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 an