at tints afterwards, so as to put life and light into them, and that
can only be done with the point. Labour on, therefore, courageously,
with that only.

EXERCISE V.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

When you can manage to tint and gradate tenderly with the pencil point,
get a good large alphabet, and try to _tint_ the letters into shape with
the pencil point. Do not outline them first, but measure their height
and extreme breadth with the compasses, as _a b_, _a c_, Fig. 3., and
then scratch in their shapes gradually; the letter A, enclosed within
the lines, being in what Turner would have called a "state of
forwardness."

Then, when you are satisfied with the shape of the letter, draw pen and
ink lines firmly round the tint, as at _d_, and remove any touches
outside the limit, first with the India-rubber, and then with the
penknife, so that all may look clear and right. If you rub out any of
the pencil inside the outline of the letter, retouch it, closing it up
to the inked line. The straight lines of the outline are all to be
_ruled_,[203] but the curved lines are to be drawn by the eye and hand;
and you will soon find what good practice there is in getting the curved
letters, such as Bs, Cs, &c., to stand quite straight, and come into
accurate form.

All these exercises are very irksome, and they are not to be persisted
in alone; neither is it necessary to acquire perfect power in any of
them. An entire master of the pencil or brush ought, indeed, to be able
to draw any form at once, as Giotto his circle; but such skill as this
is only to be expected of the consummate master, having pencil in hand
all his life, and all day long, hence the force of Giotto's proof of his
skill; and it is quite possible to draw very beautifully, without
attaining even an approximation to such a power; the main point being,
not that every line should be precisely what we intend or wish, but that
the line which we intended or wished to draw should be right. If we
always see rightly and mean rightly, we shall get on, though the hand
may stagger a little; but if we mean wrongly, or mean nothing, it does
not matter how firm the hand is. Do not, therefore, torment yourself
because you cannot do as well as you would like; but work patiently,
sure that every square and letter will give you a certain increase of
power; and as soon as you can draw your letters pretty well, here is a
more amusing exercise for you.

EXERCISE VI.

Choose any