Anonymous

“ We will begin with gall-stone, which is one of the finest and brightest in the world, and it very lasting color, although in face painting it should be sparingly used, its wonderful brilliancy being apt to drown all the other colors, and make the work it is used in too warm in its tints. ”

“ To apply figures, modest, decorative additions for the ornamentation of surfaces, is allowable, as long as they do not clash with the character of the surface; but here the limits that are drawn by the nature of the article are not to be overstepped. For every perspective representation of a figure painted with the application of light and shade intends to deceive the observer; it lifts itself off the surface and no longer works upon our fancy as a part of the surface, but as body. ”

“ Our aim is to combine in this work all the different methods of producing portraits, landscapes, painting on canvas, wood, china, etc., etc., to furnish to all lovers of the useful and beautiful in art a true teacher, making every instruction so plain and comprehensive, that a child can grasp the meaning. In thus combining all these arts in one volume, we save the learner the expense of purchasing a large number of books at a cost which effectually precludes the possibility of many engaging in this profitable and pleasant occupation. ”

“ An objection to coloring photographs, as coloring has hitherto been practiced—that the delicate truthfulness of nature’s drawing was injured, and sometimes a likeness wholly destroyed, through being obscured by the colorist in the working, that the only guarantee of fidelity was the talent of the artist—in the beautifully simple process under consideration with which all the softness, lights, and shadows of the photographs are preserved. ”

“ In the latter, the artist is generally better satisfied with his effort when the picture is complete, than if he followed closely to the laborious work of perfectly copying that which is not altogether interesting. But at the same time the first, that of picturing facts, must form the basis of the art. By it we acquire a knowledge of detail, and store the mind with true nature, which is essential in good work. A true and faithful copy is what is sought after. ”

“ If one was to try with exclusive body colors which do not allow the grain of the wood to penetrate, to attain this ideal of painting, and attempt to create upon wood an actual life-like picture, we would not conceive such an aquarelle, that never can compare with a picture upon paper in softness, just as little as an oil painting upon wood, as wood painting in the general sense. ”

“ You may use water colors on the first glass with good effect.
“By this simple process any person unaccustomed to painting, and ignorant of art, may color photographs, and produce with rapidity and little trouble, effective, permanent, and beautiful pictures, so soft and delicate as to closely resemble painting on enamel; may render the treasured family portrait doubly valuable by adding the warm tints of life to the faithful but cold and deathlike production of the photographer, and produce a pleasing as well as a truthful representation. ”

“ A pure black object is one which absorbs all the light which falls upon it, and reflects none. Such an object will always appear black, whatever may be the color of the light which falls upon it. Gray objects, (pale black) , absorb the three primary rays equally, or in equivalent proportions, but not entirely, so that there is a certain portion of the white light reflected unchanged. A pure green absorbs all the red, and reflects all the yellow and blue. A pale but pure green absorbs only part of the red, and reflects the remainder of the red, together with all the yellow and blue. ”

“ Linear Perspective is the application of the principles of geometry to the accurate delineation of the principal lines of the picture. Drawing on a plain surface an object as it appears, or as it would appear on a pane of glass, held between you and the object.
Perspective is absolutely necessary in drawing from nature, not 11only in perfecting finished work, but in all circumstances. Theoretically, as well as practically, it bears more or less upon all the great requisites of perfection in art. We can by its aid, select our own point of observation, even though it be imaginary. ”

“ The prepared wood takes the softest tint, as well as paper, but the texture of the wood shimmers through the transparent tones, and though the fibres and pores of the same have taken another hue, they still act as wood, and thereby destroy the effect which the artist intended. For it is originally the task of the artist to thus deceive the human sense of vision in such a manner, and so faithfully imitate the appearance of things in nature that the observer must believe himself transported in the midst of reality and actual life, through the activity of fancy ”

“ In oil painting, the dark shadows, or dark portions of the picture, are painted thinly, while the lights are laid on, or “impasted,” with a full pencil and a stiff color. In the lights of the foreground, and of parts not intended to be remote or to “retire,” the impasting should be bold and free; while in the more brilliant lights it cannot well be too solid. The palette knife has always been a favorite instrument of this “impasting,” or laying on of color, capable as it is of producing an agreeable brightness on, and of giving an appropriate flatness to, the pigment. ”

“ Does not a bird, as well as ourselves, accommodate itself to the thing on which it rests? Assuredly it does; for birds do not, as a young bird-stuffer endeavors to do, find always a perch to rest upon in the plane of the horizon. It therefore follows that, as he keeps himself upright, his legs must accommodate themselves to his perch. So in the ground-birds there is a gentle slope backwards from the hind toe, the balance being preserved in both cases by throwing the body forward in proportion. It is not uncommon to see birds preserved with wings and tail spread. ”

“ When the complexion is strong in color, the effect is most agreeable; if worked without hardness, opacity or blackness. In feminine portraits the work must be brought up to the utmost brilliancy of color, by the brightest and freshest hues, composed of White, Naples Yellow, Vermilion and Madder, mellowed with Yellows, or slightly purpled with Lake or Carmine, according to the prevalent tint of the subject. In the masculine subject the colors will be stronger, and the half-tints more positive. ”

“ Allow them to remain in a moderately warm room for a few hours, and you will perceive the buds commencing to expand and open, and soon after you can have the opportunity of beholding a full-blown rose, representing all those beautiful colors with which nature has so wisely endowed it, and sending forth, in all the sweetness and purity of its nature, the most loving and fascinating odors, which is so much desired and sought after by lovers of flowers. ”

