3 4 v-V Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/theorypracticeofOObarn FOREST OF FONTAINEBLEAU, (JTWlMay THE THEOEY AND PEACTICE OF LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN WATER-COLOURS. ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF TWENTY-SIX DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS IN COLOURS, AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS. BY GEORGE BARNARD, PROFESSOR OF DRAWING AT RUOBV SCHOOL; AUTHOR OF "FOLIAGE AND FOREGROUND DRAWING," "SWITZERLAND," "STUDIES OF TREES," ETC. iktu (ffbitioiv. LONDON: GEORGE ROTJTLEDGE & SONS, THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. NEW YORK : 416, BROOME STREET. LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS. AND TAYLOK, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL. TO MICHAEL FARADAY, D.C.L. F.R.S. ETC. ETC. ETC. My deak Michael, When I first undertook this Volume, your conviction that it would prove a " real and useful Work " encouraged me in its progress. I much wished at that time to dedicate it to you, who from boyhood have been my kind friend and adviser ; and I hesitated only lest it shoidd not prove worthy of your acknowledgment. Now that it has met with approval, and a new edition is called for, I feel encouraged to place your name on this page ; and to express in this manner how sincerely we, who have the advantage of your intimate friendship, recognize and esteem the qualities of heart which endear you to us, and in comparison with which even your distinguished fame holds but a subordinate place. Ever your affectionate Brother, GEOBGE BAENABD. CONTENTS. PAHK INTRODUCTION 3 Chapter I. NATURE OF COLOUR. SECT. I. PRISMATIC COLOURS 7 II. PRIMITIVE COLOURS AND THEIR COMPOUNDS 17 in. HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OP COLOURS 25 IV. INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION OF COLOURS 34 V. EXPLANATION OF TECHNICAL TERMS 38 Chapter II. MATERIALS. I. POSITION OF COLOURS ON THE PALETTE 49 II. DESCRIPTION OF PIGMENTS 52 III. PAPER 61 IV. TINTED PAPERS, &c 64 Chapter III. ON ELEMENTARY PRACTICE. I. COMPOSITION 75 II. LIGHT AND SHADE 87 III. HANDLING OF THE BRUSH AND MODE OF WORKING 113 Chapter IV. PRACTICE IN COLOUR. I. SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS, &c 149 II. TREES 157 III. FOREGROUNDS !73 IV. BUILDINGS, RUINS, &c 181 V. ROCKS AND WATER lg9 VI. AERLVL PERSPECTIVE 209 VII. MOUNTAINS, DISTANCES, &c 213 VIII. SKETCHING FROM NATURE IN COLOUR 217 IX. PICTORIAL PHENOMENA OR " EFFECTS" 229 X. FIGURES AND ANIMALS 243 XL CONTRASTS OP COLOUR 259 XII. CONCLUSION , 277 LIST OF PLATES. PLATE I. Forest of Fontainebleau : Juniper Frontispiece II. The Prismatic Spectrum To face p. 12 III. Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colours 21 IV. Harmonious Arrangement of Pigments 51 V. Dugarry, Arran (Chalk Drawing on Tinted Paper) 67 VI. The Handling of the Brush 113 VII. Blottiug-in (the Jung Frau) 121 VIII. Start Point 121 IX. Lake of Brientz 135 X. Table of Aerial Greys 153 XI. Examples of Foliage 162 XII. The Elm (First and Second Tints) 163 XIII. Table of Greens and Russets 169 XIV. Beech-trees 171 XV. Roofs, Buildings, &c 185 XVI. Rocks, Dartmoor 196 XVII. Waves, Study of ■. . . 203 XVIII. The Staubbach 207 XIX. The Stelvio 235 XX. On the Dart (Twilight) . 239 XXI. Melrose (Moonlight) 240 XXII. Returning from Market, Skye 246 XXIII. Contrasts of Colours 262 XXIV. Simultaneous Contrasts 264 XXV. Ditto 265 XXVI. Arrangement of Colours 272 LIST OF WOODCUTS. VO. PAGE 1. Heading (The Vorder See) ... 7 2. Diagram, fig. 1 9 3. „ „ 2 11 4. Heading (Bryony) 17 5. Diagram, fig. 3 19 6. Initial (Convolvulus) 25 7. Vignette (Shell) 33 8. Initial (Signal) 34 9. „ 38 10. Breadth of Shadow (Rembrandt) . . 41 11. „ Light (Turner) .... 41 12. Heading (The Moist-colour Box) . . 49 13. Initial (Ivy) 52 14. Heading (Scroll, Poppy, &c.) . . . til 15. „ (Glen Rosa, Arran) ... 75 16. Example(Composition : Loch Katrine) 78 17. „ (Composition : Ventimiglia) 79 18. A Party of Pleasure, Arran ... 80 19. Cross near Bolgano, Tyrol . ... 83 20. Vignette (Borrow Lane, Kenilworth) 85 21. Heading (Loch Fine, Scotland) . . 87 22. Book, &c. (Cast Shadows) .... 93 23. Example (Tint) 95 24. „ (Gradated) 95 25. „ , 95 26. „ (Cube and Ball) .... 96 27. „ (Bust and Curtain) ... 97 28. Doorway (Cast Shadow) 98 29. Window „ 98 30. Example (Breadth) 100 81. ., (Opposition) 101 32. ,. (Dartmouth) 101 33. „ (Focus) 102 84. ., (Cast Shadows : Abinger) . ion 35. „ ( „ Knole) . .103 30. ( „ „ ) • • 104 xo - PACK 37. Example (Breadth : Dolbaddern) . . 104 38. „ (Light and Shadow: Hall Sands) 106 39. „ „ „ 10S 40. „ (Aerial Perspective : Uls- water) 107 41. „ (Light and Shade : Arran) 108 42. „ (Norham Tower) .... 108 43. ,, (Near Dorking) .... 109 44. „ (St. John's, Tyrol) . . .109 45. „ (Trent, Tyrol) 110 46. „ ( „ „ ) Ill 47. „ (Highland Sledge) ... Ill 48. Initial (Vine and Swallow) .... 113 49. Diagram (Hatching and Stippling) . 120 50. „ of Frontispiece (First Tints) 130 51. „ (Dappling) 135 52. Heading (Summit of Goatfell) . . 149 53. „ (Trees) 157 54. ,, (Foregrounds : Dock) . . 173 55. „ (Vale Crusis Abbey) . . .181 56. „ (Skelwith Force) .... 189 57. Vignette (Fontainebleau) .... 198 58. Initial (Water Ranunculus) . . .199 59. Headiug (Glen Sligachan) . . . .209 (i0. „ (Lang Kofel, Tyrol) . . .213 61. „ (Moel Siabod, N. Wales) . 217 62. Vignette (Burnham Beeches) . . . 228 63. Heading (Spring, Abinger) .... 229 64. „ (The Cottage-door, the Pets) 243 65. Vignette (Kenilworth Common, the Gleaners) 252 66. Initial (Contrasts) 259 67. Diagram (Complementary Colours) . 263 68- „ ( „ „ ) . 264 69. Heading (The Captives) . . . .277 PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. ♦ — f Ji HE First Edition of this work being exhausted, and the demand continuing undiminished, it becomes necessary on the part of the Author to consider in what way he can render it more worthy of the success it has attained, and how far he can comply with the requests of numerous correspondents (known and unknown), who have shown their interest by writing to him on the subject. It is, however, difficult to satisfy all the demands or suggestions made for more explicit lessons or minute instructions. Were some of these ideas carried out, the whole nature and aim of the work would be changed. The Author may remind his readers, that his object was to give young Artists and Amateurs general information of the natural philosophy of colour only so far as the art required ; but more particularly to explain, by the aid of carefully selected examples, the manner in which water-colour painters of the present day use their materials, and produce their effects. It was not intended that the volume should supersede the master, but rather aid him ; for, in the Author's opinion, neither books, however well written, nor lectures, o PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. however eloquently delivered and illustrated, can equal the power that an ahle master has in conveying instruction, with a ready brush and explanations adapted to the wants and capacity of each pupil. But without multiplying useless plates, and thus increasing the expense of the work, the Author has found that lie can comply with many of the requests for more detailed infor- mation, by adding several new plates of a more simple cha- racter. It is in these important points especially, that difficulties hard to explain by words, or understand without examples, are met with, so much depending on the way in which a water-colour drawing is commenced, and so completely are the simple washes lost or altered by the after-processes. In this edition, the Author has replied to the questions of some of his correspondents. It has also been considerably en- larged, particularly in the Chapter on the Mode of Working ; and being printed in a larger type, and with additional wood- cuts, will be less difficult to understand when the student is without the advantage of a master. To this Third Edition but few additions or alterations have been required, only tAvo or three of the plates which did not appear of much use to the pupil being withdrawn, and the whole of the work reprinted with the greatest care and attention. ^, Harbikgton Squake, HampsteaD Road. N.W. INTRODUCTION. MANY excellent and elaborate treatises on the Theory of Colour, and several works describing the practice of landscape-painting in water-colours, are already before the public : but to understand the former requires much thought and patience ; and the latter, however practical, rarely have the advantage of being accompanied by examples illustrative of the artist's meaning. The object of the present work, therefore, is to supply that which the author, in a long course of professional teaching, has found necessary for the advancement of his pupils. The diagrams and illustrations introduced are such as have been found most useful in elucidating the theory and practice of colour in landscape-painting, and at the same time in diminish- ing the labour of the pupil in acquiring this valuable and attractive art. The student, with the view of fully impressing upon his mind the rules given in the following work, should copy the illustrations ; and, when he finds himself conversant with his materials, may proceed to the drawing of subjects from nature, in accordance with the rules laid down. The work will combine a summary of the natural philosophy of colour, so far as the painter is concerned, with an extensively illustrated exposition of its practice in regard to the employment of pigments and other mate- B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. rials ; thus serving, in the absence of the master, to refresh the memory of the pupil, and to explain remarks imperfectly understood during his lessons. It will also form an introduction to the practical study of Nature. It is in Nature that colour exists in its greatest beauty ; and to imitate her, and represent that beauty, is the highest aim of art. Sir Joshua Reynolds observes, that "he who recurs to Nature, at every recurrence renews his strength : the rules of art he is never likely to forget — they are few and simple ; but Nature is refined, subtile, and infinitely various, beyond the power and retention of memory ; it is necessary, therefore, to have continual recourse to her." It should be understood that the study of colour comes last in the order of artistic education ; and those who take up this important branch must have already acquired a good knowledge of linear perspective, the very foundation of drawing : and of the effects of lio;ht and shade, the chief agents in embodying form, and giving it solidity. This knowledge once attained, the attention of the pupil may be directed to colour ; until his eye having been sufficiently trained to discriminate its properties with the same ease and certainty with which it determines form and arranges light and shade, he may proceed to combine all these powers in one subject. Very erroneous ideas are entertained regarding the capability of the mind to acquire correct perceptions of colour, and to realize them in artistic effects. Too much is ascribed to genius, — too little to study and perseve- rance. Both the appreciation of colour and the power of expressing it are doubtless attainable by education ; and, under proper direction, the laws relating to harmony of colour may be as readily understood and practised as those relating to perspective when representing forms without colour ; the pursuit demanding nothing more than the general capabilities required in the study of the latter. But the student who desires to attain excel- lence, must devote his time and labour with that untiring energy which a love of the art alone can excite ; he must be prepared to find that the greater the progress he makes, the more evident will appear his distance from perfection; and yet, each time he takes a step in advance, he will feel that lie has already reaped a certain reward of his industry, and gained another motive for perseverance. INTRODUCTION. 5 Great care has been bestowed upon the illustrations of this work ; and though mechanism can scarcely be expected to equal the immediate results of the artist's own hand, yet the Author trusts they will materially assist the student who refers to this volume in thoroughly understanding the system practised by the English water-colour school. By the careful and elaborate researches of many practical men, modern artists have been spared much of the labour and loss of time experienced by the old masters in the search after proper materials for their works ; and the qualities of all pigments now employed having been minutely investigated and accurately determined by Field, in his valuable work on Chromatography, to that work the student is referred for a more extended view of their nature. CHAPTER I. ON THE NATURE OF COLOUR. SECTION I.— THE PRISMATIC COLOURS. HE wonderful robe of colour which invests all nature when under the revealing influence of the sun's rays — whether the lumi- nary be shining in unclouded glory, or sending forth his beams, scattered in a thousand directions, under a thou- sand influences, as in the shades of a glowing evening' or be chastened down to the graver tints, consisting of little more than light and shadow — is an object of the highest admiration to all, but more espe- cially to the artist The ever-varying circumstances only increase his admiration, and add to his delight ; and when, by careful observation and 8 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. much study, he has attained the power of imitating the forms presented to his eye, and of representing the proportion of light and shadow on the dif- ferent parts, he then aims at the triumph of his art, and endeavours to clothe them in their natural colours. Great difficulties, however, present themselves to him who desires to attain this high object ; not merely in the want of sufficient skill or mental appreciation, while he is rather an aspirant to than a master of his art, but in the very condition of the case itself, where a white surface and a few pigments are given as the only means of presenting the infinitely varied and changing lights and colours of Nature. It is indeed surprising to see, in the works of the great masters of painting, how far the mind of man has been able to overcome difficulties, and to succeed in producing representations which sometimes charm almost as much as Nature herself. Being desirous of producing a useful and practical work, which shall aid those who are attempting to gain the power of representing natural scenes by means of water-colour drawing, I have thought that a short preliminary consideration of the physical character of colour, and of the light which renders it visible, might be of some service, inasmuch as it would supply, in numerous cases, the principles which should guide the artist in his work, and the details of the expedients by which he should endeavour to attain his object. Further, it will at one time answer such thoughts and queries as must arise in the intelligent mind of any one pursuing his vocation with earnest devotion, and at another may suggest considerations which, being wrought out, will aid his resources ; for the more the mind dwells upon the correlated points of its chief study, the better will it be able to pursue that study to a successful end. We will therefore consider briefly, and only so far as the artist is concerned, the theory of colour : first, in respect to the light by which it is developed ; and next in relation to the colour of the object seen. If the shutters of a room be closed, so that no light can enter except through a horizontal and narrow opening on the side facing the sun, a ray from that luminary passing through the aperture will fall upon the floor ; but if a triangular prism of glass be held near the opening in the course of the ray, in the position shown by the figure, the ray will be bent from its PRISMATIC COLOURS. 9 first course, and take another direction, which will probably either cast the light farther along the floor or upon the wall of the room. A sheet of white card-board or drawing- paper being then, placed to receive this ray, some very interesting and important effects may be observed. In the first place, the original narrow band of white light on the floor becomes on the wall a succession of bands of the most varied and brilliant colours. These, though they pass insensibly into each other, may be con- sidered as an infinite number of lines of coloured light, arranged one after the other, but all parallel to the original white band. This is called the spectrum, and an attempt is made in Fig. 2 to convey an idea of this ob- ject ; yet, although the greatest pains have been taken with the delineation, the result falls infinitely short in beauty of that presented by the experi- ment. There it is seen (as Newton taught us) that the white light of the sun can be separated into coloured rays ; and, what is more remarkable, these different rays can, by being recombined, again form white light ; for if a lens be held in any part of their course, so as to include them all, and a sheet of white paper be held beyond the lens at its focus, these coloured rays will be found to reproduce white light. If the paper be taken away, or removed farther off, the white light will again be resolved into the various coloured rays. By this experiment it is proved that the white light of the sun contains in it all these coloured rays, and that they are all again required to make up the original white light. These rays are invariable in their tints, places, and proportions. Be- ginning with those which are the least bent out of their original course, Newton describes them as being — red (9), orange (5), yellow (9'2), green (11'3), blue (11*4), indigo (8), violet (161) ; and the extent which they occupy in the spectrum very nearly agrees with the numbers here attached to their names. But they are by no means of equal illuminating power ; ] O LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. the yellow and green being, for instance, far more luminous than the blue or violet. The breadth of the spectrum is determined by the length of the opening in the shutter ; and its length, taken across the colours, chiefly by the distance from the aperture at which the white paper is placed. It will at once be perceived that, in this experiment, the colours rendered visible do not originate in the object looked at, but in the light which falls on it ; the paper is white, and not one of the tints now pro- ceeding from it are, under ordinary circumstances, presented to the view. In common language, the colour may be said to be in the light ; and when the light is once separated into its different coloured rays, then it is found that these rays essentially differ from each other; for no farther refraction or treatment of any one of them, when so separated by passing through a hole in a screen, can change it into any of the other rays, or alter it in any manner : that is to say, though we may absorb and destroy it, we can neither vary its colours nor change its character. It is quite true that we may combine these rays, and thereby produce different effects : thus we can, by artificial arrangements, throw the blue and the yellow rays on the same spot, and then a green colour is seen ; or we may, as has been described, combine all the seven, and thus reproduce white light. But the resulting white may be opened out again, or the compound green resolved into its blue and yellow ; yet the original green of the spectrum cannot be separated into blue and yellow constituents, nor can any one of the rays in the spectrum, when perfectly separated from the others, be in any degree subject to change in its colour. They are all true primitive colours. It has already been said, that the colours obtained by the experiment are dependent more upon the rays coming from the source of light, than upon the body looked at ; it may likewise be remarked, that no object or pigment can present any colour to the eye, except such rays exist in the light illuminating it as are competent to produce that colour: the rays may for a time be mingled with others, but they must be there, or no colour will be seen. With spirits of wine and salt we can prepare a light producing little more than yellow rays; then, if by such a light we look at a purely red body (as, for instance, a piece of red morocco, or a bright PRISMATIC COLOURS. 11 cherry lip), we see it without colour — that is, black : again, if by the same light we look at a substance not purely red, as vermilion, or red sealing- wax, we see it yellow ; for the power of the coloured ray governs the power of the colour seen by it, and the latter therefore shows yellow only. When we say that a ray is coloured, we are obliged to submit to the imperfection of language. A ray is not in fact coloured, nor can any colour be seen in it, from its origin to its termination, except by means of the motes, or vapours, which are in its path ; indeed, strictly speaking, no sub- stance can be said to be of any colour ; for it wants the action of light, and of the particular light requisite to produce the specific colour, before such colour can appear. That which is recognized as colour by the eye, is the united effect of the substance looked at, and of the ray falling on its surface. Having made the above reservation, the Author does not hesitate to use common phraseology, deeming it sufficient for the present purpose. It may be as well to describe another way of observing the spectrum, as it will enable the artist, if so inclined, to examine the colour charac- teristics of the pigments which he employs. Let him place a sheet of black paper without gloss, or a piece of black velvet, on the floor, in good day- light, and on the middle of it a slip of white paper, or card-board, about an inch and a half long, and one-third of an inch wide : then, receding about ten feet, let him hold a prism of glass similar to that before mentioned, in the position delineated in Fig. 2. Upon looking on the ground near his feet, he will see the black background, and on it the strip of white paper converted into a spectrum; i.e. the white light, passing from the white object into the prism, will there be sepa- rated into the different coloured rays, and these will enter the eye arranged as in the spectrum, and produce the effect desired. A partial spec- trum of the same kind is often seen produced by lustre drops, decanter stoppers, and other forms of cut-glass, and is most beautifully developed by a series of reflections and refractions in those drops of rain which produce the rainbow. 12 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. In modern times many exceedingly minute investigations of the spec- trum have been undertaken by Wollaston, Frauenhofer, Herschel, Brewster, and others, and results of the highest interest have been obtained; but, though they are intimately connected with colour, they are by no means essential to a work of this description, which is limited to the wants of the artist. Turning to the second part of our explanation of physical effects, we will briefly notice those points relating to the nature of the object re- ceiving the luminous ray ; and which, being made visible by it, appears clothed with colour — according as its nature affects and changes the ray of light. This object, or collection of objects, constitutes the picture viewed by the artist, and of which he endeavours to give a faithful representation. We will analyse it chromatically and briefly. Objects are rendered visible by the light, which, first falling upon them from the sun or other luminary, is by them reflected, and thus they become secondary sources of light. Sup- pose a white surface, as of card-board, plaster of Paris, &c. ; it can send back all the various coloured rays falling on it from the sun : these rays are seen in the spectrum, in which they are shown in their separated state (vide Fig. 2). Taking the ordinary case of the unseparated rays, the card- board reflects all the various coloured rays as before, but mingled, and the effect on the eye is white. That all the coloured rays proceed from the card-board is proved by the effect described in the second mode of viewing the spectrum, — namely, by looking through the prism at a piece of white paper on a black ground. But though all the kinds of rays are reflected, far more or less of each ray is extinguished and destroyed as to any power of producing further illumination or colour; and the rest, or that which still remains radiant, is thrown about in all directions. If less light fall on the white surface, its apparent whiteness will be diminished, because less light is reflected from it ; diminish the light still more, it becomes gray ; and with no light incident upon its surface, it appears black, for it sends no rays to the eye. To illustrate this in another manner ; suppose the illuminated surface to be that of a mixture of plaster of Paris and powdered charcoal ; then, though the illuminating power be ever so strong, the surface will appear gray ; much more of the incident THE PRISMATIC SPECTRUM. LET0I1T0N, BROTHERS. PRISMATIC COLOURS. 13 light being there extinguished, and consequently much less reflected to the eye than before. If the surface be that of charcoal alone, then nearly all the incident light is extinguished, and we have, as before, black. But, in all these cases of extinction of light by the object, all the various rays have been dealt with at once ; and, while any light remained to be reflected from its surface, however deep the gray it may have presented, still such gray has contained rays of all the colours, and these in due proportions for forming white. Even a surface of the purest white that we can prepare, quenches a considerable proportion of the light falling upon it ; and hence arises much of the artist's difficulty ; for there being nothing but this im- perfectly white surface with which to represent light, his representations of it must fall infinitely short of the reality ; and yet, as regards his trees, buildings, and other objects, his pigments are as bright in colour as the objects themselves ; consequently, should he either endeavour to represent a day or night scene, having the sun or moon as the only source of light visible in the picture, or should he wish to introduce strong reflections, as of the sun on the ripples of a lake, or desire to depict a rainbow, his most finished production must become but a feeble imitation of the brilliancy of Nature. This brings us to the consideration of those surfaces which, quenching some of the rays of light, do not quench equal proportions of all the coloured rays. Here we have the origin of the general colours of material objects, and the representative pigments of the artist. Tbese objects are not distinguishable, as regards colour, by other senses than the sight, or by other means than the rays of light. In the absence of light, green or red objects are not distinguishable in colour from white : brought into the light they are not white, because they do not reflect all the light which falls upon them ; and they are not gray, because the portion of light which they extinguish is not an equal proportion of each coloured ray. The green body has absorbed more of the other rays than of the green, and hence sends the latter back to the eye in excess, producing a green effect on the perceptive organ ; and the red body, having destroyed more of the green and other rays, sends back the red rays in excess, and hence its colour. It is as though a partial analysis of the white light had been made by the different 14 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. coloured bodies, one sending off the green and another the red ray, in a manner something analogous to that in which the prism sends off all the rays. There are very few pigments, or even natural objects, that are pure in colour. Most of them reflect variously coloured rays. Yellow pigments, for instance, reflect also red and green rays, as the artist will find, if, instead of the white strip of card-board, he place on the black paper or velvet a cake of his purest yellow, and look at it through the prism as before. And this explains a point which might otherwise present some difficulty, since no substance can manifest its colour to the eye, unless the rays falling upon it be of the proper character : our colours, even those called primitive, are not pure ; so that if a green or red light fall upon a yellow body, instead of yellow it may appear either green or red, because it can reflect, more or less, all the three colours ; for every ray, not absorbed and destroyed by the body on which it falls, is sent back in the resulting ray to the eye, to produce that final effect of which we are made conscious by our visual organs. There are both opaque and transparent colours. An opaque colour is that which, having absorbed some of the coloured rays from the white light, sends the rest back from its surface to the eye, at the same time permitting none to pass through ; a transparent colour is that which, having absorbed some of the said coloured rays, allows the remainder to pass through. Consequently, on looking at a well-illuminated surface of an opaque red, we at once see it as a red substance ; but if we replace it by a plate of red glass, we do not see that red until a sheet of white or red paper, being placed beyond it, throws back the light, which finally has passed twice through the glass. These transparent colours, like the others, are only partial in their action on the rays ; and though they may transmit one colour more easily than another, and so possess a particular tint, yet scarcely one is known to transmit a ray of a pure and unresolvable colour. When opaque colours are mixed together, to produce an intermediate ('licet, their action is not the addition of light to light, as when two rays fall upon the same place : on the contrary, they obscure each other ; for if blue be added to yellow, to form a green, so much as the blue displays PRISMATIC COLOURS. 15 itself, in the same proportion it hides and darkens the yellow; and the yellow, in like manner, hides the blue. It is well known by experience that a considerable degradation or dulness of colour arises in this way ; an effect against which the artist should carefully guard, avoiding it as much as possible. When placing a transparent colour over an opaque one, the physical effect is different in kind : for then the light, not being altogether cut off by the colour above, is reflected by the colour beneath, — deprived, however, of those rays which the transparent colour cannot send back to the eye. Thus if an opaque yellow surface be covered with a transparent blue, the light, before it reaches the yellow, is deprived of some portion of its red and orange rays, and again of another portion on its return from the yellow ; and hence a beam competent to produce a green effect on the eye is the result. These physical principles have great influ- ence on the practice of the artist, when, according to what his experience has taught him, he selects opaque or transparent pigments either to give body or to subdue his colours ; and though it is not, in this place, neces- sary to enter more minutely into such matters, yet there can be no doubt that the artist who, being equal in other respects to his contemporaries, surpasses them in his knowledge of these principles, will not only possess a greater advantage in the use of his agents, but will, in the exercise of his talents, enjoy an additional and even a higher pleasure. A water-colour drawing is the effect of very fine, opaque coloured par- ticles, mingled with and sometimes overlaid by transparent colours ; which, being disposed upon a white ground, so modify the light falling upon and being reflected from that white surface, as to produce the effect constituting the picture. In respect of by far the largest part of the picture, the mind should be intent upon this idea, — namely, of the light which is thrown back by the paper to the eye ; and it should be as little injured in its character of brightness as possible by the means taken to represent the forms and colours of natural objects. Light and shadow must be there; but there are such things as clear shadows and dirty lights. With regard to the pigments employed in the production of such drawings, we have by no means a free choice, but are limited to the use of those natural or artificial bodies, which, besides being powerful in their IG LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. production of colour, may be mixed, more or less, with eacli other, without being subject to much alteration or decay, and also with water or gum, without mutual chemical action or injury ; and, whether soluble or in- soluble, may be applied with a brush. Hence one of the reasons why pigments do not enable us to realize all the effects of nature : — we are restricted by the very qualities of the substances we use. Passing on to the practical part of our subject, we will now describe the most important of these pigments, noting the circumstances and modes of application which enable us to use them most effectually in our endea- vours to obtain truthful representations of the natural pictures presented to our view. ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 17 SECTION II.— ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. E have already shown that the prismatic spectrum, described by Sir Isaac Newton, consists of seven colours. As these colours admit of no further separation or change by means of refraction, they may each be considered as primitive. But, notwithstanding this condition of the colours of the spectrum, artists, and those who write on art, have agreed to designate only three of them as primitive, — namely, red, yellow, and blue, — because, with the pigments representing these, they can, so far as the materials will allow, form all the others. Thus red and yellow mingled make orange ; yellow and blue, green ; and red and blue, purple. But red, yellow, or blue cannot be obtained by any mixture of the other colours ; hence they may be considered, in an artistic sense, as strictly primitive. To these three primary colours may be added white and black : white, as the representative of pure daylight in its undivided state ; and black, as that of darkness, or the absence of light. The three primaries may be regarded as gradual transitions from one extreme to the other, both in colour and luminosity : thus we may pass from white, or positive light, to yellow, the colour most nearly allied to it ; thence to red, the mean and most important colour ; then to blue, the representative of space and coldness ; and finally to the neutral black. The union of all the prismatic LS LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. colours, in their proper proportions, produces light or white ; but the same combination, and the union of the three material pigments best representing them, give a gray or black. We have previously demon- strated, that the grayness or blackness of a substance arises from the smallness of the quantity of white light reflected from its surface. One black substance may appear comparatively white, when contrasted with another of a still deeper shade. Thus a piece of black velvet, placed in the sunshine, will appear black ; but if we throw a strong shadow across it, the unshadowed portion will appear white or gray, and only the shadow- by comparison black. In speaking of white and black, considered by artists as neutral (or the positive and negative extremes of colour), we must remember that the true grays being neutrals are intermediate, forming a link between the two extremes of white and black, as we have already illustrated in the section on the prismatic spectrum. Adopting, therefore, the artistic division of colours into three primaries, our simplest course will be to give a brief description of their position and qualities in the order they present themselves in the spectrum. We can afterwards arrange them as we please in our experiments. The red rays being the least bent out of their course appear at the end of the spectrum nearest the place on which the undivided light would fall ; therefore of the three primaries we shall commence with RED. This, the most powerful and distinct colour of the three, excites and stimulates the eye, predominating in all colours which artists call warm. It occupies a mean or middle position in the scale of colour ; for yellow approaches nearer to light, and blue to darkness, while both tend to produce a coolness of effect, as compared with red. Green is its accidental or complementary colour. YELLOW. Yellow in an artistic view is the primary most closely allied to Uridecomposed light, by the diffusing influence of which it is frequently ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 1!) mingled with all the other hues. Its accidental colour is purple, so that a yellow sunset will admit of a purple distance ; but should the yellow approach a golden or orange hue, blue may prevail in the sky and distance. Notwithstanding this arrangement accords with the principles of accidental contrasts, it would appear that yellow in nature is more generally con- trasted with black than with purple, and that these contrasts have been employed with success by Rubens and Turner. Yellow as a pigment is not easily met with in a perfectly pure state, being generally combined with red in various proportions. This addition increases its warmth, and renders it more agreeable to the eye, without altering its characteristics ; so that many such compounds are still called yellow. Any admixture with blue at once changes its character from that of a colour nearly allied to light, to one more closely associated with darkness. BLUE. Blue, being related to shade or darkness, is consequently retiring in its character, imparting the same quality to all the hues in which it pre- dominates. It is . rarely seen pure in landscape; but in the heavens we find abundant compensation for its paucity on earth. Con- sidering, then, these three colours alone requisite for our present purpose, suppose we arrange on a white ground respectively (as represented in Plate 3) three pieces of red, blue, and yellow glass of the same intensity of colour. Flat glass vessels, filled with co- loured fluids, will produce the same effect ; and where the primary coloured pieces cross each other three compound colours will be produced, called by artists secondary colours: thus yellow and red will c 2 20 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. make orange ; yellow and blue, green : and red and blue, purple. If each strip of glass had consisted of two bands of the same colour, one darker than the other, and been arranged with their darker edges towards the centre, as in the diagram in the preceding page, the secondaries would have been formed in different proportions as compared with the primaries. At 1, 1, 1, the deepest colours are produced by the union of the greater intensities of the red, yellow, and blue ; at 2, 2, 2, the intensities are ecpial, but of the least degree ; while at 3, 3, 3, where a dark band passes over a light one, the quantity of one primary colour in each diamond is exactly double that of the other. Hence arises a fertile source of secondary colours, the qualities of which will require a brief description. ORANGE (YELLOW AND RED). Orange, being the most luminous, is, on that account, the most striking and prominent of the secondaries. It is the connecting link, or har- monising colour, between yellow and red, and the accidental or comple- mentary colour of blue. It has a great variety of tones ; but these cannot be represented in a diagram, owing to the difficulty of printing such delicate variations, and the limited power of machinery as compared with the artist's hand. GREEN (YELLOW AND BLUE) . Green is generally considered as the mean between the other two secondary colours, taking an intermediate position between light and shade. It is remarkably distinct and striking in its effects on the eye, being at the s.une time highly refreshing and soothing to that organ ; it is far more prevalent in nature than any other colour, though seldom seen in its pure and unmixed state. The green of nature accords well with blue, being harmonised therewith by the warm purple and gray tones of the atmosphere and distance. Nevertheless it is very doubtful whether a picture, having a preponderance of green, is ever truly popular, or even pleasing to the eye, however true to nature. PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND TERTIARY COLOURS. PLATE 3. ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 21 PURPLE (RED AND BLUE). Purple is the coolest and darkest of the secondary colours. It possesses, in a high degree, the modest retiring qualities of the primary blue, with which it is most closely connected ; and as the eye delights to dwell on those colours which least fatigue it, perhaps purple may rank next to green in the pleasure it affords. The varied purples, or warm grays, as the artists term them, are of the greatest use to the landscape-painter, in harmonising the aerial blue of the sky and distance with the richer tone of the fore- ground. To the six, i.e. the three primaries and the three secondaries, may be applied the name of colours; because with indigo (which artists scarcely consider as a distinct colour, owing to its near approach to blue) they form the seven prismatic colours of the spectrum. THE TERTIARY COLOURS, OR PRIMARY HUES. The tertiary compounds are hues composed of all the primary colours, one of those colours, however, predominating. Eepeating the previous ex- periment, substituting glasses of the three secondary colours, we obtain the primary hues, as seen in Plate 3, fig. 2. The latter will evidently produce a much less striking effect on the uneducated eye than the former ; and this doubtless led Field to remark, that "to understand and relish the harmonious relations and expressive powers of the tertiary colours requires a cultivation of perception and a refinement of taste, to which study and practice are requisite. They are at once less definite and less generally evident, but more delightful, more frequent in nature, and rarer in common art, than the like relations of the secondaries and primaries." They form by far the greatest portion of every landscape, modulating and harmonising every scene. The attainment, therefore, of a just appre- ciation of their beauties and infinite variations should be the constant study of the artist. He who considers them as beneath his notice, or treats them only as so many " dirty tints," as Barry calls them, can scarcely be aware of the rapid degradation which takes place in all colouring so conducted. wo LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. As well might the musician consider playful and beautiful variations in music as of no importance ; whereas they serve to relieve, refresh, and at the same time to sustain the attention, and enable it to return with re- . newed interest to the simple melody or theme of the composition. Howard, in one of his lectures, says : " Colour of different degrees of purity is scattered throughout all nature, cheering and delighting mankind with a perpetual display of splendour and magnificence. This bountiful provision of nature has the power of imparting a charm to things the most trivial and otherwise unattractive, and thus furnishes the painter with ready and inexhaustible resources for the embellishment of his subject, of what kind soever it may be." Nature presents few of the primary colours to the landscape-painter for his imitation; such objects as birds, minerals, and even flowers, though making the nearest approach to the primitive colours, are yet seen in por- tions too small to have much effect on his picture. The artist may occa- sionally give a dominant tone to his composition by a small portion of blue in the sky, or of red in the dress of a figure ; but in nature the colours are so blended, harmonised and diffused by atmospheric action, that to neglect the tertiary degrees of the chromatic scale would either produce discord, from want of a proper arrangement of colours, or monotony from their deficiency of contrast. Harmony in landscape depends more on the distinctly marked cha- racter of these delicate hues than on the relative proportions or quantities of the primary colours. In using them the greatest care is required in their selection, and the greatest skill in their manipulation ; the difficulty of adjusting all their minute variations being much increased by the necessity for constant and simultaneous attention to the effects that light and shade have upon these tints. The greatest masters have found ample scope for the exercise of their genius and industry in their delineations of the beauties of natural scenes, which, though depending essentially upon these tertiary hues, and being constantly presented to our view, still never cease to call forth the highest admiration of every lover of nature. That they may be viewed under different aspects, and treated with different effects, and still be ever charming, is proved by the productions of the most ON THE PRIMITIVE COLOURS, AND THEIR COMPOUNDS. 23 celebrated artists. Whether, like Turner, they revel in light, air, mist, and sunshine, and with perceptive delicacy aim at expressing the realms of space ; or whether, after Ostade and Teniers, they repose on the quiet neutral grays; or, following in the steps of Bembrandt, they pass from colours into the depths of shade, — one and all, adhering as they ought to the truthfulness of nature, may equally command success. Having thus called the attention of the student of landscape-painting to the importance of the tertiary colours, or primary hues, we will proceed to their description. CITRINE (ORANGE AND GREEN). A mixture of orange and green is called citrine, or citron, from its like- ness to the colour of that fruit ; it is a dark, subdued, yellowish green, and tolerably well represented by the pigment called brown pink. It is more nearly allied to yellow than to blue or red, being composed of yellow and red, and yellow and blue. This colour is pleasant and cheerful, and, owing to the predominance of yellow in its composition, approaches more nearly to light than the other two primary hues. Thus it permits the painter to modify the greens of the landscape ; and by giving them, in some degree, the orange and autumnal tints, he can at once increase the quantity or breadth of light, and add warmth to the general effect. Citrine harmo- nises well with the deep purple tones which, at the decline of day, prevail in the middle distance. RUSSET (ORANGE AND PURPLE). The second primary hue is russet, in which red predominates. It will be seen by Plate 3, fig. 2, to be a mixture of orange and purple, or of red and yellow, with red and blue. As red occurs twice in its composi- tion, russet inclines more to red than the other primaries. Sometimes it appears among pigments in a subdued form under the name of red ; thus Indian red is a tolerably good russet. Brown madder is a deep transparent russet, which harmonises well with deep greens ; it is a very useful colour 24 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. for the first harmonising tones of a water-colour drawing, since it mixes well with a broken or subdued yellow, and when thus varied may be passed over the whole paper. In union with the blues it supplies a gray, which forms an excellent link in connecting light and shade with colour. Russet has a more retiring quality than brown. Having a portion of blue in its composition, it par- takes of the aerial hue, and is therefore often used to represent some of the more decided browns which occur in the shade or middle distance. OLIVE (PURPLE AND GKEEN). Olive, formed by purple and green, is the last of the tertiary colours, and is more nearly connected with blue than the two former ; it therefore makes the nearest approach to shade and darkness. It contrasts well with a deep-toned orange, and is the most retiring of all the colours. Appearing continually in the representations of slates and grays on rocks, and in the deep shadows on water, it is of great importance in the landscape. Caution must be observed in its use, as it has a tendency to detract too much from the light of the picture. THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 25 Section III. ON THE HARMONY AND NATURAL \ CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. HE study of Cheomatics, or the relations which different colours bear to each other, forms an essential part of the education of every student in the art of colouring. It en- ables him to appreciate the numberless variations which he may make with his pigments, and teaches him to heighten and develop colours by the repeated application of tints and hues harmonising with each other. By its aid, too, he may sometimes obtain a happy effect in the judicious use of those contrasts and apparent oppositions of colour which experi- ence has proved to be productive of the most agreeable results. Although the science of optics of late years has made great advances, it is not yet possible to deduce from it any certain rules '- to determine the relative proportions which colours in juxta- position must bear to each other, in order to produce perfect harmony. A knowledge of these proportions can only be acquired by the cultivation of the artist's taste, and probably varies with the peculiar quality of the perceptive faculties of each individual. We may, however, by a brief examination of facts relating to the theory of colour, already determined by the science of optics, arrive at those principles which form the basis of a sound artistic education. The spectrum has not been placed before the student to prove that the proportions therein exhibited by its different colours are those to be em- ployed in good and harmonious colouring; nor is it even necessary that colours should follow the same order to produce agreeable contrasts. The colours of some of the most celebrated pictures have been arranged in very different positions and proportions. There are, indeed, pictures forming admirable examples of harmonious colouring, which scarcely contain any 26 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. positive colour throughout their whole composition. To recur at once to the highest authority — Nature, how often are we lost in wonder and admiration at the solemn effect of an assemblage of almost neutral hues and tones in an autumnal twilight or a wintry storm ! To imagine the necessity of a strict adherence to any such order of proportion and con- trasts, would be as absurd as to suppose the finest effects of music to depend on the constant succession of the most perfect chords. No — the spectrum has merely been introduced in order that we may trace all colour to its ori- ginal source — light ; and that, by observing the influence which light, in all its modifications, exercises upon colour, we may arrive at facts affording us a sure foundation on which to establish rules for the judicious appli- cation of the pigments representing those colours. The various bodies most nearly representing the prismatic colours must first be carefully examined, both separately and in combination, and also under the influence of different lights ; so that we may be aware of their effects upon our vision, become master of their properties, and observe those affinities or contrasts which are most agreeable or disagreeable to our perceptive organs. Such inquiries, in a work devoted like the present more to practice than theory, must necessarily be short and concise. They may, however, serve to indicate the course of study which every one, pursuing the art with earnestness, must undertake ; and also to encourage the student to examine Nature for himself, that he may understand and appreciate the beautiful results of the simple laws by which her operations are governed. The experiments in regard to the effects produced on the visual organs by coloured light of great intensity, and the tendency of each particular colour to excite the perception of a certain other colour in all whose sight is in a healthy state, are so clearly detailed by Sir David Brewster in his work on Optics, and are so important, that we quote them here at length : — " When the eye has been strongly impressed with any particular species of coloured light, and when in this state it looks at a sheet of white paper, the paper does not appear to it white, or of the colour with which the eye was impressed, but of a different colour, which is said to be the accidental rolov.r of the colour with which the eye was impressed. If we place, for THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. example, a bright red wafer upon a sheet of white paper, and fix the eye steadily upon a mark in the centre of it ; then, if we turn the eye upon the white paper, we shall see a circular spot of bluish-green light of the same size as the wafer. This colour, which is called the accidental colour of red, will gradually fade away. The bluish-green image of the wafer is called an ocular spectrum, because it is impressed on the eye, and may be carried about with it for a short time. " If we make the preceding experiment with differently coloured wafers, we shall obtain ocular spectra, whose colours vary with the colour of the wafer employed, as in the following table : — Colour of the Wafer. Accidental Colour, or Colour I ColoM Qf ^ Wafer Accidental Colour, or Colour of the Ocular Spectra. of the Ocular Spectra. KED BLUISH GREEN. INDIGO ORANGE YELLOW. ORANGE BLUE. VIOLET YELLOW GREEN. YELLOW INDIGO. BLACK WHITE. GREEN VIOLET REDDISH. WHITE BLACK. BLUE ORANGE RED. " In order to find the accidental colour of any colour in the spectrum, take half the length of the spectrum in a pair of compasses, and setting one foot in the colour whose accidental colour is required, the other will fall upon the accidental colour. Hence the law of accidental colours derived from observation may be thus stated : — The accidental colour of any colour, in a prismatic spectrum, is that colour which in the same spectrum is distant from the first colour half the length of the spectrum ; or, if we arrange all the colours of any prismatic spectrum in a circle, in their due proportions, the accidental colour of any particular colour will be the colour exactly opposite that particular colour. Hence the two colours have been called opposite colours.* " If the primitive colour, or that which impresses the eye, is reduced to the same degree of intensity as the accidental colour, we shall find that the one is the complement of the other, or what the other wants to make it, white light ; that is, the primitive and the accidental colours will, when * It has been already observed, tbat the proportion of the colours in the spectrum varies, even by the same kind of light, when prisms are used of different refracting substances. To verify the above experiments, it will be necessary to use a prism of flint-glass. 28 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING reduced to the same degree of intensity -which they have in the spectrum, and when mixed together, make white light. On this account accidental colours have been called complementary colours. " With the aid of these facts, the theory of accidental colours will be readily understood. When the eye has been for some time fixed on the red wafer, the part of the retina occupied by the red image is strongly excited, or, as it were, deadened by its continued action. The sensibility to red light will therefore be diminished, and, consequently, when the eye is turned from the red wafer to the white paper, the deadened portion of the retina will be insensible to the red rays which form part of the white light from the paper, and consequently will see the paper of that colour which arises from all the rays in the white light of the paper but the red ; that is, of bluish-green colour, which is therefore the true complementary colour of the red wafer. When a black wafer is placed on a white ground, the circular portion of the retina on which the black image falls, in place of being deadened, is protected, as it were, by the absence of light, while all the sur- rounding parts of the retina, being excited by the white light of the paper will be deadened by its continued action. Hence when the eye is directed to the white paper, it will see a white circle correspond to the black image on the retina ; so that the accidental colour of black is white." Sir David Brewster afterwards details some curious experiments, in which both the primitive colour and its accidental one are seen at the same time. Thus, if a body be illuminated by a red light and a white light of equal intensity, one of its shadows will appear red and the other green. In these cases, he says : — " The accidental colour is seen by a portion of the retina which is not affected, or deadened, as it were, by the primitive colour. A new theory of accidental colours is therefore requisite to embrace this class of facts. "As in acoustics, where every fundamental sound is actually accom- panied with its harmonic sound, so, in the impressions of light, the sensation of one colour is accompanied by a weaker sensation of its accidental or harmonic colour. When we look at the red wafer, we are, at the same time, with the same portion of the retina, seeing green ; but being much THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 29 fainter it seems only to dilute the red, and make it, as it were, white, by the combination of the two sensations. When the eye looks from the wafer to the white paper, the permanent sensation of the accidental colour remains, and we see a green image. The duration of the primitive im- pression is only a fraction of a second, as we have already shown ; but the duration of the harmonic impression continues for a time proportional to the strength of the impression. In order to apply these views to the second class of facts, we must have recourse to another principle, namely, that when the whole or a great part of the retina has the sensation of any primitive colour, a portion of the retina, protected from the impression of the colour, is actually thrown into that state which gives the accidental or harmonic colour. The term harmonic has been applied to accidental colours because the primitive audits accidental colour harmonise with each other in painting." These remarks serve to explain the relations and natural contrasts which colours bear to each other, and the derivation of many of the terms so frequently used in art. It is important to note the great differences observable in the colours of nature, and in pigments, according to the variations of the light in which they are viewed. By examining each colour in its primary or simple state, and observing all its changes under different aspects, we shall be better able to trace the delicate and unceasing variations which all colours, and especially compound ones, assume under the influence of the chanoin«- lights of nature. The effect which sunlight produces upon all colours, even those which are considered the most distinct and powerful, demands the first attention of the landscape-painter. This light is ever changing —the roseate hue of morning giving place to the noontide glow ; this again passing into the rich yellow tints of the setting sun ; these changes affording constant opportunity of observing how colours are affected by variations of light. In 'fact, coloured bodies are only seen in what artists consider their true colours when viewed by a cool and moderate daylight, and free from the direct influence of the sun. Hence it is that we should choose a painting- room with a northern aspect, as this presents the most desirable light for indoor study. 30 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. Tims the colours of natural objects vary according to the quality of the light by which they are viewed. A sand-hank, for instance, observed partly in a bright light and partly in shadow, will not appear altogether of its true colour — yellow. The part under shadow will not reflect a sufficient portion of yellow rays; and the bright yellow of the other part will have a tendency to jiroduce on the eye the effect of its accidental colour — purple. Some artists, in depicting such an object, would at once introduce the accidental colour in a pure state, and represent the part of the yellow sand-bank in shadow by a purple tint ; but an accurate study of nature does not seem to warrant the total exclusion of the true colour of the object in favour of its complementary tint. In these and similar cases no precise rules can be given for the guidance of the student, since in no two instances will the effects be the same. The season of the year, the time of day, the brilliancy of the sun, and the state of the atmosphere, all exert their influence. It is to Nature, therefore, that the artist must ever have recourse. He must take an enlarged and com- prehensive view of her forms under the influence of the thousand aspects presented by these changes ; he must trace the result of each effect as it occurs, and comprehend at a glance all that bears upon his subject. Unless this habit of viewing objects and effects is acquired, it is possible to go repeatedly to Nature, and, after all our exertions in mtdtiplying sketches, to return with a collection of studies, true to the original only when viewed by one light, and from one point. There may be abundance of green trees, and red-brick walls, because such are constantly to be met with ; but a mere repetition of these is of little value, unless they are seen and represented under the various appearances produced by the influence of sunlight, accidental lights and shadows, and aerial perspective. There is no better method of studying colours, and the various changes which they undergo, than by accurately examining a scene, making a faithful transcript of it under different effects, and at each examination paying particular attention to the kind of light illumining the whole ; for since upon this light the entire impression of the scene must depend, a careful study of the light and its effects will relieve the student from the serious embarrassment often felt, even by men of great experience, in THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 31 determining whether the lights of the picture shall be warm or cold. As they are in nature, so let the artist depict them ; taking care to represent the shadows under the influences of a light and effect corresponding to the illuminated parts of the picture ; and if this be done faithfully, he will doubtless find all the parts harmonising with each other. Sir Joshua Eeynolds has given some advice, which, though it is especially addressed to historical painters, who have greater power and liberty in choosing and arranging the light, shade, and colour of their pictures, may yet be useful to painters of landscape. In urging general reasons why the light should be warm, though at the same time leaving the student free to make his own choice, he remarks, " That the lights of a picture ought to be of a warm colour ; for though white may be used for the principal light, as was the practice of many of the Dutch and Flemish painters, yet it is better to suppose that white to be illumined by the yellow rays of the setting sun, as was the manner of Titian. The illuminated parts of objects are, in nature, of a warmer tint than those that are in the shade. What I have recommended, therefore, is no more than that the same conduct be observed in the whole which is acknowledged to be necessary in every individual part. It is presenting to the eye the same effect as that which it has been accustomed to feel, which in this case, as in every other, will always produce beauty. No principle, therefore, in our art can be more certain, or is derived from a higher source." Whether lights should be warm or cold, as well as other difficulties which arise from too much attention to theory and too little study of Nature, will be discussed more fully hereafter, under the different heads of Contrast, Breadth, Aerial Perspective, Tone, &c. Taking the colours when exhibited in their material state, it is found that red is subjected to many changes under the various influences of light and shade. To study this more carefully, examine a red curtain hanging at the side of a window in the sunlight ; the highest light is a mere streak of white, the local colour being lost ; next to this, that portion of the curtain in the half-light appears of a yellow-red or amber ; in a less degree of light the true colour is perhaps visible, and this, as seen in the deepest shadow, becomes either purple or black, as the light diffused through the 32 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. apartment falls more or less brightly upon it. Again, the same curtain will appear reddish brown, crimson, or yellow russet, according to the quality of the light by which it is seen. What can seem more positive in colour than a red-brick house ; and yet, viewed by a strong sunlight, the red appears changed to bright yellow, while the part in shade is a purple gray. In sunlight red gains in brilliancy, but loses in individuality ; in ordinary artificial light, red, and the colours in which red predominates, appear to gain in both these qualities. Yellow is indistinct in strong light, and when seen by the sun's rays is totally lost ; viewed by a subdued or neutral daylight, it becomes more distinct ; in artificial light it is greatly changed, and pale yellow can scarcely be distinguished from white. These variations are a source of difficulty to artists when studying by gaslight, until, by repeated experi- ments, they ascertain the exact amount of change to which each colour, when viewed by such light, is subjected. Blue, being very powerful and effective in strong light, is essentially a daylight colour ; but in a less degree of light it assumes a more neutral hue. It does not reflect so much light as the other primaries. From this cause, and from its assimilating so closely to the general tint of the atmosphere or to mist, it is, as a local colour, soon lost in the distance. The above is a brief account of the principal changes that take place in the primitive colours under different lights. Similar changes will, in a relative degree, take place in colours formed by combinations of the primaries, each compound partaking of the qualities of its constituents. Perhaps the only secondary colour requiring separate notice is green. This is the most prominent colour in landscape ; and, as it is a compound of the two primaries most affected by changes of light, it is important that great attention should be given to its characteristics. "When considering the green of a landscape, it must be remembered that its general hue is not the bright decided colour, compounded of yellow and blue, in the proportion of 3 and 8, which forms what may be called a true green ; it must rather be described as either a mixture of citrine with blue or gray, or a compound of yellow, orange, and blue. Even in this modified state, green is subject to meat changes. In its general character it is cool and retiring, reflecting THE HARMONY AND NATURAL CONTRASTS OF COLOURS. 33 but little light, and ajmearing to belong more to the shadows than the light; and thus its individuality is soon lost in the distance, where it changes into blue or bluish gray. As this colour presents the greatest discord to blue, in order to produce a good effect, a harmonising warm purple haze, the reddish gray of the atmosphere, or the same tint of clouds, is continually required to assimilate its masses with the azure blue of the sky. D LANDSCAPE-PAINTINO. Section IV. ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRI- MINATE COLOURS. -J HE well-known fact, that individuals pos- sess, in very different degrees, the power of & distinguishing, not only minute shades of the same colour, but also the colours most strikingly opposed to each other, renders it evident that any want of capacity in this respect must place an insurmountable barrier in the way of attaining excellence in the art of colouring. The eye may be remarkably acute in the perception of variations in form and outline, light and shade, yet so deficient in the power of appreciating the different colours as to render its possessor utterly incapable of applying them with any degree of accuracy. Public attention has of late been more forcibly directed to this imperfection in the visual organs by the philosophical investigations of Sir David Brewster, Dr. George Wilson, of Edinburgh, and others, which have resulted in the discovery that this defect, called colour blindness, is far more prevalent than was supposed ; so much so^ indeed, as to render it most desirable that every railway official, entrusted with the charge of signals, should be carefully tested as to his power of distinguishing between the colours, red, green, and white. We shudder at the mere contemplation of the fearful catastrophe which might occur from mistaking a signal implying danger for one denoting safety. As an instance of imperfect vision, we may quote an anecdote related of the celebrated chemist, Dr. Dalton, who thought the red gown in which he was installed as a Doctor of Civil Law, at Oxford, was a blue one. Some of his friends, in order to test this peculiarity of his vision, sub- stituted red stockings for those he usually wore, when the Doctor put them on without remarking anything particular in their appearance ; and even ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRIMINATE COLOURS. 35 on his attention being directed to them, he only remarked that they looked rather dirty. Perhaps the whole amount of light conveyed to his eye was merely diminished, without being otherwise changed; and thus white stockings may have appeared to him gray instead of white, as they would have done had all the rays entered his eye, and impressed their full pro- portions on that organ. I can give no opinion as to how far this defect may be remedied by a careful education of the eye. We know that by cultivation the organ of hearing may be rendered more capable of dis- tinguishing sounds; and, judging from analogy, we may suppose that the organ of sight also, by proper training, might be equally improved in its power of discriminating colours ; at all events, it is important to those desirous of studying colour to ascertain their exact amount of power in this respect. Should they discover any defect, not to be remedied either by cultivation or the science of the oculist, they must be contented to confine their efforts in art to the study of those effects which can be produced by the neutrals, black and white. These become more effective, as well as attrac- tive, by employing them in the form of chalks or pigments on gray paper. Some difficulty in naming colours may arise, not from any imperfection in the visual organs, but from the want of a clear and distinct nomen- clature ; thus we often allow ourselves to designate as yellow those colours which are mixtures of yellow and red, or of yellow and blue, in different proportions. The pigments denominated red are by no means pure ; in fact, the landscape-painter's colour-box may not contain one red ; as carmine (the nearest approach to a pure red) is seldom used in his branch of the art. Again, there are blues, like Prussian blue, of a greenish hue ; while others, like smalt, are purple. "With the view, then, of avoiding confusion, as well as unnecessarily taxing the memory of the student, we must be careful to render the names of colours and their compounds as simple and accurate as possible ; and to impress their appearance more fully on the minds of youth, large diagrams representing the primary, secondary, and tertiary colours, with their names attached to them, would be a valuable addition to our elementary schools. The pupils should be exercised by looking at these in bright sunshine, ordinary daylight, and the declining light of evening, and thus be taught to distinguish each colour D 2 3G LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. clearly. Such a practice might form the preliminary study ; the primaries should then be taken, and the pupils directed to ascertain whether, after looking stedfastly at each in the sunshine, they can perceive its accidental colour, on the eye being directed to a white surface. These, and similar exercises, would strongly impress the mind of the student with the general principles of harmonious contrasts, and thus prepare a sure foundation for good and effective colouring ; rendering unnecessary much of the present endless and unprofitable labour of describing tints and mixtures. Among the primary colours, yellow and blue are least liable to be mis- taken ; while red is the most difficult to be distinguished, some persons not seeing it as a distinct colour at all, but merely as a neutral gra3 r , others mistaking it for green, its accidental colour ; which among the secondaries presents the greatest difficulty ; and this is by no means extraordinary, when we consider how closely, in many of its qualities, it resembles blue, and how strong the affinity it possesses for its accidental colour, red. This affinity causes some difficulty even to those who have no defect of vision ; thus the eyes of locomotive-engine drivers, having been fatigued by dwelling on the bright red light of the fire, have a tendency either to lose the power of perceiving any less intense colour, or to produce the acci- dental colour, green. In this state their eyes cannot at the moment distinguish coloured flags, which must necessarily have far less brilliancy than the light at which they have just been looking. In the other two primaries, the affinity for the accidental colour is not so strongly marked. In regarding these phenomena, attention must be paid to the distance of the coloured body from the eye. Dr. Wilson instances a young civil engineer who could not distinguish, unless he was close to them, " a red from a green light, yet he could tell a blue from a red light, at any practical distance." Distance, therefore, is an element of deception ; indeed, expe- riments have shown that the majority of those who are colour-blind can distinguish, with great ease, red from green when these colours are bright, near the eye, and well illuminated ; but the power of discrimination diminishes with great rapidity as they recede from the coloured object. Colour-blindness, in those unable at a little distance to distinguish red from bright green, may be detected by their inability to perceive the ALL PERSONS CANNOT EQUALLY DISCRIMINATE COLOURS. 37 difference between russets and ruddy browns, near at band, from olives and dark greens. Some amusing trials were lately made by tbe Author to test the capa- bilities of a pupil whose friends wished him to learn drawing, but who, either from idleness or diffidence, maintained that he had no eye for form or colour. This youth coidd tell to an inch the height of any of his companions ; he knew, to the breadth of a line, any difference in the size of a ball ; and in length and thickness of cricket-bats he was quite an oracle. Experimenting on his perception of colour, it w T as found that he coidd distinguish, without difficulty, the most delicate variations in the colour of the hair or complexion, and, what was doubtless a far more interesting ercisexe of his visual organs, he could, without hesitation, choose by its tint the ripest peach or apple, and appreciate the down on the untouched plum or grape. 38 LANDSCAPE-PAINTIXf i. SECTION V.— EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. S tlie object of this treatise is to place before students in art the results of the labour and researches of others in as simple a form as possible, it is I of the greatest importance that the system laid down, and the terms used, should be in accordance with those employed by the highest authorities. Fortunately we possess a large number of rules, founded on well-tried principles, whicb, having been adopted by artists who have left imperishable names, remain still on record in the produc- tions by which their fame was acquired. The effect of these principles, even when not defined in language, has repeatedly appeared in great works of art ; and it is the Author's desire to notice and illustrate them in as clear a manner as the united efforts of his brush and pen will permit. In conveying this knowledge, great difficulties present themselves, which arise not so much from deficiency of information as from the remark- able irregularity and indefinite character of the various terms used by artists and amateurs. To obviate these, we proceed to notice some of the terms generally employed, and to explain the sense in which they are to be understood throughout this work. The names of the prismatic colours, established by Newton and other natural philosophers, being clear and distinct, have been employed without hesitation in Section II. It has been explained that artists, after dividing these colours into primary and secondary, have taken in addition the tertiary compounds, or primary hues arising from the admixture of the secondary colours. Each of these hues, containing one of the three primaries in a double proportion, they distinctively call a hue of that primary to which it bears the greatest affinity. The term first or primary hues is applied to colours of this class, because they come immediately in order after the first and second groups of colours. The word Tint is to be considered as particularly applying to colours in EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. 