Results. 337 



RESULTS. 



A FEW words concerning the especial' purpose of 

 this voyage — etching from Nature — may pos- 

 sibly be of use to a few readers who may undertake 

 etching tours. 



No art is more agreeable for direct work from Nature 

 than etching is. The rapidity of it, and its freedom, are 

 greatly in its favor, and so is its remarkable indepen- 

 dence of damp and wet. Many of the plates in this 

 series were immersed in the river, after being etched, 

 when the artist was upset ; others were executed in bad 

 weather, with the rain literally pouring over the copper 

 in a manner which would have rendered any other kind 

 of drawing quite impossible. In the course of the ex- 

 cursion I did sixty plates, from which these are selected. 

 It is better, I think, to be rather prolific in production, 

 and select afterwards the plates which seem most suc- 

 cessful, than to spend much time in correcting bad plates 

 in the studio. My advice to etchers would be to spend 

 time rather in doing many plates than in polishing and 

 mending a few. This may be contrary to the feeling of 

 some painters, who rightly, in their art, obey the maxims 

 of Boileau ; but whatever value an etching may have 

 depends mainly on the inspiration of the moment. If it 

 were only possible to possess that inspiration always, the 



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