Nature and Art, September 1, 18GG.] 
ART NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT. 
115 
the cottages to greater advantage. Whenever there 
are masses of tones inclining to orange, citrine or 
red, it is necessary to have some corresponding 
masses of gi-ey, in order to establish a requisite 
amount of repose and quiet ; but these must be so 
treated as not to disturb or check the harmony by 
a suddenness of transition. 
The dark tones of the clouds are repeated by the 
shadows on the mountain at the opposite side, the 
warm tints of which also repeat in a subdued degree 
the orange and laky hues of the thatch. These are 
again diffused over the walls of the cottages by the 
colours of the stones, and the grey shadows of the 
walls being warmer than the clouds, are adapted to 
cause them to advance, especially as the several 
glazings introduced are calculated to cause the eye 
to traverse over the whole breadth in an agreeable 
manner. It is to the decided edges of these shadows 
that the gleams of sunlight depend for their 
“catchy” vividness. The upturned boat, being- 
separated from the cottages and the shadow of the 
road, partakes of the warm grey, so giving a second : 
mass, although but a small one, and produces a 
circular form to the composition by its connection 
with the stony portion of the ground to the right. 
The highest light, which is to be found on the left 
cottage wall, between the window and the door, is 
caught up by the upper part of the post supporting 
the wall, and repeated on the figure of the woman 
over the boat, and again by the chimneys, and then 
passes off in the light of the sky. Indeed, every 
light — as every colour — has its purpose, and it would 
always be well that, when copying a drawing, the 
pupil should study it carefully in all its parts, and 
endeavour to discover the intention of the artist. 
The two bright “ bits ” of orange-colour in the 
instance I have given, serve to illumine the scene 
and carry force by contrast although they are so 
small. The dark blue coat is also valuable to bring 
depth into the right portion of the picture, as well 
as to throw the background into distance. In the 
trees there is much variety of colour, light, shade 
and form. I preferred massing the foliage, thinking 
it better to do so, and have only introduced a few 
slight branches at the right extremity to give lightness 
and to indicate the effect of wind upon them. The 
grass on either side is so marked in its several 
contours, as to show the character of the ground 
upon which it grows. I have omitted any detailed 
account of the progressive “ washings-in ” of colour, 
having a desire to exercise the ability of the pupil 
in this respect ; nevertheless, I subjoin a list of the 
combinations of the varkms tints to be employed — 
Clouds — Cobalt, yellow ochre, and a little lake. 
Mountain — Cobalt, lake, yellow ochre. 
Distant Trees — Yellow ochre, cobalt, and a little 
lake, glazed with gamboge in the light parts. 
Near Trees and Grass — Gamboge, burnt sienna, 
and indigo, varied. 
Tiiatch — First Tint — Yellow ochre, lake, and 
cobalt, varied. 
Shadows and Deep Markings — Burnt sienna, 
lake, and indigo, with a little brown pink. 
Glazings of Yellow Tones — Raw sienna. 
Shadows of Wall and Road — Burnt sienna, 
lake, and indigo, with glazings of burnt 
sienna, lake, and brown pink where required. 
All the dark markings are touched in with the 
same colour, used thickly or in a pulpy condition. 
These touchings are of several depths, and can only 
be effected by a repetition ■ each being smaller in 
succession. 
I would strongly recommend all who really wish 
to succeed in water-colours to copy this drawing 
more than once, it being calculated to afford im- 
provement. 
ART NOTES FROM THE CONTINENT. 
By G. W. Yapp. 
T HE result of the voting for the award of the 
two Medals of Honour at the Salon, Paris, was 
as pretty generally expected, that no artist obtained 
a sufficient majority, and therefore no grand prize 
was given. On the whole, the critics and the 
public have corroborated the decision of the elec- 
tive ai’tists, that no work exhibited this year 
deserved such a special distinction, but still the 
fact that a high reward falls to the ground is not a 
pleasant one either in an artistic or patriotic point 
of view, and faults are found with the regulation 
which gives the franchise, in this case, only to those 
artists who have themselves received certain dis- 
tinctions, and who therefore form an aristocracy in 
the world of art. A considerable party advocates 
universal suffrage, and would like to see every 
exhibiting artist qualified to vote for the award of 
the two great annual prizes. Undoubtedly the 
expression of opinion thus obtained would be 
much broader in its scope, and considering that the 
ideas of art at the present moment are certainly 
more elevated, or at any rate less hampered by 
conventionality than they were when the greater 
part of the older artists were students, and that, 
generally speaking, ideas and aspirations are purer 
and higher at the outset in life than when the 
artist has had to grapple with, and perhaps been 
forced to bow down before, the terrible exigencies 
of practical existence and the temptations that 
beset the artistic career, there would be no reason, 
perhaps, to fear that the prizes of honour would be 
awarded to an unworthy candidate. But, although 
the Imperial Government, in matters of art, ex- 
hibits a desire to conciliate the rising generation, 
and to popularize the regulations respecting art and 
art education, it seems almost too much to expect 
the Ministry of the Beaux Arts to place the dispo- 
sition of the great prizes in the hands of the whole 
i 2 