39 their different varieties ; thus yellows are lemon-yellow, straw-colour, amber, &c. ; red appears as rose-colour, crimson, scarlet, &c. ; blue, as sky or azure blue, indigo, &c. ; these being the tints of yellow, red, and blue respectively. In oil-painting, colours tempered or subdued by white are called Tints ; they correspond to those which in water-colours are reduced by water. The latter are sometimes designated Stains ; but this term is seldom used, unless to express an almost imperceptible effect, such as that produced by the portion of a delicate rose-madder tint left on the sky, after the whole colour has apparently been washed off. As the drawing, however, advances towards completion, the result is obvious ; the stain itself is scarcely seen, yet the effect it produces — namely, a warm aerial glow — prevents the blues, afterwards laid on, from looking positive and cold in colour : in this sense, the term may be used in the practice of art. The term Half Tints expresses those mean or middle degrees of colour either between full illumination and deep shadow, or between the full strength or expression of the colour, and those shades of it in which the colour is scarcely discernible ; these are sometimes also called Broken Tints. Eubens is supposed to have placed full tints side by side in his pictures, and then to have mingled them by sweeping or dragging a brush over them ; thus harmonising the whole by blending the colours. The term Shade may denote different degrees in the depth of colour, but belongs more particularly to shadow, or to colours in shadow and their deeper tones, when they have more affinity to darkness than to light. I believe this to be the general acceptation of the term. Hay has so used it in his Nomenclature of Colours; for in Plate V. of that work, fig. 1, there called a tint, is of a pale rose-colour, and contrasted with fig. 4, called a shade of myrtle green. Again, when these experiments are reversed in Plate VI. the green is called the tint, and the term shade applied to a deep chocolate, or shade of red. Tone — a term evidently borrowed from the art of music — is used in a more extended signification than either tint or shade. It may be considered as expressing the harmonious arrangement of combined tints and shades, being equally applicable to neutral colouring : thus, we may say of a sepia or gray drawing that it requires tone, meaning that the quantities of light 10 LANDSCAPE-PAINTINC. and shade should be blended in a greater degree. It is also applicable either to cool or warm colours ; thus, speaking of a picture, we may say that it has a cool tone or a warm tone, or that it has become toned by age Haydon, in his Autobiography, speaks of toning down his pictures with a huge brush and asphaltum, and describes this act of giving tone to his pictures as one of the artist's greatest delights. Tone may likewise indicate the opposite of rawness. Tones may be said to be pure when they are obtained by the primary hues being placed in such positions that the eye regards the whole as a mass of various colours blended into one ; or they may be denominated pure, when they result from true mixtures of the secondary colours. The term may be applied when describing golden or autumnal hues, deep reddish browns, as chestnut or auburn ; the expression full-toned, when speaking of such colours as pomona green ; and deep-toned, when indicating those fine shades of red and purple called marroon, or olive green. Lastly, tone is used by artists to convey the idea of that blending of colours by the addition of some other or others in a transparent state ; which, when done with judgment, assists in harmonising the colouring, and adding to the repose and breadth of the whole. We use this term very freely, — far too freely, — and thus render its signification very vague. Unity — a term equally applicable to a painting either in respect to its light and shade, or to its colour — implies an harmonious connection of colours ; thus one colour may be united to another, not by position and concord alone, but by some third condition ; as, when a transparent glazing of colour passes equally over the two, they become blended or united. Colours may be united in a pure state by stippling, or interlacing them, as it were, with one another in small portions. In its widest sense, unity means that the various parts of the picture are so systematically arranged as to convey the idea of their perfect connection. Breadth implies that either light and shade, or colour, are in masses and not divided into small portions. The expression breadth of light does not convey the idea of a mass of light equally intense in all its parts, but of one graduated insensibly by half-tints, and having a central spot like a focus, whence the light, diminishing by degrees, is diffused throughout the picture or adjacent parts. Breadth of shade signifies that the shadow is not broken EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. 41 ur separated by any small portions of light, but in one mass, varying in depth, some parts being of greater intensity than others. We may likewise employ the term breadth when speaking of a mass of colours, which, how- ever various in hue, are for the most part either of a warm or cold character, and undisturbed by the prominency of any single colour. For examples of breadth of shadow, we cannot have a finer master than Eembrandt, who, by a large and well-graduated mass of shade, fre- . quently caused a small amount of light to be extremely effective. It is said that during his early youth he lived in a windmill, the only light admitted to the interior of which came through a small upper window ; and thus, being left to study the effect of concentrated light, he ever after treated outdoor as well as indoor subjects in the same manner. On the other band, for illustration of breadth obtained by the introduction of large masses of light, there can be no hesitation in referring the student to the pictures of Turner, who, in strong contrast to Eembrandt, was well known to be greatly attached to this treatment of subjects. llembrandt. Turner Breadth of Tone is obtained by placing not only the primitive but the secondary colours, and primary hues, in such relative positions that the eye passes on without any sudden interruption. Harmony expresses the arrangement of colours, varying in their propor- 42 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. tions and degrees of purity, in such positions that the result is agreeable to the eye. This does not imply that there shall be any certain proportion observed between the warm and the cold parts. Harmony may exist in pictures, or in combinations of hues, &c. which are nearly all cool, and also in those of which the tones are of the opposite character, — yet it is essential that the colours, hues, or tones composing a picture should be so arranged that, however varied the parts, one prevailing sentiment may pervade the whole. Thus, should the majority of colours and hues in a picture be illuminated by a warm setting sun, and the rest by a pure white daylight, the whole would be deficient in harmony ; or should some portion of colour in the form of a flag, having a tone approaching that of the sky, but not of the whole mass (as rose-colour or emerald green), be introduced on a stormy sky of a lurid reddish tone, it would be out of harmony with the rest of the picture, jar on the feelings, and annoy the sensitive eye. This want of harmony would be evident to the most uneducated in art, nearly all persons being conscious of any incongruity of tone, though few can explain the cause. The remains of early colouring, in the Egyptian tombs and the buildings of Pompeii, show that the decorators among the ancients pro- duced harmony by the use of the three primitive colours in conjunction with black and white ; this they did by skilfully adjusting these colours in due proportion ; when their union with black and white — which, represent- ing light and shade, possess great harmonising power — gave the desired result. The effect attained by the well-judged use of these pigments Avas greatly assisted by the air, distance, and the light and shade of the building in which they were placed. In speaking of the changes to which colours are subjected by distance or aerial perspective, even in the purest air and climate, it has been remarked, that all the primitives thus changed become broken colours. For instance, a strong pure yellow becomes a broken yellow ; red is changed to orange ; blue to an indefinite gray ; hence, in estimating the conditions of harmony, distance and the prevailing atmo- sphere must be taken into account. Lastly, it should be remembered, that although such harmonising influence has great effect on the expanse of nature, yet it has little or none on the picture ; for this being only a few feet from our eyes, the space intervening occupied by the atmosphere is too EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. 43 small to be subject to any sensible change ; so that we must rather exagge- rate the natural effect, and mark all the changes occurring through these influences. Local Colour. The natural colour of an object, when seen in ordi- nary daylight, and at a convenient distance, as a sheet of paper at arm's- length, a tree at twice or thrice its height, &c. The true local colour of any object is not visible in sunlight, being then lost in light ; nor in shade> for then it is either absorbed in darkness or altered by accidental influences, such as reflections, &c. Owing to these influences, it follows that very little of the local colour of an object is depicted ; nor should the student be too anxious to show it as he knows it to be, but rather as it appears at the time when he is studying it. (See Chapter I. Section III. on the "Effect of Predominating Light.") Taking out. Eecovering the light or white of the paper, by removing, in various ways, the colour previously laid on ; a mode of obtaining high or secondary lights that is in some instances more effectual than using body- colour. It gives great force, texture, and character to the foreground, and is more fully described in the " Mode of Working," Chapter III. Section IV. Blotting in. An expression used by many water-colour artists when they want to describe the laying in masses of varied tones, graduating one into another. This is done with a moderately-full brush, so that the colours mingle to a certain extent, but not so full as when required for a wash ; it is supposed to represent the general middle tone, and is laid in without attending to either the highest lights or the deepest shadows. More fully described in " Mode of Working." Scale. Besides the usual meaning of objects being drawn to a scale, when one-third or less of the size, &c, this term is used to denote the rela- tive degrees that the tones of a picture hold to nature, or to each other. For example, a picture may be executed in a high scale when pure white is introduced, and the tints are graduated with reference to that colour, as they are in many of Turner's later pictures ; or in Titian's, where they graduate in rich deep tones from yellow; or in Bembrandt's, descending rapidly from a small portion of high light to a middle tone, but graduating more slowly in the deeper tones. 41 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. Foreground. That part of the picture which appears nearest to the spectator. With the exception of such portions of the landscape as moun- tains, whose large dimensions cause some of their parts to retire, every object may in turn occupy the foreground : the careful delineation of parts, instead of complete landscapes, should therefore form the young artist's first studies. This is so important that it is treated at length in Chapter IV. Section III., and in a small work called Foliage and Foregrounds. Background. An expression more used in portrait and figure subjects than in landscapes, as the different parts of a landscape are more frequently mentioned in detail ; as sky, distance, middle-distance, &c. Accessories. More used in figure subjects or portraits ; referring to objects and materials independent of the principal subject, being used to fill up parts that without them would appear naked, to establish a balance between the masses, to form the contrast, to contribute to the harmony of colours, and so add to the splendour and richness of a picture. Little used in landscapes, as, if the principal object be a ruin, or some interesting point, we prefer when speaking to name the surrounding objects in detail as mountains, boats, figures, &c. Keeping. Although generally considered as attention to the proper subserviency of tone and colour, is sometimes used vaguely ; it may mean — not in perspective, either linear or aerial ; thus some part of the picture not in unison with others is out of keeping, meaning out of harmony, wanting some quality to put it in its proper place, — failing in distance, force, or colour ; also to be crude is to want keeping. Another word of the same general signification among artists, but scarcely defensible, is raw or raw- ness ; which, if allowed, would necessarily require another term, namely, cooking; and this would certainly be exceedingly annoying to artists, the majority of whom would much rather be told that their painting was raw than that it wanted " cooking : " we should therefore be cautious in using indefinite terms. Eepose. A quality not difficult to understand, but very difficult to obtain without monotony. Large ideas of the subject at the com- mencement, and a correct appreciation of the different value of the various parts, will assist the young artist in preserving repose, or the EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. 45 quiet sustaining harmony of the whole. It applies to form, light and shade, and colour. Those portions of the picture in repose will then support the more attractive or brilliant spots ; they may at the same time repeat or echo the principal light or colour, and thus prevent these spots from being too isolated or unconnected with the rest of the picture, which may, under such circumstances, be said to be well put together, or, when deficient in these qualities, want putting together. Motion is used more with respect to lines and forms than to colour, and expresses variety and action, in opposition to repose. Relief may refer to small as well as to large subjects. A drawing of a fly may want relief, if the delicate cast shadow of the body, limbs, or wings, fails to convey the idea that the insect is resting on its legs at a slight dis- tance from the paper. Young students must not suppose, that to obtain force an object must be relieved by a violent opposition of light and shade, or an equally strong opposition of colours ; nor is it even necessary to have cutting lines or edges that may cause the object to be mistaken for reality, like the representation of a damaged engraving with the corner turned up, or the head of a smuggler thrust out over the gold frame. This is taking a very narrow view of the term. On the contrary, an object may be suffi- ciently relieved by delicate alterations in tone, or contrasts of harmonising colours, and yet be mainly absorbed in the surrounding objects or back- ground ; in nature an object is rarely equally relieved all round, more generally the larger quantity of the outline is scarcely distinguishable either in form or colour from them, and this repose gives double effect to the smaller portion that tells, or is telling ; that is to say, that has striking qualities. Effect. The impression produced upon the mind by the sight of a picture ; but pictorial effect, or effects, we take to mean some predominating light and shade or colour in addition to those belonging to, or produced by, objects in the picture. This may influence a part or the whole of the scene, and may represent a pictorial phenomenon of nature, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or from behind a mountain at sunrise, sunset, &c. ; rain, with rainbow, a storm, &c. The simple light and shade belonging to each object, however carefully represented, will not make an effect, nor 46 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. will objects thus treated, when placed side by side, form a picture ; this appears to be forgotten by many young artists, who imagine that if they paint each object with exceeding care, that they must at last make a pleas- ing picture ; on the contrary, one portion of the scene must have reference to another. If the distance is all minutely painted up to the focus of the eye when looking at it, and afterwards figures be added equally minutely studied and important, the whole effect is injured, and the eye is distracted by continually looking from one to the other. It is said that when Mul- ready first exhibited his " Whistonian Controversy," the table-cover was so beautifully finished and coloured, that it attracted the attention from the countenances of the players, and it was not until he had subdued the pattern in form and colour that the great doubt and anxiety depicted on the faces were noticed, and the effect rendered complete. Accidental Liylits or Shadows may form part of an effect. (See Chapter III. Section II.) Sentiment. This term is used by some for the predominating effect or story of the picture. Key — Focus. Artists and colourists use these terms to express that spot or concentration of light or colour that appears to combine or contrast with most energy the tints or shades diffused throughout the work ; they may then be said to be focused. Thus, many of the pearly grays and deli- cate broken purples or greens in a marine subject may be set off and united by some bright spots on a painted buoy lying in shallow water or the sea- beach. This may be the key to the whole colouring ; it may also be made the focus to the light and shade, and is thus made serviceable in more than one of Turner's rjictures besides the " Fighting Temeraire." Artists have great faith in the mysterious power of this key or focus ; accordingly it is supposed not only to unite and bring forward tones scattered over the pic- ture, but also to send some back, and clear up others. To do this it is not wonderful that lights and shades, and also colours, have to be greatly forced or exaggerated, and that emerald green and vermilion are often harnessed side by side to drag a crude performance into unison. However, to force the effect by exaggerating in some degree the difference in distances, or the effect of air, mist, or light, and thus concentrate more power than would be found in an ccpial portion of the panorama, may sometimes be allowed, EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED BY ARTISTS. 47 but the young artist should first be content simply to copy the effects he finds in nature. Dirty Tints, in colouring, express that the tone neither represents true light and shade, nor yet true colouring. Thus, if spots of impure opaque colour are produced in the sky or distance where we know there ought to be pure aerial tints, and if these spots indicate no form, but only distract the attention, the whole may be called dirty. Should this occur in the delicate shading of a face, not only in the shadows, where there ought to be no irre- gular spots, but also in the light flesh-tints, it is particularly observable and reprehensible. Dirty tints are most frequently the result of inexperience or timidity in using colours ; thus, passing wash after wash of various pigments, without attention to their different qualities, will soon produce this disagree- able result. To prevent it, the student should make experiments with his pigments, and thus learn beforehand the result and effect different washes or mixtures will produce. In landscape, if the three primitives are used in too equal proportions, there will arise a degraded tone, neither like pure gray nor brown, but resembling opaque dirt ; and if this is rubbed about or produced by the repetition of washes or tints over one another without order, the whole will be void of transparency or any determinate connection with one primary more than another. Nothing produces this unwished-for effect sooner than laying on the first general wash too strong, and with an impure yellow, for the red and blue following wdl be sure to produce dirty tones. If, in such a case, washing with a sable and plenty of water does not overcome it, and prepare it to receive some purer tint of a more agreeable tone, it is better to sponge the whole and fairly remove the faulty yellow laid on at the beginning. Broken Colours are produced by the mixture of one or more pigments : or pigments may be found containing a slight proportion of one with a larger proportion of another. Thus, yellow ochre is called a broken or subdued yellow, having a small quantity of reddish brown in it, and it is safer to use on many occasions than breaking yellow down by too much mixing. Air — Atmosphere. The imitation of the effects of the atmosphere, regarded as a fluid medium through which forms are visible. When the forms are well detached, the picture has air. 48 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. Execution, Handling, Manipulation. These terms, with many others, are used when speaking of the mode of working necessary to bring about an artist's performance. However much we may fear mannerism in our way of expressing our ideas, we must not prevent, by too much caution and timidity, the young student from endeavouring to acquire at the very beginning a vigorous and effective way of expressing his ideas. When learning a language, every word is first pronounced slowly and with great precision; the pupil hears his teacher pronounce it over and over again, then he endeavours to imitate the exact sound ; and, going on to sentences he makes equal efforts to obtain the proper emphasis, and at last he suc- ceeds in giving the just expression and value to every word he utters. All this seems very simple in language ; it applies equally to art. Let the lan- guage and grammar of art be first learned in the same precise and decided way, under the eye of a careful and expert master ; let the pupil watch his mode of handling his different instruments, and not grudge labour in endeavouring to do the same things in the same way ; he will then go to nature with some power at least of imitation, and not feel so utterly at a loss that he is afraid even of touching a pencil or making the slightest sketch. Let him adopt the best and most expressive style he can find. If it does not express his own ideas of nature, he will soon invent a better ; but surely, in this language as in another, if " English-French" is different from " French-French," it is better than no French at all. Manner — Style. (See Chapter IV. Section XL) Hatching, Stippling, Scumbling, Glazing, Dragging. (See " Mode of Working," Chapter III. Section IV.) High Lights. (See " Light and Shade," Chapter III. Section II.) Chiar'oscuro, or light and shade. (See Chapter III. Section IV.) Composition. (See Chapter III. Section I.) C H APT E R II. MATERIALS. SECTION I.— ON THE POSITION OF PIGMENTS IN THE POX, OR ON THE PALETTE. THIS MOIST-COLOUR BOX. for a judicious and exact arrangement of colours in respect to the various hues and tints affords considerable assistance in the practice of the art. The pigments should always occupy the same positions in relation to each other, in order that there may be no hesitation in dipping the brush into the colour required. A brilliant effect of sunlight and shadow may pass away, and with it the opportunity of recording its most striking features, while search is being made, on a disorderly palette, for the colours requisite to give a faithful representation of its fleeting beauties. It is precisely in such E 5 LA NDSCAPE-PAINTING. transient effects that memory generally fails to supply tlie want of memoranda made at the moment. Again, in the working out of a favourite conception, every student must he aware of the value of facility of hand. While he feels the whole power of his mind scarcely adequate to the realization of the glowing images of his fancy, he should not voluntarily suhject himself to the irritations and loss of time proceeding from an absence of order in the disposition of his materials. No one, so far advanced in artistic power as to permit himself a flight into the regions of imagination, can ever designate such trials as petty. He must feel that their influence may suffice to tarnish the splendour of the brightest day-dream in which he may allow himself to indulge. In the arrangement of the pigments, the Author has adopted that order of succession which, by experience, he has found most useful and convenient. In the moist-colour box, represented at the head of this Section, twenty pigments are given, consisting of those best adapted for Landscape-Painting. Commencing at the upper end, they succeed each other in the following order : — GAMBOGE. YELLOW OCIIRE. BURNT SIENNA. VERMILION. CRIMSON LAKE. INDIAN YELLOW. RAW SIENNA. LIGHT RED. ROSE MADDER. INDIAN RED. TURPLE MADDER. VANDYKE BROWN. BROWN PINK. BLACK. FRENCH BLUE. BROWN MADDER. SEPIA. Payne's gray. INDIOO. COBALT. The box being placed on the left hand, or on that side of the drawing, the yellows will be furthest from the person. The rounded cover of the box, being divided into three cup-like forms, is for mixing washes when out of doors and it is inconvenient to carry saucers ; the flat flap is that on which the brush is touched to mix or vary tints. In large works, however, it is almost necessary to carry a few saucers, and three or four of the pigments the most used, such as cobalt, yellow ochre, gamboge, and brown madder, in collapsible tubes ; these can be placed in large masses on the palette, or rapidly made into washes in the saucers, for covering large surfaces. The pigments contained in these boxes ought not to dry and crack ; but as they will sometimes do so when long exposed to the sun and drying wind, they OF TWENTY- FIVE OF THE MOST USEFUL PIGMENTS. THE COLOUR-BOX. 51 should be shut up as soou as possible. A small piece of sponge, cut square and kept wet, or a damp strip of linen laid over them before they are covered at night, will render them moist and easier to work. If at any- time a pan of colour is put in to replace one exhausted, the bottom of it should be either pasted or gummed, as otherwise it is apt to shake about and sometimes adhere to the cover. Although portable moist-colour boxes rarely contain more than the above list of pigments, there are many more which the experienced artist finds of use, either in obtaining certain effects, or as substitutes for some of those already named. An enlarged scale of twenty-five pigments has been placed before the student in Plate 4, having an order approximating to that which they occupy in the box, and at the same time extended in such a manner as to present to the eye, at one view, an harmonious arrangement of colours. The above pigments have been selected as most generally useful and eligible for water-colour painters. It would be easy to increase their number ; but it is better for the student to become thoroughly acquainted with these in the first instance, and afterwards, if desirable, to add or substitute others. In this general view of the pigments employed, we may as well note how far it is possible so to dispose them as to imitate that breadth of tone frequently observed in nature, where one hue passing into another that differs from it only in a slight degree yet harmonises with it, is constantly creating agreeable changes and gradations of colour. This almost imperceptible alteration of colour is distinct from those more striking oppositions called contrasts, and although not apparently so im- portant, should occupy the young artist's most careful attention; he will then perceive that colour in nature is almost always gradated : the study of it, therefore, in detail, as well as contrasts, will form the subject of some illustrations in a future portion of this work. LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. SECTION II. — DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. OLOURS, or pigments, as they are more properly called, are now prepared either in a moist or dry state. The moist pigments are so perfect in their preparation, at the same time so portable and convenient, that they are almost universally employed. Presenting a mass of pure colour, from which any quantity can be obtained without previous rubbing they are particularly serviceable in sketching from nature. In the for- cible painting required in the fore- ground of a picture, they become doubly valuable; for in this part of the subject the artist has need of small portions of pure colour to drag, scumble, or intermix with those already supplied ; so that instead of losing, he may rather add to the rough texture of the paper ; and this power he obtains by taking up on the point of his brush such pigments as he requires ; the main body of colour in his brush not being washed out, but remaining to influence more or less the portions thus taken up. But useful and convenient as they undoubtedly are, they have not super- seded the diy or cake colours for the pure and delicate washes and tints required at the commencement of eveiy large work; these are best executed with the latter, rubbed up either on an earthen palette or in saucers. The tints made with the pigments in cake are purer, and give more appearance of air to the sky and distance than can be obtained with the moist colours. When cake colours are employed, it is recommended that a few of those tints required in the sky should be rubbed on a large flat slab, or tile, about t welve inches square. This will give space to prepare a sufficient quantity DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. 53 to allow of washes or tints in the sky or distance being completed without again having recourse to the colour-box. By this means those slight alter- ations in the tint, which are almost inseparable from every renewal, are avoided. Having included nearly all the pigments most eligible for the water- colour painter in the preceding list and accompanying plate, we will now proceed to give a brief description of their prominent qualities ; but, before doing so, we may remark, that among these almost every artist has his favourites, for which, by frequently resorting to their use, he shows his predilection. The student, however, should beware of giving way to any such bias in favour of a particular pigment ; as such a custom, joined to an ill-regulated fancy, may affect the whole colour of his works. In this selection will be found those pigments considered by Mr. Field and other authorities as permanent in most situations, and under most cir- cumstances. One or two of them, adopted only for particular effects, will be described hereafter. It must be remembered, that pigments are likely to stand best, and are most transparent, where they are least mingled with others. We must therefore select such as represent the colours we desire to produce, and degrade them as little as possible by mixture. By studying their different hues, in the graduated scale, Plate 4, the student will become acquainted with their fitness for his purpose, and thus be greatly assisted in his selection. On the palette, as well as in the box, the same order should be retained, commencing with yellow, as being the best representative of light, and pass- ing on from left to right, to orange, red, russet, citrine, and neutrals, and lastly to blue. Each division of the diagram shows the pigment with a gradual increase of colour. It is hardly necessary to explain that light or dark, as regards these examples, does not imply a change in the colour used, but that the differ- ence in their degrees of intensity is caused by more or less of the white light of the paper appearing through them. In addition to the pigments displayed in the diagram, we must mention white ; for although, strictly speaking, it cannot be considered as a colour, but rather as an opaque body representing light, yet it is so much used to 54 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. mix with other pigments, and is so important in recovering light on certain parts of the picture, that it claims precedence in our descriptions. WHITE. Zinc white, or oxide of zinc, called also Chinese white, although it has not the opacity or solidity of white-lead, is nevertheless, owing to its per- manence, the more eligible pigment. Employed with discretion, it is of great importance in water-colour painting ; affording us, when blended with some of the warmer colours, the means of recovering any bright lights which we may have lost. By using it thin, and scumbling over some of the distant tints, an appearance of air is given ; but it must be con- fessed it is air charged with moisture, not the pure transparent medium, through which the form and colours of all objects are distinctly seen. It is more successfully used in opaque touches in light, and confined to the foreground, and should be toned down by the addition of some warm pig- ment ; when dragged over the rongh paper, it gives great solidity, richness, and variety of texture. The preparation has arrived at great excellence ; and the pigment is generally pure and easily worked, drying without any material alteration of colour ; but as the least trace of iron will cause it to change colour with sulphuretted hydrogen, or the foul air from gas, drains, &c, all who use it should try it themselves, by laying a wash on a strip of pure white paper, one half of which they should submit, while wet, to such gases ; the other they should carefully guard between sheets of paper. On comparing the two, they will easily perceive whether the white changes colour ; if it does, they may depend upon it all their lights will go in the same way, if exposed to similar influences. LEMON YELLOW. A luminous vivid yellow, rather pale and opaque, but still, being perma- nent, much to be preferred in water-colour painting to Naples yellow, which has not that quality. It is sometimes used in the first light washes in the sky or distance, and also over other colours ; or, when slightly modified by them, it may be applied in small brilliant touches, in order to give the 1 lightest lights on foliage. DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. GAMBOGE. A bright transparent yellow, very important in making most kinds of green ; those with indigo or Prussian blue are clear and cool. With the addition of burnt sienna, or other transparent orange colours, it makes a rich and easily-varied autumnal tint; with sepia, Payne's gray, or black, it forms sober greens, as useful as they are numerous ; and with brown madder, a rich autumnal tint. Not having a retiring quality, caution is necessary when employing it in the distance. Gamboge is a vegetable gum ; and though not quite permanent is considered one of the best yellow pigments for the above purpose. INDIAN YELLOW Has greater body and depth of colour than gamboge, and is of a rich golden hue. Combined with indigo, Prussian or French blue, it makes deep in- tense greens ; and with burnt sienna or brown madder, pure and glowing autumnal tints. Care, however, must be observed in its application, as it is apt to produce tints too strong and forced. Having these qualities, it is more employed in the foregrounds than in the distance. YELLOW OCHRE. The ochres are among the most ancient and valuable of our pigments and are found abundantly in this and other countries. They vary very much in colour, from a bright (not vivid or pure) yellow to a deep brown. They are not powerful ; but possessing a slight degree of opacity and a retiring quality, they are frequently employed in forming the subdued greens of the middle or extreme distance. The most useful is yellow ochre, which may be considered in some degree broken — that is to say, a mixed colour, partaking slightly of a reddish character ; this produces a neutral quality, causing it to be often used in combination with another mixed colour, namely, brown madder, to make a warm neutral orange for the first or harmonizing tint, intended to give a general idea of sunlight and warmth, without any positive colour. The other ochres, with the exception of Roman 56 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. ochre, are little used ; the latter is deeper, and rather more transparent than yellow ochre. RAW SIENNA. Sienna, in its natural state, is of rather an impure or tawny yellow. Being very transparent, it is excellent for forming the first greenish hues of water, whether as seen on the placid lake or in the moving waves of the sea ; and, on account of these qualities, raw sienna is the pigment best adapted to represent the reflections of the sky tones given by yellow ochre. With the addition of a little crimson lake or red, it may he made as available for distant greens as (when pure) for those occurring in the foreground. Having a tendency to be uneven on the paper it does not work very well. BURNT SIENNA. A rich orange russet colour, very transparent and powerful, — qualities which, added to its working with great facility, render it one of the most valuable pigments for giving warmth and vigour to the colour of roads, sand-banks, &c. Combined with indigo, Prussian blue, and any of the transparent yellows, it produces fine greens, varying from a bright citrine to a deep olive. CADMIUM. This important addition to the list of yellows is a bright warm colour, approaching to orange. Owing to some irregularity in the mode of pre- paring this pigment, its colour is not always the same ; but it affords the greatest variety to the palette, when differing most from Indian yellow or chrome. It is so luminous, that light tints in the sky, &c, may be given with it without greatly reducing the quantity of light in the picture. It is at present rather expensive ; an objection which will probably soon be removed on its becoming more generally employed. ORANGE CHROME Is a bright yellow ochre, burnt ; by which operation it acquires warmth, colour, and transparency. It has many of the good qualities of yellow ochre, with greater power. DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. 