184 
ON SKETCHING FROM NATURE. 
[Nature and Art, November 1, 1866. 
wild and romantic lake about one and a half mile 
in length. The road or track to the right is 
exceedingly tortuous and hilly ; and the large stones 
constantly rising in the centre make the drive 
anything but pleasant to those who are not in the 
habit of riding in cars almost without springs. I 
know no other locality where such exquisite com- 
binations of foreground materials can be found. 
There is every characteristic that the sketcher can 
desire, and at times it is extremely difficult to 
settle which shall become the subject of the pencil. 
Patches of long and many-coloured grasses rise out 
of dark and purply blackened peat, contrasting with 
warm and grey stones, which, moss-grown and 
lichened, lie side by side in every possible way, and 
of every imaginable shape. It is truly surprising 
to witness the eccentricities of colour — for I must 
use the term — to be found upon the same species 
of stone. Some partake of the orange, others of 
browns, russets, purples, and greys, of every shade 
and hue ; while not a few are almost colourless and 
white. It is this that enables the artist frequently 
to bring the whole force of the palette into his 
foreground without having recourse to drapery or 
cattle. 
In giving the above description, it of course 
must not be supposed to have reference to the 
drawing of the stone-built hut with tire surround- 
ing country, because it were folly indeed to give, in 
a magazine like this, a subject for imitation so com- 
prehensive and poetic in its character. But it has 
been introduced immediately on my return from a 
sketching tour in that locality (having made the 
solitary hotel at Pen-y-Guryd my head-quarters), 
that I might lay before many a lover of the grand 
in Nature the multiplicity of exquisite subjects 
with which the vicinity of Snowdon abounds. My 
stay there was sadly too short, not one day being 
without rain, and yet this did not prevent the 
endeavour to bring back some study fraught with 
instruction and profit. It is impossible to be 
seated before scenery of such sublime proportions, 
without reflecting upon the wonderful manner in 
which its stupendous forms are brought together. 
"What perfect arrangement there is in every suc- 
cessive change, and with what exquisite felicity 
the whole are grouped so as to charm the eye 
by never-ending variety of outline and construction 
— these may be better imagined than told. Some- 
times the effect is solemn and portentous, with 
passing clouds that, hurried on by the wind, assume 
all manner of shapes, sweep over the higher portions 
of the landscape, and envelop the mountain-tops 
in the most mysterious manner. At other times a 
parting cloud lets in a flood of light, exhibiting 
ramifications of rock and of inequalities that were 
little suspected to exist ; or some projection is 
brought into prominence by silvery streaks of light, 
displaying a vividness almost startling. Indeed, the 
effects in a mountainous district are so ever fresh and 
fugitive,, that a note-book should always be at hand, 
to write down the lessons Nature so abundantly 
teaches ; and if in the progress of one sketch atten- 
tion is given to passing changes, that one sketch 
may be productive of several pictures. Colour, 
again, is another feature for study and observation, 
subject to alteration of atmosphere and power 
of light. Space has to be rendered truthfully ; 
distance must be portrayed as distance, and all the 
intermediate objects, as they advance to the fore- 
ground, must keep their place, localizing where they 
should localize, until colour is seen in all its un- 
changed character immediately in the front. Yes, it 
is impossible to sit down before scenery such as I have 
humbly endeavoured to describe without reflecting 
upon “the why and the wherefore,” and striving to 
learn some lesson from the riches of the heights and 
depths of created Nature. I shall hope hereafter 
to speak of other scenes in my late tour, and 
trust they will recall to many who have gone 
over the same ground, the degree of admiration 
they experienced during their sojourn amidst the 
mountains. 
With the exception of the figures (and thei’e 
were several looking over me while sketching), I 
have given the most simple and truthful representa- 
tion of the hut and scenery that I possibly could. 
Not one stone has been added, and, I may say, 
not one has been omitted. Everything was care- 
fully drawn with the black-lead pencil, and with 
some power of line, because, by so doing, less time 
would be spent in colouring. There was the place 
of everything ; and every change of tint found 
its place most readily, and without hesitation. 
Even the sky was pencilled as well as the mountains 
and mid-distance. The road and its accompani- 
ments, the grass and its undulatory character, 
were strictly drawn with the pencil. The large 
grey stone by the side in the second portion of the 
road was blasted and cut, as it completely stopped 
the way, so that it is a correct portrait. It is very 
remarkable that in no one instance in this locality, 
did I perceive the roofs grown over with moss or 
grass of any kind ; while in almost every other spot 
this is the general accompaniment of a cottage roof. 
The colours employed were — for the 
Sky — Light red, a little sepia, and indigo. 
Mountains — Light red, a little sepia, and indigo. 
Middle Distance — Lake, sepia, indigo, and yellow 
ochre ; the first tone being of yellow ochre, 
lake, and a very little indigo. 
The Hut — Sepia, indigo, lake, gamboge, yellow 
ochre, in different proportions, sepia being the 
preponderating colour. 
Grass — Gamboge, burnt sienna, and indigo for the 
warmer tints ; gamboge, indigo, and a little 
sepia for the cool tints. 
Deep Touches — Gamboge and sepia, throughout 
the foreground and building. 
The whole of the colours are to be applied without 
any subsequent washings off. The time to be 
occupied in making such a sketch, out of doors 
with the like degree of finish, should be from three 
to four hours ; but if the careful outline with a 
black-lead pencil is not patiently carried out, five 
or even six hours will not suffice to produce a 
finished result. 
