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Hints to Young Painters. 
 

 
 
 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 PROCESS OF PORTRAIT-PAINTING 
 
 AS PRACTICED BY THE LATE 
 
 THOMAS SULLY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 J. M. STODDART & CO. 
 1873. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 J. M. STODDART & CO., 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 npHESE “Hints to Young Painters” were 
 prepared for the press by the late Thomas 
 Sully in the year 1851, and revised by him in 
 1871, but they were not, during his lifetime, 
 placed in the hands of any publisher. Their 
 merit lies in their brevity and clearness, and 
 they are addressed especially to young artists, 
 who will find in them much useful information. 
 Knowing the deep interest that was felt by the 
 profession in every word spoken or written by 
 the venerable painter, it has been deemed best 
 to add to the “ Hints ” a few notes on the prep- 
 aration of canvas and vehicles, gleaned from his 
 copious memoirs. These will interest the ac- 
 complished professor, as well as the inexperi- 
 enced amateur, and may prove of service to 
 both. 
 
 F. T. S. D. 
 
 December , 1872. 
 
 7 
 
Hints to Young Painters. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 HE experience I have had in portrait- 
 
 painting enables me to recommend the 
 manner of practice by stating particulars that 
 may instruct or interest beginners. Perhaps I 
 shall occasionally mention trifles, but I will ven- 
 ture the risk of doing so in my desire to be 
 useful. 
 
 I will first treat of the painting-room. A 
 north light is the best. I should prefer a win- 
 dow that was situated in the middle of the 
 north side of a large room. 
 
 I take it for granted that the beginner has 
 partly fitted himself under the tuition of an able 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 professor, and that he has acquired the power 
 to draw from memory the human figure in 
 any position. This being attained, painting 
 will be easily acquired ; without this power, the 
 painter will be frequently perplexed, and liable 
 to error. A knowledge of perspective is re- 
 quisite. The ability to draw animals, particu- 
 larly the dog and the horse, and some know- 
 ledge of landscape-painting, will be found of 
 service. A knowledge of anatomy will be very 
 useful. 
 
 The articles required by the beginner are the 
 following: an easel (I prefer one that stands 
 upright) ; a maul, or resting stick ; a palette, and 
 brushes of various sizes ; sticks, or crayons of 
 charcoal ; crayons that are used by those who 
 draw upon stone ; palette knives (three will 
 do) ; a foot-rule ; and compasses. These ar- 
 ticles may be had at any artists’ furnishing- 
 store. 
 
 I use a plate-glass slab, with a muller, to 
 grind precious color on, and to set my palette 
 for painting; I clean it with spirits of tur- 
 
[Photographed from a pencil sketch made by Mr. Sully in his 90th year.] 
 
 Pencil Stand. 
 
 In this Stand there is a place for the Palette, and a flap to shelter it. On the top 
 is a place for the Palette Knives, Rags and Slate Book. 
 
 Height, 2 feet 6 inches. The Table Part, 2 feet 4 inches by 1 foot 4 inches. 
 
 Note. — Mr. Sully used a pencil stand of the above form for many years, and 
 highly recommended it to his artist friends. The oval box on top is divided into a 
 number of compartments, to hold brushes of different sizes and qualities. The table 
 top is surrounded by a ledge. 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 *3 
 
 pentine. The plate glass should have white 
 cloth glued on back, to prevent its sliding on 
 the table ; the table also should be covered 
 with a cloth. I keep a small slate-book on 
 the pencil-table, in which I write such mem- 
 oranda as occur during each day of the 
 week, which I register ; if worth keeping, I re- 
 cord them in the proper books. Keep plenty 
 of clean rags at hand, which are needed for 
 cleaning the palette and slab ; these should be 
 cleaned every day after using them. Some of 
 the tints and colors that are left may be put 
 away for the following day by means of a small 
 saucer. Place this in a deep plate and cover it 
 with water ; by this method the colors will keep 
 a day or two. The palette should be cleaned 
 with a rag and linseed oil. The flag, or glass 
 slab, must be cleaned with spirits of turpentine. 
 When I paint, I use no other liquid than a mix- 
 ture of drying-oil and spirits of turpentine in 
 equal quantities, but it should be used sparingly. 
 Keep this mixture in a small bottle, and it will 
 last many days. 
 

 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 The accompanying strip of measurements I 
 have found useful. These measurements are 
 intended for a bust-size canvas — 30 by 25 — and 
 it will be observed that on the strip for male 
 portraits the proportions are larger than on 
 that for females. Should the person be tall 
 or short, place the measurement accordingly, 
 except the one from the top of the canvas. 
 
 Common soap is the best to wash the brushes 
 with. Keep a jar of water, into which drop 
 small pieces of soap. If you have not time to 
 wash your brushes when required, put them 
 into this mixture. If the soap has melted, the 
 brushes may remain two or three days without 
 injury. 
 
 When washed, rinse them in pure water and 
 dry them with a cloth , then draw them through 
 the mouth, to shape them to a point. If neces- 
 sary, wind a thread round the brush. Finally, 
 place them according to order in the pencil- 
 stand. 
 
 Having detailed every preparation required 
 for painting, we will proceed to the use thereof. 
 

 
 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 15 
 
 When the person calls on you to make 
 arrangements for the intended portrait, observe 
 the general manner, etc., so that you may de- 
 termine the attitude you had best adopt. The 
 first sitting may be short, as pencil sketches on 
 paper, of different views of the person, will be 
 sufficient to determine the position of the por- 
 trait. 
 
