Art Is a Pleasant Hobby

It was a Sunday afternoon when a great statesman, his mind weighed down by the toils of a far-flung empire, entered the children's room of his country house, picked up a brush, and began drawing it across one of the canvases. Before long he had made a new discovery: the cares had vanished

To paint this scene you must understand what equipment you need, for the value of a picture increases in proportion to the care you devote to the preliminary arrangements.

Before you apply the colors, you must lay out the design of the view, which begins at a distant point and draws nearer.

The first step in transferring the design is to sketch it in charcoal on the "canvas," using only a small amount lest it overwhelm the colors. Oil painting requires that you begin with the dark colors first; in this way you see the two colors, white and black, on the canvas. That done, you can blend the intermediate colors into the picture. It appears the artist began with the trunk of the tree, then moved to the side of the hut, and then returned to the rest of the picture.

The second step is to distribute the colors over the canvas by introducing the "light" colors. Thus you see that the tree, for instance, looks dark as it did in the first picture, and what surrounds it appears like dusky clouds — but the brush will soon pass over to breathe life into it! We are still using the "light" colors, and the picture grows and moves toward life; everything has changed, and the obscurity that first wrapped the picture has cleared away. Yet certain touches remain in the artist's mind, which he insists on adding from his own imaginings...

At last the brush disappeared, and the picture emerged into being, alive and clear.

from his mind at the end of that day.

So it was that Winston Churchill took up the art of painting in 1915, when he was forty years old; he still practices this hobby, and returns to London clear of mind, vigorous and cheerful, to face the world's problems. He once wrote: "Painting is a model of perfection. I know of nothing that so absorbs the mind without wearying the body; however difficulties pile up and the future threatens, its menace finds no room once you begin to paint."

Suppose you are one of those drawn to this art, but were turned from trying it by the thought that art is a gift that unfolds from the dawn of life and is perfected by practice, together with broad culture and lofty learning. You are mistaken: talent is not the foundation of art, nor is it necessary to begin at an early age! Look at the artistic remains of antiquity — were those forerunners geniuses? No; they felt beauty, as we all feel it, and set it before the feelings of others. This expression of beauty by some means is what we call art, and even in the age of matter and the machine there is still room for artistic expression and its appreciation. You may ask what art can do for us. It opens the eyes to the beauty of the world, and makes a person appreciate works of art and understand them!

There was a man, the president of a company, in the convalescent ward of a hospital. Weary of idleness, he took a piece of cotton, dipped it in the red antiseptic (Mercurochrome), and began drawing figures on the tablecloth. The exercise pleased him, and when he left the infirmary he devoted his free hours to art — and how quickly he became a famous artist, winning prizes in competitions.

In New York City there is a woman who began life as a servant and married a farmer, spending her time in humble housework. When she reached seventy she retired from work and took up embroidery, which she practiced for eight years; but before long she could no longer hold the needle, so she bought a box of paints and began to paint. How often the neighbors mocked her! Yet two years later she announced the first exhibition of her paintings, under the title "A Farm Woman's Painting," presenting thirty-five canvases; critics and spectators alike were astonished to stand before pictures speaking with life and cheer. By the time she reached ninety she was producing a hundred pictures a year, and this lady believes that anyone can paint — all one needs is to take up the brush and begin, as she did.

Some artists hold that an artist has no need to be educated, for art is the language of the heart, and too much thinking breeds confusion and stands in the way of artistic feeling.

This longing to create beauty is born in the soul of every one of us, but in some it unfolds early, while in others it lingers until life's end. And here is Churchill again on art: "Painting draws a curtain between us and the envious eye of Time. Armed with a paintbox and a brush, you will never fret or grow bored — so try it before time runs out."

These pictures show how to begin the practice of oil painting, and the steps that bring us to our goal.