Ashmolean The Elements of Drawing, John Ruskin’s teaching collection at Oxford

The blue sky is streaked with thin, wispy clouds, above a lower layer of darker clouds which are touched with pink. This is one of a group of three watercolours, of similar size on blue-grey paper, depicting early morning skies at Denmark Hill in March 1868. (The others are nos 3 and 5 in the Educational Series.)

The work was first catalogued in 1871, in the first Educational Series catalogue, as no. 3 B; it remained in the same position in the second Educational Series catalogue, and in Ruskin's 1878 reorganisation of the series, as no. 4.

Ruskin chose this work for its 'extreme simplicity in method of work' (first Educational catalogue, p. 27), including it as a factual record of a beautiful scene, and as a symbol of the way the light of inspiration can transform the ordinary into perfection. In his 1878 manuscript catalogue, he described it as 'one of the most beautiful groups of cloud I ever saw'. It was also intended as an example of a practical exercise in visual memory: speed was of the essence in achieving the desired effect, starting with a delineation of the clouds in pencil, colour then being added while the memory was fresh. It was vital to stop working the moment the mental image faded. The idea was to produce a simple reminder of the sky at that particular point in time. He advised his readers to 'Rise early, always watch the sunrise and the way the clouds break from the dawn' (The Two Paths, § 137 = XVI.371).