 At the next sitting make a careful drawing of 
 the person on a gray canvas (kept for that par- 
 ticular purpose). It should be of a middle tint, 
 made of white, and black mixed with white : it 
 must not shine. This study must be made in 
 charcoal, with its proper effect of shadow re- 
 lieved with white chalk, using for the middle 
 tint the color of the canvas. The drapery, also 
 — if the time will allow — should be put in. I find 
 that two hours is long enough to detain the 
 sitter. I seldom exceed that time ; and six 
 sittings of two hours each is the time I require. 
 When alone, begin the portrait from memory, 
 fix the place on the canvas by means of the 
 strips of measurement from the top of the 
 
1 6 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 canvas and the other narks of distances ; if the 
 person is tall or sh, t, place the head accord- 
 ingly. The drawing made from the person in 
 charcoal and chalk will enable you to paint in 
 the effect of the picture with burnt umber on a 
 white ground (some prefer a colored ground). 
 Paint freely, as if you were using water-colors, 
 not too exact, but in a sketchy manner. 
 
 In this process I use a mixture of drying-oil 
 and spirits of turpentine in equal portions, to 
 moisten my brush as occasion requii \ (In all 
 painting I use only this mixture.) This prepa- 
 ration may take two days to dry. Sometimes 
 I hasten this effect by placing my picture in the 
 sun, sheltered from the dust, by the window, 
 and in winter I expose the picture to the fire. 
 I recommend the use of large brushes. 
 
 In the next sitting tints are to be used, and 
 all inaccuracies corrected; while, of course, the 
 likeness is to be made as close and character- 
 istic as possible. 
 
 The following tints I use in the next paint- 
 ing: 
 
I lei lorn Ochre & While \ £2 Daw Umlei- Sb more Wl/itr . 
 
 2. Burnt Terra d ' 'Sienna dJllnlc. TO. Ditto <fa 
 1. Fttramarin c (or perrrurnent hhie t white 11. Ditto fl° 
 
 4 Burnt 7'erra cV Siernia. 12 Ditto widen little burnt Id 'Mama 
 
 0. Chinese Tennilion. H Turn {Tara d’tfcmm & Jftop Umber . 
 
 6. Indian Ded. rl. Flair. White . 
 
 1. Daw Fmher. D. Yellow Ochre < 
 
 1- Da w lumber & White. C. Ivory Bl/rcJe . 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 *9 
 
 The principal colors from which these tints 
 are made are white, yellow ochre (by the way, 
 this color will not keep under water), ultramarine 
 (or permanent blue), vermilion, Indian red, raw 
 umber, ivorv-black and burnt umber. These 
 are sold in compressible tubes. 
 
 In the use of burnt umber in the first paint- 
 ing, the color in some places, being much diluted 
 with the liquid mixture, is inclined to run. To 
 prevent this, I place the work horizontally for 
 an hour or two. 
 
 As I have previously mentioned, in the next 
 sitting from the life, tints are to be used. See 
 the “ Palette ” on preceding page. 
 
 Manner of proceeding with the first coloring : 
 Cover all the forehead with the tint No. 2, and 
 use No. 1 to increase the light on such parts as 
 require it. The first light shadow will be Nos. 
 2 and 3, mixed ; make the blue tint, No. 3, more 
 pure on the temple. The white of the eye, 
 with Nos. 2 and 3 and, perhaps, a little white. 
 If it be a blue .eye, use black and No. 3. In a 
 delicate complexion the mixture of 2 and 3 
 
20 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 may extend to the lower part of the face. No. 
 1 1 will increase the strength of the shadows, 
 and No. iowill increase it further; No. 9, ditto, 
 particularly where the shadows are of a cool 
 tint. Perhaps the shadows in some places will 
 require a warmer hue; then 13 and 12 will be 
 found useful (they have a little burnt terra 
 sienna in the raw umber tints). Having ad- 
 justed the shadows, a little vermilion and white 
 may be scratched on the cheek and on the lips. 
 
 The drapery and background should now 
 be painted. These may be executed from the 
 sketch made from the life. If it is a large 
 picture where more of the person is seen, the 
 drapery must be painted from an exact study 
 made from the person. The color of the back- 
 ground should be either darker or lighter than 
 the head or drapery. In the former painting 
 the hair must be painted, the color of which 
 must be a matter of judgment, as hair is of 
 so many different colors that no rule can be 
 offered. Burnt umber is an excellent color for 
 that purpose ; and Vandyke brown, for dark 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 21 
 
 shadows, is excellent, but it is a bad dryer, and 
 I have reluctantly abandoned the use of it. 
 
 We come now to the sixth and last sitting. In 
 painting this, the same palette of tints is used, 
 with the addition of asphaltum and madder 
 lake. These are glazing colors, and may be 
 used to darken and improve the shadows of the 
 flesh tints. The hair and drapery may be 
 glazed with the mixture of asphaltum and mad- 
 der lake. To the bottom of the burnt terra 
 sienna add two tints, also to the blue tint and 
 the vermilion. These tints may be employed 
 here and there in improving the color. 
 
 The complexion is a part of the likeness. 
 The tints which I have arranged are for a light 
 complexion ; I merely strengthen the tints, and 
 add Indian red to the vermilion, for dark com- 
 plexions. 
 
 The last operation of the painter is to var- 
 nish his picture. 
 
 Suffer the picture to dry for about four or 
 five weeks. Should it remain without varnish- 
 ing for years, it will not suffer for the want of 
 
22 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 it ; it will only look dull, and some colors will 
 not show their effect. 
 
