hue, and those that are gray, a just proportion of the following colours will produce every gradation of tint that may be met with. Brown Madder, Light Red, Vandyke Brown, Cobalt, and Indigo; and the different tints that the union of these colours will effect, may be glazed occasionally with any transparent tints that may be required for their completion. The chief use of the Indigo is to make a stronger colour for those parts in the shade, and also for the dark effects produced by the cracks and hollows between the stones. The colour of architectural buildings depends chiefly upon the kind of materials with which they have been constructed, whether of stone of various hues or of marble of different kinds, which after being exposed to the action of the atmosphere for ages, have acquired an intensity of colour, producing a splendid effect when illumined by the rays of the sun, as may be seen on some of the ancient temples of sienna marble.

I am, &c.

MY DEAR SIR;

To represent the general, colour of such buildings as I described at the conclusion of my last Letter, it will be necessary in the first place to pass a tint of Yellow Ochre and Burnt T. Sienna over them, as by this process, including those portions that will finally appear within the shade, a greater degree of harmony will be produced between the illuminated parts of the buildings or building, and the shadows cast upon them, than can be obtained if the white paper only is reserved for painting the shadows upon; for shadows being transparent, the local colours of objects are seen through them, which ought to be clearly represented in a picture. It will sometimes have a good effect, if when the first wash of colour is in

a damp state, a few tints are touched upon it in imitation of the gentle variety of tones perceptible upon the walls of old buildings; but this should be done speedily, and with rather a dry brush, otherwise the colour so put on will run into spots. In respect to particular tints, and what is termed finishing, but little can be said, because words are quite inadequate for the purpose. This must, therefore, be left to the taste and feeling of the practitioner. It will, however, be well to advise him not to attempt too much finishing of parts at first, as many persons from mistaken notions of the art will persuade him to do, for such advice, in this case, must always be too vague to be of any practical use whatever: on the contrary, if the artist should have formed in his mind some general scheme for the treatment of his subject, it will only tend to confuse his ideas, and to draw his attention to the mechanical part of his art, which unless it be managed with great skill, and

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applied with judgment, will be sure to interfere, and probably mar that which is of the first importance, the repose and general effect of his picture. If a young man should be so fortunate as to have a clear conception of what is excellent in art, he will not attempt high finishing at first; for he will be too eager to embody his ideas in a general way, and the power to describe the details with sufficient accuracy will be obtained imperceptibly as he proceeds, for if the mind be well stored with ideas the hand will not fail to be obedient to the will. The mischief, from continually urging a young artist to finish, is that he is at last induced to believe that finishing is the main thing to be acquired; and his attention is therefore too much occupied with this minor part of his art to be able to attend to the whole, or the general effect of his design; and the result is, that every individual part of his picture becomes so obtrusive, that confusion takes place of

repose, and the eye of the spectator is fatigued and perplexed from not perceiving any spot to rest upon. When this occurs, I will not hesitate to affirm that the picture is in every respect unfinished, however well the details may be executed. I am fully aware that these remarks will naturally cause the question to be asked, as to what constitutes high finishing, when it can be applied with advantage, and when and where it is injurious. In order to answer this question, it will be necessary to point out the different subjects that artists have selected for representation, according to the various views of the art that have actuated each of them to prosecute the subjects of his particular choice; and to elucidate this, I will endeavour to show, that what will constitute the great excellence of elevated art would but ill accord with that which is merely imitative. In the superior or classical treatment of landscape, whether grandeur of effect, poetical feeling, or the

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