SAMUEL PROUT, ARTIST. 
291 
Johns. I will write you on my return from Germany. I have not 
seen Ball. Is he likely to be at Paris next month ? If so, where 
is he to be found 1 Don't write on purpose, as I hope to be there 
next month. It would give me great pleasure to see him. 
Yours sincerely, 
Samuel Prout. 
To A. B. Johns, Esq., Old Town Without, Plymouth. 
Brixton, Friday night. 
Dear Sir, — I cannot but still lament it is not in my power to 
tell you a little of my method of drawing, as it would have given 
me pleasure to communicate what I ; ni very sure would have been 
understood. 
Your enquiry is natural ; I have felt it, and do very particularly 
feel anxious to unravel good colouring whenever I see it ; but per- 
haps nothing is more simple, when known, and nothing more diffi- 
cult to explain, as it does not rest on the materials, but in the 
feelintj, and probably in a certain aptitude — I mean, in combining 
the same tints, which are felt to be necessary, from different colours. 
Eesting on a method, or attempting to learn from written instruc- 
tions, is, plainly, resting on a stick for support without making 
proper use of our legs. Excuse the familiarity ; but generally they 
are incumbrances and hindrances. 
Keep to a few colours; work with them only, till you have 
learnt something, and very soon your confidence and knowledge 
will increase. Avoid patches of colour. The same colour, in a 
degree, should tint every part of your drawing, which may be done 
by freely working one tint in with another ; that is, to let them 
unite before they dry on your paper. 
I may be condemned as somewhat careless in my method, but 
I 'm very unfriendly to that littleness of care which some insist on. 
•Always mix up a good quantity of colour before you begin, and 
rather float in your general tints, than very deliberately put one 
colour on after another. I daresay these hints are unnecessary to 
you, but I 've scribbled them down as they occur as general obser- 
vations. 
Beds — Indian Red and Lake. 
Browns — Burnt Sienna, Vandyke-brown, and Burnt Umber. 
t 2 
