Colors Used for Skies and Distances.

For blue of sky.—Cobalt Blue, lowered with Pink Madder and Gamboge, to the hue required. Ochre may be substituted for Gamboge.

Clouds.—The same mixed so as to form a variety of warm and cool pearly greys.

For Extreme Distance.—Cobalt and Venetian Red.

For Local Tints.—Blend the colors so that the tints produced may incline toward yellow, red, or any tint required.

For Middle Tints, use Indigo, Pink Madder and Ochre on the same principle for the light parts, and Indigo, Pink Madder and Gamboge for shady portions.

Setting Sun.—Use Yellow Ochre and Pink Madder, or Venetian Red and Yellow Ochre; sometimes Vermilion and Gamboge or Indian Yellow in small proportions, when a strong effect is to be given.

Trees.—In painting trees use Indigo, Burnt Sienna and Gamboge. These colors will make tints for the light; Indigo mixed with Vandyke Brown becomes a fine deep grey, of a green hue. Purple Lake may be added when you want the tint more neutral.

Foreground.—Green in foreground is made by mixing Sepia with Olive Green in the shade, and Olive Green and Burnt Sienna in the lighter parts. A light transparent yellow, raw Sienna or Italian Pink may be carried over the foreground where herbage is to be represented, when a bright sunny effect is desirable to give fullness and richness to the colors that come afterward; it also answers for high lights upon leaves, and the brilliant specks which are left sharp. Indigo, Indian Red and Ochre for the ashy grey of loam; Burnt Umber alone, or mixed with Burnt Sienna, pure Ochre, and Ochre mixed with Sepia alone, and mixed with Purple Lake for dark parts; also, Vandyke Brown and Purple Lake, or pure Brown Madder for very dark touches.

Indigo, mixed with Gamboge, makes a cold green well suited to dark leaves; Purple Lake may be added for cool reflected lights; Indian Red mixed with Indigo to a pale tint for willow leaves or foliage stained with dirt, or for the grey back of a leaf.

These cold greys and greens are of great value in foregrounds to repeat the cool greys and cold lights of the sky in pictures composed of much warm color in the middle distance, as midday effects, sunsets, etc. The foreground should show a great deal of relief, distinctness and accuracy in the drawing of these small objects which are particularly marked, but are merged into masses when further removed. With regard to roads in your painting, Yellow Ochre, mixed with Burnt Sienna, and lowered with Indian Red and Indigo. Indigo and Brown Madder being transparent colors, will allow a wash of Cobalt Blue and Pink Madder to alter the hue without danger of opacity.

Water.—The same as for clouds, blended with the local color of the water (greenish) and with the reflected objects.

Dark Sea is indicated by combining Indigo, Vandyke Brown and Lake.

Dark Sky.—Indigo, mixed with Pink Madder and Gamboge.

In Brick Work.—Mix Ochre with French Blue and Indian Red, Indigo and Venetian Red, Ochre and Pink Madder for bright part of brick work. When the color is more of red, Vermilion may be used, with caution, and in small quantities for lights. For shades, mix Sepia and Purple Lake, or Sepia and Indian Red; Sepia alone is used for light shadows from trees.

We will now paint a landscape, the foreground composed of rocks lying near and dividing a stream of water from a road; the margin of the river skirted by trees; beyond a range of hills, and still beyond another range of mountains with high points extending above all else; cattle standing at the foot; flock of sheep coming along the road, cottage, etc.

Direction. Cover the entire surface of your board with a tint of Yellow Ochre of moderate strength; when this is dry a tint is formed from the mixture of Cobalt Blue and Pink Madder, the blue predominating; use it in a very diluted state, on the side whence the sun is supposed to shine, graduating the tint as the opposite part of the sky is approached, so that the ether may appear of a clear and rather strong color; the lights of the cloud to be left, and care to be taken to diminish the strength of the tint in the lower part of the sky. The same tint may be carried over the mountains, leaving small, brilliant lights if there be any.

A wash of Pink Madder and Ochre, or Venetian Red and Ochre may be given to the lights on the clouds, afterwards they may receive their middle tint, composed of Pink Madder, Yellow Ochre and Cobalt Blue.

The Clouds may be finished by shading with Cobalt Blue and Venetian Red; the water should receive its tints at this time; any very bright lights should be left. Clouds that are darker than the ether, lay on with Venetian Red and Ochre. If the clouds are meant to show lighter than the blue of the sky, they should be left. Mix in one dish Ochre and Pink Madder with more strength than the sky tints; and in another Cobalt, Pink Madder and Gamboge, with as much strength as possible, so that it will work freely. Having the brush charged with the first paint, proceed to lay in the light parts of the mountains, varying the color by the addition of Cobalt Blue where a greenish line is wanted, Pink Madder where the granite prevails. Now, with a brush filled from the other saucer, lay in the shady parts, varying the colors. These opposite tints of light and shade should be made to blend imperceptibly where they meet. Indigo, Pink Madder and Gamboge, mixed, will be found useful for dark touches in shadows, and Cobalt mixed with Indian Red may be used for the same purpose in the lights.