“ Grass in seed (not in flower) of various kinds is also a very pretty addition; but bird preservers have a habit of using dyed grass, and yellow and red Xeranthymum, or Everlasting, which is certainly to be avoided, and indeed anything which is unnatural. If it is wished to introduce a lump of earth, or an apparent bank, a piece of thick brown paper, bent to the requisite shape, and glued over and covered with sifted sand or gravel, has a very good effect; but insects and butterflies, or artificial flowers, unless they are extremely natural, should certainly be avoided. ”

“ When the Drawing is Dry, begin with the sky, and heighten or subdue as seems best; give the shade to the clouds, taking care that the indications of shadow, and feature generally, grow lighter the nearer they come to the horizon; the country is distinguished from the sky by outline—a dark touch of blue in the shadows, from the clouds. Dark touches on the roof, chimneys and windows of the cottage, will give it relief from the sky, and give distance to the small objects; they may be made with Vandyke Brown, mixed with Purple Lake. ”

“ A mixture of any two bright primaries will produce a bright secondary, and any admixture of the third primary will make the secondary color produced much duller or blacker. We consider that would be the purest blue which gave the brightest green with yellow, at the same time that it gave the brightest purple with a red, and it was decided that cobalt blue was the pure primary, which was blue with regard to the yellow chosen. It is obvious that if the blue were a greenish blue, although it might give a very bright green with yellow, it would give but a dull purple with the red. ”

“ Kensington art work probably, at the present time, is attracting more attention than the other methods of painting on silk and velvet. Kensington embroidery had its day, and while it has not altogether passed out of use, it is nevertheless, like many other methods of art needle-work, being improved upon, and for the old method of doing the work with the thread, paint is being substituted, which far exceeds the more ancient work in splendor and simplicity. ”

“ In painting the figure of a person, if the eyes are blue, mix Prussian blue and white; for dark eyes or hair, Vandyke brown works with good effect; for flesh color, mix red, white and a little yellow, adding a little more red for lips or cheeks. You may suit your own taste in regard to the color for background, but I will suggest equal parts of blue, red, green, and Vandyke brown, covering all that part which is not connected with the object you have painted. ”

“ In the preservation of the feathers of birds, little else is required to prevent the dissipation of their colors than to keep them as much as possible from air and light. These two agents, which were indispensable to their beauty and perfection in a living state, now exercise their influence as destroyers, and that influence will sooner or later work its ends according to the quality, texture, or color of the object with which it is contending. ”

“ In learning the art of drawing or writing, like all other Arts and Sciences, there are certain first and fixed principles to be observed as a foundation upon which the whole is built. A right understanding of these is absolutely necessary that we may become masters of that art which we undertake to learn. ”

“ A neglect of these first principles is the reason why so many who have spent time sufficient to become accomplished artists, are, after all their pains and loss of time, incapable of producing even fair work; and are often at a loss to know how to begin. Many commence by copying the work of others, and are surprised to find how little such ability avails them when attempting to make sketches from nature. The instruction for those who intend prosecuting this delightful study, is prepared with great care by the author, who has had very many years of experience in landscape drawing. ”

“ It is not the line of perspective alone which makes one portion of a picture retreat, and another come forward.
In the drawing of a round object, apple or ball, the shades fall on the concave part, and incline toward the side opposite to light. All shades of objects in the same picture must fall the same way, or farthest from the light. That part lying nearest to the light must receive the least shade. This rule will be noticed in the face, folds of the drapery, etc. Landscapes show the heaviest shades nearest us, the greater the distance the lighter grows the picture. ”

“ In an evil hour, through neglect in keeping up a poisoned atmosphere, the specimens collected by industry and prepared by art, and which ought to live, as it were, for the admiration of future ages, may fall a prey to an intruding and almost invisible enemy, so that, unless the solution of corrosive sublimate in alcohol is applied, you are never perfectly safe from surprise. ”

“ Some artists simply dip a piece of clean linen cloth, or a flat camel-hair pencil, in oil of turpentine, and brush the pane of glass with it equally over its surface, while others give to the whole a thin clear ground of black glass-painting color, in such manner as not to destroy its transparency, but at most to give it the form of a dead ground glass. ”

“ We shall cite, as an example, the mixture of ivory yellow with carmine, as one of those which decompose in the firing. Other causes act likewise on enamel colors during firing; the intensity, more or less great, of the heat, the thickness, and the amount of oil in the color, the way it is used, etc.
In order to well understand the various influences, and to secure yourself against accidents, you must be continually making tests of the mixtures yourself; it is the only way to paint with safety. ”

“ Serve the wing bones the same as the leg, cutting them off close to the body, and turn the skin inside out down to the head. The back of the skull will then appear, and you will now find it of advantage, as soon as you have got the legs and tail free, to tie a piece of string round the body, and hang it up as a butcher skins a sheep. Make in the back of the skull a cut with your knife, which you can turn back like a trap-door, and with the marrow-spoon entirely clear out the brains; Having done this, wash the interior of the skull thoroughly with the alum, and fill it with cotton wadding. ”

“ The residuum of the unfluxed yellow color may be removed after burning, and again used. This color must never be put over any other, nor over dark shadows, unless these are previously burnt in, but always require a carefully cleaned surface of glass to lie upon; otherwise it would combine with the flux of the under color, whereby the earthy residuum would be fixed, and the transparency and beauty of the whole destroyed.
All pigments must be laid on somewhat darker than in other kinds of painting, as they lose in depth by burning. ”

“ By blending and again drawing with conte, and again glazing as often as may be necessary, we approach the finish of the picture, which is completed by sharp touches of light put in with sharp points of the broken ends of colored crayon. The color should be used sparingly, and the black chalk should appear prominent in the drawing. Do not rub in the colors in finishing or you destroy the effect. The beauty of the work depends upon the paper being perceptible through the final finish. Any markings too sharp, may be worked down by the finger or blender. ”