The test of any system of art‐study lies in what you can do with it.
Harmony‐building has been the theme of the foregoing pages, with
progressive exercises in structural line, dark‐and‐light and color. The
product should be power,—power to appreciate, power to do something worth
while. Practice in simple harmonies gives control of the more complex
relations, and enables one to create with freedom in any field of art.
Such training is the best foundation for work in design, architecture, the
crafts, painting, sculpture and teaching. After this should come special
training; for the designer, architect, craftsman, study of historic
styles, severe drill in drawing (freehand and mechanical), knowledge of
materials; for the painter and sculptor, long practice in drawing and
modelling, acquirement of technique; for the teacher, drill in drawing,
painting, designing and modelling, study of educational principles,
knowledge of school conditions and public needs, practice teaching. In a
word, first cultivate the mind, set the thoughts in order, utilize the
power within; then the eye and the hand can be trained effectively, with a
definite end in view. The usual way, in our systems of art‐instruction, is
to put drill first, leaving thought and appreciation out of account.
Applications of structural principles are many; I can mention and
illustrate but a few: