i v FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



ters of the field and forest. My sketches in water- 

 color were therefore intentionally impressionistic. 

 I avoided all those petty details which the camera 

 could have given with minute fidelity, and aimed 

 for color and effect, for mass and character. 



Whether the effort was successful or not remains 

 for the reader to judge. At all events the repro- 

 ductions deserve to be kindly received, because 

 color invariably involves such a stupendous amount 

 of labor in the process of duplication (a fact which 

 few appreciate or understand), and mechanical results 

 are so extremely uncertain even in the hands of a 

 skilled workman. But there is one good point about 

 process : it does not superimpose another man's hand 

 between the artist and his reproduced picture. It 

 does not distort his drawing, nor does it ignore his 

 technique ; in fact, it has now proved itself a fair 

 means of attaining both color and form with some 

 degree of fidelity. A mere black-and-white photo- 

 graph fails to tell half the truth of nature. In June, 

 when the maple and the liquidambar are verdant 

 green, the lifeless photograph takes no account of 

 the fact. Nothing short of palette and brush in the 

 hands of an artist can tell the truth about the field 

 and forest on a rare day of June. The lilac shad- 

 ows, the purple tree trunk, the emerald foliage, the 

 cobalt sky, the warm pink tone of the atmosphere 

 on what is commonly called " an artist's day "these 

 are not to be photographed. The colored fire of 



