the crisp firmness of the narrower vein, the fluffiness at the back of the thick stem, and the solid firmness of the stem itself.
We can work this with a pencil and trace the beautiful marking on the feather, or we can produce our paint-box and try to colour our drawing. It is an excellent plan to hide the model from sight, and see how much, or how little, has penetrated our brain.
Afterward try drawing some simple flowers: a snowdrop in a small vase: a crocus—bulb, stem, and flower; a daffodil with a few broad spear-like leaves.
And if we find it difficult to interpret shapes with our pencil, and our brain tires, and our fingers get weary, choose some very different and 'opposite' shapes.
The mere task of choosing requires a little stimulating reflection.
For instance, contrast a flat, squat-shaped, circular inkpot with a small, narrow uptight tumbler; a big spoon with a broad-handled knife. Compare a lemon with a tangerine; an egg with an apple; a reel of cotton with a tube of water-colour paint; a matchbox with an ash-tray; a tall slender vase and a dumpy bowl; a large breakfast-cup and a small cocoa-tin; a flat, thin book and a sphere-shaped paper-weight.
Put some of these objects on a table, at a little distance from your desk, and sketch them two by two, and side by side.
You could draw some with your pencil, and some with your brush.
The lemon and the tangerine are excellent subjects for this test, because you have contrast of both shape and colour.
If you sketch them first with your brush, choose a tint of which they are both composed—say, a very pale yellow.
Draw first the lemon, the large, elongated, egg-shaped variety. Notice the characteristic knob, like a nose, at one end, and compare this with the round tangerine and its somewhat flattened top. You will find a further interest in comparing colours. How rich is the orange tinge beside the