57 MAES ORANGE. Au artificial ochre of a bright rich orange colour. It is prepared from iron, and should be employed with caution. Perhaps it is not quite so useful as burnt sienna, from which it may be distinguished by being brighter and clearer in tone. LIGHT RED. A preparation of an ochre scarcely to be classed as a red ; indeed, all the ochres are broken or indefinite colours. This pigment partakes of the russet orange colour, and is very useful when combined with cobalt or French ultramarine in forming warm grays for the shadows of clouds. VERMILION. This is a brilliant opaque pigment of great body and weight. It varies much in its colour, and in the facility with which it is worked. Being deficient in transparency, and apt to settle away from other pigments, it does not form very useful grays or purples. In light and delicate washes, however, it produces a glowing warmth in skies, without these defects being conspicuous. ROSE MADDER. The madder lakes are the most valuable additions made to our palette in modern times; for, besides being permanent, they possess more delicacy than the former lakes. With rose madder we can imitate with great truth the roseate hues in the evening skies ; and, by adding a little indigo, may pass from the first blush of a summer's morn to the purple and subdued violet tints of twilight. For the first wash on a pure sky it is preferable to brown madder. CKIMSON LAKE. A beautiful transparent red ; which, being less expensive, and possessing more power than rose madder, is generally employed in landscapes. Mixed with cobalt or French blue, it makes fine purple tints. By adding it to the greens of the foreground, we convert them into more neutral colours 58 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. suitable either for the middle distance, or the purple gray foliage of such trees as the Scotch fir, &c. VENETIAN RED. This is rather a deeper and purer red than light red. Its mixture with cobalt or French blue produces fine purply tints, called by artists grays. When the student has become acquainted with the difference between these two pigments, he should determine which of them he prefers, as the usual moist-colour boxes will not contain both; and the two are unnecessary. INDIAN RED. When fine, this is of a purple russet hue and good body. With it and the deeper blues are made great varieties of rich purply tints, much used in stormy skies, or on mountains when under the shadow of dark clouds ; but it must be employed with moderation, otherwise it will produce heaviness and want of air or distance. PURPLE MADDER Is not a pure or brilliant purple ; but has great richness and transparency, making, with cobalt or French blue, deep purply tints, which are frequently seen in the middle distance when under shadow. For this purpose these tints, being both pure and powerful, are preferred to those made witli Indian red. BROWN MADDER. This rich russet-coloured pigment is indispensable in water-colour painting. It appears to be the middle hue between orange and purple ; and when used in various proportions with yellow ochre, produces a rich warm tint on the white paper, preparing it to receive other colours with an harmonious effect. With gamboge or Indian yellow, in different proportions, it forms fine glowing hues of autumnal foliage. BROWN PINK. A vegetable pigment, made from French berries or dye-woods. It is DESCRIPTION OF THE QUALITIES OF PIGMENTS. 59 a rich orange green, much used to form the greens of the foreground. It is easily varied by a small quantity of indigo or transparent yellow. VANDYKE BROWN. This is a fine deep transparent colour, used in the warm rich browns of the foreground. When mixed with indigo or French blue, it forms a deep neutral green, very effective in representing the shadows of trees in water. Like the other brown pigments, it does not retire well, but appears con- stantly near the eye. Brown madder should take its place in the middle distance, or it should be subdued by the more aerial blues. SEPIA. This pigment is made from the dark liquor procured from the cuttle-fish, and is of a dusky brown colour. It works well, and, being agreeable in colour, is used as the medium for brush-practice. It harmonizes well with French blue, with which, and Chinese white, it has been employed on gray paper in the present work. This mode of using it forms an excellent introduction to the use of colours. payne's gray. This is one of the numerous preparations of neutral tints supplied by the manufacturers ; but it is generally better for the artist to make these combinations for himself. Sometimes, however, as is the case with the present pigment, the colourman's constituents are so well chosen and incorporated, that the result surpasses anything that can be obtained at the moment by the use either of sepia and indigo or madder and other lakes, combined with indigo or French blue. IVORY BLACK. The best black pigment is that which has the most neutral tone and the greatest transparency. Ivory black, when well prepared, possesses these qualities in a high degree. Diluted, it forms pure grays, very useful in skies, distances, &c. As black in full force destroys all appearance of 60 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. atmosphere, it is never used in that state for water-colour painting, unless in a single spot on a figure in the foreground. INDIGO Is a well-known pigment, made from different species of the indigo-fera and other plants. Though not so bright as Prussian or Antwerp blue, it is more powerful ; and, being equally transparent, is very useful for forming the rich strong greens of foreground foliage. But, although indigo is so useful, the student should employ it with caution, as greens made with it are apt to appear cold and black. Prussian blue may, in some instances, be sub- stituted for it, and greens sui table for the foreground can also be made with sepia and Indian yellow, or blue-black and gamboge. FRENCH BLUE, OR FRENCH ULTRAMARINE. A factitious ultramarine, prepared by Guimet and other manufacturers at Paris and elsewhere. Some fine specimens were sent from Strasburg to the Exhibition of 1851. Being powerful, and working well, it is, in many cases, a good substitute for the real ultramarine. It is not considered quite safe to use in oil-painting ; but for water-colours, it is supposed to be durable. COBALT BLUE. Of all our blue pigments this is the most suitable for skies and distances. It works well, but is rather opaque ; and, as now manufactured, possesses almost as much purity and brilliancy as the real ultramarine. It is deficient in depth ; but this does not prevent its employment in the aerial grays of the distance and clouds. PAPER. 61 SECTION III.- ON PAPER, TINTED PAPERS, &c. paper employed in water- colour drawing is very important ; it influences the < whole picture in so great a degree as to require careful consideration. We must always bear in mind that the light of day is to be represented in our drawing by the white surface of the paper variously modified by transparent washes. This surface, therefore, must be preserved as pure as possible, the forms of the highest lights being left in nearly the same shape as they are intended to be in the finished picture ; for when once the light is degraded, we have no power of recovering it with the purity given by the paper in the first instance. In oil-painting, on the contrary, white pigments are employed to represent light ; the latter being obtained by gradually painting up from the half lights to those of the highest power ; but in water-colour painting the paper itself represents the highest lights ; and in those parts of the subject where these are not to remain pure, the surface is toned down by delicate and often-repeated washes. Taper for water-colours, consequently, should possess some of the quali- ties of the best white pigments used by the oil-painters. It should be of a pure white, so that the most delicate tints may be used on it without under- going alteration ; and opaque, in order that it may reflect the light falling upon it, without much loss by absorption. The surface should be rather 62 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. rough, with a round or convex kind of grain, and free from sharp or an- gular depressions ; the colour being apt to settle in these depressions, and cause spots which cannot be easily removed. Light falls on the varied sur- face of this description of paper with ever-changing degrees of intensity ; and, being reflected by it, causes much play and variety in tint on this uneven texture, yet allows the sight to pass, as it were, between the minute portions of colour, and gives them the effect of a pure stippled tint. A surface that is ribbed, or in hues, is not well adapted to light and deli- cate drawings, as the lines are likely to interfere with the forms. Thick paper, well sized, is to be preferred. It possesses more body and opacity, and is not liable to blister, or alter Avith the various tints and washes ; it is also less likely to be cut or rubbed through during the different processes. Whatman's drawing-papers are considered the best — the rough imperial, weighing 140 lbs. to the ream, for general purposes, and the extra double elephant and antiquarian for larger works. Artists avoid the use of hot- pressed or fine-grained paper, as the surface does not hold the colour well, or admit of the repeated washings which are sometimes necessary. The right side of drawing-paper may be ascertained by holding it up to the light, when the maker's name will be seen in its true position ; or by bringing it obliquely to the eye, when the surface will be found perfect on the side intended for use. The other side beinsr sometimes scratched O by the removal of knots and blemishes from the paper, would take colour very unequally. It is a frequent mistake with young persons to suppose that, because some artists have used a coarse impure paper with success, it expedites the drawing ; for the portions of straw and other impurities, which occur in those parts representing the sky or distance, counteract the effect of the purest tints, and can only be regarded as so many blemishes. Sufficient variety of texture can be obtained on a pure white paper ; and if a ground tint be required, it can be laid on of any colour or depth on the pure surface, and thus afford opportunities of obtaining the lights, either by scraping out, or adding with them an opaque white. It is much to be regretted, that there is not some process by which paper can be dried without hanging the sheets across rods, as this always causes PAPER. 63 some difference in the grain at the part touching the rod ; and even with the most perfect stretching, the paper is rarely strained flat. The maker's name in the middle of the sheet is also objectionable, for it often becomes visible in the sky or other parts of the finished drawing ; it might be placed with advantage in the extreme corner. Since the first edition of this work, Messrs. Whatman have manufactured paper of imperial and double ele- phant sizes without these defects ; they have also made a magnificent antiquarian paper, guaranteed by the signature of Messrs. Winsor and Newton, as perfectly pure. We have reason to believe that the best white drawing-papers made by them are as little likely to change as any that can be manufactured. The usual panelled or clamped drawing-board is generally adopted for large drawings (these should be made by a careful carpenter, with well- seasoned wood and without knots) ; and the well-known mahogany stretch- ing-board is used for smaller studies. But whatever kind be used, the paper must be well stretched and flat. If it is a large and important work, it should be kept on the board, and be carefully guarded still further from the noxious vapour of gas or bad air, which might penetrate even through fissures, and alter the tones, or deposit dust. To avoid this, the whole back of the board should be carefully covered with thick impervious tin-foil, or a thin sheet of metal, which should be cemented with a proper cement on to the glass, thus effectually excluding the air. The drawing should not touch the glass. To stretch paper well, it should be placed, with the right side upwards, over another sheet of paper upon a table ; it should then be wetted with a clean sponge and soft water ; and when well soaked, it should be turned, and the operation repeated on the other side. After some time the extra moisture should be removed with a clean cloth, and the board, mea- suring about two inches less each way, laid on. A square piece being cut out of each corner of the paper, the edges should be carefully glued, turned over, and rubbed down. Common glue is the best cement for the purpose, as with it the paper can be more firmly fixed and tensely stretched than by the use of any other material. The old method of pasting paper on boards is exceedingly dangerous to the colours, as they are apt to be altered by the changes in the paste. 64 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. There are solid sketch-honks, consisting of a number of sheets of paper compressed together, and glued at the edges. They save much trouble in straining ; and by passing a knife beneath the sketch it may be easily removed when completed ; but they do not permit much washing and drying, as the edges are easily loosened by water. When large landscapes are painted, it is sometimes desirable to have considerable difference between the texture of the sky and that of the fore- ground. To obtain this end, a sheet of moderately fine antiquarian paper is selected, and the subject slightly sketched on it; after which the foreground and middle portion are covered by a sheet of Whatman's coarse paper, called rough double elephant. An outline of some of the most prominent forms is then to be made ; taking care to select those which, crossing the subject, present as much irregularity as possible, and are under shadow. The rough paper must be cut with a sharp penknife by this line, and the under edge scraped thin. Both the sheets having been equally wetted, the under side of the rough paper must be carefully covered with thick starch (particular care being taken in applying the starch well on the outline or cut edge), and then placed on the large smooth paper and rubbed down. The compound sheets may now be carefully glued and stretched on the board. The junction of these two qualities of paper should not be allowed to take place in the extreme distance, nor against the sky. ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS. Taper of various tints and shades has of late years been much employed by artists, both in sketching from nature and in pursuing preliminary studies in chalk of the various effects, particularly those of light and shade, pre- sented in the landscape ; these, before commencing the picture, they find it advantageous to make in a broad and simple manner. The advantage of an intermediate tone on the surface of the paper consists in the fact that, as every degree of light and shade, either above or below the tint of the ground, is intentionally added, so every touch of Chinese white, signifying light, must be laid on with a view to enhance the general effect ; and thus no patches of light can be left scattered about in a careless un- meaning manner. In (bis way these papers afford great facilities lor (lie ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS. Go truthful arrangement of masses of light and shade, on which account they are particularly useful when sketching from nature, with the view of studying the general composition of the picture ; hut when colour is the object of study, pure white paper supplies the best surface for the purpose : for if the paper inclines to any particular hue, every wash of colour laid on it loses its distinctive character. There is an abundant choice of tinted papers, from the coldest blue to the warmest orange ; but rejecting positive colours, such as blue, yellow, or reddish browns, let the student select the more pleasing tints presented either by some of the neutral hues, or tertiary compounds, such as light russets, and delicate aerial grays, inclining to purple rather than green (which quality of tone is decidedly prejudicial in the skies), or by the warmer tints produced with various proportions of yellow ochre and brown madder. The particular tint or shade employed should be selected with reference to the auxiliary power it may give the sketch in conveying the impression, either of warmth or coolness, produced on the eye by the natural scene ; this impression being best assisted by a bold and rapid touch. Studies of this kind are generally made with materials the most easily manipulated, and sketches thus taken remain unaltered as remi- niscences of the truth of nature, standards with which to compare combinations of form, light and shade, and colour, as progress is made towards one harmonious whole in the finished picture. Tn these sketches the end is not attained by covering the whole surface of the paper, either with the white pigment or the black chalk, but only by using them respec- tively to represent the stronger lights and shadows, leaving much of the paper between these two extremes untouched ; for as the larger portion of every subject consists of middle tint, that of the paper gives an appearance of solidity and reality to the slightest sketch. Before commencing his study, the student should ascertain the direction of the light, and, the portion of the sky surrounding the sun being, of course, the lightest, he should pay particidar attention to the position of that luminary. As a general ride, it will be found that all parts of the sky and clouds are lighter in tone than objects on the earth, as mountains, trees, rocks, &c. ; the local or natural colour of buildings or parts of figures, however, beiDg contrasted LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. with the darker objects surrounding them, must be represented even lighter than the lights of the sky. The subject once sketched in, a general tint of white with cobalt and crimson lake may be given with rather a drier brush than is used in laying on a wash of transparent water-colours ; the addition of white allowing the brush to be passed to and fro in any direction, renders it comparatively easy to lay this tint perfectly even. It is important to observe that, although this tint in any quantity appears nearly opaque, yet it must be laid on so lightly as to become semi-transparent, permitting the colour of the paper to appear through it, and thus influencing the general tone, jiroducing an effect similar to that of scumbling in oil- painting ; applying it too thickly destroys the appearance of atmosphere and causes it to lose its transparency : this first tint applied, others composed of warmer colours and white may follow, until at last the highest lights are put on thick and opaque. Body colour is an important element in this style of drawing, as it increases the appearance of light, while, on the con- trary, repeated washes of transparent colour darken the tone. Trees and other objects, the local or natural colour of which is dark, should not have this lighter tint added, but the portion of the paper occupied by their forms should be slightly sketched out, and then left untouched ; however, as objects in nature are seldom equally relieved in all parts of their outline, these light tints should not be placed with equal force all round the lines delineating such objects, as this would give them the unnatural appearance of being cut out. The general effect being gained, the sky surrounding the objects crossing it should be left undefined, unless it be desirable to make one more conspicuous than the others, when the strongest light may be brought into contrast with this object. A very agreeable effect is sometimes given by showing light clouds behind the stems or branches of trees ; but this must not be often repeated ; as if so, it becomes unnatural and tricky. Chinese white in a pure state is rarely used even on the brightest object ; to give it a sunlight appearance a little warm colour should be added. Raw sienna, having a rich sunny character, is very suitable for this purpose. The mode of adding the lights hi the foreground can be slightly varied by using the pigment rather drier and more opaque, and by dragging the brush charged with it, over the surface, so as to leave it unequal ; thus increasing ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS. 67 the effect of roughness and variety in the texture. Lights on those parts of old stone buildings, rocks, &c, which have the sunlight strong upon them, or come against the edge or shadow, may be painted with fulness and decision, and afterwards softened by the process of dragging the brush side- ways, or partly removed with a sharp knife. The more delicate forms of clouds or tones in the sky may, in like manner, be softened or subdued by rubbing bread. When only a slight modification of the tint of the paper is required, and a little increase of tone not objectionable, a wash of some warm colour without the white may be passed over the part to be altered ; but this should be done with caution, so that its influence may scarcely be perceived. Used in the way above .indicated, tinted papers are of great service to the artist, who, however, while having recourse to them, must be careful to guard against the abuse of colours in this form of practice. As a general rule, white (however well tempered or modified) should be applied with moderation, and never on any part of an object in shadow ; even though that object may be white and subject to strong reflection, it must be strictly reserved for objects light in colour when illuminated by the sun. It may be well to mention, that if the student uses the brush and colours he should select tinted paper that is well sized, the grain or surface not being in this case so important ; but if he uses chalk, he should choose paper which is not only sized, but smooth, thick, and equal in texture ; such are to be found without being hot-pressed. If harsh rough- grain eel paper is chosen, it will be found, when used in the sun, much too coarse, although, by the side of falling water, or in the damp of the evening, it becomes softer. Some tints have a tendency to change their colour by time or exposure to gases, and this may be detected by referring to one of the small books of patterns which has been exposed to these influences. Chalk drawings made with these materials can be readily fixed by passing them through a weak solution of gum arabic and hot water, in the proportion of about half an ounce to a pint ; they are afterwards hung up to dry, and the lower end touched with a soft cloth to take off the superfluous water. For an example of this style of drawing the student is referred to Plate V., a slight sketch made in the north of Arran, near Loch Eanza. Those who may happen to F 2 G8 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. see two copies of this edition will perceive that, for the sake of variety, it has heen treated in two different ways, — morning and evening; in one, the brightest and most attractive light has been placed on the stones of the old bridge in the foreground, and this is made still more interesting by a group of figures ; in the other, a single figure, as before, stands upon the bridge, which is now in shadow from some passing cloud. This shadow may be indicated by a hasty wash of colour harmonizing with the tint of the paper, not attracting attention as colour, but merely bringing the effect to a focus by increase of strength ; in this case only a few strokes or touches with the chalk are added to prevent it looking cold or vapid. In the first the group has been somewhat increased in interest, so that the view might, if desirable, have been called by a different title, such as would direct the attention more to the immediate foreground — thus, " The long wished-for arrival." The reader will understand this much better by recollecting some picture of Collins, or Hooks, in which the chief interest is placed on the group in the foreground, but intimately connected with the distance, either by the position or action of the figures. Should the student not find any tinted papers to suit his taste, we recommend him to make them for himself, using good white paper well stretched. This is good practice in laying large flat washes ; and to do it well, the paper must be damped either at the back or on the face, and while still damp the wash may be floated on with a large brush. The tone may be slightly gradated in strength, from the sky to the foreground, or from one side to the other, to suit the subject, but it is as well not to attempt much alteration in colour. On tints thus prepared one can readily take out lights, either sharp and decided, with the scraper or knife, or by the usual process of wetting and rubbing out. Notwithstanding the great advantages that this style of drawing affords for the purpose of rapid sketching, and the study of light and shade, the student in colour is strongly recommended to make all his studies from nature, and the copies of plates and diagrams from this work on pure white paper ; for it has been observed that those who continually use the pencil or chalk and tinted papers are in great danger of having their eye vitiated by the conventional colour of the paper; even a slight monotonous warm tone ON THE USE OF TINTED PAPERS. 69 is, in the Author's opinion, exceedingly prejudicial to' a true appreciation of the different delicate and continually gradating tones we find in nature. We are all far too easily satisfied with an artificially coloured medium, and soon learn to look upon tints enclosed by an outline as natural colours, whereas they can be but approximations to the general tone, and are frequently quite unlike the local colour of many of the objects. If this style is carried on too long, the judgment, and even the perception, of the student become warped, and his future studies in true colouring made more difficult. If one faculty is over-cultivated, it is often at the expense of others ; and thoughts and ideas being conveyed with more facility by that means, we naturally fly to it on every occasion. Thus, if a pupil is kept too long to outline or form, he perceives it at the expense of light and shade and colour. Again there are well-known instances in which artists are such devoted admirers of colour, that form and chiaroscuro are totally wanting in their works, and wherever we see them we have only to admire the exquisite refinement of some portion of colour, — a beautiful warm gray in clouds, indicative of rain, — a rich and mellow green, — or a combination of colour of extraordinary beauty, but exceedingly artificial, and therefore very fatiguing to the eye when often repeated. Let each power be trained in due order ; the perception and imitation, of form first, then light and shade, and lastly colour, the chief subject of this work; and our student, being supposed to have already passed through the first studies, the brief notes on these papers, with composition, light and shade, &c, are only introduced to remind him of their importance ; but we advise him now to give his principal attention to the study of nature with the brush and colour on white paper. Before concluding these notes on tinted papers, it must be remarked that glazed boards with printed graduated tints of bright blue for the sky, passing into red or yellow for the foreground, and on which the lights must be scraped out, are in bad taste, producing effects unlike any in nature. Those attempting the appearance of a sunset, even supposing the colours well arranged and true, are only adapted to represent one particular effect and cne description of view, as of a level country, or a barren sandy common j a sea shore is quite out of the question, for the sea is neither 70 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. yellow nor red. Again, when a tree or a building rises into the sky, it is necessary to alter the toue in that part (a most difficult operation by scraping), or the object would be blue. These preparations of glaring and false colours attract only the uneducated, and drawings made on their manufactured skies and bright-coloured foregrounds may, with respect to art, be classed with embossed coloured representations of animals and fruit, or with papier-mache" tea-boards, having pieces of mother-of-pearl inserted to represent the lights of the landscape. The use of all such adventitious aids is not merely a waste of time, it is a complete barrier to the advance of truth of colouring. Under this impression, the Author considers it his duty, as one engaged in the art-education of youth, to condemn the practice in the strongest terms. BRUSHES. Fine brown sable brushes of the round form are best for general use ; they should always be regular or domed in their shape, and in all the best sable brushes this regularity is produced by placing the hair with the greatest care, and not by grinding the point ; they should not be so long and flat at the sides as to be weak, but with the hair so arranged that they return to a fair point even without water. In choosing brushes most artists try the strength, spring, or resistance of the hair, and observe whether it is irregular in the curve while dry ; afterwards, with water, some hair, such as the red sable, has much more resistance in it, but does not allow so much facility in working; this kind comes between the brown sable and the hog-hair, so much used in oil. These are more useful in dragging or making separated touches than in laying on washes. All brushes, whether round or flat, should return to their original shape after every touch or Avash. Care should be taken not to leave them in water, or allow them to dry charged with colour or white. A small strong india- rubber ring is useful to hold two or more together, that their points, being turned in, may not be injured when shaken against the end of the chalk- box. One or two of these rounded forms are sufficient for the young artist's first practice ; but they should be large, as by using a large brush he acquires freedom of hand. "When he can thoroughly command this kind, BRUSHES. 71 and he desires greater variety of touch or texture, he will find brushes of all shapes and length of hair at the artists' colourmen. Some are made flat, and with the hair arranged so as to separate easily into hairy strokes or touches supposed to represent the leaves of trees or grass. For this purpose, as well as rubbing in the first tints of trees or the tints of firm studies, the usual hog-hair brush is useful ; for if a gummy vehicle is used, it allows the colour to be spread with more regularity. A flat camel-hair brush, about an inch and a half wide, is necessary for the skies and first tints in large works ; a round camel-hair brush is also used for the same purpose ; these holding a plentiful supply of colour, facilitate the laying on of broad tints evenly. They are also useful in softening those tints which are too heavy. Brushes should not be put into the mouth to point them, but if necessary they may be drawn on a soft cloth to discharge the superabundant moisture, and they may thus be formed into the desired shape. For those who wish for less expensive brushes, the Siberian, or dyed hair, are found to have most of the necessary qualifications. As sable brushes are costly, and are soon worn out, the young artist may economise them by care ; using, for instance, a broad camel-hair brush to lay on the first washes, for in covering large surfaces of rough paper the delicate brush is much worn and driven out of shape. An old sable, the point of which may be too much worn for precise touches, ought to be used for washing over skies or broad tints, or when the brush is worked upwards and into the grain of the paper to get rid of inequalities. Above all, the sable brush used for pure water-colour drawing with transparent pigments should never be filled with opaque white for drawing on tinted or other papers. Although we are desirous to mention all the appliances that ingenious workmen present to the followers of dexterous execution, we may caution the young student in placing too much reliance on any of his materials for the chief beauty of his works ; let him try, of course, to gain a mastery over his instruments, and ascertain those that aid him best to express his ideas, but he must not allow his attention to be too much engrossed with these minor points, for he may be in danger of becoming a mere mannerist, with- out any of the higher thoughts of an artist about him. It would not be difficult, but might be invidious, to point out works in our galleries where 72 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. the artists are indebted for their chief attraction to a peculiar paper, either in texture or tint ; others are fascinated by extraordinary brushes, producing a wiry, hairy, or mossy touch ; while some, running to the other extreme dab on great masses of colour with a large round brush. He will do well therefore, after learning to express his ideas with facility, to avoid using any material or instrument that is likely to lead him away from the simplicity united to variety that he finds in nature. VEHICLES AND MEDIUMS. Before we conclude this chapter on the materials employed by the water- colour painter, we must add a few words on the use of the vehicles or me- diums by which pigments are conveyed to the paper. "While water-colours were used merely for the purpose of washing in a hasty effect or taking a memorandum of the colours seen in nature, it would matter little what pigments or vehicles were employed. The backs of letters, brushes made of the commonest hair, and water from the next source, were quite sufficient for these hasty memoranda ; but now that painting done in this mode occupies the whole attention and talents of some of our greatest artists, we must scrupulously examine every material that they employ, that we may adopt at once, from the beginning of our studies, the safest and most eligible means to convey our ideas, and secure the durability of our labour. It is notorious to all, that the vehicles and mediums employed in oil-painting are the source of greater changes in the colours and effects than even the pig- ments themselves; therefore in such comparatively simple compounds as the water-colour painter uses we should hardly have expected any observa- tions necessary ; but as the mode of operation is enlarged, and every endea- vour used to assimilate it in power to oil-painting, we ought to see that we employ perfectly safe materials. Vehicle, a term borrowed from pharmacy, signifies that material which is employed in painting to distribute, to combine, and secure the colours forming the representation of nature. There is no doubt that the colours of pigments are greatly affected by the substances that are held in solution by the vehicles we employ; and even water, the simplest of all these, should be pure; it should be distilled or rain-water. VEHICLES AND MEDIUMS. 73 Field says, " In all hard and impure waters, colours are disposed to separate and curdle, so that it is often impossible a clear flowing wash, or gradation of colour, should be obtained with them. Solution of gums, ox-gall, &c. correct, without entirely overcoming, these defects of the water; but they are often inconvenient, if not injurious." Of all the gums, Senegal is the strongest. Tragacanth appears, from its gelatinous texture, to preserve the touch of the pencil, and prevent the flowing of some colours; but gum arabic is the best adapted for general use with water-colours, as it does not degrade the more delicate pigments, and yet bears out the colours well ; it should be picked, dissolved in cold water, and strained ; and either used fresh, or preserved by the addition of a small portion of carbonate of am- monia, which should be incorporated with it — one scruple of the powdered carbonate to an ounce of the gum, dissolved by maceration in two or three ounces of cold water. Isinglass mixed with gum is also much used in water-colour painting ; it is thick, and looks like the megilp used in oil- painting. There is also another vehicle for enhancing and strengthening colours ; it is a solution of borax in water and gum tragacanth. Tins Mr. Hammon Jones (who has received from the Society of Arts a medal for the discovery) found dried sufficiently firm to allow tints to be repeatedly laid one over another without moving or washing up. We must add, borax is, however, said to affect vegetable colours. White of egg is also employed to mix with colours ; it causes them to blend more agreeably and evenly on the paper, and adds to the brilliancy of their appearance ; the pigments also retain their moisture longer, and allow of the longer working. It is very important to have a vehicle that permits of a variety of handling, and taking out before it dries or hardens, but the young student must use all such vehicles with caution and sparingly, otherwise they may crack and peel off. In this semi-firm state many forms may be scratched out with a knife or the end of a pencil- stick, and thus a variety given to the touch, preventing it from looking so mechanical. The yolk of eggs is also used as a stopping-out liquid : the lights that are to be left are stopped out with this previous to laying on the flat washes to blots of colour. When these touches are well dried, the colour is blotted on, and does not disturb them. The lights are regained 74 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. by rubbing with bread or india-rubber ; it is most used for foliage and the sbarp lights in the foreground. Should the colours or washes not be evenly laid on, or attach themselves to the paper, a little gall may be dissolved in the water : a small piece about the size of a pea, dropped in the glass of water, or a few drops of the solu- tion, will be sufficient. The young amateur should be warned not to use honey or sugar with his cake colours to make them moist, both attracting flies or other insects, and also damp. It is better to use the pigments in as pure a state as possible, either hi powder ground into a little gum arabic, in cake, or moist, prepared by the best manufacturer : perhaps a little gly- cerine is as simple as anything to add to the pigments to keep them moist. In conclusion, let us keep in mind that the purer the pigments can be laid on the paper, the better, with just so much vehicle that they will attach themselves well, but not so much that they will crack or peel of : in gene- ral, it will be found that all the light and delicate washes and tints will want nothing more than the gum they are manufactured with. In the darker tints or glazings we may use with discretion the other vehicles that are mentioned, keeping in mind that gums generally do not facilitate the spreading of colour, but should rather be reserved for enhancing the rich deep tones of the foreground. CHAPTER III. ON ELEMENTARY PRACTICE. SECTION I.