A system of copying, or rather borrowing from the works of others, some point, 'from which the imagination may rise and take flight,' is a manner commonly pursued by our best painters. This method is that of really making it our own, by judicious efforts, without the risk of the imputation of plagiarism, which I shall endeavour to make appear.
By the contemplation of what is good in others, 'a sense of the higher excellencies of art will by degrees dawn on the imagination; at every review that sense will become more and more assured, and the artist will then find no difficulty in fixing in his own mind the principles by which the impression is produced; which he will feel and practice, though they are perhaps too delicate and refined to be conveyed to the mind by any other means.'
Sir Joshua, speaking of the great examples of Art, says, 'These are the materials on which Genius is to work, and without which the strongest intellect may be fruitlessly or deviously employed. By studying these authentic models, that idea of excellence which is the result of the accumulated experience of past ages, may be at once acquired; and the tardy and obstructed progress of our predecessors may teach us a shorter and easier way. The student perceives at one glance the principles which many artists have spent their whole lives in ascertaining; and, satisfied with their effect, is spared the painful investigation by which they came to be known and fixed.'
The greatest painters are continually making such memoranda as may be called copying, either from the works of antiquity, or those of their cotemporaries.
Beginning with nothing, we must borrow until we can pay the debt.
'The sagacious imitator does not content himself with merely remarking what distinguishes the different manner or genius of each master; he enters into the contrivance in the composition, how the masses of lights are disposed, the means by which the effect is produced, how artfully some parts are lost in the ground, others boldly relieved, and how all these are mutually altered and interchanged, according to the reason and scheme of the work. He admires not the harmony of colouring alone, but examines by what artifice one colour is a foil to its neighbour; he looks close into the tints, examines of what colours they are composed, till he has formed clear and distinct ideas, and has learnt to see in what harmony and good colouring consists. What is learned in this manner from the works of others becomes really our own, sinks deep, and is never forgotten.
'If the excellence of a picture consists in its general effect, it would be proper to make slight sketches of the machinery and general management of the work. Those sketches should be kept always by you for the regulation of your style. Instead of copying the touches of those great masters, copy only their conceptions. Instead of treading in their footsteps, endeavour only to keep the same road. Labour to invent on their general principles and way of thinking. Possess yourself with their spirit: and work yourself into a belief that your picture is to be seen and criticised by them, when completed. Even an attempt of this kind will rouse your powers.' Again—'But as mere enthusiasm will carry you but a little way, what I propose is, that you should enter into a kind of competition, by painting a similar subject, and making a companion to any picture that you consider as a model; place them together and compare them carefully, and you will detect the deficiencies in your own more sensibly than by any other means of instruction. The true principles of painting will mingle with your thoughts, which will be certain and definitive, and sink deep into the mind. This method of comparing your own efforts with those of some great master, is indeed a severe and mortifying task; to go voluntarily to a tribunal where he knows his vanity must be humbled, and all self-approbation must vanish, requires not only great resolution, but great humility! but it is attended with this alleviating circumstance, which abundantly compensates for the mortification of present disappointment, every discovery he makes, every acquisition to knowledge he attains, seems to proceed from his own sagacity, and thus he acquires confidence in himself, sufficient to keep up the resolution of perseverance. And we prefer those instructions which we have given to ourselves, from our affection to the instructor.'
The perception of errors shortens the road to truth. 'Cease to follow any master when he ceases to excel.' Avoid that narrowness and poverty of conception which attends a bigoted admiration of a single master! We will suppose 'those perfections which lie scattered among various masters, are now united in one general idea, which is henceforth to regulate his taste and enlarge his imagination, extending his capacity to more general instructions, he must now consider the art itself as his master. At all times, and in all places, he should be employed in laying up materials for the exercise of his art, to be combined and varied as occasion may require; seeking only to know and combine excellence, wherever it is to be found, into one idea of perfection; and employing the most subtle disquisition to discriminate perfections that are incompatible with each other. The habitual dignity which long converse with the greatest minds has imparted to him, will display itself in all his attempts, and he will stand among his instructors, not as an imitator, but a rival. The more extensive your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention; and, what will appear still more like a paradox, the more original will be your conceptions.'
Again:—'By the devotion with which many study a particular master, they acquire a habit of thinking the same way; therefore, let his faults always be your best instructors.'
The firm, correct and determined pencil of many of the Dutch masters, cannot be too strongly recommended for imitation. I speak of the mechanism of painting: the expression, force and energy they gave to their works, from the decision of touch and handling, which enabled them to give that look of nature and freshness of reality to their studies, that forms so great an excellence in their performances. The study of Ostade, Teniers, and many others of that school, cannot fail to enrich our own works with variety of invention, and 'those who have not looked out for themselves in this manner from time to time, have not only ceased to advance and improve, but have invariably gone backward, from being left without resources;' and having gathered nothing, have nothing to work upon—from an inability to infuse into their own works what they have neglected to learn from the contemplation of the works of others. It places you under the guidance of your own judgment and discretion by comparison with the best efforts of others; it enables you 'to criticise, compare, and rank their works in your own estimation, as they approach to, or recede from, the standard of perfection which you have formed in your own mind—but which those masters themselves have taught you to make, and which you will cease to make with correctness when you cease to study them. It is their excellencies which have taught you their defects, and you will, henceforth, be your own teacher.' Be cautious against the 'imaginary powers of native genius, and sufficiency in yourself, which seldom fails to produce either a vain confidence or a sluggish despair, both equally fatal to all proficiency.