This is obviously pure common-sense, and
it is clear that art-definitions of this character can be comprehended by
the very meanest capacity and, indeed, may be said to appeal to it. For
the perfect development, however, of this pattern-producing faculty a
severe training is necessary. The art student must begin by painting
china, crockery, and 'still life' generally. He should rule his straight
lines and employ actual measurements wherever it is possible. He will
also find that a plumb-line comes in very useful. Then he should proceed
to Greek sculpture, for from pottery to Phidias is only one step.
Ultimately he will arrive at the living model, and as soon as he can
'faithfully represent any object that he has before him' he is a painter.
After this there is, of course, only one thing to be considered, the
important question of subject. Subjects, Mr. Collier tells us, are of
two kinds, ancient and modern. Modern subjects are more healthy than
ancient subjects, but the real difficulty of modernity in art is that the
artist passes his life with respectable people, and that respectable
people are unpictorial. 'For picturesqueness,' consequently, he should
go to 'the rural poor,' and for pathos to the London slums. Ancient
subjects offer the artist a very much wider field. If he is fond of
'rich stuffs and costly accessories' he should study the Middle Ages; if
he wishes to paint beautiful people, 'untrammelled by any considerations
of historical accuracy,' he should turn to the Greek and Roman mythology;
and if he is a 'mediocre painter,' he should choose his 'subject from the
Old and New Testament,' a recommendation, by the way, that many of our
Royal Academicians seem already to have carried out. To paint a real
historical picture one requires the assistance of a theatrical costumier
and a photographer. From the former one hires the dresses and the latter
supplies one with the true background. Besides subject-pictures there
are also portraits and landscapes. Portrait painting, Mr. Collier tells
us, 'makes no demands on the imagination.' As is the sitter, so is the
work of art. If the sitter be commonplace, for instance, it would be
'contrary to the fundamental principles of portraiture to make the
picture other than commonplace.' There are, however, certain rules that
should be followed. One of the most important of these is that the
artist should always consult his sitter's relations before he begins the
picture. If they want a profile he must do them a profile; if they
require a full face he must give them a full face; and he should be
careful also to get their opinion as to the costume the sitter should
wear and 'the sort of expression he should put on.' 'After all,' says
Mr. Collier pathetically, 'it is they who have to live with the picture.'

Besides the difficulty of pleasing the victim's family, however, there is
the difficulty of pleasing the victim. According to Mr. Collier, and he
is, of course, a high authority on the matter, portrait painters bore
their sitters very much. The true artist consequently should encourage
his sitter to converse, or get some one to read to him; for if the sitter
is bored the portrait will look sad.