 A hard varnish, such as copal, is not suitable 
 for a portrait. Mastic varnish and gum-de-mar 
 varnish are good. I prefer mastic varnish. If 
 it requires to be more liquid, thin it with spirits 
 of turpentine. 
 
 When preparing to varnish, first apply raw 
 potato to the picture, which effectually cleans it 
 from soil of all kinds. (This is the discovery of 
 an American painter by the name of Rand, who 
 also invented the compressible tubes.) The 
 raw potato must be peeled and rubbed on 
 the painting ; by dividing the potato into thin 
 slices, the picture may be covered with the 
 juice. This juice must be washed off with pure 
 water, and entirely dried with a piece of chamois 
 leather. The picture is then prepared for the 
 varnish. 
 
 I recommend a flat varnish-brush, made of 
 hog’s bristles. In applying the varnish, move the 
 brush from corner to corner, by which it may 
 be laid evenly. This will dry in two or three 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS . 
 
 23 
 
 days ; expose it for that purpose to the sun (see 
 that the dust is not admitted) ; in the winter 
 expose it to the fire for a day or two.. In three 
 or four days the varnish will become dry. For 
 a varnishing-cup the apothecaries can supply an 
 excellent article in the form of a saucer with a 
 lip to it, in order to pour out a liquid, so that if 
 any varnish is left in the saucer, it may be 
 poured back into the bottle. Wash the brush 
 and saucer with common soap. 
 
 Should the surface of the picture become 
 cloudy, or, as it is called, “ bloom,” clean it off 
 with a silk handkerchief; or if that will not do, 
 a thin coat of turpentine and varnish will re- 
 move the blooming. 
 
 I would earnestly recommend the student 
 of painting to read the lectures of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds and the works of Burnet. 
 
 A lay-figure, or manikin, will aid the painter 
 in painting drapery. In a lay-figure there are 
 places to strengthen the limbs by the action of 
 a turn-screw acting on the screws connected 
 with the figure. Moths are driven from the 
 
24 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 figure by dipping rags in spirits of turpentine 
 and fastening them to the figure. 
 
 I have discovered an excellent preparation 
 to cover a discarded picture : a portion of white 
 lead, ground in skimmed milk to the consistency 
 of jelly, will effectually cover the surface of a dis- 
 carded picture and enable the painter to make 
 a new picture upon the same canvas. I have 
 prepared new canvas according to the same 
 mixture, and with entire satisfaction. After the 
 first coat of paint is laid with this mixture, 
 which will dry in about an hour, the pumice 
 stone should be used to grind off the lumps of 
 thread that may injure the level surface. The 
 next painting it would be well to mix a little 
 vermilion with the paste, in order to see that 
 you have covered the canvas regularly. I have 
 used this mixture since the year 1840. The 
 canvas imported is liable to crack. 
 
 The late Rembrandt Peale gave me an excel- 
 lent receipt to prepare canvas. Prepare, in a 
 sauce-pan, paste in the usual way; first subdue 
 all the lumps of flour that may be in the mix- 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 25 
 
 ture. Place the pan on the fire, and the instant 
 it begins to boil take it off, and pour into it a 
 small portion of Venice turpentine that has been 
 warming by the fire, and stir up the mixture. 
 The proportions are about a teacupful of tur- 
 pentine of Venice to a full measure of a quart 
 of paste. This mixture should at once be ap- 
 plied to the canvas while it is hot. When cold, 
 the pumice stone should be employed to level 
 the surface ; after which, the paint intended for 
 the ground should be put on with a brush and 
 leveled with a spatula. 
 
 THOS. SULLY. 
 
 Philadelphia, June, 1871. 
 
PART II. 
 
 IV /T ACGUILP — named after its inventor — 
 ^ is the vehicle most commonly used by 
 artists to moisten the colors while painting and 
 to assist the application of glazing. It is com- 
 posed of equal proportions of mastic varnish 
 and drying-oil, thoroughly blended together. 
 
 A good macguilp is made by dissolving bees- 
 wax in mastic varnish or in drying-oil, in the 
 proportion of a piece of wax the size of a hazel- 
 nut, to a spoonful of the liquid. 
 
 Another macguilp is made of w r ater saturated 
 with sugar of lead, an equal quantity of mastic 
 varnish and three-fourths of the quantity of lin- 
 seed oil. It dries well. 
 
 Baron Schroeder gave me the following re- 
 ceipt to make “painter’s butter,” which is much 
 used by the German artists : T\yo parts for two 
 
 27 
 
2 8 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 ounces) of nut oil, one part (or ounce) of gum 
 mastic in drops, and as much sugar of lead as 
 might lie on a twenty-five-cent piece. Put the 
 two first-named articles into a vessel of hot 
 water (the mixture must be in a phial). The 
 water must be kept boiling, so as to dissolve 
 the mastic ; then drop in the sugar of lead, but 
 avoid the consequent fumes from the lead, which 
 by this treatment parts with all its noxious qual- 
 ities, retaining only its drying property. When 
 the mixture is quite dissolved, pour it into a 
 vessel of cold water. The mixture will keep 
 together, and must be skimmed off the water. 
 It is then fit for use. 
 
