orm _is certainly all-important_; one cannot study it
enough; _but_ the greater part of _form_ falls within the province of
the tabooed _brush_. The ever-lasting hobby of _contour_ which belongs
to the drawing material is first the _place_ where the _form_ comes in;
what, however, reveals true knowledge of form, is a powerful, organic,
refined finish of modelling, full of feeling and knowledge--and that is
the affair of the brush.

_Leighton._

MANNER

CIV

Manner is always seductive. It is more or less an imitation of what has
been done already, therefore always plausible. It promises the short
road, the near cut to present fame and emolument, by availing ourselves
of the labours of others. It leads to almost immediate reputation,
because it is the wonder of the ignorant world. It is always accompanied
by certain blandishments, showy and plausible, and which catch the eye.
As manner comes by degrees, and is fostered by success in the world,
flattery, &c., all painters who would be really great should be
perpetually on their guard against it. Nothing but a close and continual
observance of nature can protect them from the danger of becoming
mannerists.

_Constable._

CV

Have a holy horror of useless impasto, which gets sticky and dull, turns
blue and heavy. When you have painted a bit of which you are doubtful,
wait till the moment when it will be possible for you to take it out.
Judge it; and if it is condemned, remove it firmly with your
palette-knife, without rubbing by rags which spoil the limpidity of the
pigment. You will have left a delicate foundation, to which you can
return and finish with little labour, because your canvas will have
received a first coating. Loading and massing the pigment is an
abomination. In twenty-four hours gold turns to lead.

_Puvis de Chavannes._

CVI

From the age of six I began to draw, and for eighty-four years I have
worked independently of the schools, my thoughts all the time being
turned towards drawing.

It being impossible to express everything in so small a space, I wished
only to teach the difference between vermilion and crimson lake, between
indigo and green, and also in a general way to teach how to handle round
shapes and square, straight lines and curved; and if one day I make a
sequel to this volume, I shall show children how to render the violence
of ocean, the rush of rapids, the tranquillity of still pools, and among
the living beings