Interesting Things Out of Doors. When you were making a special study of landscape, you found that many things out of doors that you had not thought about before, became very interesting to you. You began to notice the colors of the sky and earth, the shapes of trees, the forms of clouds, the change from day to night. These things had always been around you, but you had not thought about them, and so you had not really seen them.
Observing Our Surroundings. Your lessons from flowers and plants, and from birds and animals help you to see and enjoy much more in nature than you did before. A walk in the country, or even along the city street, is never dull to one who is interested in what is going on around him, and whose eyes are trained to really see.
Beauty in Common Things. Not all of the beauty of the world is out of doors. Things about us in our homes are often interesting in their character, and they should be beautiful as well. The picture on the opposite page shows you an old-fashioned kitchen fireside. The wide hearth, the logs of wood, the andirons, the pots and kettles hanging over the fire, all give you a sense of homely comfort and cheer. Would you not like to draw your chair close to the blazing logs on a cold winter night, and roast apples, or pop corn, while the wind howled and roared up the big chimney? There is real beauty in this picture of home and the common things of every-day use.
Finding and Expressing Beauty. In the houses we live in nowadays, there may be no kitchen fireplaces like this; but the thought that we get from the picture is that beauty may be found in those things for which we sometimes care the least. Let us study the common dishes we cook with, the vegetables that come from market or garden, the furniture we use every day. Let us discover for ourselves whether these things are beautiful or ugly. If beauty is there, let us find it, and show it to others. If we enjoy those things which are really beautiful, we shall find them everywhere, and if we try, we ourselves shall be able to do something which will add, in some small way, to the beauty of the world in which we live.
A Bowl in Charcoal Mass.
The bowl from which this sketch was made is of common earthenware, not unlike the clay used in making flower-pots or tiles. Although this material is neither costly nor rare, articles made from it are beautiful, if they are pleasing in shape and proportion, tasteful in coloring, and well adapted to their uses.
This little bowl was probably meant to hold short-stemmed flowers. Notice that it is low and broad, with a wide mouth or top. It will hold plenty of water for its purpose and will not easily be upset. The inner curve near the top suggests a vase or flower holder. A bowl designed for holding liquids or liquid food would probably be without this curve in its outline.
The simple coloring of the bowl has also been carefully planned. It is not by accident that the glaze on the inside is in darker value than the outside color. This contrast of light and dark is one of the elements of beauty. Look for it in things about you, and try to show its effect in sketches that you make.