—ON COMPOSITION. ^^-^HATEVER description of com- position may ultimately engage the ^™ attention of the student, an intimate acquaintance with the fundamental principles which regulate every successful attempt of art in imitating nature, must he of the first importance. Consequently, before he approaches the more attractive and ornamental art of colouring, these principles, and the rules deduced from them, which are the only sure foundation of future progress, must be firmly impressed upon his mind. Any attempt to please by a picture which, though possessing the most har- monious arrangement of charming tints, is defective in regard to the choice of objects, in lines misplaced, or faulty in perspective, would be utterly vain and fruitless. Errors like these would undoubtedly offend both the eye and taste of an intelligent observer ; and that too in such a degree, that any praise he might bestow upon the beauty of the colouring would be accom- panied by the regret that powers, capable of so much in one branch of the 7G LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. art, should yet be so deficient in those on which all truthful representation depends. Colour, the Author is compelled to acknowledge, even in a work devoted like the present to its especial consideration, is subordinate to form and light and shade ; for, although more attractive, it is, in the representation of nature, the least important of the three. In studying from nature, the student, in the first instance, would do well to consider colour as so much light and shade, giving to the different hues that portion of shade to which they are eqiiivalent. Truthfulness in form and light must predominate. This object being effected, representations in colour may be given with great effect, even in an engraving, in which the tones are all neutral. Colour, however, adds a most powerful charm to all works of landscape art, and greatly assists in elucidating the beauties of nature. In a work of this description it is not requisite to enter fully into the consideration of composition ; since it may be presumed that those who consult these pages have already made some advances in the practice of drawing, and received that education of the eye, and that training of the hand, which are calculated to render students capable of imitating the forms presented to their view. For this reason, it will suffice to notice only some of the most important points connected with the choice of a subject and the composition of a picture. As in poetry, no poem, however beautiful its imagery, can be deemed perfect without some peculiar thought or sentiment prevailing throughout ; so in painting, no picture, how brdliant soever its colouring, will excite any pleasurable emotion in the mind of the spectator, unless some predominant idea, or intention, pervades the whole. Composition is the art of arranging the forms or objects that constitute a picture. In a higher sense, it may be considered as the study necessary in choosing a subject for representation, and deciding the point of view best adapted to render it effective. In either case, that leading idea and unity of pur- pose, so essential both to the poem and the picture, must be strictly observed. In Landscape Painting, the picture may be described as being that por- tion of nature visible at one time, and from one spot. Neither the head nor the eye should be moved; any such change giving more than can be taken ON COMPOSITION. 77 in at one moment, and so presenting a picture of the panoramic class. The artist must be content to limit his view of the subject immediately before him to a space occupying about 60° of the circle. This being understood, the artist may proceed to consider what objects within that view are most suitable for representation ; being guided in this respect by the rules adapted to aid him in the selection. The choice having been made, his next care must be, bearing in mind the former remark, to guard against any wandering either of the eye or the thoughts to other parts of the landscape. While studying perspective, the pupil will have learnt to consider the paper, on which he is to trace the outline of the scene before him, as a transparent medium between himself and the object. Suppose, instead of a transparent medium, he holds up his sketching-folio at a moderate arm's length between his eye and the view ; it will hide just so much of the latter as his paper will contain. Should he require more of one object than of another, he can move the folio in any direction, until it covers all such parts as he wishes to include in his picture. When its distance from the eye equals its length, the folio will hide nearly as much space as the eye can embrace without difficulty. The distance is regulated by the principles of perspective ; and, if increased, the height and width of the picture must be increased in proportion, or a smaller portion of the landscape will be in- cluded. It will, however, be shown, in a future page, that this rule admits of exceptions. Another point, in the arrangement of a picture, is that the person look- ing at it should be made to feel as if he were placed in the position of the artist when sketching the view. To accomplish this, the lines must be represented so truthfully, that the objects on the flat surface of the paper may appear to be at the same relative distances from the eye at which the real objects were seen. This being skilfully done, it will at once be evident whether the sketch was taken from high or low ground, or whether more of the subject was to the right or to the left of the spectator. To assist in arriving at this result, the frame of the sketching-folio may be held up in a vertical position, so as to form the boundary-lines on the top, the base, and the two sides of the intended picture. In this position the artist will find 78 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. the perpendicular and horizontal lines supplied by the frame extremely useful ; as he may, from time to time, compare with them the lines of his progressing subject. The first studies of composition should be faithful transcripts of the lines as they appear in nature. Subjects having simple forms should be selected, and from these no deviation should be permitted. A firm and perhaps severe style will be the result. By this practice the mind becomes stored with images so clear and distinct as never to be forgotten. Should the student, when more advanced, find the position which he has chosen deficient in any particular point, he will then have the power to re- call forms previously studied, and which may be more suitable to the view he is representing; or he may change his position, until he perceives that the arrangement of the lines is agreeable. He should, however, place some restraint upon himself, in introducing too great a variety; as continual change, whether it be in outline, light and shade, or colour, produces satiety, and fatigues the attention, — simplicity of parts and lines being at all times necessary to produce repose. After a little practice in composition, the student will become aware that lines receding from the forepart or base line of the picture, assist the per- spective, and induce a true estimation of the distance of the objects ; while direction of the lines in a picture, a road, a path, or a river, may serve to increase the interest, by conducting the eye into space, and directing the attention towards the distance, or special points of the subject. (Fig. 1.) those parallel to it only conduct the eye from side to side. A position therefore, if possi- ble, should be cho- sen, so as to avoid these parallel lines; for the mind being unconsciously in- Fig. 1. fiuenced by the ON COMPOSITION. 79 Any position in which the rats of a road rise perpendicularly from the base line, should be changed for one that presents them inclining either to the right or the left, — the former creating a difficulty without any compen- sating advantage. By this selection of station, great alteration may be made in the disposition of the quantities or proportions which the different parts of the subject bear to each other. In Fig. 1, a few steps to the right would have caused the lines in the road to have presented the difficulty pointed out above. In another position the summit of the mountain would have been placed exactly in the centre of the distant opening. By this careful consideration, the lines of either the cliffs or hills may be prevented from appearing parallel to each other, or to the side lines of the picture. In the same way the termination of promontories may be varied so as not to appear exactly under one another, — an error of position to be avoided. In Fig. 1, the angular forms of the mountain are contrasted with the straight line of the lake ; and the rounded forms of the clouds and woods make an agreeable variety with the more severe lines of the rocks. In selecting the station, it must be remarked that the least difference of position causes a change of form in the nearest parts or foreground ; but to produce any alteration in the shapes of the distant mountains, it will be necessary to remove to a considerable distance from the position previously selected. An instance of the use made of lines, in directing the attention to the chief point of interest, may be deduced from the celebrated picture of the Last Supper, by Leonardo Da Vinci, where the beams of .. .- X- " s 1 --..'-.2.-i' Fig. 2. the ceiling, the boards of the floor, and even the folds of the table-cloth, all lead, the eye towards the head of the Saviour. 80 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. A balance of the interest does not necessarily mean that equal quantities of the subject should be placed on each side of the picture. A great prepon- derance may exist on one side, and yet be sufficiently balanced on the other by a group of figures, by light and shade, or even by a broad glow of colour, as in a brilliant sunset. Other effects will form a subject for future con- sideration. The above are here introduced, in order that the student, while arranging the lines of his picture, may bear them in mind in connection with the other important precepts of the art ; not thinking, however, that form only can balance form, or colour balance colour. Neither is it essen- tial that the principal points of interest should be in the centre of the whole picture ; for instance, should a group of figures divide the interest with the rest of the subject, it may be placed at the side (vide Fig. 3 — A Tarty of Fleasure). The figures here doubtless form the chief point of interest ; 1 rat the dis- tant spot to which they are bound being dimly depict- ed through the rain, serves to indicate the A PAETY 01" PLEASURE : ARRAN. disappointment of the party ; while the idea is further assisted by the introduction of the dog, evidently dragged unwillingly along, and looking back with regret towards the warm chimney-nook he has left behind. In all these cases the student must recollect that one attractive clement may successfully balance another of a different character; and so, without undue formality, preserve the general harmony of the composition. (Figs. 2 and 3.) The line which has the most influence on the direction of all the others in the picture is the horizon or horizontal line. This is easily distinguished, ON COMPOSITION. 81 either when the spectator is standing on the sea-shore, or on a level country; but even when not seen, as in a mountainous view, or close wood, it must still be indicated in the drawing by a line parallel to the base, and extend- ing from side to side of the picture. This horizontal line varies with the position chosen, and should always indicate the height of the eye of the painter, or indeed of the eye of any person looking at the picture ; its place must therefore be determined at the very commencement of a drawing. It is generally situated at such a distance from the base-line as equals about one-third of the height of the picture ; thus allowing one-third land and two-thirds sky; but when the view is taken from the sea-beach, or the objects are intended to be much above the eye, it is better placed at only a fourth or fifth of this distance above the base. On the contrary, should the view be taken from an eminence, the horizontal line will rise with the change, and be nearer the top than the base. As the other lines of the picture are more pleasing, and the whole more agreeable when there are unequal, rather than equal, spaces above and below this line, it should never divide the subject exactly in the middle. For similar reasons, the point of sight (always being, as the student is aware, opposite the eye, on the horizontal line) should be placed more or less either to the right or to the left of the centre ; as by thus presenting more of the subject on one side than the other, we avoid formality, and advantageously change the angles of the general lines. In regard to distance, only one portion of a landscape is in a proper position to be seen distinctly at one time ; for unconsciously to ourselves, the focus is altered every time we look at objects at different distances. This change, with its consequences, is most important when occurring in the space between the immediate foreground and the middle distance. Beyond that distance, the change, though continually taking place, is less apparent. However, as all the objects represented in a picture are placed at the same actual distance from the eye, we should select such a spot in the natural view as we desire to render most attractive in the drawing ; then, assuming that particular spot to be our focus, the other parts should be rendered less and less apparent by being less finished in proportion as their distance from that point increases. In this way, the eye being led to dwell with the G 82 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. greatest interest on the most important point, the impression made by the whole will, as nearly as possible, resemble that produced by the correspond- ing view of nature. The extreme boundaries of all objects become indis- tinct when seen at a distance ; angular and square objects losing their corners, and taking a round or oval form. In like manner, the angles of our squared pictures or views become less distinctly evident ; and by these means the eye is in some degree confined to the imaginary oval form con- tained within the boundary of the outline. This natural effect the artist imitates by arranging the principal objects within an oval space; at the same time aiding the general result by so disposing and modifying the lines as not only to keep the eye from wandering out of the picture, but also to concentrate the attention on the object intended to represent the chief point of interest. At other times he varies the oval form according to the subject he has to portray; but whatever form he may adopt, simplicity in arranging points of interest should be his chief aim, and no doubt or hesitation ought to be felt in the mind of the spectator as to which is the principal object of the picture. With this view, he will arrange such parts of his subjects as are at his disposal so as to keep up the interest of the whole. Some parts of the picture are so evidently well suited for any object of attraction, that they are sometimes called the strong points of a picture, such as the group occupies in Fig. 2, p. 79. The well-known painting of "Bolton Abbey," by Landseer, offers a striking example of the dexterity with which this is sometimes accomplished. Here the oval form, without any apparent effort, is so skilfully preserved within the squared boundary-lines of the picture, that the eye is as it were fastened on the principal object. This beautiful effect is attained by the artistic arrangement of the accessories, the heads of the figures ; the game, dogs, and even a censer with smoke rising from it; in another part, with the same view, a little extra finish has been given to the details of a bracket, and the whole aided by a gradual increase or diminution of light and shade. While considering the position of the principal points of interest, we must observe that one object should never be placed over another, when that other is of equal size or effect ; as this, by dividing the interest, would destroy the power of both, and render it difficult, even with the utmost ON COMPOSITION. 83 attention to aerial perspective, to give a true position to the chief object. This, however, does not refer to reflections of objects in water, which, when skilfully used, greatly add to their altitude and beauty ; nor should it prevent the artistic distribution of figures or other objects at the base of a building or tree ; — these may likewise answer the same purpose. Neither should two objects of the same size and interest be so placed as to appear one on each side of some middle object. One must be ren- dered subservient to the other; other- wise two points of view will be pro- duced, dividing the interest, and de- teriorating the effect. (Vide Fig. 4) When it is desired to render some particular object important, it is made to occupy more of the whole space of the picture than other ob- jects which form parts of it ; or, by leaving the rest of the subject less denned, it gains in interest by being more finished. Thus the portrait- painter, if he wishes to give a small person the same importance as one of a larger size, makes the canvas smaller, and causes the head to rise nearly to the top of it, while the feet are placed near the bottom ; or some accidental circumstance — such as a step, a bank, or any higher ground — may be taken advantage of to elevate the figure to a more commanding position. When the contrary effect is wished, other objects are made more important; and of course these results are much assisted by a knowledge of the effects of chiaroscuro and the use of colour. Importance is also given to any object by a repetition of the form or colour, but always in a smaller or fainter degree. Thus, in the retreating columns of a building, the eye and mind are gradually impressed with the idea of the largeness of the column in the immediate foreground. Again, in an avenue of trees, it greatly increases the apparent altitude to see others the same in size as those in the foreground reduced by distance, 84 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. to so small a space ; and the attention, when recalled to the principal object near at hand, is proportionately augmented. Thus clouds that are immediately overhead may have additional interest given to them hy others which may he said to echo their shape and colour ; and in some cases these delicate forms of clouds are useful in repeating, and, as it were, carrying on the shape of distant mountains or promontories. We may perceive hy these few notes, that very delicate repetitions impress the eye with as much power as single forms when presented with greater firmness ; and by varying our means of producing effect, we greatly enlarge our minds, and avoid monotony and mannerism in our works. The proportions of pictures may vary with the general forms of the objects selected, but they should never be exactly square. The effect of height in lofty objects, as a near view of a cathedral-tower or a mountain- peak, is often aided by an upright form ; but its height should he evidently more than its width. At other times a long shape may be desirable, as for delineating the mere summit of a mountain-range or rocky scene. (See example at the head of this section.) There is yet another way in which we give, as it were, a glance at some single beauty of nature, leaving the rest of the scene to be imagined. Fragments so selected, and left unfinished or undefined at their boundaries, are called vignettes. Originally they were nothing more than ornamental arrangements of a few vinedeaves and flowers at the head of a title-page, or at the end of a division of a book ; but, at the present time, any delineation left in this indefinite state is so named ; and being no longer confined to those particular parts of the page, its place is left to the discretion of the author. The unassuming style of these compositions, and the great latitude they allow in form, has caused them to be much employed in the enrichment or illustration of books. When executed in wood, they can, without adding materially to the expense, be printed at the same time with the letterpress. In this manner — as will be shown in this and other sections of the work — any interesting object (as a rustic bridge, or an opening through trees showing a distant spire) maybe given, and all the intricacy and labour of drawing the numerous surrounding objects avoided. Some of Bewick's small vignettes are so pointed in character, and so full of ON COMPOSITION. 85 expression, that they even surpass the more finished plates of his work. The vignette style has been adopted for the accompanying little sketch, and also in the woodcut at p. 33. Eeferring to the above varieties, it is evident that, although general rules have been laid down for the guidance of the student in choosim VIGNETTE. the shape best adapted to the compo- sition of landscape-scenes, much lati- tude is allowed in this respect ; for example, a space, the proportions of which are three by two, embracing within the oval contained in it all the principal features, is indicated as the form most suited for ordinary use in landscape-painting ; but others (as the upright or the long horizontal shapes) may occasionally be employed, and that too with great advantage. In all cases, however, it is essential that the artist should in the first instance decide upon the proportions he intends to adopt ; and then, aided by the rules derived from experience, proceed to work out his intention. The author must be pardoned if in this place he pauses for a moment to dwell on the high and varied qualifications necessary to form an accomplished artist. The mind, to enable it to direct the eye and guide the hand, must be stored with a great diversity of information. In addition to all that is peculiar to his own pursuits, the artist, to give his figures their true form under every change of posture, must have some knowledge of anatomy; for drapery, however flowing and graceful it may appear, will not always avail in concealing inaccurate drawing of the figure or limbs. To represent rocks and mountains in their natural position, with their proper characteristics (whether their masses are exposed to view in naked majesty, or partially hidden beneath a wintry robe of snow, or the summer mantle of vegetation), the artist must understand something of their SG LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. geological structure and formation. From the science of optics he must learn to comprehend the laws affecting the light by which he works, which illuminates his subject, and by which his pigments are so materially affected. From a knowledge of chemistry he must acquire the power of selecting those substances, both natural and artificial, best suited to his purpose in the composition of the pigments requisite to produce his intended effects. And finally, to profit by the experience and labours of those who in former generations have trodden the path before him, he must seek the record of their trials, their failures, and their triumphs. Hence, to excel in the art of painting requires the attainment of many collateral branches of knowledge, which demand the exercise of much patient industry. This, however, is amply compensated by the power and pleasure it bestows, the enviable capacity of faithfully imitating nature in her loveliest forms, the exquisite delight of fully appreciating her ever- varying beauties, — enjoyment far, very far, beyond the reach of the uneducated mind. Alison, in his Essay on Taste, says, " The beauty of any scene in nature is seldom so striking to others as it is to a landscape- painter." Following his train of thought, we may add, that to the painter, rendered familiar by his profession with the difficulties both of invention and execution, the profusion with which nature often scatters her most picturesque beauties appears little less than miraculous. Every minute circumstance of form and perspective, of light and shade, passing unheeded by the vulgar gaze, assumes in his eyes an importance commensurate with the difficulty it involves. These ideas of difficulty, and the power of over- coming it, being commingled in his miud, produce an emotion incomparably more intense than any that can possibly be derived by the generality of mankind from the same source. LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO. 8 7 SECTION M. — a term introduced into our language as a translation of the Italian word chiaroscuro (clear-obscure) — being now universally adopted by all artists, amateurs, and writers, it is necessary to give the student, in as simple a manner as possible, an explanation of its meaning. This term is very com- prehensive ; for it not only includes the simple and natural light and shade belonging to every object when illuminated by the sun, with the shadows projected from it, but likewise the arrangement of the various masses of lights and shadows, whether belonging to the different bodies represented in the picture, or to others which, though not visible, are supposed by their intervention to influence its general effect. It should be well understood that objects with merely the light and shade appertaining to them, taken singly, will not form pictures. In order to possess any pictorial effect, they must be accompanied either by other forms or by accidental lights and shades. Now, as in art a selection is made from nature, according to the degree of taste and ability possessed by the artist, it is of the first import- ance that he should early attain the power of examining natural scenes, 88 LA NDSC APE-PAINT, N.G. with a view of representing those lights and shades calculated to express the sentiment he wishes to convey ; and as in his previous attempts in the choice or arrangement of lines or forms, he has doubtless found the advan- tage of adopting some well-digested system of study embracing the experi- ence of ages, so, in the further prosecution of his labours, will he find that a like system, tending to direct him in a judicious selection of the lights and shades of nature, will greatly facilitate the acquisition of a just know- ledge of pictorial effect. The student is not to imagine that, in a treatise intended to assist him in the use of colour, it is unnecessary to enter into the study of light and shade ; on the contrary — as we have stated in Section L, " On Composition " — the effort necessary to overcome these diffi- culties in their relative order will greatly conduce to his ultimate success ; for though the study of outline or form cannot be easily separated from that of light and shade, — the former being scarcely intelligible to the eye without the aid of the latter, — yet the attainment of these two divisions of the art is essential before resorting to colour. In proof of which, we have only to examine the exquisite productions of recent photographers ; in these we see what perfect representations of nature, in everything but colour, are the result of tints and shades devoid of that great charm. It must, how- ever, be confessed that, even in the most perfect of these photographical productions, a certain amount of pictorial effect is wanting, and a deficiency is felt of that concentration of interest caused by a more artistic application of the rules of chiaroscuro. The great use of photography to the artist is to supply accurate copies of portions of nature, or faithful transcripts of those effects which he has in the first instance studied from nature ; in this way, it may be made to assist him by securing for his use the most correct representations of form and light and shade, while it is indebted to him for the more enlarged arrangement of lights and shadows known by the com- prehensive appellation of chiaroscuro. As an additional inducement to the student to defer the practice of colour until he has mastered the difficulties of light and shade, it may be remarked, that for many years Turner rarely used any positive colour in his paintings, trusting entirely to neutral tints for his representation of the glorious effects of nature. A still more convincing proof of the advantages LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO. 89 of such an order of procedure may be found in the fact, that, as the sun declines, the colour of all objects is obscured, and light and shade alone are visible. Thus, the ground-work being laid, and the true principle of chiaroscuro once thoroughly understood, colour may be employed with great ease and rapidity. Light, whether emitted from a luminous body or reflected with dimin- ished force from the various opaque bodies around us, is the sole agent in producing impressions on the mind through the organ of sight. Its effect being almost instantaneous, the light portions of objects should, in art as in nature, first attract the attention ; after these, perhaps, the extreme darks or cast shadows ; then the large masses of half-lights and half-darks ; and, when the eye finds leisure to pass from these, it will penetrate the parts in shade : consecpiently the form and distribution of the masses of light are of primary importance. The lights and shadows of Nature are continually varying in position, intensity, and opposition ; thus affording, by their endless play, that relief to the eye the want of which would be felt in a monotonous tone. Again, there is an evident tendency in nature towards one focus or spot of bright light, and one portion of shadow or concentrated dark ; and when in art these are in opposition, a greater and more brilliant effect is the result ; so, that, without the aid of colour, by a due arrangement of these alternations and proportions, ample breadth may be obtained without flatness or mono- tony ; and the eye, thus attracted, will in one part be excited, in another lulled to repose : the whole attention being rivetted on the result, a highly pleasing pictorial effect will probably be produced. The breadth here alluded to is extremely difficult to attain; and Sir Joshua Eeynolds observes, that " an inferior artist, being unwilling that any part of his industry should be lost upon the spectator, takes as much pains to discover, as the greater artist does to conceal, the marks of his subordinate assiduity." In the study of light and shade in its relation to landscape-painting, we should first notice what kind of light illumines the whole scene, whether it is general or particular ; because much of the character of the subject depends on the truth with which this is expressed. When the sun is con- cealed by clouds, there will be no very distinct lights and shadows on the 90 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. objects ; on the contrary, when the sun is either unclouded, or only now and then obscured, these lights and shadows will be present in great variety. This variety will be greater when the sun is on one side and near the horizon, in the morning or evening, than when vertical at noon. The sun being low, the shadows will be prolonged ; and, by passing from one object to another, so connect them as to form pictorial effects. When the outline alone is to be studied, the first effort is to see it distinct from every other quality; that is, from light, shade, or colour. "With this intention, the student should select a simple form, such as a vase, and cut it out as a silhouette or plane, in cardboard or some other substance ; by relieving this with another of a different colour or degree of light, the eye embraces the whole form without difficulty. If a more intricate composition, or a landscape is to be studied, the outline above shoidd be carefully made on white paper, that the size and arrangement of the different parts may be distinctly seen. But when light and shade are studied, the artist frequently shuts out the mere boundary line of the objects, and, at the same time, translates the colours into their relative value in light and shade : he ignores them as colour, but accepts them as light and shade. Lastly, when colour is to be chiefly considered, allowing it to engross his first thoughts, he chooses forms presenting the best oppor- tunities for its display : but in so doing, he must still recollect that colour is subservient to light ; and landscape painters in particular, who, viewing nature on a large scale, can use few artificial contrivances to modify their effects, must endeavour to unite in one picture these three essential qualities of a fine work of art. Before entering more fully into the details of this subject, I shall quote, in support of this system of procedure, the following passage from Sir Joshua Beynolds on general effect : " There is nothing in our art which enforces such continual exertion and circumspection as an attention to the general effect of the whole. It requires much study and much practice ; it requires the painter's entire mind ; the artist who flatters his own indolence will continually find himself evading this active exertion, and applying his thoughts to the ease and laziness of highly finishing tin- parts, producing at last what Cowley calls ' laborious effects of idleness.' " With the view of simplifying the process whereby this general effect LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO. 91 may be obtained, without sacrificing the particular light and shade be- longing to each object, it will be necessary for the student to examine solid bodies of every shade and description ; in fact, to study nature under the various phases presented by different lights and shades, remembering, while thus employed, that he has to portray truthfully on a flat surface these infinitely varied solids ; a difficulty only to be overcome by increasing the effects produced by reflections, refractions, and atmospheric influences. Many striking qualities and beauties of nature will doubtless escape him, but others he will seize and amplify. His first great effort must be to separate the light and shade produced by a brilliant sunshine from the natural colour of each object within its influence; for, as we have proved in Chap. I. Section III., the richest and deepest colours are as nothing com- pared to the effect of the effulgence of this sunlight. To impress this fact more firmly on the mind, let the student take the earliest opportunity of examining those substances the colour of which approaches the nearest to light, as white chalk-cliffs or hills covered with snow, from such a point of view that they may be between him and the sun. He will then perceive that in this situation, notwithstanding the quantity of reflected light still remaining on them, they will appear almost black. Or, let him when in a room look from the window upon a landscape under the most gloomy sky, he will at once see that it appears light in comparison with the shade of the room. By these experiments he will gain some sound data, and become convinced of some important facts, on which to found his practice. In addition to the above careful study of natural effects, the diligent student will take every opportunity of examining and analysing the works of those masters who have best succeeded in their choice or arrangement of light and shade. To aid him in these researches, he will find Sir Joshua Reynolds' practice of copying, on a small scale, merely the light and shade of a picture, withoiit regard to form or colour, and thus arriving at the proportions that they bear to each other, well worthy his attention. This practice is sanctioned by the most successful of our modern artists, and even when studying from nature, should immediately follow the attainment of the composition or outline ; and although this system has not met with the approbation of some writers on the theory of art, yet it must be evident 92 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. that, as even under the most fortunate circumstances subjects are not found complete in all their various parts, there is an urgent necessity for rules to guide the student in the choice and disposition of his light and shade ; for, however perfect a landscape may be in the arrangement of the lines or forms, still it may fail in the chiaroscuro or in colour, and thus prove that there was ample room for further thought. The reader must bear in mind that these remarks apply chiefly to landscape-painting ; for in historical painting the artist has a much greater scope for selection and skill in the arrangement of the materials composing his picture. Subjects taken from history have but a small space of open sky or air ; the incidents selected, having most of them taken place within- doors, are generally made to occupy nearly the whole of the canvas. More- over, owing to the dark colours necessary for the costumes of the figures introduced, there is but little reflected light in historical paintings com- pared with that of landscape subjects. The placing of the figures and the admission of light are also very much at the discretion of the painter. Costumes and other accessories afford opportunities for the display of taste ; but their colours, from their close proximity, offer less real power in representing the difference between the degrees of light and shade, and their transitions in chiaroscuro are made in a less decided manner. Again, in adding the local colour to objects, those of a dark colour may always count as shadow, and those of a light colour as light. On the contrary, in the broad expanse of nature there must necessarily exist a more brilliant and extended degree of light, more reflections, and, in the deep shadows, more intense effect. Having thus given a concise view of the principles involved in chiar- oscuro, it is now the author's wish to explain and illustrate their prac- tice. "With this view, he has introduced some diagrams and examples of subjects treated in the broad and general manner recommended. When the student has made himself master of these ideas, he will doubtless have but little difficulty in following them up with many others, which the various scenes and circumstances around him will suggest. The first object being to secure the just arrangement and proper quantities of light and shade, half-lights, and shadows of various strengths, the student should LIGHT AND SHADE, OR CHIAROSCURO. 