The River Bank. D. Burleigh Parkhurst.
Half-hour sunset sketch.
"Nature is economical. She puts her lights and darks only where she needs them." Do the same, and use no more effort than will suffice to express that which is most important. The rest will come another time.
Try to keep things simple. Keep the impression of unity; have the sketch one thing only.
Express things as they look. As they look to you and at this time. How they seem to some one else, or seemed at some other time, is not to the point. What you know they are or may be will not help you, but only hinder you in a sketch. The more facts the worse, in sketching. Remember always what a sketch is for. Don't be beguiled into trying to make a picture of it, nor a study of it. Above all, don't try to make a clever thing of it. Make something sincere and purposeful of it, and have it as concise, as terse, as direct, and as expressive of one thing as you can.
Keep Looking.—Always keep your eyes open and your mind receptive; do not be always looking for reasons. Accept the charm as it presents itself; note it, if you have anything handy to express it with; if not, study it, and get something into your mind and memory from it. The simplest way of expressing it, and the simplest elements which cause it, you can study without the materials to preserve it, and you so keep your receptivity and quicken your power of observation.
Your sketch will be more quickly done, directly and more forcefully, if you map out the thing rather deliberately first with a few very exact lines and masses in some way: then you have a free mind to concentrate on the effect. A few values and masses well placed are the things you most want; you can almost always spare time to ensure their exactness by a few measurements and two or three rubs of color first. Of course if the sketch is of a passing gleam you can do nothing but get a few smudges of color. But get them true in value and in color relation; get the glow of it, or you will get nothing.
Canvases of a Size.—In sketching from nature, have the habit of using always the same sized canvases or panels. They pack better, and you learn to know your spaces, and so you do quicker and better work. Make them big enough to do free work on, yet small enough to cover easily, so that you lose no time in mere covering of surface. Ten inches by fourteen is plenty small enough, and fifteen by twenty large enough, for most persons. Suit yourself as to the size, but settle on a size, and stick to it. Nothing is more awkward and inconvenient than to have stacks of canvases of all sizes and shapes.
Always have plenty of sketching materials on hand. You will lose many a good effect which will pass while you are getting your kit ready.
In sketching, avoid details. When you want them, make a study of them. In a sketch they only interfere with frankness of expression. One or two details for the sake of accent only, may be admitted.
Make a frame with your hand, or, better, cut a square hole in a card, and look through it. Decide what is the essence of it, what is vital to the effect, and do that; concentrate on that. Put in what you need for the conveying of that, and leave out everything else.