has a type of form, has a characteristic movement and
shape; and as it changes it comes into a new position and shape in
logical and practically identical sequence of movement. You can only
study this by constant watching. You look at the wave, and then turn
your eyes away to fix it on your canvas; as you look back, the wave is
not there. Well, you can only not try to make a portrait of each wave;
it isn't possible. Don't expect to. Study the movement and type forms;
think of it; fix it in your mind; decide on the mass and suggestive
relation of it to other masses, and put that down.

There is never a recurrence of the same thing either in exact form or
color, but fix your eyes on one place, and over and over again you
will see a succession of waves of similar kind. Or look at a wave and
follow it as it drives on; changes come and go, but the wave form in
the main keeps itself for some time.

Look over a large field of the water without too sharply focussing the
eyes, you will see the great lines and planes of modelled surface over
and over again taking the same or similar shapes, positions, and
relations. And as you look your eye will follow the movement in spite
of yourself. Your gaze will gradually come nearer and nearer; but
meanwhile, in following the wave, it will have felt that the wave was
the same in shape, but only varied in position.

In this way you will come to know the wave forms. Jot them down,
either in color or with charcoal; but do not look for outline too
much. Try to study the forms and relations, mainly by the broad touch,
with a characteristic direction and movement. No amount of explanation
will tell you anything. You must sit and look, think, analyze, and
suggest, then generalize as well as you can.

=Open Sea and Coast.=--The open sea is all movement. Even a ship, the
most rigid thing on it, moves with it. But you do not have to study
these things from the standpoint of invariable movement. You can start
from a stable base. Study coast things first. You have then the
relation of the movement of the water to the rock or land, and you can
simplify the thing somewhat. What has been said of motion holds good
still; but you can get something definite in a rock mass, and study
the changes near it, and then extend your study as you feel strong
enough.

The study of coast scenery is quite as full of changing beauty as the
open sea, and it has certain types that belong to it alone. Breakers
and su