93 avail himself of such materials as he can handle with the greatest facility, and confine his attempts to a few objects in the immediate foreground. If paper of neutral tint be employed, either white chalk or Chinese white may be used in addition to the black chalk. Should the brush be preferred, sepia and white, with the addition of a little blue, will be found adequate to the purpose ; and, by passing these materials one into the other, or one over the other, a middle tint will be gained either with the brush or the stump. By this mode of rubbing-in the effect within a small space, all the fascinating qualities of touch or outline are passed by, and, no time being ■wasted in aiming at delicate execution, the danger of losing the effect, as well as the sentiment to be conveyed, is avoided, In practice, it will be necessary to study chiaroscuro in two parts : first, the simple and natural light and shade appertaining to every opaque body when seen by a strong light ; then, the general arrangement of all the lights and darks, whether they are the result of variations in the accidental light and shade, or of the stronger colours of objects represented in black and white. The former will be readily understood by looking at a simple form lighted up by the sun or some strong concentrated light, and observing how clear and distinct this "separation is; the parts not opposed to the light are in shade, but 94 LANDS* 'APE-PAINTI XI J. if another body come between the object and the illuminating power, the part deprived of light will then be in shadow. Shadows projected from objects in the light are called cast shadows ; an important difference, and one which should be clearly impressed on the mind of the student. Shadows are darker than shades ; for the latter receive reflected light, varying in power and quality, while the former are not in a position to be thus affected. But while definite in this quality, they vary in their outline, and assume forms depending on those of the objects which intercept the light and the form of the surface on which they are cast : they are, of course, not visible in a surface already in shade. (Vide Fig. 1.) When the eye has obtained the power of defining these two varieties of shade or darkness, it will then be requisite to observe, that besides these, there is in every solid object, or collection of solid objects, whether forming an in-door or out-door view, a large portion which, being neither light nor dark, is composed of middle tint, itself subject to be again divided into half-lights and half-darks. If the light be very decided and general, the darks will be small in quantity, but brilliant and effective ; on the contrary, if the darks and darker half-tints predominate, the lights, as in many of Rembrandt's pictures, will be of great value. In order to train the eye to observe these differences of tone, the student should first practise drawing strokes of equal strength and distance from each other, as in Figures 2 and 3. These, when regular, have the effect of a transparent tint or shade ; and, whether made with dark or light strokes, allow the eye to penetrate between them ; and thus imitate, in some degree, the permeability of shade. Now, as the eye has the power of penetrating shade or shadow, it follows that the darks representing them should not by any means look solid or opaque, like the lights. Fig. 4 is intended to show the effect of a graduated tint increasing and diminishing, or a succession of even tints, of different degrees of intensity, placed side by side. "When bands of flat tints are placed in opposition to others of different power, cither lighter or darker, they appear darker or lighter by contrast ; and this to such an extent, that in an instance where the shadow of a projecting board was thrown of six different degrees of strength, from six burners placed on a wall, the whole had the appearance LIGHT AND SHADE, OH CHIAROSCURO. 95 of a fluted column, and it was only by casting an additional shadow over them all that the surface was proved to be flat. When beginning with Fig. 4. Fig. 5. a faint tint, they increase gradually to an extreme depth, and then decrease again, great variety of tone is obtained, remind- ing us of the increase and diminution of Figs. 2 and 3. sound. By taking as a ground for these tints some middle tint of a neutral tone, and merely indicating thereon the extremes of dark and light, and graduating these a short distance, we can leave a great portion of the middle tint of the paper untouched, when it will represent the half-lights and half-darks so prevalent throughout nature. (Vide Fig. 5.) The student, at the commencement of his course, will find the practice of these tints, with their various modifications, of great importance, since by their aid, before the hand has been much practised in drawing, a vigorous, skilful, and rapid execution can be easily acquired ; whereas, should a careless, slovenly execution be indulged in, its amendment will ever afterwards be extremely difficult. If, on our first efforts in writing, the hand requires an efficient training, how much must the value of such training be enhanced when we make our first essays in the more difficult art of drawing ! Jn short, in this, as in all other arts, it is highly essential that the first advance should be made in the right direction ; for a moment's therefore, I wish to impress upon you is, that, whenever an op- portunity offers, you paint your studies instead of drawing them. This will give you such a facility in using colours, that in time they will arrange themselves under the brush even without the attention of the hand that conducts it." We must, therefore, before commencing the study of colour, describe briefly the different exercises which are necessary to the attainment of this desirable power. Sepia, without any admixture, is generally chosen as the most suitable pigment for brush-practice, as its light washes are extremely clear, and it possesses great power. Its general colour is not disagreeable in any part of the picture ; and should other tones be required, it will harmonize well with cobalt and the other blues which are used in the sky ; it may also be resorted to with equal advantage in the richer tints of the foreground. The paper employed may be white or tinted ; the latter, as it allows the use of the Chinese white for the lights, is generally preferred. The paper should be raised on a desk, forming an angle of 30 degrees I I I 4 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. with the table. The hand may bear lightly on the paper, or be moved about freely from the elbow. The whole person should be held nearly upright, — certainly more upright and distant from the surface than it generally is in writing, the eye having to include a larger space. The brush should be moderately filled with colour, and the touches made with boldness and decision ; always, in the first place, securing the form on the outline of the tint, and then completing the whole by the backward motion of the brush. The examples given in Plate 6 indicate some of those exercises which are the most useful. They begin with a flat tint, the power of producing which is indispensable. The brush should be filled with colour, and the tint begun at the left-hand corner, and, after having passed along the outside edge at the top, should proceed rather diagonally across the form ; at the same time care should be taken that the supply is kept up, as in laying a flat tint an extra quantity is necessary to give the flatness. A gradated tint (No. 1), beginning light and increasing in depth of colour as it progresses, is next to be attempted. Here the tint commences light, the brush being filled by degrees with the darker colour. In No. 2 this operation is repeated in an opposite direction. These exercises are ex- tremely useful in accustoming the student to take up water or colour in the requisite proportions. By referring to the example following, the bad effect resulting from a brush being too full is seen in the excess of colour settling as it dries round the edges of the tint. Flat and gradated tints are employed in all parts of a drawing. When decided forms are required, such as the touches to indicate foliage or grass, tints which are made with less colour in the brush are more useful. And lastly, the colour is some- times used with nearly a dry brush, and even dragged over the surface of the paper sideways, to give additional roughness or texture to broken ground and rocks, as shown in the remaining examples in the plate. By these preliminary exercises much is gained. The pupil becomes acquainted with a few of the powers of the instruments he is principally to depend upon for his e fleets ; his eye is trained to observe the minutest gradation in tone or colour ; he will also soon perceive that colour has very different appearances when put on full or dry, when floated, blotted, or dragged. And the close observation that these exercises occasion will even- MODE OF WORKING. 115 tually produce more refinement in his works than if he hastily dashed in his colour at random. Indeed, the Author considers the dexterous manage- ment of the brush and colours so important, that at the risk of being tedious to some, he has in this edition considerably added to this portion of his work in the succeeding pages on " Mode of Working." MODE OF WORKING. In the preceding pages, the nature of colour, including the various changes it undergoes, either by mingling or contrast, has been briefly described ; and the student has been made acquainted with the qualities of the pigments, and other materials employed in producing its effects some explanations have likewise been given of the terms used by artists, — the manipulations of the brush, &c. We will now, however, proceed to describe with more minuteness the usual way in which a water-colour painting is commenced, and the different modes of working generally used, leaving still further details regarding the execution of its various portions to be discussed under their proper heads. The paper stretched (as described in page 63) having become thoroughly dry, a clear outline of the subject is to be made upon it with a moderately hard pencil. This outline, although requiring to be carefully done, must be effected, if possible, without having recourse to india-rubber, or even to bread, as the former injures the surface of the paper, and the latter tends to make it greasy. The student will not find this difficult if he has previously acquired the requisite degree of certainty in drawing with the pencil. No increase of power in the stroke indicating light and shade, no sparkling dots marking minute touches of foliage, should appear in the outline ; all these interfere more or less with the tints and forms, which are to be produced entirely with the brush. When the outline is complete, the drawing should be placed on a desk, at the inclination already described, in order that the eye may more easily embrace the whole subject, and that the washes of colour may flow downwards. In this respect, the mode of commencing a water-colour drawing differs greatly from that adopted with oil ; for while oil-paintings are begun and finished on the easel in nearly an upright position all large i2 in; LANDS(!APE-PAINTiX (B-S1LT3, COBALT, LIGHT. COBALT, DARK. FRENCH BLUE. INDIGO AND COBALT. LKIOtnoS, IIUOTIiKIll. PLATE 10. SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS. 153 at pp. 116 and 135. This should not, however, prevent' his attempting to imitate the tones of nature at the time his sketch is taken ; he can supply deficiencies in the execution hy the addition of written notes on the back of his sketch. The student may derive some assistance hy turning to the table of aerial greys (Plate 10), and to the views of Brientz (Plate 9) and Start Point (Plate 8), where such tones have been attempted ; although the mechanical result there shown can but feebly indicate the effect of the pure wash composed of a mixture of two colours applied by hand. In Plate 10, four bands of blues, of different qualities and degrees of intensity, are passed through, or mixed with, various warm tones, principally reds ; thus pro- ducing greys or purples of different degrees of purity. This will afford the student an opportunity of studying the qualities of the pigments he employs, and comparing the tones made by different pigments together ; by this he will perceive the tendency that any one of them has, for the union of two often makes these qualities more conspicuous. No. 1. Cobalt Blue and Crimson. 2. Cobalt Blue and Light Bed. 3. Cobalt Blue and Indian Bed. 4. Cobalt Blue and Brown Madder. 5. Cobalt Blue and Light Red and Black. 6. Cobalt Blue and Sepia. 7. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Crimson Lake 8. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Light Bed. 9. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Indian Bed. 10. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Brown Madder TABLE OF AERIAL GREYS, FLATE X. No. 13. French Blue and Crimson Lake. 14. French Blue and Light Bed. 15. French Blue and Indian Bed. 16. French Blue and Brown Madder. 17. French Blue and Light Bed and Black. 18. French Blue and Sepia. 19. Indigo and Cobalt and Crimson Lake. 20. Indigo and Cobalt and Light Bed. 21. Indigo and Cobalt and Indian Bed. 22. Indigo and Cobalt and Brown Madder. 11. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Light Red and 23. Indigo and Cobalt and Light Red and Black. 12. Cobalt Blue, full tint, and Sepia. Black. 24. Indigo and Cobalt and Sepia. AVherever these bands of colour cross or mingle, others of the same nature may be substituted; they may also be varied in the proportions used, as some of these are : thus, for crimson lake, we may put rose madder or madder carmine if we require greater purity, and force is not desired ; or purple lake, if we desire great force: for light red, we may substitute Venetian red ; and as the latter is a purer red, not having so much yellow in it, we shall 154 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. find the mixture is not so green : for brown madder, purple madder, and so on. The student in this way may form such arrangements as will supply an endless variety of tints, and the practice will also assist him in acquiring a knowledge of the colours he employs. The following additional notes, with reference to this table, will show in what order, and for what purpose, the different tints may be used : AERIAL TINTS FOR SKIES AND CLOUDS. For first washes, to prepare the paper, Neutral Orange, composed of varied quantities of Yellow Ochre and Brown Madder, for skies, clouds, and distances in general. Cadmium and Eose Madder or Madder Carmine, for those skies where great purity is required. Light Eed, Venetian Eed, or Indian Eed are also employed in deli- cate washes to give warmth. When the first tint, of whatever composed, is dry, and has been washed off, the bluish-greys are to follow, according to the tone or effect desired, the student bearing in mind that each succeeding wash leaves more of the paper untouched ; so that at last, by repeated additions of tints partaking more and more of the cobalt or other pure blues, the lights appear by com- parison of a rich mellow tint. In water-colour painting, cobalt is the most useful blue for skies and distances; it is shown in Plate 10 of two degrees of strength, and also mixed with a little indigo. Should the washes of it appear a little green, it will be necessary to pass them over a slight wash of rose madder or crimson lake, or pass a wash of French blue over them. For the tones of daylight skies, cobalt therefore takes the precedence in our table. French Blue produces fine deep tones with the same colours, but it does not work so well. It is better, in the course of the working of the sky, to pass a slight wash of it over the cobalt and other colours. Indigo and Prussian Blue require to be used with the greatest caution. In skies or distances the former is generally too heavy, and inclined to green ; but for twilights it is very useful, as it produces the effect of sub- dued depth and a grey tone, taking away the cold rawness of cobalt. SKY, ATMOSPHERE, CLOUDS. 155 Tints of crimson lake will be found mixed with cobalt and other blues in Plate 10, Nos. 1, 7, 13, 19. Light Eed, mixed with the blues, produces tones much less pure or aerial ; having yellow in its composition, it causes them to incline to green. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 2, 8, 14, 20.) Light Eed, mixed with black and cobalt blue, makes a fine silvery grey tone, scarcely possible to be represented, but attempted in Plate 10, Nos. 5, 11, 17, 23. Venetian Ked may sometimes be substituted for light red. Both of these make good tones for the shadowed parts of clouds. Indian Eed in light washes will be found very useful in all skies of deep subdued tone, or in clouds of a stormy character ; although much like brown madder, it is in these parts of a drawing to be preferred ; the only difficulty is to prevent its appearing heavy, as it absorbs much light. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 3, 9, 15, 21.) Brown Madder is in all its mixtures exceedingly useful for the distance and middle distance ; joined with any of the blues it forms fine greys, vary- ing from aerial tones to deep rich maroons. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 4, 10, 16, 22.) Sepia, rendered cool with cobalt or French blue, is of much use in the quiet russet tones of the middle distance. (Vide Plate 10, Nos. 6, 12, 18, 24.) The changes which can be produced by varying the quantities of each of these pigments are innumerable, and to repeat them would only confuse the pupil. Enough has been done by the combination of Plate 10 and notes to show him their nature and uses. For the tones of sunset, or rich golden skies, the first washes are composed of variations of the following pigments : Yellow Ochre and Cadmium Yellow. Yellow Ochre, Indian Yellow, and Eose Madder. Gamboge, or Lemon Yellow, and Cadmium Yellow ; Gamboge and Eose Madder. In fact, all the first five of the pigments shown in Plate 4 may be used ; the first three more as auxiliaries in light washes ; the two others in re- peated washes. 15G LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. In scarlet and crimson sunsets or sunrise clouds, more of red pigments must be used. Amongst these ranks first in importance Rose Madder, called also when purified and more intense Madder Carmine (No. 12, Plate 4) ; then Crimson Lake (No. 13) ; and sometimes a little Indian Eed (No. 15), or Purple Madder (No. 16). In purple, and the deeper- toned clouds, we may use the madders more freely, and substitute, French blue for cobalt. In twilights, or dark cloudy effects, where great power is desired French Blue and Indigo are to be preferred, the tendency to green in the latter being corrected by some of the stronger reds, as Crimson Lake, Indian Eed, Purple and Brown Madder ; when more neutral tones are required, Lamp Black, Ivory Black, or Ultramarine Ash are used in addition, these pigments affording silvery greys of a soft or subdued character. In forming all these aerial greys we must endeavour to select the most transparent pigments ; and by using them, when painting skies, in thin but full washes, and also by the repeated washing mentioned in Chapter III., Section III., on Mode of Working, we attain the greatest clearness and force of colour, without however approaching gaudiness. TREES. 157 SECTION II — TREES. never fatigued while dwelling on their refreshing tints and graceful forms ; without them our landscape scenery would be barren and incomplete j whereas a fine tree will itself present a beautiful picture, showing vegeta- tion in its most vigorous development, abounding in variety of form, of light and shade, and of colour ; adding grace and beauty to the landscape, refreshing the eye, and forming an intermediate link between earth and air. Ever full of life and motion, it offers a succession of beautiful changes, marking thereby the various seasons, — the fresh delicate hue of Spring, the deep vigorous green of Summer, the rich glowing tints of the decaying foliage in Autumn ; and, even in dreary Winter, the leafless yet beautiful skeleton adds a charm to the scene, and shows the character of each kind almost as plainly as when in Ml foliage. Should we, because this important branch of our pursuit requires much study and care, avoid it, and select only such scenes as possess these beauties in a slighter degree ? Should we not rather devote our most earnest endea- vours to understand and master its difficulties, fully convinced that we shall be amply repaid for any additional labour we may take ? 158 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. Trees, like other portions of nature, constantly varying and multitudinous in their parts, require to be studied according to some methodical arrange- ment ; and it is the Author's wish to give here a slight outline of the system he recommends for this purpose, referring the student to his former works on foliage for the more minute details of the subject. Trees may be viewed either individually or in connection with other effects ; and, having become acquainted with their character as they generally appear when in a perfect state, the artist soon abandons the mere botanical study, and delights in taking them as component parts of the whole scenery of a country. An inti- macy with their botanical character and habit will be found of great assist- ance ; for by it he becomes aware of their usual appearance, their height and breadth, and their comparative size and form, — qualities best seen against the sky. Perhaps the next most important characteristic to mark is the colour of their foliage ; when, by close observation, the student has become fully acquainted with this, he will be able, even when at a con- siderable distance, to distinguish the kind of tree he wishes to represent. Character will, of course, be most strongly developed in the full-grown tree. After the general colour, the light and shade should be remarked. In trees the power of reflecting masses of light varies considerably ; for the foliage of some — such as the elm, beech, &c— is so dense, and the disposition of the branches so arranged, that the form of the light masses can more readily be distinguished, and the character, more easily delineated than in others, like the birch, which have thin or scattered leaves. The position of the trunk and limbs must be duly observed : the stems of most trees growing on level ground will be upright, and the head well balanced ; the branches may not be equally placed, but the general quan- tities will be the same ; on unlevel ground, on the banks of rivers, sides of cliffs, &c, or when trees grow in groups, or meet with obstruction in any direction, their positions vary, many appearing much inclined to the horizon. In this respect the object of the artist differs materially from that of the botanist ; the latter preferring for his specimen a perfect tree, undis- turbed in its growth by any irregularity or accidental circumstance ; even wishing it to be sheltered from any strong prevalent wind that might give it an inclination contrary to his ideas of perfection. The artist, on the TREES. 159 other hand, is delighted to see the greatest diversity in growth and situa- tion, such as the effects of irregular ground or rocks on the form, the result of wind or storms blowing down some trees and leaving the trunks of others more exposed : the grouping of several trees together also causes great variety in the disposition and growth of their branches. Although the natural form or outline of a tree can only be ascertained when it stands alone, yet the character of each kind will be strongly developed when they are accompanied by other objects which afford opportunities for displaying their peculiarities. Such opportunities frequently occur; as, for instance, the association of the ash with ruins. Trees are much affected by the soil, situation, and climate in which they grow : some, like the pine and fir, increase in height ; others, like the oak or chestnut, spread in width. Branches of trees vary much in their size and the angles they make with the parent stem ; in some, as the oak, chestnut, &c, the trunk appears to be almost lost among the branches ; those of the fir tribe have very small limbs in proportion to the size of their trunks. In some, again, each branch divides into many branchlets — as the oak, beech, birch, &c. ; while others, such as the poplar, possess but a few small twigs or sprays. The mode in which the leaves combine should also be carefully studied. The usual form of groups of foliage is either roundish or oval ; but some, like the beech and cedar, have their sprays or twigs so arranged that they appear like layers or strata. In drawing the trunks and principal branches of trees, a difficulty occurs which nothing but a close observance of nature will obviate ; for, with regard to the main stem, it will not be sufficient to mark the outline only where it proceeds from the ground, but it will also be essential to observe how the trunk rises from the large, well-defined roots, protruding, in many species, quite out of the earth ; these, owing to the variety of forms pre- sented by grass or broken ground about them, afford many opportunities of giving true perspective. Sometimes, indeed, in thick woods, this important point may be rendered obscure by the continual fall of leaves ; but trees standing in open situations always rise out of the ground with a conspicuous base, formed by the junction of the trunk with the roots. No circumstances IGO LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. add more to the effect of a tree, as a noble and stately object in a landscape, than the appearance of its massive trunk rising from a secure and widely- spreading base ; and when old trees standing singly in a park are intro- duced, it is especially necessary to represent this appearance correctly. The stem itself should appear in the centre of the foliage, and of a round form, becoming more taper at the separation of each branch; this tapering recommencing at the divisions rather then being carried on by a regular decrease from the root upwards. The branches should be spread throughout the foliage in graceful ramifications, — not by a succession of curves, but by a just combination of curves and angles of different degrees, presenting the most varied lines of beauty. When hidden by the foliage they should be so represented as to be carried on in imagination, until they re-appear in their proper place and of their true size, being at last lost among the leaves at the extremities. Although it is necessary to examine thus carefully the prevailing mode of growth and character of trees, so that the student may be able to repre- sent them faithfully, he must bear in mind that he is not expected to exhibit in his paintings more detail than would be perceived by any person un- acquainted with their peculiarities when viewing them from a distance. A previous study of the characteristic touch of each kind of foliage, in pencil or chalk, having given the student much command over his brush j and practice with the brush and sepia having made him master of many of the difficulties of handling, — he will, as a consequence, find colour and the brush far more effective and rapid than either chalk or pencil, and with care he will approach much nearer to nature ; still there will be some difficulty in arriving at all the varieties of tint, air, distance, or looseness of ap- pearance; so that it will be useful to recur again and again to chalk, in order to keep up the variety and delicacy in detail and freshness of nature which he should aim at preserving. One important point is to be observed on commencing the use of colour: the local colour of all trees is dark in comparison with many other objects, and has to be represented without destroying the breadth of light and shade. Some trees, with dense foliage, take large massive lights, and their shadows consequently appear proportionately dark ; others, with scattered and thin TREES. 161 foliage, have scarcely any difference in the light or shadowed side ; bnt in these instances the stems, being more seen, give a compensating air of grace and motion. Having by these observations arrived at some idea of the growth and varieties of character appertaining to trees, we must now, in order to gain the power of delineating them with ease, examine the details of the tufting or subordinate masses of foliage, — a knowledge of which, added to that of the forms of their leaves and general growth, will enable us to depict the whole with firmness and energy ; for, as foliage cannot be copied with minute fidelity, but, on the contrary, the touch representing it should be rather suggestive, and the forms generalised, it is essential that we should be intimately acquainted with the anatomy of the different species. An outline of the trunk and branches being carefully drawn, and the boundary line of the foliage marked, the next proceeding is to put in the masses of colour with bold but not careless handling. The touch should possess such a character as may inform the eye at a glance to what species the tree belongs ; for by at once securing individuality when the masses are put in, much subsecpient trouble and uncertainty will be avoided. In this parti- cular, w r ater-colour differs materially from oil-painting, in which the masses of colour are first rubbed in, and then the extremities finished by degrees. The chief thing is to give to the touches that ease and freedom which are the characteristics of nature ; and this cannot be done unless the hand, by previous practice in drawing all kinds of lines, has acquired that free and graceful motion which alone can enable it to express every variety of form with firmness, decision, ease, and grace. The facility of effecting all this may be followed up by studies imparting a like power over the deeper sub- tleties of colour, the attractive force of which is so great, that it may be said to amount to fascination. The student should bear in mind that, in nearly every case, the whole mass of foliage is lower in tone than the sky ; and when laying in the first tints, representing the local colour with the requisite degrees of firmness, it will rarely be found necessary to leave any portion of the foliage of the lighter tone of the paper or sky already put on, the light spaces between the leaves and boughs being the only parts so left. The quality of the first tone is usually neither so warm as the lightest M 162 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. leaves, nor so cool as the shadows; yet it may occasionally be allowed to vary, and be made a little warmer on the light side, and a little darker and cooler on the shadowed side and lower parts of the tree. Example No. 1, in Plate 11, gives a correct idea of the first tint. It is perfectly flat ; but owing to the curvature of the outline and form of the spaces left without colour, it appears rather convex. The character of the touch is that of the elm. Example 2, representing the oak, is more angular in the touch ; in this the shadows are added, the attention being still confined to the broad masses in light, without attempting the half-lights or half-darks. At this point the student has one great difficulty to surmount ; for the shadows in the recesses of the foliage must not resemble dark leaves or other objects, but should appear merely like the absence of light. The outline of the first tint, on the shadowed side, is not often followed by these shades. Sometimes they project to the extremity; at other times, the thinness of the foliage, or reflected light, will cause them to be withdrawn some distance from it, avoiding in this way a parallel line, which has a formal, and indeed an unnatural appearance. "While attending to outside forms, the mass of light must be left convex, a point requiring great attention in handling the brush ; for, owing to its formation and the greater ease with which the hand makes convex rather than concave forms, the inexperienced pupil must exercise great caution in order to leave convex such portions as are intended to be prominent ; and retaining this in mind at the commencement of his practice, he will soon be enabled to overcome the difficulty caused by this tendency. In Example 3, showing a loose or scattered foliage, the above observation applies with still greater force ; for as each leaf, or group of leaves, is complete in itself, the preservation of the convexity of the outline is indispensable. When the foliage is thin and much scattered, as that of the birch, it is better to draw the tree in the first instance with its branches and twigs complete, afterwards adding the leaves in their proper places. In Example 4, the light parts are relieved cool upon a warm ground, and in this and the three preceding examples the sun is supposed to be behind the spec- tator, a little to the left — this being the easiest position in which to portray the effect. Owing to the disposition of the light, or the cool local colour TOE KLMo FnKSW AHID SEC1T HID TOOTS. TREES. 163 of the foliage, it sometimes happens that the whole mass relieves cool, as in this instance, from a body of warm colour, presented either by a sunset or the local colour of the objects behind. Examples 4, 5, and 6, show the reflection of the cool tint of the sky behind the spectator ; and should the foliage be glossy — many leaves being so — the upper portions and extreme edges, partaking of the character of the sky, will be still cooler ; while the rich bright colour seen through the leaves and branches, attracting the eye, will cause it to penetrate to the warmer tone beyond. In Example 7, warm autumnal colours are massed together. In this case, the light parts being illuminated by the sun, their tints are extremely rich, and the eye penetrates, as it were, the whole mass, which possesses great depth of colour without blackness. To obtain this effect, great care in preserving the purity of the tones is required, and the whole must be worked by a process of dappling in pure colours harmonising with each other. Trees present many varieties of tints, some partaking so largely of the gray or purple character that they can scarcely be called green ; such are those of the fir tribe — dusky and deep in their general aspect, and, even when lighted up by the sun, neutral in their appearance. (Vide Example 8.) Again, there are others rendered neutral either by distance or the varying effects of air and light. Thus, in Example 9, the green tones, notwith- standing the light in which they are viewed, are changed almost to a warm broken gray. To form this, pigments semi-opaque and undecided in their character are used. Having described the varieties of foliage shown in Plate 11, we will now pass on to an elementary example of the elm (Plate 12), showing the first tints. The first general tint and shadow having been put in with a brush always sufficiently full to give transparency and richness, the masses will have rather a hard appearance, without much apparent freedom ; and water- colour drawings in this state have a commonplace air : there is great breadth, but none of that play of light and shade, none of that intricacy of form and endless variety of colour, abounding in nature ; so that it requires considerable reliance on recognised principles to proceed with the hope of arriving at a good result. These broad masses are now to be subdued by M 2 1G4 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. half-darks, slightly varied in colour, but still cooler than the broad mass of light. The completion of the foliage must not be attempted with this part of the process, the greatest darks and highest lights being yet to come. In the disposition of these, the pupil must constantly bear in mind the direc- tion of the light, as the broadest mass of light must be preserved on that part of the foliage nearest to the side whence it proceeds. The whole ■mass of foliage being now subdivided, it will be perceived that some of the groups of leaves may in a degree be made to retire by casting half-shadows from one branch to another, taking care that the transparent shadows thus cast cany the lines from the upper part of the tree obliquely downwards. When these are put in with varying degrees of force and colour, the intri- cacy of the foliage is much increased. The branches are now added with that decision which nothing but previous drawing of their outline and sub- sequent laying in masses of foliage to correspond, could give. Upon the drawing and colour of these will greatly depend the life and truthfulness of the representation. If they are too visible, or brought too forward by •strong positive colour or shadows, the whole of the foliage will appear on the farther side of the tree ; if they are not sufficiently distinct, the tree will look heavy and flat ; the branches should project from the stems in a natural, characteristic manner, pass behind the dense masses of foliage, and freely intersperse themselves among the boughs and leaves : in the position in which trees are usually viewed, they will be seen beneath the broadest masses of light, not upon them ; and their colour will be influenced in a great measure by the foliage and light. For the sake of simplicity, this plate of the elm is left in this stage, and the student is also referred to the previous elementary examples, Tlate 11. For the concluding description of finished foliage he is referred to Plate 14. The branches having been broadly but firmly delineated, the highest lights on the foliage are to be given ; and it will be found that talcing out their forms gives the greatest relief and opacity. The mode of effecting this with decision is to touch repeatedly a few of the leaves with water; and when it is absorbed with blotting-paper, to rub them smartly out, rubbing from the light sky into the dark tree, and thus not taking any of the green into the sky ; this may be done either with a cloth or india-rubber. Other touches are afterwards TEEES. 