masters of light and shade, and imperfect artists, is the
power of the former to draw so delicately as to express form in a
dark-colored object with little light, and in a light-colored object
with little darkness; and it is better even to leave the forms here and
there unsatisfactorily rendered than to lose the general relations of
the great masses. And this, observe, not because masses are grand or
desirable things in your composition (for with composition at present
you have nothing whatever to do), but because it is a fact that things
do so present themselves to the eyes of men, and that we see paper,
book, and inkstand as three separate things, before we see the wrinkles,
or chinks, or corners of any of the three. Understand, therefore, at
once, that no detail can be as strongly expressed in drawing as it is in
reality; and strive to keep all your shadows and marks and minor
markings on the masses, lighter than they appear to be in Nature; you
are sure otherwise to get them too dark. You will in doing this find
that you cannot get the projection of things sufficiently shown; but
never mind that; there is no need that they should appear to project,
but great need that their relations of shade to each other should be
preserved. All deceptive projection is obtained by partial exaggeration
of shadow; and whenever you see it, you may be sure the drawing is more
or less bad: a thoroughly fine drawing or painting will always show a
slight tendency towards flatness.

71. Observe, on the other hand, that, however white an object may be,
there is always some small point of it whiter than the rest. You must
therefore have a slight tone of gray over everything in your picture
except on the extreme high lights; even the piece of white paper, in
your subject, must be toned slightly down, unless (and there are
thousand chances against its being so) it should all be turned so as
fully to front the light. By examining the treatment of the white
objects in any pictures accessible to you by Paul Veronese or Titian,
you will soon understand this.[15]

72. As soon as you feel yourself capable of expressing with the brush
the undulations of surfaces and the relations of masses, you may proceed
to draw more complicated and beautiful things.[16] And first, the boughs
of trees, now not in mere dark relief, but in full rounding. Take the
first bit of branch or stump that comes to hand, with a fork in it; cut
off the ends of the forking br