 Mastic varnish is thus prepared: Choose the 
 gum mastic in drops that are transparent. It 
 comes in the form ot tears, and can be had at 
 any apothecary’s. To 35 ounces of rectified 
 spirits of turpentine add 12 ounces of the gum, 
 pulverized, and half an ounce of camphor gum. 
 Expose this to the warm sun for a few days and 
 they will mix. Or you may subject the same 
 compound to a vessel filled with water, made 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 2 9 
 
 at first a little warm, which must afterward be 
 increased to a boiling state for one or two 
 hours. It must be stirred occasionally with a 
 stick. Mastic varnish newly prepared is not so 
 good nor so fit for use as that which is a year 
 old. The gum camphor facilitates the dissolv^ 
 ing of the ingredients of the varnish. 
 
 The desideratum for the best kind of varnish 
 for oil paintings has for a long time been the 
 plague of artists. Some are advocates for “ egg 
 varnish” for the covering of a newly-painted pic- 
 ture. I believe this to be pernicious. Some 
 recommend copal varnish, made by the mixture 
 of turpentine instead of alcohol, and used when 
 made thin by added turpentine. I prefer mastic 
 varnish to any of the foregoing; but the very 
 best varnish I have met with is made of the 
 gum de mar dissolved in spirits of turpentine. 
 It preserves its gloss and transparency, is not 
 given to mildew, is easily removed from the sur- 
 face of a picture and can be applied without risk 
 to freshly-painted work. This varnish is much 
 used in the United States, and almost univer- 
 
30 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 sally in Germany. But it will not, by the use 
 of any adjunct, make macguilp. 
 
 Baron Schrceder confirms the good character 
 I had heard of the white varnish, so generally 
 employed in Germany. It is made of the gum 
 de mar, according to the following method : 
 To about as much of the gum as would fill a* 
 tablespoon add half a pint of spirits of turpen- 
 tine and half a teaspoonful of calcined magne- 
 sia. This will dissolve in the sun. If too thick, 
 the quantity of turpentine may be increased. 
 It may be used upon a freshly-painted picture, 
 and will dry quickly. 
 
 The varnish made from Canada balsam diluted 
 with turpentine is bad. It grows dark and is 
 difficult to remove. 
 
 The following precaution is recommended 
 before varnishing a picture, and the process 
 is also serviceable in removing the greasy 
 surface that a picture is apt to acquire if 
 long neglected : Peel a raw “ Irish potato,” 
 cut it in slices and rub it over the face of 
 the painting. After this, wash it entirely off 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 31 
 
 with pure water and dry it with a soft chamois 
 skin, which is the best instrument to effect the 
 purpose. 
 
 Mr. Scarlet (a skilled restorer of old pictures) 
 discovered that when the first coat of varnish 
 does not harden, it is expedient to add a second 
 application. 
 
 In January, 1825, while on a visit to Washing- 
 ton, I made a copy from a picture painted by 
 my friend, Charles King. Being obliged to 
 send the copy to Philadelphia before it was 
 quite dry, I covered the surface with egg var- 
 nish, to prevent the action of stickiness in the 
 paint while the canvas was rolled up. (A pic- 
 ture should always be rolled with the painted 
 side outward .) My experiment was quite success- 
 ful. After the canvas was placed on a stretch- 
 ing-frame in Philadelphia, I removed the egg 
 varnish by the application of pure water with a 
 soft sponge, and the picture was found in good 
 order. The varnish was made as follows : One 
 egg (the contents of the shell except the part 
 called the eye), lump sugar about half the size 
 
X2 * _ . 
 
 : v : v \ sa 
 
 o I 
 
 ssoiv 
 
 
 2n\-as 
 
 e 
 
 3° h Y 
 
 last portion of 
 
 -» — i'Kpc 
 
 E ~~ varnish is thus prepared. In two ounces 
 o: alcohol dissolve one-eighth of an ounce of 
 lump su^ar, (a piece the size of a 
 
 
 and 
 
 •: ware ; : an 
 
 The surar. reduced 
 
 to a ocmder. mixes with the white of the e^. bv 
 
 uo into a trotn witn 
 applied with a soft ; 
 
 ^cohoL Th< 
 
 c r ue to 
 
 pic- 
 
 wa 
 
 nrsreu a picture wi 
 
 horizontally. I have var- 
 this the instant it was drv. 
 
 
 wed wu 
 
 a LUai 
 
 ot 
 
 
 wot. 
 
 T„ 
 
 bv exposure to 
 
 at once, I ha 
 
 
 ed 
 
 
 e-mar varnish with satisfaction. I 
 
 found that it dried too quickly unless I used lin- 
 with it. and I could make the vehicle 
 
 5ctr_ «j_ 
 drr as s.rr 
 
 as l aesired ov r 
 
 rat- 
 
 ou 1 auued. 
 
 r i 
 
 rure of ou an 
 
 d I do not 
 
 'ton 
 
 HCli 
 
 wmcn is 
 
 best to paint witn. 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 33 
 
 is rendered more pure and limpid, by dropping 
 into the phial some grains of white lead. Cork 
 it tightly, and place it in the sun, (fire heat will 
 not produce the proper effect.) Shake it often. 
 
 Rembrandt Peale prepared drying-oil thus. 
 In an eight-ounce phial put two tablespoonfuls 
 of gold litharge, and fill up with linseed oil. 
 Keep it exposed to the sun, or near the fire, for 
 a few days, shaking it up frequently. Keep it 
 corked. Finally let it settle, and decant the 
 clear oil. 
 
 After the drying-oil has been made a month, 
 (unless it has been frequently well shaken,) it is 
 no longer in a fit state to use in making mac- 
 gmlp. 
 
 In order to force the colors to dry, Sir William 
 Beechey used a mixture of nut oil, mastic var- 
 nish and sugar of lead, well shaken together 
 and allowed to settle. He employed this only 
 for light colors. 
 