165 added, so as here to form masses, and there scattered foliage. Some of these are again glazed down with the richer and more transparent pigments, others with cooler tones ; the whole group of leaves or boughs being brought out by the addition of deep or warm tones, dappled in so as to preserve transparency in the shadows, and avoid coldness or blackness. Although the whole tree is now assuming a complete form, yet there will be a want of perspective in the extreme edges of the foliage, or the underneath parts of the boughs, resulting either from the fullness with which the first tint was put on, or the difficulty of afterwards changing it sufficiently to give aerial perspective to different parts of the same bough. These edges can, however, be reduced by delicately touching them with a brush and water ; at the same time taking care to rub the superfluous colour towards the foliage, and not towards the sky or lighter parts of the drawing. The under part of the retiring boughs, after being thus rendered more distant, may be glazed down with French blue, and some kind of red; thus pro- ducing cooler and grayer tones. The final touches (giving grace, lightness, and mobility, with variety of form and colour, to the foliage and branches) are now to be added. It is in this portion of his labours that the accom- plished artist delights. At this moment he feels that the hours he has spent with nature — his innumerable and varied studies of each kind of foliage and tree — his careful notes and observations on the effect produced on the colour by the time of day and the season of the year, the degree of transparency or gloss on the leaf, and the variety of the texture and tint of the bark, — all combined will enable him to complete the drawing begun with so much system and breadth, by adding the delicate refinements of art while aiming at an accurate representation of nature. It is precisely at this moment that the amateur, without system and education in art, feels his deficiency. He adds, — but only to detract from the effect of what he has already done. Beginning without any idea of arrangement or order, he has made a most careful outline of the minutest parts, putting in innumerable touches in order to secure the character and shapes of the foliage : by a constant repetition of these anxious labours, he destroys all breadth of effect, all freedom of handling, and all clearness of colour ; in his desire to preserve form, he has lost it ; in aiming at clearness of colour- 166 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. ing, he has either become feeble, or, by a repetition of tints, confused the forms, and produced niuddiness; thus proving the importance, in this pursuit, of some well-defined system upon which to depend for success. On the other hand, the artist now ceases to concern himself with the first difficulties of mixture of tints, the handling of the extremities, or the free- dom of the branches. Placing his picture on the easel, he retires to such a distance as to enable him to see it as he would nature herself ; forgetting his previous labours, he regards it with a fresh and unprejudiced eye : he examines the tree with regard to other portions of the subject; he ascertains if it agrees with them in tone, sentiment, and expression ; whether it engrosses too much or engages too little of the attention ; whether it is well placed on the ground, has too much weight of foliage, separates the lights of the picture, or has the proper gradation of colour towards the base. In this way he judges if it be possible, by a few touches with his penknife, to let sparkling lights peer through the detached leaves ; whether by these means he can show the outline of the trunk or branches more distinctly ; also whether, with some judiciously placed and brilliant le'aves, either taken out with the same instrument, or put on with opaque white and Naples or lemon yellow, he can bring the nearest boughs more forward. He notes that each branch is in its proper place, — here adding force, there taking away dark ; his object being to leave the tree as free and graceful as in nature, — a beautiful retreat for birds flying for refuge among its branches. In speaking of the exceeding intricacy of foliage, and the impossibility of representing it leaf by leaf without system, Buskin, in his Modern Painters, has a passage so appropriate that it is here added : " But if nature is so various when you have a bough on the table before you, what must she be when she retires from you, and gives you her whole mass and mul- titude ? The leaves then at the extremities become as fine as dust, — a mere confusion of points and lines between you and the sky, — a confusion which you might as well hope to draw sea-sand particle by particle as to imitate leaf for leaf. This, as it comes down into the body of the tree, gets closer, but never opaque. It is always transparent, with crumbling lights in it letting you through to the sky. Then out of this come, heavier and heavier, the masses of illumined foliage, all dazzling and inextricable, save TREES. 1G7 here and there a single leaf on the extremities. Then under these you get deep passages of broken, irregular gloom, passing into transparent, green- lighted, misty hollows ; the twisted stems glancing through them in their pale and entangled infinity, and the shafted sunbeams, rained from above, running along the lustrous leaves for an instant, then lost, then caught again on some emerald bank or knotted root, to be sent up again with a faint reflex on the white under-sides of dim groups of drooping foliage ; the shadows of the upper boughs running in gray network down the glossy stems, and resting in quiet checkers upon the glittering earth; but all penetrable and transparent, and, in proportion, inextricable and incompre- hensible, except where, across the labyrinth and the mystery of the dazzling light and dreamlike shadow, falls, close to us, some solitary spray, some wreath of two or three motionless large leaves, the type and embodying of all that in the rest we feel and imagine, but can never see." Shadows cast by trees vary much in their colour and density ; the latter being in some, the beech for instance, so intense, that it does not even permit the grass to grow ; thus causing a change in the local colour of the part beneath : in others, again, it is much lighter and more diffused. In all cases, when the shadow of foliage falls on the trunks, it will give rise to great variety of line, and afford many opportunities for showing the true perspective of the form. In respect to the checkered light and shade proceeding from single leaves or separate masses of foliage, the student can scarcely escape, during his early observations of shadows cast by the sun, meeting with difficulty in accounting for the innumerable varieties presented to his view. A leaf close to a wall will cast a shadow in form like itself ; another leaf at the distance of a yard or two will give a shadow of indefinite outline, having a round instead of an angular edge ; a leaf at a greater distance will produce a mere dimness hardly distinguishable as to shape. In like manner, an angular opening among the leaves, if near the wall, will produce an illuminated angular space; but if distant, it will present a rounded form. All this depends upon the apparent size of the sun — the source of these lights and shadows. If a screen, having in it a round hole aboiit half an inch in diameter, be held so as to cast its shadow on the floor, there will appear on 168 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. the latter a circle of light corresponding with the hole. If the screen he close to the floor, this light circle will he of the same size as the hole ; hut on raising it from the floor, the illuminated space will hecome larger and larger, and its edge more and more diffused and indistinct. If triangular instead of round, then, when the screen is near the floor, it will give a triangular space of light ; hut as the screen is moved away, this space in- creases, and hecoming dim at the edges, the angles disappear, and at a certain distance the aperture gives a round image of the sun four or five times larger than that seen in the first position. On examination it will readily be perceived that these effects arise from the apparent size of the luminary compared with the aperture, and that the light from one side of the sun passing through it obliquely, crosses to the other side under the screen ; and that this action, being repeated all round, produces the enlarged image of the sun on the floor beneath. When the aperture is a mere pinhole, the effect becomes that of the camera obscura ; when larger, the round illuminated space is really an imperfect image of the sun. Thus, when the apertures between the leaves of a tree are small and distant from the place where the shadows fall, the light spaces are rounded, being rough images of the sun overlapping each other. This is so true, that in a partial eclipse, the peculiar effect produced often causes great surprise ; for the light spaces on the ground or walls have the same form as that presented at the time by the sun itself; though, owing to the crossing of the rays at the aperture, the position of these forms is that of the sun inverted. It should be remarked, that the brilliancy and power of the sunlight in these rounded spaces are much diminished; so that they must be represented by a grayer tone, making a considering contrast in this respect to those larger open- ings among the leaves where the sun shines in full force. A careful artist will observe another interesting effect produced by these lights and shadows. If a leaf or other object intervene, in the course of the rays coming through an aperture in the upper part of a tree, its shadow will be thrown on the ground or wall with remarkable distinctness ; of this he may convince him- self by intercepting, with the hand or a small spray, the passage of the rays. The philosopher easily traces the cause of this effect to the laws governing the passage of rays of light, which, as they must proceed in right lines, TREES. 169 cannot cross again in passing from the aperture to the ground. The artist who paints with great accuracy may occasionally require such an effect, and therefore it is well to be aware of its nature. By turning to Plate 13 (a table of greens and russets), some idea may be formed of the great variety of tones that may be produced without in- cluding those mixtures under the indefinite titles of Hooker's, Varley's green, &c. It may be well to observe, that the tints in this diagram are merely approximations to the mixtures made with the pigments named in the margin ; they are neither so powerful, so transparent, nor so well defined as those which the pupil can make with water ; but, in the absence of the master, they will in some degree serve to indicate the pigments to be used. Selecting indigo as the most useful blue in water-colours for forming greens, and cobalt blue with a little indigo, the two extremes are indicated ; Prussian blue is also represented as possessing great clearness and trans- parency ; we may add French blue and ultramarine, — sometimes used, but difficult to represent in these tables. Taking, then, indigo, and mixing it, as in Example No. 1, Plate 13, with gamboge, a most agreeable and natural tone is the result ; with Indian yellow, as in No. 2, a more powerful and vivid tone is produced, slightly inclined to opacity, owing to the turbid tendency of the Indian yellow. These are both suitable, with more or less of blue, for summer tints; but should it be desirable to give more of an autumnal tone, the addition of burnt sienna, No. 4, is easily made. The pupil will, with very few experiments, perceive that the addition of any of the pigments inclining to red tends to degrade or render the green pro- duced in the first instance less vivid ; but he should also bear in mind that the fewer pigments he uses to form his tints, the clearer and more trans- parent they will be ; and that rather than gain the required tint by repeated additions, he should wash all out of his brush and begin again with others better suited for his purpose. Suppose, however, he wishes to make the tints shown in 1, 2, and 3 rather more neutral, without taking away the general warmth, he can add a little of the lakes or madders : one of these tints is shown in No. 5. Indigo, with raw sienna, No. 3, is a more subdued and indefinite green, suitable, in light washes, for the first tints of water 170 LANDS! 'APE-PAINTING. with Prussian bine, French blue, and cobalt, these tones will vary in purity and transparency; and the addition of a little crimson lake or madder pro- duces those indefinite gray greens so often seen in water. The mixture of indigo and brovm pink has already been named as a full- toned and transparent green. All these tints will incline to cool or warm according to the proportion of blue or yellow used ; but should it be desir- able to produce rich autumnal tones, or to glaze over those already made, suitable tints will be obtained by mixing transparent pigments, such as gamboge with brown madder, or Indian yellow with rose or purple madder. Unfortunately, in water-colours, it is not easy to retain clearness and trans- parency when glazing one pigment over another ; it is apt to produce black- ness in the shadows of foliage, — a fault by all means to be avoided. "When greens are made with French blue or cobalt, they will be purer and more aerial than those formed with indigo, and be found very useful as variations of colour for the more distant portions of foliage. Some of these mixtures are shown in Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. To produce greater variety in the green of trees and other objects, as well as to obviate an appearance of coldness and thinness occasioned by the continual introduction of blues, the richer yellow and faded tones of grass or herbage in the foreground are frequently made by mixing sepia and gamboge, No. 13; sepia and Indian yellow, No. 14; sepia and raw sienna, No. 15. With Prussian blue the greens are cooler and more decided than with indigo, and are shown in Nos. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24. Although the stems and branches of trees, from being for the most part in shadow, do not present such marked variety of colour as the foliage, yet they have some peculiarities requiring mention ; generally speaking, they are deeper in tone than the foliage, with the exception of the birch, beech, aspen, and ash ; even the last three would often appear of a dark gray were it not for the contrast afforded by the surrounding foliage. The principal thing is to avoid blackness or too deep and decided a colour, such as pure Vandyke brown, umber, &c. Vandyke brown and umber, however, mixed with a little indigo or French blue, are very useful. Brown madder, again, by itself may be too rich in tone, even for the lights ; but with a little yellow ochre, or ivory black, it is very true to nature, and with indigo, or French TREES. 171 blue, excellent for the cooler shadows. The same may be said of burnt sienna ; Indian yellow added gives the deep mossy green tint for branches and stems in shadow. Almost all the grays used in the middle distance are also employed, varied by light red, rose madder, purple madder, or yellow ochre. Sepia, varied with the same pigments for the light, or with blues and a little lake for cooler-coloured branches, is equally useful ; and, to con- clude with the same advice given before in the description of foliage, avoid blackness or a dirty appearance, and endeavour to gain power and depth by passing one pure tint or colour over another rather than by putting the full strength on at once. In Plate 14, the lower portions of a group of beech-trees have been given, in order to show the kind of subject the pupil will find it best to commence with ; as by avoiding many of the difficulties occurring in the delineation of more numerous and intricate masses of foliage, and seizing the opportunity of striking contrast, for which the trunk of the beech-tree is remarkable, he will soon find that he can make pleasing pictures. In such subjects it frequently happens that the difference of colour among the stems will afford sufficient contrast ; but if this is aided by a fortunate occurrence of light and shadow, the student will be relieved from one of the difficulties in arranging the chiaroscuro of his subject. In this example he may observe that care has been taken to preserve the general breadth of light on the trunks of the trees, by keeping the cast shadows transparent ; fortunately, also, the dark-coloured moss, which might have destroyed that breadth, is on the shadowed side. The student's attention should in the first instance be given to the care- ful and minute study of simple subjects, consisting principally of objects placed immediately in the foreground, with just that small portion of dis- tance which is necessary to afford variety to the tints. Eocks, banks, cottages, and beech-stems, are well suited for the pupil's first attempts in colouring from nature, the objects being sufficiently large, while they are varied in form and colour by their proximity to the eye; also their details are easily seen, thus affording many opportunities for the practice of the pencil or the brush. Let him not overlook or despise such bits of rustic nature because they are not views of great extent or grand scenes ; when he can paint portions of landscapes well, he may enlarge his ideas, or extend his LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. range of subjects. In our exhibitions we may continually observe how popular such scenes are with the British public, when depicted by the graceful, varied, and powerful touch of Harding, the bold and vigorous hand- ling of Lee, or the careful and delicate refinement of Creswick. In subjects like these close at hand, bushes and young trees which fringe the banks, or that grow among the rocks, have a more separated and distinct touch than when the foliage is in larger masses ; and, like all foliage of shrubs and young trees, it points more directly upwards than that of older trees. Addressing ourselves more particularly to colour, we find that the green of trees may be composed of many different pigments ; but for water-colour painting, those which are nearly transparent are to be preferred, and in general the student will obtain great variety by mixing blue and yellow pigments. But some of these not being very permanent, those fading or deepening in equal proportions should be selected ; thus he will find indigo with gamboge or Indian yellow, or, for a deeper tone, the same Hue with brown fink, form a rich and natural green. In Chapter III. Section III. on the " Handling of the Brush," directions have been given to use in the first attempts a neutral tint, so that the pupil, when employed in the practice of colour, may not have to en- counter all the difficulties at the same time. In concluding this portion of the work, however, it may be as well to point out that there are varieties in the form of brushes which greatly facilitate the introduction of certain shapes and touches. Thus a large round sable in an eagle or swan quill may suffice for the broad and flat tints at the beginning ; but it should not be so large that it cannot be used to give the outside terminations of the foliage with its true character, as this is generally better done at once, although light and separated sprays maybe added at the conclusion. A flat and rather short sable is also used ; and with it and some of the more opaque pigments great variety of touch and form can be obtained ; when the colour is thick, or gum or megilp is used, much the same effect is pro- duced as is obtained in oil. The water-colour painter cannot fail to regard as a valuable power the facility of putting on the highest lights possessed by the painter in oil ; but notwithstanding this, he should avoid as much as possible the employment of opaque body-colour, as, although it may add to the force, will certainly detract from the transparency of the work. FOREGROUNDS. 17 SECTION III. — FOREGROUNDS. or those portions of pictures nearest the eye, al- though at the first glance appearing to offer but little difficulty, are a source of continual perplexity and anxiety to the pupil. A small object near at hand becomes of great importance when reproduced in a picture : if skilfully executed, the foreground possesses the power of satisfying the eye, and, at the same time, allowing it to pass on to the rest of the subject ; but if overwrought, or too minutely finished, it is apt to engross the attention due to objects in the distance of far greater magnitude and interest ; consequently a clear idea of the nature and purpose of the foreground is a matter of great moment. The capability of first engaging the attention without absorbing it is a most desirable quality; as an introduction, it may be compared to the overture of an opera, which conveys merely a general idea, to be more fully developed as the action proceeds. The objects of which a foreground is composed, although well selected and carefully drawn from nature, may, on a first view of the picture, appear to want finish. This, however, on a closer examination, may be found not to arise from any deficiency of knowledge ; in fact, an intimate acquaintance with the forms of the near portion of a picture, their lights and shades, reflections and variations of colour, should not lead the artist to elaborate 174 LANDSCAPE-PAINTINO. display or servile copying : his skill will be evident from the ease of exe- cution, the variety of touch, truth of character, of surface, of colour, but above all, in the judicious control with which his work is executed. Careful and varied studies from nature afford a facility of selecting such lines and forms for the foreground as have reference to the rest of the sub- ject, they being indeed some of the objects in the picture brought close to the eye ; and the cultivated taste of the artist will lead him to reject forms not characteristic, or which repeat those of the distance. From the con- tinual action of rain or falling water, the forms of rocks, stones, and banks in the foreground will be convex ; and although the most picturesque roads are strongly marked by ruts and inequalities, and banks or ground may be greatly varied by scattered rocks and broken surfaces, they should not bear the appearance of having been newly disturbed, but be naturally placed ; and besides paying attention to the varieties of local colour, the appropriate light and shade must be given to each part. It is sometimes alleged, as an excuse for inaccurate or careless drawing of the foreground, that it is not distinctly seen when the eye rests on the middle or extreme distance, it being at such time out of the focus of the eye. Doubtless it is so; but pictures are not to be judged by the strict laws of optics — they are altogether conventional ; in nature we cannot look at the distance and foreground without imperceptibly altering the focus of the eye ; neither can we look at two portions of a picture at the same moment with attention without altering the direction of the eye. It will, therefore, be sufficient if our studies afford us the power of giving a general appearance of reality, reserving the most careful finish for those portions of the picture intended to attract the eye of the spectator. The apparent want of import- ance in some of the objects forming the foreground in the natural scene, and the continual motion of others, cause the student to pass them over as unworthy of notice ; yet, in his after- attempts to form pictures, there is scarcely any question suggesting itself more frequently than, "What shall I put in the foreground ? " Perhaps a few notes of actual conversations with an intelligent pupil on some of these occasions would show more vividly the diiiiculties felt and the manner of overcoming them; the student might then understand that paintings by our best artists are not so much com- FOREGROUNDS. 175 positions made at home as they are the results of careful studies and selections made at fortunate moments abroad. Thus they illustrate with great force the advantage of having the eye and attention trained to a close observance of nature. Notes. — Loch Duich : Heavy shower ; Interior of a Hovel. Pupil. " This interruption is very vexatious, for I had nearly finished my sketch ; and although some lines of the mountains were not fortunate in their arrangement, and there was no foreground but a dismal peat-bog, that old castle, with the lake and mountains, would have made a good subject." Master. " While we wait, could we not draw these old peat-baskets, spades, and barrows, which lie on the ground 1 Afterwards we will fill one of the baskets with fern, and hang it up in the position it would occupy on a girl's back : careful studies of these will be useful accessories for our figures and foregrounds. " The shower over, remark how a portion of it yet falling hangs like a filmy veil over those lines of the mountains you wished to hide. What light and breadth it gives to the distance ! What shadow to the middle of your picture ! Take your brush, and put in that effect before it passes away ; add notes of the evanescent effect in writing. See, the peasants are again at work digging peats, and some kilted urchins have brought an old white horse and sledge to take them home. Make a large and careful drawing of the horse and sledge. Good : these three hours have been well spent ; and you now possess a correct study from which to paint when at home. Look, the sledge is loaded ; some of the children sit half buried in the fern — a girl, with golden hair, dressed in a light pink jacket and maroon petticoat, is putting another on the top. Quick : take your note-book — sketch that action : the position once seized in real action, you can either place her in it again or get a model at home. Now a bright gleam of the setting sun gilds the whole group ; how the local colours disappear under its powerful influence ! Take a brush, white, and colour ; dash in the general effect of those tints ; note bow promment all the flesh tones are — the whole in perfect harmony, and would still have been so, although the colours of the dresses had all been crude, so immeasur- ably superior is sunlight to local colour. All the prominent parts are lit up with the sun, reminding us of the advice of our old friend, ' Always dig in with cook and bring out with warm colours'." " My sketch is finished, and it is a picture ! " " Yes, you have now a careful study, made under the usual daylight, and a memorandum of effect and colour. Eemark, too, that agreeable and popular pictures are more the result of this prompt attention to accidental circumstances and effects than of a laborious heaping together of all the finest objects in the world. You admire Landseer's ' Forester's Family,' or some of Taylor's Highland lassies bringing 176 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. home fern or tending sheep. Had these artists not possessed an eye to note as well as a ready pencil to sketch such incidents, they would not have remained as pictures to enchant the world." As an instance of the way in which an uneducated eye passes over what constitutes a foreground, another extract is given. Castle Donan, Loch Puich Ferry. " This is a charming little subject ; let us sit down on this mass of rock, and draw it before we cross." " My sketch is finished, but I can see nothing for the foreground ; the water of the lake is all gray, with a ripple on it preventing reflection." " Your sketch of the castle and distant mountains is very good ; let us wait a little. Ah, the wind has fallen : the reflections of the castle, rocks, and deej)- toned trees, are now distinctly seen, repeating the various forms and colours, at the same time hiding the parallel lines at their base, and blending both reality and re- flection in that mystical obscurity that adds such a charm to this mountain scenery. In the water at our feet, the dark ruins of the old castle and trees contrast beautiftilly with the light reflected from the bright cloud; the ripples on the shore give an additional effect. .Now the ferry-boat crosses with an old white horse, two cows, and one or two rustic figures. See, they are about to fasten it to the rock on whicla we sit. Let us retire a few steps, and include the whole group in our sketch. Notice the fine citrine and maroon colour of the sea-weeds and rocks ; put in that light sail as it passes the point on which the castle stands — it comes in well there : add one or two of those white sea-birds ; we have the power of placing these movable objects where we please, provided their position is natural." "Why, I find I have a beautiful and appropriate foreground, without any other trouble than that of observing what occurs around me." If, instead of a paucity of objects in the foreground, there appears a redundancy of form, accompanied with great intricacy of lines, it is well to begin with those of the most importance ; such, for instance, as the nits of a road or the largest mass of rock or stone, with bushes or a group of weeds attached to it : these having been secured, other forms of less importance may be added, so as not to interfere with those already drawn. As foregrounds constitute much of the interest of pictures, and are in many cases the principal points of attraction, it is worth while to examine with some care the way in which they are handled. There should, in the first place, be great solidity and firmness, accompanied with variety of FOREGROUNDS. 1 77 texture and surface, in all rocks, stones, and broken ground. In oil-painting, and in the impasto style lately used with great effect and power, that is produced with comparative ease by the numerous processes at command ; for instance, by loading on solid masses of pigments ; by using the pallet- knife to produce a crisp edge and a flat smooth surface, suddenly changing into another surface at a different angle ; by thickly impasting on the pigments with large quantities of wax or other myguilphs, and dabbing, stubbing, or dragging a short bristly brush on them either when wet or half dry, or we may cause the hairs of the brush to separate by pressing it up- wards or downwards (while in this condition for grass) ; in fact, using all our power of handling and the most varied tools with solid pigments, and after- wards by glazing with transparent pigments, aided by an equally varied assortment of vehicles, and with the power of taking away that portion of the glazing which lies on the prominent parts, leaving it in the interstices to give relief and depth. By the use of all these processes, and many more, stigmatised by some as tricks of art, but which, when employed with due subservience to the higher qualities, are exceedingly useful, oil-painters, and those who use the impasto style, are enabled to bring in high relief that part of the picture near the eye, and cause the more distant part to recede. The water-colour painter, however, must arrive at the same result with different materials ; he must apply all the first washes and tints flatly, but with decision, so that the edges look almost too hard ; in the succeeding tints, forms, and shadows, he will use a dryer brush, and change the pigment on the tip or point of it frequently, taking care that these changes of colour and these markings do not interfere with the general effect. He must avail himself of the various processes described before, to take out a portion or all of the colour from certain parts, and leave the form convex ; he has a sufficient choice of rich glazing pigments to subdue any colour that may chance to be left too bright ; and as a last recource, he may use Chinese white, adding to it the colour he requires, or glazing it down afterwards with gum and transparent pigments. All these means are sometimes insufficient to overcome a thinness, or want of solidity, in our attempts to represent surfaces near the eye. To obviate this in some measure, a change in the texture of the paper, from fine N 178 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. in the sky to coarse in the foreground, has been described in Chapter II. Section III. Vigour and boldness in laying on the first tints, notwith- standing a certain degree of harshness or angularity it may occasion, will be of essential service in producing firmness : these tints form a good foundation for the various processes of dragging, glazing, rubbing, scraping, or scumbling, which follow, — for the outside form must be given with decision, and breadth is produced with a full brush ; it also gives the opportunity of varying the tones while wet. Over these first tints the secondary or intermediate touches are placed, the colour being continually changed by taking up different pigments with the point of the brush, or by allowing the hairs of the brush to separate, and producing variety with cooler or warmer colours. When the general form and tones have been given, and a certain degree of breadth obtained, it will be necessary to resort to the practice of taking out some of the lighter leaves by first touching their shapes in with water, and then rubbing them off briskly with the painting-cloth. To take out these with sharpness, the wetting must be repeated once or twice ; and when the water is absorbed with blotting-paper, they must be rubbed out sharply with the cloth or india-rubber ; if too light or cold, warmer tones may be added. By glazing in this way, warm lights and reflection can be given with great truth. The greatest darks must next be introduced, either by dragging the brush sideways, loaded with different colours, or dappling in those of a deep, rich, and pure tone, — thus producing an appearance of intricacy and trans- parency not attainable by any endeavours to put them in by one blot of colour. When a clearly defined form is desired, it may he cut or scraped out with a sharp knife; and if the paper be rough and thick, additional texture will be produced by scraping off those portions of the tint on the eminences, and afterwards toning down the light parts. In all such mani- pulations there is abundant room for showing dexterity ; brilliancy must be preserved without gaudiness, sharpness and firmness of lines without mechanical hardness : always keeping in view the necessity for transparency in the shadows and opacity in the lights, and throughout recollecting to preserve the general arrangement of colour and breadth of effect. In giving variety of colour and form to foregrounds, as well as bringing that portion FOREGROUNDS. \ 170 of the picture into closer proximity to the spectator, there is no division of nature more effective than vegetation ; and whether, viewing it collectively, we try to represent its general hue and the effect it has on the colour of the picture, or, taking one particular plant, or group of plants, draw it with that fidelity and attention calculated to attract the eye, it deserves our most careful notice. With the desire of preventing the loss of time which would result from an indiscriminate and laborious study of plants, and also to indi- cate to students in art the difference between the labours of artists and those of botanists, a few remarks on this portion of landscape study will be added. Vegetation must be viewed, not only as giving variety of form and distinct- ness to the near part of the picture, but as it affects the whole colour of the landscape. There are many plants, insignificant in themselves, which become of great value to the painter when associated in large numbers . and gene- rally diffused. Under these circumstances they are of great importance, not only affecting the tone of the whole picture, but also indicating the season of the year. The first in consequence, and one almost universal in nature, is common grass, regarding it generally, and without dividing it into the various species ; it is, therefore, more or less introduced into nearly every picture. The student must be careful not to scatter it at random over the foreground of his drawing, but in the first place indicate the sur- face of the ground on which it grows, correctly delineating the various little hillocks, and selecting those lines which, by leading the eye into the picture, aid the perspective. Blades relieving from the surface beyond, whether by light from dark, or the contrary, require notice. In general, these blades are either straight, or slightly curved lines, pointing in different directions, some being more distinctly marked than others. When in light, the strokes indicating them will be firmer than the rest ; when in shadow, they may be allowed to vanish into indistinctness. The next in importance are the heaths, abounding on the uncultivated barren moors and mountains of Scotland, and found also in smaller quanti- ties in many parts of England. These give to the distant landscape that endless variety of russet, purple, and roseate hues which add such glowing- charms to the view. Ferns also give a wild luxuriance both to forest and heaths; their form is so exceedingly graceful, that they deserve to be m 2 180 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. finished with great care when near the eye ; and, growing closely together, they also present large masses of colour, differing much from that surround- ing them. There are many other plants conspicuous from their size, marked character, and general distribution over the country. One of the best know is the burdock ; it is particularly useful to the artist, and forms one of his boldest and simplest foreground plants. Another is the coltsfoot, more attached to the borders of streams, which, when grouped with the water-dock, with its deep and rich-coloured blossoms, or the meadow-sweet, with lemon-tinted and clustered head, affords a pleasing variety of colour as well as form, and contrasts well with the repose of the water beyond. In the hedge-rows and ditches the teazel and foxglove will at once be recognised as possessing character, size, and colour, and therefore requiring a corre- sponding degree of attention. It is necessary to remark, that the intro- duction of all these plants into the foreground of pictures must appear quite easy and natural. Some kind of confusion may be allowed in objects which are thrown, or are growing, accidentally together; but breadth and sim- plicity must be observed, that the eye may not be disturbed by too many forms of the same size and distance from the spectator. With all the variety of outline and colour which plants, combined with rocks and broken ground, afford, the student will find that the foreground becomes a most interesting part of his picture. He will, however, look upon it only as a portion, and see that it is not divided from the rest by too sudden an alteration in colour, light and shade, or treatment. The parts must all combine to form an harmonious whole, each securing to itself that amount of interest to which it is entitled from the position it holds in the picture. BUILDINGS, RUINS. 