The story of the artist. When Sir Joshua Reynolds was a little boy it was decided that he should become a doctor. His father and mother set their hearts upon it, and resolved to help him in every way. Though he loved to draw, it did not seem then as if he would ever become an artist, for his five brothers and sisters could all draw better than he. The children used so much paper and so many pencils that finally the father told them they might draw upon the whitewashed walls in the hall of their house. They used burnt sticks for pencils. It must have been quite as much fun as to draw with white chalk on the blackboard.
Little Joshua’s drawings were so funny that the older children always laughed when they saw them and called him the clown. But he did not care; he just kept on drawing until one day he drew a picture which was really very good. It was of their schoolhouse and he drew it with a pencil on paper. It was so well drawn that every one praised it, and he was very proud indeed. He was only seven years old, and this praise pleased him so much that he kept thinking of it all the time. That day at school he covered his number paper with drawings of things about the room. His father taught the school, and you can imagine how he felt when his son handed in a paper which he could not read because of the drawings all over it. He began to fear Joshua would never make a good doctor or business man, so he wrote at the top of the paper, “Done by Joshua out of pure idleness.”
One day a man came to their town who could draw any person’s picture while he waited. Then, too, he could cut a silhouette picture or side view of the face out of black paper. Joshua followed him about all day, and the two became great friends. The artist gave Joshua lessons and the boy soon learned to draw as well as his teacher. We are told that it was through the friendship of this strolling artist that a rich man’s attention was called to Joshua’s wish to be an artist, and this rich man finally persuaded the father to let Joshua go to London to study.
It was about this time, too, that while at church he drew a picture of the minister on his thumb nail. From this tiny sketch he painted a large portrait on a piece of sail which he found on the river bank near an old boathouse. His paints were some the sailors used to paint their boats. When his father saw this portrait, which was so very like the minister, he knew that his son would surely be a great artist, and he gave up all thought of trying to make a doctor of him.
In London, Reynolds studied painting in earnest, and wrote home, “While I am doing this, I am the happiest creature alive.” He painted the portraits of several well-known men, and soon became very popular.
Then came Admiral Keppel and the wonderful voyage on the ship which he commanded. Upon Sir Joshua’s return home he painted a fine portrait of his friend, the Admiral, which every one wanted to see many times.
It was not long before Sir Joshua Reynolds became a rich man, and bought a beautiful home with a large yard full of beautiful trees. His sister came to keep house for him, and later his little niece Offy came to live with him. He loved children dearly, and always kept pets and playthings for them. He entertained them so happily that they always wanted to come to see him.
Questions about the artist. What did Sir Joshua Reynolds’s father and mother want him to be when he grew up? How many brothers and sisters did he have? How did his drawings compare with theirs? Why did they not draw with paper and pencils? Where were they allowed to draw? What did they call Joshua? Of what did he make his first good picture? What did people say about it? How old was he then? How did he spoil his number paper? What did his father write at the top of his paper? Tell about the strolling artist and what he did for Joshua. Tell about Joshua’s portrait of the minister. What did his father decide after seeing this portrait? What else did Sir Joshua Reynolds do? Tell about his house and yard. What kind of pictures did he paint? Why do you think he was considered a great artist?