The text discusses the importance of learning both drawing and modeling for artists. It instructs on painting softly, avoiding harsh outlines to integrate the painting with its atmospheric surroundings. The text emphasizes harmonizing shadows and light in artwork to create unity in tones and colors.
Drawing: 105
It is appropriate for the artist, for their own benefit, to learn to model as well as draw on paper.
When approaching these objects, drawing them with strong deviation makes their edges appear vague. If this is the case, it explains why an object placed in open air appears smaller than it is. For example, a column appears to have a smaller diameter than it actually has. This observation leads to painting in a soft manner, not outlining the edges of objects. As there is a necessity for air between the objects in the painting and the viewer, it follows that these objects should be painted with a certain vagueness to remove dryness and stark outlines; this is called painting broadly and softly. However, it should be done in moderation as some fall into the error of painting objects as if seen through a cloud. This should be less noticeable, as when we look at a painting, we allow a real air space between us and the painting, which already softens it.
One of the main rules of the general harmony of a painting is that all shadows should have something in common; the harmony of colors lies in the shadows having a tone that binds them together. The monotony that seems to result from this is destroyed by the difference in half-tone colors, where each object retains its local color, altered only by the distance and interposition of air. I explain: the colors in the shadows appear neither opaque nor distant due to lack of light that gives them existence. An ideal shadow completely removes color, which makes it totally dark. If we assume one could find a material for painting with no color other than the ability to darken all colors to perfect obscurity, it would perfectly represent shadows. But this is impossible; one cannot represent non-being by being. We can only imitate this with dark colors mixed or broken to have no definable color. The most skillful painters are those who come closest to this. That's why all masters have a shadow color; some are rusty, others lean towards violet, some yellowish, others olive-like. The best color is brown without a precise name. Thus, if this shade is found, it should enter into all shadows, more or less, according to the desired depth. A second reason for the general harmony of a painting is that all lights should have something in common. The light that illuminates objects takes color from something in the middle through which it