METHOD FOR LEARNING

Some trees lift their branches towards the sky, like the elm, while others lower them towards the ground, even at their tips, like the chestnut: some are fully covered with masses of leaves, others are almost bare, revealing much of the sky through them. Generally, what creates the most delicate landscape is making the sky visible in many areas; although it is true, this is difficult to accomplish well.

However, what we repeat again, and what is worth recommending not only to those striving to train in Landscape but also to everyone studying anything, is to copy nature precisely as they see it, without attempting to change it under the pretext of embellishing, adding taste, or increasing its effect.

Study of Landscape from the prints of great Masters.

It is hardly possible to specify precisely how the arrangement of stems, clumps, or leaves should be made, and any details given here could only be a demonstration copied from the great Masters; however, their works, and a little attention to the effects of nature, will make more understood than all the discourses. By great Masters, we mean primarily those who have provided prints to the public. Thus, those who are beginning to draw Landscapes will first learn more by reflecting on these prints and copying them, rather than from paintings.

Among quite a large number of these great Masters from all schools, one would pref...