For the Hills, mix Indigo and Yellow Ochre, so as to make a light green; lay in the light parts with this, adding Ochre when a brighter and warmer light is to be expressed, and Pink Madder when the surface is broken by rock. Any bright projecting rocks may receive a touch of Yellow Ochre and Indian Red, mixed. A few broad touches will bring this sufficiently forward; they may be given with a brown, produced by the mixture of Indigo, Purple Lake and Gamboge, inclining to Orange or Purple.

The Trees, skirting the stream, should be covered at the same time with the first and lightest tint, varied in the same way and brought into the water, leaving a sharp strip of light at the edge for a bank or path. Any very light stems of trees should be left. When this has become quite dry lay in the trees with Gamboge, Burnt Sienna and Indigo, mixed, for the light; Purple Lake, mixed with Indigo and Gamboge, for stems; stronger and browner for dark touches. The rocky masses lying in the water near the promontory may be covered by a tint of Indigo and Brown Madder, mixed; a little Olive Green will vary the tint, if a greenish hue is wanted. Gamboge, mixed with Indigo to a light green, and varied with Purple Lake and Indigo, will serve for the parts of the rising ground seen through the branches of the trees, which may receive a tint of Indigo mixed with Burnt Sienna and Olive Green.

The Foreground may be laid in with Indian Red, mixed with Yellow Ochre, and broken by Sepia or Indigo; shadows across the road may be rendered by washes of Indigo mixed with Brown Madder, and Lampblack mixed with Purple Lake for cool slate colored rocks in shade.

Birch trees should be covered with a tint of Indian Yellow and Burnt Sienna, and shaded with Brown Madder and Indigo mixed, or Sepia and Purple Lake. Bring out the stems by dark touches of Vandyke Brown mixed with Purple Lake, in shade. The dark greens about the foreground should be composed of Sepia and Indian Yellow. The figures in the landscape may have some red in the drapery; the sheep, a little Yellow Ochre. In mixing the colors always incline towards warmth, because a little more coolness and atmosphere may be given by a wash of Cobalt Blue mixed with Pink Madder or Indian Red. Reflections in water should be painted similar in hue to the objects, but lower in tone and more transparent. Large stems of trees may be colored effectively by applying varied greys, browns (made by a mixture of Indian Red, French Blue and Ochre), for light sides, leaving any very bright features shown in the bark. Brown Madder and Brown Pink, and sometimes Vandyke Brown mixed with Indian Lake, will be found of service for markings. When laying on the blue in the sky, be careful to leave the shape of the light parts of the clouds, then with another brush wash in the middle tint and suffer it to blend with the blue on the shady side of the cloud. Add a little Venetian Red, as the tint is carried down to the horizon; mix more Cobalt for distance. Give a first color to the road and cottage; pure Yellow Ochre for the light of the plaster, with white paper left, and with very small portions; the shade, Sepia or Brown Madder, mixed with Indigo; the hedge by the cottage, brown-pink, olive-green, mixed with Burnt Sienna.

When the Drawing is Dry, begin with the sky, and heighten or subdue as seems best; give the shade to the clouds, taking care that the indications of shadow, and feature generally, grow lighter the nearer they come to the horizon; the country is distinguished from the sky by outline—a dark touch of blue in the shadows, from the clouds. Dark touches on the roof, chimneys and windows of the cottage, will give it relief from the sky, and give distance to the small objects; they may be made with Vandyke Brown, mixed with Purple Lake. Brown-pink, mixed with Purple Lake, gives a very dark transparency to water.

For Moonlight Scenes, wash in the general effect of sky with Burnt Umber, mixed with Cobalt Blue and Pink Madder, and Cobalt Blue for dark clouds and distances; Indigo, mixed with Vandyke Brown and Pink Madder, for the general landscape. The learner, before commencing at once upon a landscape, will do well to practice upon blending colors; commencing with Cobalt Blue and Pink Madder you will produce a purple; add Gamboge, the purple will be grey, etc. In the combination of the following colors, a great variety of tones adapted to skies and distance may be found: Sepia and Gamboge, Sepia and Indian Yellow, Sepia and Italian Pink, Lampblack and Indian Yellow. Chinese White is of service when tinted paper is used for sketches.

In selecting the paper it should be as natural as possible, either cool or warm in hue, according to the effect intended. The tint may serve as middle tint in light of buildings, stems of trees, banks, etc. Cold pressed imperial paper is the best for landscape. There are several other kinds of paper which are used, such as Whatman’s extra thick, of 140 lbs. to the ream; or Creswick paper, if white; or pale cream color, are good; but if much opaque color is used in the picture, any common paper will do, especially if of a warm grey or brownish color; and very good pictures are painted on the ordinary brown paper used for wrapping. The most convenient form of paper for sketching in the outlines of a scene is that made up in blocks or tablets.

Brushes should come to a fine point of their own accord, and not bulge out in the middle. Sables are the best for general use. The brushes necessary are two or three red Sable, or goose quill size, and a black Sable of large swan-quill size for flat washes; or where these are too high price for the beginner, a large swan-quill French camel’s hair with good points. Do not allow the color to dry on them, or they are spoiled; but wash as soon as used and allow them to dry with the hair in its natural position.

Other Materials, such as a drawing-board, a sponge, an HH pencil for outlining, India-rubber, a sharp penknife for mixing up opaque colors with Chinese White, a tin water-bottle to hold water when sketching, prepared ox-gall to use in small quantities where the paper is greasy or woolly, a quill pen, will also be found useful.