 In using asphaltum very freely, — a color which 
 is generally slow to dry, — I have found it to be 
 a good expedient to drop some “severe dryer ” 
 
34 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG, PAINTERS. 
 
 in the macguilp employed. Had I mixed the 
 dryer with the paint itself, it would have soon 
 become hard upon my palette. 
 
 Whilst on the subject of liquids used in paint- 
 ing, I would refer to the use of dryers, which 
 are necessarily employed with certain colors, or 
 these would take too long a time in becoming 
 hard. Ivory black, Vandyke brown, lake and 
 (if used alone) vermilion, require the aid of a 
 dryer. Many artists have used sugar of lead 
 prepared in various ways, but I prefer to use 
 what is called “ severe dryer.” A few drops 
 mixed in a lump of color as large as a chestnut 
 will be found a sufficient quantity. 
 
 For the purpose of painting over a discarded 
 picture which I wished to prepare for a new pic- 
 ture, I have used white, ground up in skimmed 
 milk. I have also used it to prepare a new can- 
 vas, using, after the first coat of paint, pumice 
 stone to reduce the lumps in the threads of 
 the canvas. Three coats of paint are quite 
 enough. If the “absorbent ground,” which it 
 makes, is objected to, a brushing over the sur- 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 35 
 
 face with linseed oil will make it a “resisting 
 ground.” 
 
 I have noted that the full-length portrait of 
 my wife with her favorite dog, (dated 1841,) was 
 painted on a canvas prepared by myself with a 
 ground of white lead and skimmed milk, and as 
 no change has yet (1867) shown itself, I will 
 record my mode of preparation. 
 
 I procured Russia sheeting, and after stretch- 
 ing it on the frame, I gave it a coat of white lead 
 ground in skimmed milk to the consistency of 
 ordinary paste. I then used the pumice stone 
 to subdue the knots or irregular places on the 
 surface. Then I followed with a second coat 
 of the paste, and in order to distinguish it from 
 the first coat, I tinted it very slightly with ver- 
 milion. This preparation pleased me entirely. 
 It is now 1867 and I have not found any fault 
 with it. 
 
 Charles Wilson Peale prepared canvas in the 
 following manner. Isinglass (fish-glue) pounded 
 on a flat-iron into small pieces. Let it stand 
 all night in water. In the morning put it on 
 
36 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 the fire to boil ; there should be as much isin- 
 glass to the water as will form a jelly, after 
 it has boiled and been allowed to cool. The 
 canvas must be wet and pumiced to render the 
 surface even. The jelly should be laid on with 
 a large spatula, (Mr. Peale had one made of 
 wood for the purpose.) After the jelly has dried 
 on the canvas, cover the surface with a coat of 
 the required color ; and when that coat is nearly 
 dry , flatten the surface with the spatula. In 
 this process no brush is necessary. 
 
 Washington Alston told me that his picture 
 of “ Elijah in the Wilderness fed by the Ravens,’' 
 (one of his best works,) was painted with colors 
 ground in skimmed milk. After having ad- 
 vanced his work as far as he could with these 
 means, he varnished with copal, and then finished 
 with ordinary oil colors. 
 
 Charles Leslie made free use of macguilp, 
 even in beginning his pictures. So did Chap- 
 man. 
 
 I am persuaded that it would be a useful 
 practice in oil painting, in order to obtain fresh- 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 37 
 
 ness and decision, to copy from pictures painted 
 in water colors. 
 
 I have found that the following is a pro- 
 portionate division of the field of the canvas. 
 30 by 25 inches. For the portrait of a man 
 of ordinary stature, (say 5 feet 10 inches,) let 
 the corner of the eye be distant from the top 
 of tne canvas 9^ inches. For a female of 
 average height, (say 5 feet 3 inches,) let the 
 corner of the eye be 10 inches from the top of 
 the canvas. This distance must be diminished 
 or increased, as the sitter may be above or 
 below the statures indicated. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds preferred using, for the 
 first sitting for a portrait, only white, yellow, 
 vermilion and black in the flesh. 
 
 In speaking of likeness in portrait-painting, 
 Wilkie once said to me that “it was well to 
 increase the beauty of the complexion and give 
 the appearance of youth, as this in a measure 
 compensated for the want of life and motion/' 
 
 In a portrait every part may be exactly ren- 
 dered, but should be kept subordinate in regard 
 
33 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 to the face. From long experience I know that 
 resemblance in a portrait is essential; but no 
 fault will be found with the artist, (at least by 
 the sitter,) if he improve the appearance. 
 
 Sir Thomas Lawrence was accustomed to 
 paint his common size portraits placed in a 
 broad flat frame painted yellow, which defended 
 the edge of the canvas, and helped him to de- 
 termine how much yellow should be in the 
 picture. Lawrence oiled out the ground when 
 proceeding with his work. He was very exact 
 and particular with the outline ; more so than any 
 painter with whose process I am acquainted. 
 
 Washington Allston always preferred an old 
 picture-frame to the glaring glitter of a new 
 one. 
 
 It seems to me that if the refinement of a 
 portrait is carried too far, the identity of the 
 sitter may be lost ; it then ceases to be valu- 
 able as a likeness, whatever it may be as a 
 picture. 
 
 Mr. Trott (an ingenious miniature-painter who 
 was very intimate with Gilbert Stuart) told me 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 39 
 
 that Stuart recommended to the painter, to draw 
 that side of the face at which the nose presents 
 its handsomest outline. I myself have heard 
 Stuart say that he considered the nose the most 
 important feature in giving the likeness to a 
 portrait. I am sorry to differ in opinion from 
 so great a master, but my experience does not 
 prove it to be so. I believe the mouth to be 
 the most important feature in forming the re- 
 semblance. 
 
