The text provides guidelines for drawing plants and flowers, emphasizing their delicacy and variety. It advises practicing with diligence to excel in drawing, particularly for those pursuing painting professionally. For hobbyists, it suggests a more relaxed approach and promises to offer various creative methods in the subsequent chapter.
Flowers & Plants.
Flowers and plants are no less admirable in their infinite variety; their characteristic is delicacy and subtlety: thus, they must be touched with a fine and delicate manner, and should be shaded with light strokes handled in the same way their leaves grow.
Here are the best and most useful precepts one can give to those inclined towards drawing, and it's only through diligent practice that one can acquire the ease necessary for drawing, especially for those wishing to pursue a profession in Painting. It's impossible that after following this method for several years, they wouldn't eventually be able to imitate nature and compose figures and groups from their own imagination. Regarding those who want to learn drawing solely for pleasure, and to enjoy it in their leisure time, they need not be so cautious and can freely pursue the method that seems most suitable to their dispositions and natural taste. If there are people who, without having learned, wish to enjoy employing colors and painting, whether miniatures, oils, or otherwise, in the next chapter, various inventions will be provided, through which they...
Translation Notes:
- "ténuité" can be translated as "fineness" or "subtlety," indicating delicate features.
- "dessin" refers to "drawing" or "sketching."