To be able to illustrate a story or a poem is a very great acquisition to any teacher, and particularly so to a teacher in a junior school.

The aim of the course is to give the components or chief features of what is required to illustrate all subjects.

There are certain features or components which come into all pictures more or less. Most pictures have a sky, and therefore skies and their component parts have been selected for Study No. 1. Nearly every picture has the ground or earth in it, so lessons are included showing how to represent fields, etc.

Many pictures have trees in them, therefore we regard trees as a component, and we draw a forest. The sea forms another, and we illustrate that.

A river is often found in pictorial work, and so that is included. The effect of snow upon the landscape is important, and is regarded as another component.

There are others, such as cliffs, cottages, castles, harvest, gardens, etc., all of which are of Importance. When it is required to illustrate a story, teachers can use some of the components dealt with in this volume.

For instance, suppose you desire to draw an illustration of "The Babes in the Wood," you would simply draw the forest scene, and then carefully draw the two children in it. Suppose you require the illustration of a lighthouse.

You will require sky and sea; therefore use one of the skies and the sea from our components. Put the lighthouse in as indicated in Study No. 3, and the picture is ready.

But in cases where human figures or animals are large and very prominent, occupying a considerable space in the foreground of the picture, then it is best to draw the figures first and put round them some part of one of the components suitable to the subject being illustrated.

For instance, suppose the scene is Red Riding Hood met by the wolf in the forest. Red Riding Hood and the wolf as a group should be drawn large, her head well up towards the top of the scene.