 When I visited Allston in 1835, he mentioned, 
 in the course of a conversation upon art, that 
 his method in painting was much more simple 
 than formerly. He had in a great degree ban- 
 ished process, finding it better to use the simplest 
 means to produce an effect of color. He dis- 
 approved of using raw umber in flesh tints, 
 (a color much used by me.) He preferred, as 
 a shade tint, a mixture of Indian red or ver- 
 milion, Antwerp blue or blue-black, and yellow 
 ochre and white. He never used Prussian blue. 
 He employed Naples yellow in flesh, also Ve- 
 netian red. 
 
40 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 After this conversation, I for some time aban- 
 doned the use of raw umber, but finally replaced 
 it on my palette, and have found no reason to 
 regret it. 
 
 Talking of the motion of waves, Allston re- 
 marked that the water always breaks in an 
 angular form ; 
 
 Sir Martin Archer Shee condemned the use 
 of yellow ochre in flesh. He considered burnt 
 terra sienna quite yellow enough, and for a very 
 swarthy complexion he glazed over the flesh 
 with asphaltum, and while glazing retouched 
 with a set of colors prepared for the purpose. 
 Umber he discarded. Venetian red was a favor- 
 ite color in flesh, also lake. For the sake of 
 durability, he thinks that glazing should be spa- 
 ringly used. He observed to me that as colors 
 were liable to change to a yellow or brown hue, 
 due allowance should be made for this in the 
 first instance. 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 41 
 
 It is recommended, in imitating a dark com- 
 plexion, to mix asphaltum with white, and to 
 use, in preparing your palette, only the white 
 thus reduced. 
 
 Benjamin West advised the use of Spanish 
 brown mixed with white, as a flesh tint. By a 
 sort of accident I have made use of it in one 
 or two portraits, and have found it an excellent 
 color. I believe it will not change. 
 
 I have had occasion to remark that sober 
 colors, employed in a large picture, produce 
 great richness. 
 
 In retouching flesh tints, I find it better to 
 prepare the surface by scumbling the lights and 
 glazing the shadows, than by oiling the surface, 
 since oiling where the new paint has not touched 
 it, will become yellow after a time. The practice 
 of scumbling and glazing may often be repeated 
 with advantage to the picture ; it will give soft- 
 ness and depth of effect. Even the hair will be 
 much improved in silkiness of texture by this 
 treatment. 
 
 Allston strenuously recommended solid paint- 
 
42 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 ing in tinting flesh, especially for a large picture 
 to be seen at a distance. “ Paint/’ said he, “ pure, 
 decided tints ; if they are too raw, you may cor- 
 rect them by scumbling. Glaze at pleasure.” 
 Again he said, “Never use brown drapery to 
 a dark or yellow complexion ; it will make it 
 look like a snuff-bag.” He recommended me 
 to use a very slight glazing or toning over 
 every portrait I painted. Generally speaking, 
 he thought asphaltum most fit for the purpose. 
 Any opinion on the subject of painting from 
 Allston, is entitled to grave consideration. 
 
 I found that beeswax was sometimes used 
 by the English painters, prepared by boiling 
 the honeycomb and extracting the wax with 
 care. Next, it is bleached in the sun, in ordei 
 to mix it with mastic varnish, with which it is 
 used in painting. It should be melted by itself 
 and the varnish poured upon it. If a small 
 lump of this mixture is united with the white 
 paint, all the other colors of the palette will, in 
 painting, partake of it. No other liquid must 
 be used while painting with this. 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS . 
 
 43 
 
 In April, 1822, I made a copy from Hogarth’s 
 “ Gate of Calais,” and painted most of the pic- 
 ture in colors tempered with wax; especially the 
 figure of the Scotchman, which (except a slight 
 effect of burnt umber in the'commencement) 
 was entirely painted with wax in the colors, 
 prepared as follows : — To a dessert spoonful of 
 mastic varnish add a piece of bleached wax, 
 melted by the fire ; when cold, the mixture will 
 form a thin jelly, which may either be used as 
 a macguilp, by tempering it with oil, or with the 
 colors ground in oil.* 
 
 Sir William Beechey had a custom of tem- 
 pering his colors with a mixture of japan ner’s 
 gold-size and turpentine. He usually declined 
 the use of any liquid in which to dip his brush, 
 preferring to temper his color with the palette- 
 knife. When finishing a picture, no matter how 
 large it might be, he brushed it over with a 
 
 * Mr. Sully has left no record of the result of this method as far as 
 the “ Gate of Calais ” is concerned ; but he painted one other picture, 
 (a family portrait,) in the same manner, and in fifty years (1872) the 
 colors flake off, defying all efforts at restoration or cleaning. 
 
44 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PA TNTERS. 
 
 mixture of spirits of turpentine and drying-oil, 
 adding upon this the gold-size and turpentine, 
 upon which, while they are moist, he retouched 
 the work. The process served as a varnish. 
 I feel persuaded The practice is bad. Benjamin 
 West tried this process upon his picture of 
 “ Christ Healing the Sick,” and the evil result 
 of it is now visible. 
 
 Toning the picture is a general practice. 
 Beechey always oiled the surface slightly be- 
 fore toning. Sometimes he used burnt sienna 
 (very thin), oiling again as soon as it was dry, 
 and then toning a second time with a mixture 
 of blue, lake and brown, making an ink color. 
 In this process the brush should be moved from 
 corner to corner. 
 