181 SECTION IV. — BUILDINGS, RUINS, etc. LTIIOUGH the Land- scape-painter may, in most in- stances, dispense with the strict rules of architecture, yet it is highly requisite that he should study with some degree of at- tention the style and character of the buildings which he may have occasion to introduce into his pictures. Generally speak- ing, they will either be rustic or in the condition of ruins. The former, being for the most part irregular in their appearance, and offering little of architectural beauty, chiefly interest us by the association of ideas conveyed to our mind, and the variety both of form and colour presented to our view; the latter, frequently including portions displaying great elegance of design, give rise to senti- ments of a far more elevated character : in either case, an accurate know- ledge of perspective will be found indispensable to their truthful repre- sentation. This knowledge will enable the student to give to the various forms reality, even though they may be half destroyed by time, or partially 182 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. concealed beneath ivy, stones, and grass : it will impart that firmness of hand and decision of touch calculated to prevent the detached portions from deviating too much from the original direction ; and it will thus leave the student free to add the colour and light and shade with a bold and vigorous brush, to draw the whole without interruption, and to prevent any of the parts from appearing either too new, too formal, or too architectural in their outline. Looking at rustic buildings in an artistic point of view with regard to the effect they may have on the composition, we find that an irregular form and plan is as much to be desired in these as a correct and architectural completeness in the houses forming part of a town or city. This irregu- larity, however, is most picturesque when it is the result of time or acci- dent ; a similar observation being equally applicable to their colour. For example, it is seldom that a single white cottage of regular outline forms an object of interest ; and even when such buildings are repeated in groups or scattered about the picture, they by no means contribute to the beauty of the scene ; but when we see some quaint old farmhouse, built of rough stone, with its antique gable-ends and towering chimneys of fantastic shape, its roof formed partly of thatch and partly of tiles, the outbuildings strag- gling around, and widely-spreading walnut-trees overshadowing portions of the house, we at once pronounce the whole picturesque : time has varied the form and mellowed the colour, and thus connected it with the surround- ing landscape. Many old castles and gateways scattered throughout our land are divided in character, uniting much of the beauty of the rustic farmhouse with the grandeur of outline appertaining to the Norman ruin ; these, how degraded soever they may be by the uses to which they have been applied, and incongruous as they may appear from additions intended to convert them into dwellings for the peasantry, still rank among the most pleasing of our subjects : such are Allington Castle, near Maidstone ; Carisbrook gateway, and portions of Conway Castle. Of ruins less dilapidated in their form, and more elevated in their style of architecture, we have some fine examples in Vale Crusis, at the head of this section ; also Bolton, Tintern, Netley, and Melrose Abbeys, with Kenilworth and Warwick Castles. BUILDINGS, RUINS. 183 Fortunately our country abounds in these venerable remains of eccle- siastical and baronial structures ; and happy is it for the landscape-artist when the owners, gifted with that refined taste which alone can appreciate their beauties, in taking means to prevent their falling into decay, are careful so to preserve their character as not to interfere with the sentiment usually attached to them as ancient ruins. Price, in his work on the " Picturesque," alludes to the false taste of those who level all the inequali- ties of ground about a ruin with the view of connecting it with their modern houses, or so-styled improvements. He says : " Fountains Abbey I never saw, but have heard too much of the alterations, which luckily were not quite completed. There is, however, an ancient castle which I have seen since that boasted improvement took place of making it stand in the lawn. The lawn has so entirely subdued and degraded the building, that had I not known it was really an ancient castle, I might have mistaken it for a modern ruin. Nor at a distance would the real size have undeceived me ; for the old foss having been filled up, and the surface levelled and smoothed to the very foot of the building, the whole had acquired a character of littleness as well as of bareness, from the flat naked ground about it. " By filling up the fosses of a castle, its character as a castle is greatly destroyed ; by removing the trees and brushwood, and levelling and smooth- ing the rough irregular ground, its effect to the painter, and its character as a ruin, are no less injured. What a system of improvement must that be which universally destroys character and creates monotony ! "I lately observed the same effect produced by the same cause on natural masses of stone in a walk near Matlock. The walk led towards the principal feature, the rock, which I had been greatly struck with from below, and was eager to get a nearer view of. On approaching it, I hardly could believe it was the same ; but did not immediately conceive the cause of my disappointment. I had allowed for the bad effect, in such a scene, of a gravel walk, with regular sweeps and borders ; but, besides that, the ground had been cleared, levelled, and turfed from the edge of the walk to the foot of the rock and round it, into all its hollows and recesses. Though an immense mass of stone, it hardly appeared natural ; but seemed rather as if it had somehow been brought and erected at an enormous expense 184 LANDSCAPE-PATNTTNG. in a spot which, as far as the improvements extended, was so little suited to its character." It is the artificial effect produced by this want of taste that is so objec- tionable ; the painter is content to see the ruin as left by the hand of Time, without even requiring the appearance of those details so interesting to the antiquary : to the former, should the ruin occupy a site which, from natural causes, it might be expected to fill, it is all-sufficient. The architect is anxious to preserve all the details of his edifice ; the artist prefers hiding much of the repetition of form by ivy, bushes, or trees. Trees, indeed, form the most delightful association with ruins ; their rounded shapes, the variety produced by their colour, and the relief the last-mentioned property affords the eye, occasion their frequent introduction into such scenes. Quoting again from Price : " Painters not only represent trees accom- panying ruins, but almost in contact with splendid buildings in their perfect and entire state. Such an accompaniment adds still greater variety and beauty to the most beautifid and varied architecture, and by partial con- cealment they can give an interest almost to any building, however formal and ugly. ... In regard to their being obstructions, or considered as such, that will partly depend upon the judgment with which they are placed, and partly upon the owner's turn of mind. " Whoever prefers, in all cases, a mere prospect (and in that light every unbroken view may be looked upon) to a prospect of which the accompani- ments had been, or seemed to have been, arranged by a great painter, will think everything an obstruction that prevents his seeing all that it is pos- sible to see in all directions. But he who is convinced that painters, from having most studied them, are the best judges of the combinations and effects of visible objects, will only look upon that as an obstruction which, if taken away, would not merely let in more of the view, but admit it in a happier manner in point of composition ; and whoever has felt the extreme difference between seeing distant objects, as in a panorama, without any foreground, and viewing them under the boughs, and divided by the stems of trees, with some parts half discovered through the branches and foliage, will be loth to cut down an old tree which produces such effects, and no less desirous of creating those effects by planting." BUILDINGS, RUINS. 185 The colour of buildings has next to he considered ; and this, of course, varies with the materials of which they are built, from the light and broken yellow of stone to the deep red and brown of bricks and tiles. The warm gray, varied by broken colours of still greater warmth, is very agreeable when contrasted with the deep greens of the surrounding trees ; sometimes also the richer tones of the sandstones have an equally good effect. In ruins, those greenish-yellow tones, the result of damp, may be intro- duced with effect; but in representing inhabited houses they should if possible be avoided, as they give an appearance of unhealthiness or stagna- tion, which has at all times a tendency to excite very disagreeable sensations in the mind. The mode of handling the brush and materials should be vigorous and firm; and as this description of study is that in which the pupil should make his earliest efforts in colour, two examples are given in Plate 15 which, with the addition of the russets and warm tones in Plate 13, will serve to explain the colours employed. A careful outline having been made of some rustic shed, such as is represented in Fig. 1, Plate 15 (a view among the slaty rocks of North Wales), the brush is filled with a warm gray tint of the middle degree of strength, that is, neither the extreme dark nor the brightest colour. With this tint the general tone is given with a deliberate and yet firm touch, leaving all the edges of the different tints of the right form ; thus producing at once the shapes and divisions of the rocks and stones, and leaving the sparkling lights to be afterwards toned down by the use of some more decided colour. In this way the drawing of all secondary lines is made without any previous outline of each particular tile or stone. It is an important point that the pupil should effect this with a firm and full brush, as he will thus avoid that feeble, hesitating manner, the result of timidly filling up a previous outline. The colour is then changed, either by washing the brush or taking another charged with portions of rich warm burnt sienna, yellow ochre, &c. ; and the sparkling lights left appear to be parts of the mortar, new tiles, &c. patched in. Lastly, the deeper tones and cast shadows are put in, and the brush dragged over some portions with slightly varied glazings of grays or greenish tones. 186 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. Should the distant edge of the roof be too hard, it may be subdued by touching it with a little water, and rubbing it off with the painting-cloth. In all these foreground parts of the picture, much of the brilliancy and richness of the effect result from the first firm and decided touches com- bining with slight yet constant changes of pure colour on the point of the brush, and the blending these together by the process of dragging the colours over the various parts. Tig. 2 is another example of this kind of handling ; the colours of the roofs, being richer and deeper in tone, contrast well with the warm green of the elder bushes about them. Perhaps these elementary examples are scarcely so simple and broad in their treatment as the first blottings-in of a water-colour drawing ; but as in colour-printing all the colours and vehicles are not so transparent as in water-colours, some allowance must be made. Afterwards the richer and deeper tones are added, the lights remaining the same, but by contrast appearing much brighter. After this simple example, the student should select some old decayed roof, greatly altered in form and colour by age and weather. Many such are still to be found : one, of which we give a description, was near Fairlight, Hastings ; an old red-tiled roof, but much varied by yellow and gray lichens, which were disposed with reference to the hollows formed by the sinking in of the roof between the timbers. In drawing with the pencil, these hollows are frequently marked with greater force, and thus the indication of the gradual settling of the roof given. In this instance the vivid yellow and gray lichens attract the attention first ; but it would be better to commence with the dull red and subdued gray of the original tiles, leaving the lights pure paper. The pigments used might be Indian red or brown madder and indigo for the red tiles ; then cobalt and a little black on the tip of the brush, with the remains of the first tint — and with these varieties of the graver colours secure the forms, and draw the disposition and bends of the ridges and tiles of the house towards the eaves ; and lastly, when these tints are dry, take brown pink, with Indian yellow or gamboge, for the mosses, tinging them in spots with purple lake or madder : for the most brilliant lichens, chrome, Naples yellow, and lemon yellow will be found not at all too brilliant, if the building be near at hand and in the sun. BUILDINGS, RUINS. 187 To assist the pupil in his reference to Plate 13, a few of the most useful mixtures of pigments are added, remarking that much positive colour is not desirable in buildings ; on the contrary, they are more agreeable to the eye when their tones are neutral in character, or at times slightly varied by those of warm russet or grays. Even the red of tiles and bricks, though affording in reality as pleasing a contrast to the green of vegetation as the red dress of a figure, is not easily introduced ; red, however, when broken in tone by time, or introduced in detached mosaic work, as in some of the buildings in Venice, is very harmonious. The tones of buildings in limestone and other light-coloured stones may be imitated with yellow ochre, yellow ochre and brown madder, yellow ochre and sepia, brown madder and indigo, and black, according to the degree of coldness required. Eaw sienna, used instead of yellow ochre, produces more of a transparent tone, accompanied with a slight inclination to greenness. (See Plate 13, Figs. 15 and 21.) For stone of a deeper colour — such as granite, slate, &c. — or other stone in shadow, light red, Indian red, or brown madder, with sepia, indigo, or black; for cooler tones, Vandyke brown or sepia, with indigo or French blue ; the same, with the addition of a little lake, or purple madder, to give a slight increase of warmth. Bricks and tiles are rarely painted of the colour they actually appear when new and close at hand ; but as seen when either mellowed by age, and the tones produced by various mosses or lichens constantly growing on them, or deepened by smoke and patched with dif- ferent colours. In this state they become picturesque. Their colours in light are chiefly founded on mixtures of burnt sienna, with yelloiv ochre or Indian yellow, brown madder, light red, sepia, &c. (See 16, 17, 22, and 23.) In shadow, the colours selected should partake of the rich warm grays — such as burnt sienna and Vandyke brown, brown madder or purple madder, with indigo or French blue, brown madder, and yellow ochre with black. It must be borne in mind that a similar firmness in the handling, and a proportionate degree of purity in the tints, must be used on buildings in the middle distance. The colours selected may not be so strong, and may partake more of the gray ; but the edges are to be equally denned, clear, and pure — not made with lines, but formed by the edges of tints. Suppose 188 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. the student is sketching the ruins of Kenilworth from the Tiltyard, about a quarter of a mile distant : part of the old walls, being built of a grayer stone, and placed at a different angle, require cooler colours. Take up indigo and broivv, madder, changing the tint a little lower down by dip- ping the point of the brush into sepia instead of indigo : the edges of the tints should show the form at once, without re-touching. In the light parts of the ruins yellow ochre and raw sienna are the principal pigments used, varied by burnt sienna and brown madder. Sometimes, where the stone is of a deeper gray, use indigo and brown madder or sepia : the tints are not passed over each other, but have a firm determined edge, however delicate they may be. The colour of wood composing buildings, when not painted, is generally inclined to gray ; but it should differ as much as possible from the grays of the air or distance. It is well to avoid in their formation the use of cobalt blue, as it produces thinness. French blue and indigo may be now and then used without this undesirable quality. Wood in light may be imitated by mixtures of yellow ochre, with sepia or indigo, or black. A little Chinese white added to this kind of gray gives it opacity : light red or Indian red and indigo ; Vandyke brown or sepia, with indigo or French blue; burnt sienna or brown madder, with French blue, are also useful mixtures. Sometimes in shadows these colours may be varied, and more warmth and transparency given by delicate glazings of raw sienna, or brown pink ; or a portion may be rubbed off, and a warm glazing added instead. Thatch partakes of the colour of straw, deepened by time ; it may be given by yelloiv ochre and brown madder, raw sienna and purple madder, yellow ochre and sepia, or indigo and brown madder, or crimson lake. ROCKS. ISO SECTION V.— ROCKS AND WATER. often consti- tute, either in large masses or broken fragments, a great proportion of the picture nearest the specta- tor ; the study of their forms and structure, therefore, is intimately connected with that of foregrounds. Skelwith Force. Careful examination and copying from nature will he the best means for acquiring truth in their delineation ; hut a few cursory remarks on the general appearance and the nature of their formation will perhaps assist the student in giving fidelity to his sketches. Leaving, there- fore, the more minute details of their character to the geologist, to whose province they more properly belong, we proceed to notice certain points affecting the pictorial appearance of rocks requiring to be rendered with especial care, seeing that no painting can be correct unless it presents them forcibly to view. As, in giving directions for drawing trees, we advised the student to make himself acquainted with the particular touch required to represent the different species, so, in studying rocks, we would call his attention to the fact, that his progress will be much accelerated by his being aware of the lines and forms to be employed in depicting their various formations, and of the general colour that they present both when recently exposed and when altered by the action of the weather, the growth of vegetation peculiar to each kind, or by any other circumstance affecting their appearance. 190 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. The student who, ignorant of the collateral branches of his art, would nevertheless aim at pictorial representation, may be likened to a person who, indifferently acquainted with short-hand, should yet attempt to report a speech ; for as the latter would be obliged to pause at each word to recollect the characters necessary to form it, and thus lose the spirit of the oration, so the former, while stopping to search for the means of effect, would fail to catch the fleeting beauties of the landscape. Perhaps there are circumstances under which rocks can be more effectively studied than when their surface has been laid bare by the action of water in one or more of its various forms ; as, for instance, that of waves impelled by the ever- varying forces of the wind against the cliffs of a sea-bound shore, or of the more uniform rush of the foaming torrent as it sweeps down the mountain's side. Deprived of their covering of earth and vegetation, varieties in the formation of different rocks become more conspi- cuous, and the peculiarities of each description can be carefully observed. Mr. Twining says, " It is chiefly with reference to stratification that a large portion of rocks obtain marked and decided characters. This very general condition presents itself under the greatest variety of forms, whether it be in the magnitude, the disposition, or the distinctness of the stratified beds. At times the layers appear on so reduced a scale as to become objects of detail in the bank or broken fragments which form the foreground of a picture. Elsewhere they are so large that they are visible to the eye on a distant mountain, and influence its character, and to some extent its form ; the connection being in many cases easily traced between the dip of the strata and the inclination of the mountain's slope or ridge. Thus, when the red sandstone forms the covering of mountains of a different formation, one remarks that they have flattened summits, which form inclined terraces bordered by deep precipices. The slope of these terraces is always parallel with the strata of the red sandstone and with the slope of the formation on which they rest." Landslips and great falls of earth afford also good opportunities for the study of the strata and their covering of vegetation, wherever huge blocks or fragments retain the position and form which they assumed when broken by the violence of the concussion. Whoever has passed a day among the ROCKS. 101 melancholy ruins of the Kossberg, and remarked the massive fragments and extraordinary positions of the conglomerate rocks, will at once perceive how different is their present appearance from what it was when they formed a part of the sloping sides of the mountain. Another landslip, caused by the undermining effects of water, is seen in the valley of Meyringen ; and in this the strata are waved and contorted into a great variety of forms. Again an excellent opportunity for study is presented by the fall of large masses of the red sandstone cliffs in the neighbourhood of Loch Eanza, Isle of Arran ; and the author must be permitted to add, that, for the study of geology combined with picturesque beauty, that island affords most abundant sources of interest. In road-side cuttings, quarries, or excavations, the artist will also find innumerable opportunities for examining the strata, and giving a few lines in the foreground with decision and truth ; and even where rocks are broken down into debris he will still be able, by referring to their original colours, to give the prevailing tone of the whole mass. The study of rocks thus exposed will enable the student to decide upon the original position of the fragments so frequently found lying in the fore- ground, the nature of the rock of which they formed part, and consequently to indicate the direction of the lines of their stratification, even when not at once evident ; whereas, without an acquaintance with their structure, he might be confused by their being strewn here and there by some convulsion of nature far from the spot where they were originally placed. The young artist must give careful attention to this particular portion of his study ; and he may be assured that by so doing he will be amply repaid for his labour. It merely requires those general habits of observation and industry which every one ought to possess ; and from these objects present- ing firmness of outline and decision of character, accompanied by that valu- able quality of remaining unchanged either in form or colour, in the course of his practice he will gain continual accessions of power, and qualify himself to attempt those parts of the picture which, like trees, water, and clouds, require the facility of generalising forms and colour, at the same time com- bined with increased ability in the execution. Artists as well as amateurs are too much in the habit of boasting of the 192 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. short time which their studies have cost them. In first attempts, the ques- tion of time ought not to come into consideration, the quality of the work when complete being all-important. The author, while yet a tyro, being engaged in company with Stanfield, and other artists, in taking a sketch of the East Cliff, Hastings, well recollects that his own study was finished in three hours ; that of Stanfield occupied seven. The result, as the reader may suppose, neither ministered to the vanity of the younger artist, nor added to his progress so much as it should have done. Some rocks afford the artist more opportunities of showing their struc- ture than others ; and, owing to this prominence of character, they seem to require a corresponding accuracy and system in their delineation. Such are the slate and schistose rocks, which present forms more angular and stratification more strongly developed than many others : they may be studied with great ease about the bed of the Conway and other streams in North Wales. It must be remarked, that rocks of this kind, viewed from different directions, appear under totally different characters ; one side pre- senting a broad, even, and unbroken surface, the other divided into innu- merable layers and lines. Although the colour of these rocks always verges on the cool gray, and the nature of the stratification produces many parallel lines, they are nevertheless very beautiful. In practice of this kind, it will be seen how constantly an artist's thoughts ought to be engaged on his work. On examining rocks subjected to the action of torrents, he will generally find their surfaces rounded off or convex ; but when situated so that an eddy is formed, concavities, and even in some instances circular hides, can be observed, — the latter, caused by the water continually whirling round small fragments, some of which may be found still remaining at the bottom. The colour is likewise subject to alterations, being greatly affected by the alternation of drought and moisture, and the consequent variety in the growth of lichens, mosses, or plants. Granite is usually to be distinguished by the massive squareness of its forms ; though when in positions Avhere it has been exposed for a length of time to the action of the elements, it presents a smooth and rounded appearance. Its character of durability, and its imperishable nature, are well shown in the rocks towering above the Merde Glace, called ROCKS. 193 Les Aiguilles ; it is seen under a different form, but equally durable, in the huge boulders and tors on Dartmoor. Hard as it is in texture, it has been subject, in ages long past, to alterations of form occasioned by slips and fissures, which -have thrown whole masses out of their original position. These changes call for careful attention on the part of the student, other- wise he may, by making these accidents too prominent, give a false idea of the general direction of the strata. Again, there is this peculiarity in the colour of granite, — one kind is a cool, another a warm gray : both, however, are produced by small spots of colour, differing in degrees of purity and tone, sprinkled together ; viewed at a distance, the tints appear blended into one homogeneous tone. Both varieties may be seen together in the coping- stones and balustrade of Waterloo Bridge. The prevailing tone of granite is, however, greatly varied by the different coloured mosses and lichens growing on it, more particularly in those situations where it is subject to moisture, and partially sheltered. Limestone presents more variety of form and colour than most rocks ; it changes much by exposure to the weather, having at first a cool gray tone, but afterwards becoming much warmer and richer. By its varied and sunny hues, it greatly enhances the beauty of the landscape, whether introduced in the natural state of cliffs and rocks, or in the artificial form of ruins. It is much affected by the action of water, which causes stains and marks to extend to great distances, either in a vertical or horizontal direction ; these discolorations, passing over irregular surfaces, joined to the lights and sha- dows of unequal intensity, give many opportunities for truthfully portraying its character. The marble limestone of North Devonshire and Dorsetshire has sometimes a very extraordinary waved and streaked appearance. Turner, in his drawing of "Lulworth Cove," has given a fine example of this formation, beautifully rendered in line-engraving by Cooke. Other plates of this great artist's " Southern Coasts " afford good opportunities for observing how careful he was in his drawings of cliffs and rocks. The student is more particularly referred for studies to those named the " Isle of Portland," " Tintagel Castle," and the " Land's End." The sandstone rocks and cliffs of Hastings are rich in colour, varying from pale grayish tones, such as might be imitated with yellow ochre and u 194 LANDSCAPE- PAINTING. ivory black, or yellow ochre, a little indigo and crimson lake, to deeper tones of brown or purple madder, with French blue, varied with raw sienna. When the detached masses of sandstone rock are wetted with the waves this latter colour greatly predominates. The shingle on the beach consists chieiiy of debris of the rocks above, slates washed from the rubbish heaps of the town, Hints with scattered scollop and oyster shells. The prevailing colour, therefore, will be raw sienna, with darker and cooler grays inter- spersed. As the beach is washed by the advancing tide, the colour is en- riched and deepened ; but in calm weather a perceptible difference is seen in the water within a few feet of the extreme edge : it is there rendered rather more opaque and cooler by innumerable bubbles of air coming up out of the dry beach ; and these, being carried back a yard or two in small round patches, contribute to form the foam of the waves. In rough weather, the air-bubbles are so largely increased by the dash of the waters that these smaller contributions are unnoticed. Foam produced by the waves of the sea lasts much longer than when the result of a waterfall ; the colour also of the former is yellower and richer in tone. The moment when the wave has been hurled on the beach, and the foam and spray risen to its greatest height, appears the most favourable to the artist's study ; he should then impress its general form and appearance on his memory. In certain parts of this coast pipeclay washes up, and gives an opacity and muddiuess to the water very different from the appearance produced by the foam. The chalk formation, although charming in the distant cliff, as in extended sea-views of our islaud, is generally too little varied either in form or colour to be of much use in the fore-part of a picture ; it requires great skill in ar- ranging both the composition and the masses of light and shade in order to render pict ures containing large portions of it at all agreeable. Other rocks having dark or heavy colours are quite as difficult to introduce with good effect ; among such are the red sandstone, with its heavy monotonous tone, and the deep purply gray and black hypersthene, so overpowering in its effect on the Cuchullen Hills, in Skye. The depth of these local colours can best be represented when the mountains are in light, for in shadow the peculiar tones would not appear so strongly marked. However, in all these varieties of rocks, the artist must consider what R0< IKS. ]!)5 amount of interest is likely to lie imported to his works by the features of the different formations which he finds in nature. To copy all the minor details would lie impossible ; he can, in fact, notice only those portions that give point and character to the scene. With this view, therefore, he mil si firmly impress nn his mind those characteristics of rocks which owe their origin to the action of the elements, of the restless sea, or the gushing stream. All these points, when copied with truth, contribute to the charm of the picture, the chief interest of which must eventually consist in that union of beauty and simplicity alone suited to the general comprehension. Although some details of the way in which rocks should be represented have been given in the notes on Sketching from Nature, yet it will be useful to the young student to give some additional remarks on the mode of work- ing this portion of the picture. The character displayed by rocks in general is most decided; their angular forms, their distinct and easily recognized varieties of strata and of colour, combined with much dissimilarity in the way in which their original colour is affected by exposure to moisture and the growth of lichens, give us the power of representing them with that boldness and truth which their nature requires. Solidity, hardness, opacity, angularity, must be expressed in every line and tint. The materials of the water-colour painter are, it must be confessed, not the best for this purpose ; therefore, to compete with the oil-painter in this portion of the picture, and conquer this deficiency as much as possible, we must carefully select such substances, and modes of using them, as afford the greatest amount of power. The general tone of rocks will be found to be grays of varying qualities, and, unless illuminated by a very brilliant sun, considerably darker than the grays of the clouds ; but if these tones are made with the same pigments as those, used for the latter, they will look poor and thin. Instead, then, of cobalt and 1lir lakes, or cobalt and vermilion or UgJit red, we must take pig- ments possessing more body and power, not rejecting even such as are semi- transparent or turbid. With a bold touch and full brush, we should lay on these first tints all over the masses of rock, to the apparent neglect of the smaller divisions, and even of the light and shade ; then, to give more variety and richness to this ground colour, we should repeatedly vary it by taking o 2 196 LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. up other harmonizing colours, floating them in while wet. In this way we may sometimes avoid showing any distinct form or angle, and yet produce the effect of a curved surface, or a surface having varied quantities of light or colour. Let us suppose, for example, that in imitating masses of granite lying on a desolate moor, such as is depicted in Plate 16, Dartmoor, the general tone of which is gray, we fill the brush with limit sienna and indigo, and a little crimson lake ; we may then, without replenishing it with these, take up brown madder and indigo, which will harmonise with those already used, and yet give variety of tone. In this way yellow ochre and sepia may he changed for Vandyke brown and indigo, or brown madder and sepia. These rich, deep-toned, and variously modulated ground tints afford an excellent basis for either the warmer transparent colours or those more opaque, as well as supplying a solid tone from which to take our lights. If any of the tones of the rocks should be similar to those of the sky or distance, it will be advisable to change those on the rock by producing variety in the tex- ture, if not in the colour ; a tone obtained by small portions of pure colour, mingled or interspersed, separates immediately from a flat tone in the dis- tance, apparently of the same general hue. This stippling or dappling in of pure colours, combined with the production of granulation by scraping out with a razor, and then touching down the lights thus obtained, gives an entirely different character to the tones ; and by these means the distances are preserved without resorting to strong oppositions, either of colour or light and shade. The first tints of rocks will often appear too dark ; for, being put in before the loose foliage, grass, or the other tints surrounding them, they are contrasted with the white paper alone ; but when the shadows of the trees, &c. are added they appear much lighter. By putting in large masses of colour with boldness, feebleness and dryness of style are avoided, the general effect is at once produced, and great breadth is the result. The shadows and markings should, when the first tint is dry, be done with transparent colours, sometimes warmer and occasionally cooler than the first. Thus, over a cool gray rock of Indian red and indigo, tints represent- ing the moss, or any of the warmer portions, may be laid on, composed of ROCKS. 197 raw sienna and brown madder, or Indian yellow and Vandyke brown, or brovm pink. Care, however, should be taken to avoid blackness and cold- ness in making these additions. Should the shadowed side appear to want reflected light, a portion of the first colour may be rubbed off, and some other warm and transparent or semi-transparent colour added. All these delicate variations cannot be produced at first, for the result of such efforts would be only feebleness and thinness. The fissures and mark- ings are now to be put in, producing firmness and crispness in the outline more by bringing up one tint with a decided edge against another than by any strong line, which looks artificial. If these markings, clefts, and fissures can be introduced, having in them variations of light, shade, and colour, as well as reflected light, great truth in the detail will be given, the breadth remaining uninjured. The final touches, comprising the putting on of light tones or smaller patches, with body colour and some of the warmer pig- ments ; the rubbing out with water and a cloth, or scratching out lights, and then toning them down either with opaque or transparent pigments, — will give richness, variety, and opacity to the surface in light, while the shadows will be kept transparent and warm. The effect at which the student must aim will be better understood, if he will at the commencement of his study take the trouble of going quite close to the mass of rock he wishes to represent, and examine well the different surfaces and tints. He will find that, although the general tone may be cool or warm gray, inclining to red, purple, green, or yellow, yet it is greatly modified by masses of rich greenish mosses, dark brown lichens, and even rendered lighter in parts by brilliant yellow or white lichens in rounded patches ; in fact, that no considerable portion of the mass is of the same uniform tint. After this he should complete his examination by retiring slowly from the object, noticing how the colours are blended and harmonized together at different distances. The habit of generalizing gained by such practice will be found extremely valuable. For specimens of mixtures suitable for rocks, the student is referred to that portion of the table of grays comprising the deeper tints. It may, however, be mentioned, that indigo, with light red, Ind l an red, brown mad- der, or burnt sienna and lake, produces cool gray tones ; Vandyke brown or LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. sepia, with indigo or French blue, grays partaking of the green tones; for warmer tones, yellow ochre, light red, and burnt sienna may be mixed with indiyo or French blue with row sienna and Vandyke brown for glazing : in fact, by keeping in mind the difference in opaque and transparent pigments, most of them can be used, taking care at all times to avoid blackness. In concluding these remarks on the study of rocks, we may direct the student's attention to the forest of Fontainebleau, where he will see line trees and rocks combined ; but he must not expect to find the falling streams or slaty rocks of North Wales, for the rocks are sandstone, and not much varied in colour ; the soil also being sandy, there is no water : nevertheless there is much to interest the lover of nature in the fine old monarchs of the woods and in the wild gorges, the least artificial portions of the forest. Amongst these, the gorge D'Egremont and Bas Breau appear to present the most variety of incidents, abounding with picturesque white cliffs and a fine point de vue, which affords an extensive survey of the surrounding country ; but in the Vallon des Peintres and Gorge de Neffieurs there are some of the finest trees in the forest. One of these, with fine scattered masses of rock, is so well known, and is so "reat a favourite, that a sketch of it is