawing discerns form
everywhere, and in everything; the hand
which is skilled to use pencil and brush
will be generally superior in deHcacy
and accuracy of touch to the hand
which has never been taught. The
question, therefore, is not simply
whether we care to be skiiful in draw
ing, but whether we prefer a keen eye
to a comparatively blind one, and a
ready hand to a clumsy one. There
are a thousand things to be done in
ordinary life, as well as in different
trades and professions, in which ac-
curate sight and sure touch are desir-
able"
The above statement is daily illus
trated in Pensacola. a former pupil
sews for a livelihood, and says that
drawing helps her in cutting patterns
and making designs for embroidery;
another breadwinner, who has local
fame for her embroideries, says draw
ing and painting taught her how to
shade her flowers; one of our best Win
DOW dressers chose that business
through a course of drawing and paint
ing, and the knowledge gained shows
in his artistic windows Pensacola's
young deputy clerk took a course in
drawing and painting. and later studied
mechanical engineering, and all know
of his rapid rise in the Louisville and
Nashville shops. He can tell of the
influence drawing has had on his char
acter and career.
France has given the world not only
many famous artists, but the best de-
signers and artisans, and their work
brings fabulous prices.
when Napoleon decTeed that every
child in the schools Of France should
he taught to draw, he gave such an
impetus to the artistic life of the
French, that, in this respect, no other
nation has since approached them"
Great Britain has followed the exam
pie of France, and drawing is a COM
pulsory subject in the elementary
schools.
That some in America recognize the
quaintness and originality of children's
work is shown by the circular sent
out by John Wanamaker, in which
prizes are offered for the best designs
by children between nine and fifteen
years of age. A newsboy in Chicago,
with just one tool, a scroll saw, has
made a fair sized fortune from the
manufacture of simple devices from
thin woods.
Our pupils have not made a fortune
yet, but some Of their baSketry and
dolls furniture was sold at the fair,
and at the art exhibit last week the
spring styles in dolls hats were eager
ly bought. Another pupil through her
paper dolls has gained a scholarship
in a noted college.
We have stressed the mercantile |
value of drawing. for Does it pay?" is
the unwriten motto of large part of
America; but there is another side to
the study of drawing. 1t not only
trains the eye, hand and mind of a
child, but develops an appreciation Of
beauty in the commonest objects, and
his enjoyment of nature is increased
a thousandfold. A picture that was
published in one of the comic papers |
shows the need of developing a sense |
of beauty in some people. An old man |
at the village store is telling his Gro |
MES all about the tourists he has Just |
driven to the hotel: when we reached |
the top o. the hill, they all said OH /
and 'ahi' and what do you think they |
wuz ching and ahing about? One Of /
them common red and yaIler sunsets" /
Our boys and girls mention the beau |
tfful sunsets and moonlight scenes |
showing that some are impressed by /
their surroundings ami, though they /
may never be artists, they viii own all /
the lovely pictures nature gives them
blue skies, the emerald gulf. and the
sun, moon and stars are theirs.
The Pensacola Journal proved the |
value Of drawing last year, when 1t