David Cox

“ As a teacher he had a wide and wholesome influence because he sought to impress upon his pupils his own sincere belief that nature is and always must be the right source of an artist’s inspiration, and because he tried to make them devout and serious students like himself.
It was essentially from the standpoint of the landscape painter that he approached his teaching. His “Treatise” was intended to guide the student “in the selection of appropriate effects of nature,” or in other words, to point the way to a proper understanding of nature’s subtleties. ”

“ In the lights of a picture, attention to this rule is indispensable, where it is necessary to distinguish, with so much correctness of detail, those very objects which in shadow would permit that intimacy of union which would almost make them appear as one. ”

“ The young draftsman who is ambitious of future eminence must be close in his attention to those minute points which, skilfully combined, constitute the excellence of the painter. In the outset, it will be necessary for him to be particular in his designation of the Outline, for the perfection of which, he must possess a clear conception of his subject; otherwise, be his genius what it may, he will wander wildly, without either promoting his own satisfaction, or conveying a definite or correct idea to the observer. ”

“ Colouring is a distinct and subsequent branch, and is only to be learnt by long and minute observation of the diversified tints and hues of Nature. The principle of Light and Shade, on the contrary, is established by theory. ”

“ If the art in which he excelled had been taught only by the less competent men it would scarcely have secured so quickly such a large measure of recognition; it was the ability of the teachers to prove how great were its possibilities that ensured its acceptance and established its authority.
Still, it must be admitted that many of these men whom we now rank as masters became teachers from necessity rather than choice. At the end of the eighteenth century it was often difficult for a young artist to earn a living ”

“ On the contrary, the structures of greatness and antiquity should be marked by a character of awful sublimity, suited to the dignity of the subject; indenting on the mind a reverential and permanent impression, and giving, at once, a corresponding and unequivocal grandeur to the picture. ”

“ Always, however, he asserts that the way to success lies only through persistent endeavour and unfailing consistency of purpose—“if the mind be fixed and sincere in pursuit of the art, difficulties will be easily surmountable: they will rather quicken than damp the desire for improvement,” and “the accomplishment of one task will only give additional stimulus for the performance of another” are essential articles in the creed which he professed and practised throughout his life. ”

“ Shadow is a diminution of light occasioned by the interposition of some opake body, which receiving and intercepting the light that should be cast on the plane it is placed on, there gives a shadow of its own form: for light being of a communicative nature, diffuses itself on every thing not hid from it, particularly on every thing that is plain and smooth; but where there happens the least elevation, a shadow is produced which exhibits the figure of the illumined part on the plane. ”

“ He had during his childhood some small amount of art training and when he was barely seventeen he began to work as a scene-painter, first in Birmingham, where he was born, and afterwards in London. But even then he was a serious student of nature with ambitions to become a landscape painter, and soon after he came to London he took the opportunity to get some lessons from John Varley in water-colour painting. In this new art he made such satisfactory progress that he gave up his theatrical work, devoting himself, instead, to landscape painting and teaching. ”

“ The best and surest method of obtaining instruction from the Works of others is not so much by copying them, as by drawing the same subjects from Nature immediately after a critical examination of them, while they are fresh in the memory. ”

“ In an age when the patronage extended to the Fine Arts bears a full proportion to the growing expansion of the human mind, and when our National Taste is no longer put out to nurse, an apology for the publication of a new Work, tending to the still more complete elucidation of principles not yet perfectly understood, and giving greater facilities to the labours of the young Artist, will scarcely be considered necessary. ”

“ The union of too great a variety of parts tends to destroy, or at least to weaken the predominance of that which ought to be the principal in the composition; and which the Student, when he comes to the colouring, should be careful to characterise, by throwing upon it the strongest light. In his attention to this rule, however, the Student must be particular not to fall into the opposite extreme, by suffering the leading object of his composition so fully to engross his attention as to render him neglectful of the inferior parts. ”

“ In tracing the distinct objects of a landscape, it is recommended to attend more particularly to the general forms than to detail: for example, in{14} sketching a mountain, it will be sufficient to describe the extreme Outline, without descending to the diversified and numerous ridges which may appear; for although these uneven divisions arrest the attention of the Student, when engaged in tracing the particular form of the eminence, they are lost to the eye which embraces, at one view, the whole of the scene. ”

“ To attain proficiency in the art of pencilling, the Student is recommended to practise Drawing from the casts of the antique, by which study he will acquire a growing facility in the designation of fine forms, as well as a more correct and decided mode of outlining. The Pupil will also find his progress greatly accelerated by the dedication of his leisure moments to copying objects of still life—a practice which will be found replete with advantage, when he studies combinations of subjects for compositions of landscape scenery. ”

“ Every tint should be laid on with clearness and decision, so that the object may receive its proper tone at the first touch of the hair pencil; nor is less skill required in the choice and appropriation of the colours, which should be diversified as much as is consistent with the unison necessary to the production of harmony. Objects which are exposed to the light require a higher finish and more glowing warmth of colour than those which are shrouded in shade ”

“ Turner, De Wint, Cotman and David Cox, and many other men of distinction who were their contemporaries were actively engaged in teaching during some part of their lives and by their genius and experience they raised greatly the standard of popular taste and fostered a feeling for art in social circles. Moreover, by their practice and precept they developed the new art of painting in water colours from a tentative and timid form of expression into something splendidly robust and full of brilliant possibilities. ”

