The outline being made very correct, the Pupil will mix up three or four different shades, according to the number of distances there may be in the copy, and carefully match them to each, commencing with the sky, and keeping the drawing-board a good deal sloped, which will assist the tint to follow the pencil in the part where he is at work. He will also be particularly careful always to lay it on clear to the outline. After he has gone over the sky, in all the principal parts, sufficient to produce the effect, he will next proceed to lay in all the shades, or masses of shadow, which usually form the general effect of the composition; beginning always with the third distance in the landscape; afterwards the second or middle distance; and then working the fore-ground in the same way. It ought to be observed as an invariable rule, that the pencil should be tolerably full of colour, in order that it may float, which will give clearness to the work. After having gone over the whole in the shadows, the Learner will mix a tint something lighter than each shadow, which must be used upon the lights in blending the dark into the lights, such as in fractured stone, brick, broken plaister, etc., and in those parts of trees where it is required to break the shadows into the light branches by small touches; which will give a finish to the appearance of the drawing, and soften or blend together any parts which may appear too abrupt. In the finishing, a dark shade should be mixed up, with which those parts in the shadows which require to be marked out in the outline may be finished up; and a proper depth should be given to the dark parts: but care should be taken not to use this dark tint in any bright light, as it would render the part harsh, and unpleasant to the eye.
It must be observed, that in putting on all tints or shadows the Student must accustom himself to working with his board straight before him; and in laying on his tints, must be particularly careful to begin by laying them close to the outline, and not by repeated touches, or dragging the pencil backward and forward in a timid manner, without any decided method—a fault that is chiefly owing to the outline not being made correct; for where the Pupil has made a correct and decided outline, all timidity vanishes, and he will work with spirit and freedom. The reverse is the cause of so many failures in the commencement of the Art.
ON COLOURING.
The effect having been studied in Sepia or Indian ink, in the Colouring of his subject the young Student should be particularly attentive to the adaptation of his colours to the composition and effect of the piece. In Morning and Evening effects we naturally look towards the light which at those periods of the day is marked by a mild beauty which gratifies and attracts, yet divested of that dazzling noontide effulgence which weakens and repulses, the eye. Those objects which are seen against the strongest light must wear a neutral tint, which may be termed negative harmony; for were they to be garbed in the rich and full-dress liveries of Nature, the influence of the lustres behind them would in a great measure be rendered nugatory, and the effect weak and full of error: on the contrary, in the representation of broad sunshine or mid-day, those parts of the piece which are visited by, but not seen against, strong lights, will admit of a rich and beautiful harmony of colour, without doing violence to truth, or infringing on the economy of Nature; and this may be called positive harmony, or a picture of colour.
Every tint should be laid on with clearness and decision, so that the object may receive its proper tone at the first touch of the hair pencil; nor is less skill required in the choice and appropriation of the colours, which should be diversified as much as is consistent with the unison necessary to the production of harmony. Objects which are exposed to the light require a higher finish and more glowing warmth of colour than those which are shrouded in shade; while the minutest parts of the former ought to be touched with the utmost care, so as to render visible and striking all that the broad and bright radiance of the sun may be supposed to develope. The latter will admit of a less laboured and less perfect delineation. In the lights of a picture, attention to this rule is indispensable, where it is necessary to distinguish, with so much correctness of detail, those very objects which in shadow would permit that intimacy of union which would almost make them appear as one.
The light aerial tints should be laid on the remotest parts of a picture, gradually brightening into more rich and decided tones as they approach the nearer and more prominent objects; taking care to preserve the same atmosphere throughout the picture.
TEMPLE OF FANCY[C]
In times so uncommon, so big with events,
So hard on the poor, and so hurtful to trade,
So fruitful with bunches of catchpenny-gents,
When fortunes immense by Gass-lights are made,
When Tunnels are carried quite under the Thames,
And Hampstead and Highgate are each to be bor’d,
When ev’ry Profession is teeming with schemes,
And Cattle are free from the murrain insur’d;
A plain honest Tradesman who keeps out of debt,
Whose name is not seen in the London Gazette,
May linger unnoticed, his labours unknown,
Till Puff or Advertisement gives him the Ton.
Now be it thus known to all Persons of Fashion,
And others of Rank, Pretension, or Station,
Or Box Lobby Loungers, or rich plodding Cits,
Who live by their acres, or exist by their wits:
And so it be known to the few who have spirit
And means to call forth the exertions of merit—
Who kindly bestow their time and attention
On the labours of Art and the works of Invention:
That Fancy, a Goddess by Artists respected,
In the Place of Rathbone has a Temple erected,
And thither her Vot’ries are ask’d to repair,
To lounge away time, or drive away care;
There pleasing politeness invites at the door,
Whose mystical Number is Thirty and Four.
The Temple’s interior by Fancy is grac’d
With efforts of Art, and productions of Taste;
Where Science and Genius have happily blended
The things which for shew and for use are intended;
There the Ladies will beautiful Work Tables find,
Or Plateaus, or Cabinets, form’d to their mind,
Bedeck’d with Medallions, or finish’d with Borders,
And varnish’d and polish’d according to orders;
Writing Desks, Netting Boxes, Tunbridge Tea Caddies,
For the Beaux pretty Housewives, and Screens for the Ladies;
Collections of Prints, and new Publications,
With Drawings and Sketches of latest new Fashions;
Designs rich and various, each fancy to suit,
Of Figures, of Insects, of Flowers, and of Fruit,
Of Cattle, of Trees, and of Songsters that warble,
With Articles fashion’d to imitate Marble;
Transparencies fitted to look like stain’d glass,
And Blinds which the long-fam’d Venetian surpass;
Rich Borders and Papers for Walls or Partitions,
And Ovals and Circles for Mathematicians;
For the soft billet-doux Pens, Paper and Ink,
And Ladies of Taste may dye with the Pink;
There Soldiers with Trophies may gladden their souls,
And Sailors may quickly arrive at the Poles;
There Ladies with Colours may heighten their graces,
And Loungers with Bronze may replenish their faces;
In the best-finish’d state Bristol Boards are prepar’d;
And there may be found each description of Card,
For the Lady who visits, or to parties invites,
And Cards for the Clubs both at Brookes’s and White’s.
In short, at this Temple the Public will meet
With Articles fanciful, useful, and neat,
Which there will in tasteful profusion abound,
And FULLER and FULLER will always be found.
PLATE I.