Mr. Gibson returned to his board, and what he said next was wonderfully
extra-illustrated by the girl—“Gibson” to her finger-tips,—who looked
up at him.
“The whole value of your work is its individuality,” he said, “and for
that you are obliged to depend absolutely upon yourself. Obviously
nobody can show you how to be original.
“Now take the simple example of a copy book. Do you remember how the
letters used to look, and the elaborate directions which accompanied
every writing lesson? The ‘a’s,’ and so on, must be just of a height.
The ‘t’s’ must be twice as high. The ‘l’s’ and the ‘h’s’ must be a
quarter-length or so above those. Well, as a matter of fact, who
writes like that? Nobody. If anyone did he would simply be laughed at,
and justly so. His handwriting would mean nothing. It would have no
individuality. Everybody simply keeps the letters in mind and forms
them to suit himself, and after a time he has a writing which he can
never change by any chance. That has become the way he writes.
“Well, it is just the same in illustrating. I might tell you all that
I know about drawing; any teacher might tell you all he knows; but,
gradually, by observation and the assertion of your own personality,
you will modify all these forms, and will find yourself drawing one
special way. That is the way you draw, and you can never change it in
essence, though you may go on improving it forever.
“Now, to my mind, just so much instruction in drawing is necessary as
is needed to tell the child who is learning to write which letter is
which, and how to pronounce and recognize it. That once learned, the
child will go its own sweet way and develop a handwriting such as no
one in the world can exactly duplicate. So it is with drawing. When
the first fundamental instructions are over,—which anyone who can draw
can give you,—you are your own master, and will draw or not, as you
were born to do.
“Remember that I am not saying that I regret the time I spent studying,
either here or in Paris. I am only telling you what I regard as
necessary for one who wants to learn.
“Now, just as the way to learn to write is to write, so the way to
learn to draw is to draw. I think it is best to begin with objects
in the room, and with figures,—any objects, any figures,—it does not
matter. But draw one over and over again; draw it from all sides; draw
it big, and draw it little, and draw it again. Then go to something
else, and then come back to it later the same day. Put them all
away till the next day, and then find the mistakes in them. Here is
something to remember, and something which ought to hearten many a
discouraged student quite blue because of what really should have
encouraged him: Do not be discouraged at the mistakes you can find in
your own work, unless you find only a small number. The more mistakes
you can detect, the better able you are to draw. Do not leave a thing
until you are satisfied, after going back to it every day for weeks,
that you can draw it no better. Then, if you come upon it the next
year, and still see no room for improvement,—well, then there is still
room for discouragement about yourself.”