“ A clear and decided Outline possesses a manifest superiority over an imperfect or undecided one, inasmuch as it renders unnecessary those continual references to Nature or to copy, which must be had recourse to, where the Outline is defective. He who devotes his time to the completion of a perfect Outline, when he has gained this point, has more than half finished his piece; while the author of a slovenly Outline creates for himself an infinity of trouble, in order to evade additional errors in the colouring of his subjects ”

“ A greater degree of minuteness, however, ought to be observed in the Outline of the fore-ground of a picture, where the features of the object assume a more specific appearance, shewing decided forms, and obtruding all their diversities of shape upon the view. To obtain excellence in this respect, it will be necessary to make correct drawings from Nature, of weeds, plants, bark of trees, and such objects as usually constitute the foreground of a landscape. ”

“ The effect having been studied in Sepia or Indian ink, in the Colouring of his subject the young Student should be particularly attentive to the adaptation of his colours to the composition and effect of the piece. In{19} Morning and Evening effects we naturally look towards the light which at those periods of the day is marked by a mild beauty which gratifies and attracts, yet divested of that dazzling noontide effulgence which weakens and repulses, the eye. Those objects which are seen against the strongest light must wear a neutral tint, which may be termed negative harmony ”

“ If an excuse were sought for, however, the Publishers would confidently point to the acknowledged eminence of the Author of the production which they have the honour to propose to the notice of the world; to the new and interesting principles which it will develope; and to the extent and excellence of the examples with which it will abound. To an enlightened and liberal public, possessing ability to discriminate, and spirit to reward talent, it is unnecessary to urge any additional claims to their attention and support. ”

“ All the lights in a picture should be composed of warm tints, except they fall on a glossy or reflective surface; such as laurel leaves, glazed utensils, etc., which should be cool, and the lights small, to give them a sparkling appearance: but care must be taken not to introduce a cold colour in the principal light, which, as already mentioned, should be thrown upon the leading feature of a picture, as it conduces to destroy the breadth that should be preserved; while on the contrary, the opposition or proximity of a cool to a warm colour assists greatly in giving brilliancy to the lights. ”

“ Drawing and water-colour painting were reckoned as elegant accomplishments which formed a necessary part of a{2} polite education, and there was not only a host of amateurs who were ready to learn but a number of professional students as well with a real desire to become proficient in a new and attractive form of practice in which art patrons and collectors were showing themselves to be much interested. ”

“ It is, of course, in his work, in the things he creates, that he gives the complete expression of his convictions and that the full product of his experience is embodied, but by the aid of words he is able not only to declare the intention by which his expression has been directed but also to explain the technical processes which have enabled him to arrive at his results. ”

“ In landscapes which may have been selected solely with a view to the display of some particular object, and which are low, and, on the whole, less prolific in interest, and less gratifying to the eye, than others might have been, an additional feature of interest should be thrown into the sky, to aid, by the contrast it would afford, the effect of the whole, which otherwise might appear unsatisfactory ”

“ The mind will ever be busily and pleasingly employed; for “the effect of every object that meets a Painter’s eye may give him a lesson.”
ON LIGHT AND SHADE, AND EFFECT.
It is here that the Art begins to display its varied and inexhaustible beauties, and to reward the patient and improving Student. The outline being completed in the manner prescribed by the foregoing instructions, Light and Shade, and Effect, should be studied in sepia or Indian ink, by which a clearer conception of each will be acquired than if practised in colours ”

“ It ought to be observed as an invariable rule, that the pencil should be tolerably full of colour, in order that it may float, which will give clearness to the work. After having gone over the whole in the shadows, the Learner will mix a tint something lighter than each shadow, which must be used upon the lights in blending the dark into the lights, such as in fractured stone, brick, broken plaister, etc., and in those parts of trees where it is required to break the shadows into the light branches by small touches ”

“ The diversity of luminaries occasions a difference of shadows; for if the body that illumines be larger than the body illumined, the shadow will be less than the body. If they be equal, the shadow will be equal to the illumined; and if the luminary be less than the object, the shadow will be continually enlarging as it goes farther off. ”

“ In the selection of a subject from Nature, the Student should ever keep in view the principal object which induced him to make the sketch: whether it be mountains, castle, groupes of trees, corn-field, river scene, or any other object, the prominence of this leading feature in the piece should be duly supported throughout ”

“ Such force and expression should be displayed, as would render the effect, at the first glance, intelligible to the observer. Merely to paint, is not enough; for where no interest is felt, nothing can be more natural than that none should be conveyed. ”

“ Teaching, badly paid as it was, was a very real help and the man who could secure a good connection in schools and among private pupils was able to maintain himself while he was waiting to find buyers for his works. If the patrons{3} failed to appear he remained a teacher to the end of his days, counting himself fortunate if he was able to hold his own against the competition of younger men who were ready to oust him from his place. ”

“ Any little failure must not be made the source of discouragement; and in case the Student should not have succeeded altogether so well as could be wished, in the first attempt, he ought by all means to persevere until completely successful ”

“ Morning Effect should be produced by sparkling and catching lights. A scene on the banks of a river is here intended to produce the effect, while the clear reflection of the different objects in the water gives stillness to the scene; and the people crossing in the ferry-boat to market is an incident which materially tends to stamp the character and elucidate the effect of the picture. ”

“ The diversity and character of these Examples, combined with the sound and simple instruction which will be found in these Numbers, will render it a most desirable object of study, not only to the fashionable Amateur, but to the young Artist whose disposition and ambition urge him on in pursuit of professional eminence. All speculative and uncertain theories will be cast aside, to make room for tried rules and solid principles ”