me spirit, the need of
the hour, just as surely as the child's work at his desk, and when the
teacher realizes this fact, he will never lack a subject for illustration.
For instance, in the fall the class may be studying trees, and drawing
will be found indispensable.

The children are studying some tree near at hand, comparing trees to
discover their points of likeness and difference, collecting pictures of
trees and mounting these to illustrate their description, and with this
study they are becoming more or less familiar with our common trees. If
the teacher should go to the blackboard to enforce a point in regard to
the general form of the tree, direction of branches or characteristic
details, he will find such sketches a great help. It is the teacher who
does such illustrative drawing who holds and interests his class.

Let us try a few simple applications of the practice previously suggested,
using the trees as our topic for illustration.

No. 13. Draw a gray, vertical line suggesting the characteristic line of
growth in the pine tree. Use the stroke given in No. 11 for the foliage.
To represent the foliage in a mass, simply shorten or lengthen the stroke
of the chalk, using a greater pressure here and there. With the side of
the chalk represent the trunk of the tree where visible and with the point
indicate branches.

[Illustration: Plate 5]

Certain laws govern blackboard work as well as object drawing on paper. A
sketch of the object as a whole must be made first and the massing of the
lights and shades must be done before detail is attempted. The general
outline may often be sketched with charcoal and corrected when the chalk
is used.

[Illustration: Plate 6]

No. 14. Try the poplar tree. Again the vertical line is characteristic.
Indicate this. Mass the foliage as before, using a vertical rather than a
horizontal stroke. Do not remove the chalk from the board until the mass
of foliage is represented and remember to give a light pressure for the
grays and a strong one for the whites.

It is not the greatest quantity of chalk which gives the best drawing any
more than the greatest quantity of pigment in our color work which gives
the best painting. Represent trunk and branches as in No. 13.

[Illustration: Plate 7]

No. 15. A bit of landscape indicated by a few strokes of chalk often
renders the drawing much more pleasing and at the same time suggests the
environment of the tree. The lin