International studio (19.1903)

'THE STORM CLOUD

judges as a sculptor of original enterprise and merit,
who is winning for himseif a position among the first-
rate makers of statuettes. Modest, patient, deter-
mined, thorough and seif-reiiant, he has won his good
startfairlyj and as he is living in the country, aione
with his favourite subjects, he has a fair chance of de-
veloping his giftswithout the ieast hindrancefrom the
many dangers which, in great cities, beset y oungartists.
Among those dangers there is one that Mr. Wells
would certainiy have met with had he remained in
London : he wouid have been " taken up" by
some ciique of impulsive young painters and
scuiptors, and for a time he would have been the
wonder and the pet of an admiring littie coterie.
All the superlatives of praise would have been
lavished on even his slightest efforts, and it is
probabie that he wouid have been encouraged to
shrink away from the frequent mishaps which
attend the transiation of clever sketches into com-
pleted works of art. " Stick to your modelled
sketches, my boy," his admirers would probably
have said to him. " It is in such virile studies as
you make that a man's personality shows itself to
the greatest advantage. Do not mind what the
outside fools say to you about a more rehned
vigour of treatment and greater 'hnish.' Greater
' hnish ' might make you more popular in bourgeois
circles, but it would stand against you among the
few that know."

How often have such
words been spoken to the
really able students whom
the London schools have
turned out from time to
time ! And how disastrous
the results have been in
most cases ! It would be
invidious to bring forward
examples, but many young
men of great ability, fresh
from the schools, have been
encouraged by rash Hattery
and bad advice to give
up serious and thorough
work for years, merely in
order that they might
repeat the same tiresome
facility in clever sketches
full of faults. There is
a manner of sketching
which may be described
as the " Behold, 1-have-
arrived manner " ; and
those who encourage it in
the young have much to answer for, as it breeds
habits of carelessness and vices of style which are

"A BABY" BY REGINALD F. WELLS
f A)' c/ yl/r. H^'yy^/3'73^/
apt to settle into permanence. Yet, somehow,
there are groups of artists who are always ready to

FROM THE PASTEL BY FRANK BRANGWYN