 Trumbull condemned the practice of toning 
 pictures, and thought a better plan to produce 
 a desired hue in the work, was to mix with 
 white a tint of the required tone, and while 
 
 t 
 
 painting the picture to use no other white than 
 this on your palette. 
 
 Correggio generally painted on a ground of 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 45 
 
 pearly tint, composed of Indian red, black and 
 white. 
 
 Titian’s grounds were usually of burnt umber 
 and white, which is the nearest approach to the 
 half tint of nature. 
 
 Rubens used a white ground, and his color- 
 ing, which is uncommonly rich, is like metal, 
 compared with the truth and purity of Titian. 
 
 The English painters in the early part of this 
 century employed absorbent grounds ; and near- 
 ly all imported canvases now are absorbent. 
 
 I inspected carefully the manner pursued by 
 Rubens in the conduct of a picture. The fairest 
 fl£sh tints were, in the high lights, Naples yellow 
 and white, going off into shadow by mixing with 
 the neutral tint (composed of black, white and 
 vermilion, or Indian red). The next degree of 
 shadow is of this neutral tint and Venetian red, 
 and the darkest shade is a mixture of burnt 
 ' umber and Venetian red. Over this are broken 
 some tints of blue and white. The olive and 
 white in the half shadows, and the same with a 
 burnt sienna hue. The Venetian red and white 
 
4 6 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTER* 
 
 is broken here and there over the flesh, which 
 gives a true effect. An arm had, in the finishing, 
 some blue and white scumbled thinly over the 
 light, and, while wet, some touches of Venetian 
 red and white w r ere broken into it, as on the 
 elbow, wrist and 'fingers. The next degree of 
 darker flesh had the broad light of Venetian red 
 and white going into shade by use of the olive 
 tint ; this, again, strengthened with Venetian red, 
 for the half shade. The extreme dark shade in 
 the flesh is of burnt umber and Venetian or 
 Indian red. The first shade (the olive tint) is 
 corrected with the neutral tint. Very dark flesh 
 is of burnt brown ochre and white, for the broad 
 tint ; the high light of brown ochre and white. 
 The half shade is of the olive tint, and the ex- 
 treme dark, of burnt umber and Indian red. 
 
 In comparing the different works of Rubens 
 I have seen in London and Paris, I could not 
 detect in his method any toning over flesh. 
 
 After a strict examination of the best pictures, 
 the benefit to be derived from them is to draw 
 such conclusions as may in future serve for fixed 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 47 
 
 rules of practice, taking care not to be amused 
 with trifles, but learning to regard the excel- 
 lences chiefly. In every picture an artist should 
 consider from whence that fine effect or that ill 
 effect proceeds. Thus every picture, good or 
 bad, may conduce to his profit. 
 
 Sometimes a painter by seeking for attitudes 
 too much, becomes cold and insipid, or affected. 
 This is the case with those who would have 
 every figure in fine action ; they lose sight 
 of nature. 
 
 In general, all the shadows should be of one 
 color, and the lights only to be distinguished by 
 different tints ; at least it should be so when the 
 background of the picture is dark. 
 
 Benjamin West made his preparatory sketches 
 on paper with burnt umber and a reed pen, put- 
 ting in the effect also with the umber. Next, he 
 brushed over with size, and then retouched with 
 oil colors. 
 
 For sketches, or even for studies, in oil colors, 
 I find it has answered well to paint with colors 
 that have been ground in but little oil. In paint- 
 
48 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 ing with these, dilute them with spirits of turpen- 
 tine, and use the preparations as if they were 
 water colors. Such sketches were frequently 
 made by Wilkie. He showed me several which 
 were in his portfolio with engravings and draw- 
 ings, and they were wholly free from the sticki- 
 ness that always accompanies mere oil colors. 
 
 The best panels for the painter’s use are 
 made of oak or of straight-grained mahogany. 
 Poplar panels, when used at all, should be 
 painted on the back and edges. Poplar is, 
 however, a treacherous material. It is apt to 
 warp or split. It will shrink ; and if, as is some- 
 times the case, there is a knot in the wood, this 
 knot will probably contain turpentine, which will 
 penetrate any covering of paint, even though it 
 should be an inch thick. 
 
 The evil effect of a very small knot in the 
 panel can be overcome, it is said, by rubbing 
 the place with garlic, before painting, but I 
 should not like to trust to this expedient. 
 
 Grind white in spirits of turpentine, and drop 
 in about one-fifth part of copal varnish. This 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 49 
 
 mixture was used by Shaw to load the promi- 
 nent lights of his pictures, which is best done 
 when the outline is fixed. I used it with great 
 satisfaction in the large picture I painted of 
 “ Washington Crossing the Delaware,” (now in 
 the Boston Museum,) and in 1851 it has not 
 failed, although painted many years ago. 
 
 Trumbull resorted to an odd expedient to 
 protect his pictures, in the Capitol at Wash- 
 ington, from the dampness of the walls. He 
 covered the back of the canvases with a thick 
 coat of beeswax dissolved in spirits of turpen- 
 tine. The solution when cold was as thick as 
 a jelly. 
 
 At Hartford I once saw in the possession of 
 Daniel Wardsworth, Esq., a picture painted by 
 Trumbull when he was eighteen years of age, 
 and it was quite fresh-looking. It had been 
 painted with only drying-oil and turpentine, and 
 had lasted many years unchanged. 
 
