Detail
One reason why it is as well not to give very much detail is that, no matter how much is given, the eye will always want more; it will know very well that it is not being paid in full. On the other hand, no matter how little one gives, the eye will generally compromise by wanting only a little more. In either case the eye will want more, so one may as well stop sooner or later. Sensible painting, like sensible law, sensible writing, or sensible anything else, consists as much in knowing what to omit as what to insist upon. It consists in the tact that tells the painter where to stop.
Painting and Association
Painting is only possible by reason of association’s not sticking to the letter of its bond, so that we jump to conclusions.
The Credulous Eye
Painters should remember that the eye, as a general rule, is a good, simple, credulous organ—very ready to take things on trust if it be told them with any confidence of assertion.
Truths from Nature
We must take as many as we can, but the difficulty is that it is often so hard to know what the truths of nature are.
Accuracy
After having spent years striving to be accurate, we must spend as many more in discovering when and how to be inaccurate.