 Good tracing-paper is made by dissolving 
 rosin in spirits of turpentine. Brush the mix- 
 ture over tissue-paper, and hang it on a line 
 
50 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 to dry. Both sides of the paper should be 
 coated with the mixture. 
 
 Brushes, when not in use, may be protected 
 from the ravages of the mot'h by dipping them 
 slightly in olive oil. 
 
 The painter in water colors should use dis- 
 tilled or rain water. Rose water is safe and 
 agreeable. 
 
 In the year 1823, being on a visit to Balti- 
 more, Mr. Robert Gilmore lent me a letter 
 which he had received from Sir Thomas 
 Lawrence (dated London, 1820) on the sub- 
 ject of art, and accompanying two portraits 
 which he had painted of Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
 more. The following is an exact copy of its 
 contents : 
 
 “I have at length the pleasure to send you 
 the pictures, on the finishing of which I have 
 bestowed more time than — unless you are well 
 acquainted with the difficulties of art in the prac- 
 tice of self-distrusting artists — you would readily 
 imagine. You must forgive me if, considering 
 these portraits to be of my best productions, 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 5 1 
 
 1 appear a little solicitous about their fate when 
 you receive them, and send you one or two 
 directions to be observed on their arrival. When 
 the case is opened, let the pictures be placed 
 for two or three days in the open air, but, 
 observe, the sun may not visit them. Let 
 them be carefully washed with a sponge and 
 rather warm water, and, as carefully, imme- 
 diately dried. 
 
 “ As the varnish might possibly be chilled on 
 the voyage, I have sent them unvarnished, and 
 the pictures will be the better for it. Let them 
 be varnished with simple Mastic Varnish, in pro- 
 curing which I cannot but think it advisable to 
 have the assistance of a good chemist, instead 
 of trusting for it to a common color-shop. The 
 Mastic should be picked from the finest part 
 of the gum. I should wish to ’be indebted 
 to some ingenious artist for the trouble of 
 varnishing them, for he would do it with 
 more care and delicacy than others ; I will re- 
 turn the service when his pictures arrive in 
 England. 
 
 4 
 
52 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 “ If, before they are hung up, you wish to 
 show them to your friends for their inspection, 
 let them be so placed that the light may fall 
 upon them from the left of the spectator, (no 
 matter on which side it appears to come 
 in the picture,) and forming an angle to that 
 light. And when they are to be hung up, re- 
 member that a light-blite , gray or drab-colored 
 ground is the most unfavorable for pictures.* 
 My thus attempting to give them every ad- 
 vantage when they arrive at their place of 
 destination is but the extension of that solici- 
 tude to make my works as nearly perfect as 
 my defective ability permits, which I may with 
 truth say, has never left me for the last fifteen 
 years of my professional life. 
 
 “ The art may be pursued creditably with little 
 of present effort on the knowledge required by 
 easy practice ; but its highest enjoyment is lost, 
 and its future recompense a dream, unless it 
 tasks the full exertion of the faculties. It is, 
 
 * Lawrence preferred a crimson or strawberry-colored wall for bis 
 pictures. 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 53 
 
 perhaps more than any other pursuit, that 
 figurative stream on which no one can remain 
 stationary with suspended oar. Inculcate this 
 truth, my dear sir, to any young man whose 
 merit may deserve and whose circumstances 
 may need your patronage. (To experienced 
 artists I do not presume to speak, for I know 
 I hut use their language.) Tell him that one 
 concentrated effort toward successful completion 
 is worth a hundred sketches, and, above all, that 
 in the correction of his defects, he must be con- 
 tent to see with the eyes of others, (so that his 
 selection of advisers be good,) and even to do 
 violence to his own perceptions, since it was 
 originally from their error that the fault existed. 
 Believe me that the most valuable present you 
 can make to a young man of real merit, is the 
 Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds ; I mean his Dis- 
 courses and his Journal to the Low Countries. 
 These, which are in no part infested with 
 idle, fanciful theories, will elevate his notions 
 to the true philosophy of art, even in its infe- 
 rior department, and emancipate his mind 
 
54 
 
 HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 from the thraldom of those narrow conceptions 
 with which the infancy of art has so long to 
 struggle. 
 
 ‘ For he who servilely creeps after sense, 
 
 Is safe, but ne’er arrives at excellence.’ 
 
 “These are the lines of one of our Poets, and 
 they apply as forcibly to the painters’ art. 
 
 “ I feel a grateful interest in the progress of 
 painting in America ; I hope I have a desire for 
 it everywhere. But I am deeply sensible to 
 obligation, and from America I have received 
 an unsolicited professional distinction which has 
 been rendered more valuable to me by the 
 commissions which accompanied it, and the 
 hands through which it was conveyed. I wish 
 that the few efforts of my pencil that I send to 
 it would better convey my sense of the high 
 honor it has done me, and better justify its 
 kindness ; but if any practical attention to my 
 advice may aid the authority of great names, 
 and make the opinions of Reynolds the standard 
 of criticism and taste in the better circles among 
 
HINTS TO YOUNG PAINTERS. 
 
 55 
 
 you, the defects of my pencil will be atoned, 
 and my obligation be half repaid. 
 
 “Very sincerely, etc., etc., 
 
 “T. Lawrence.” 
 
 * By the kindness of Mr. Gilmore, Mr. Sully was permitted to copy 
 one of these pictures, Mr. G.’s portrait. It was copied as closely as 
 possible, touch for touch, and is now in the possession of the artist’s 
 heirs. The original is pronounced by competent judges to be one of 
 Lawrence’s noblest works.