The Painter in oil

Now if you understand the scientific principle, and the practical application and its
result on canvas, you have in your hands one of the main instrumentalities in the
rendering of one great quality of out-of-doors. How far you adopt it is a matter for you to
decide for yourself. If the complete adoption of it implies too much of a sacrifice of other
things of equal or greater value to you, then modify it, or take advantage of it as much as
will give you the balance of qualities you most want. There is one way to get light and
brilliancy and life into your color: adapt it to your purpose if you need it.
This is the application of color juxtaposition to mixing. The placing of
complementaries so as to increase contrast is another way of adding to the brilliancy of
light. You will find this most useful when you want to give the greatest possible emphasis
to the effect of sunlight and shadow. If you keep your shadows cool, your lights will be
the richer and more sparkling because of that contrast. If you want more strength in a
note of color, get its complement as near it as you can. Look for their iridescence of
edges of shadow, and of the contours of objects. You will get greater relief of light and
shade by contrast of warm and cool than contrast of light and dark.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not advising you to be an impressionist. I wish only
that you shall see what there is in this way of looking at nature and of representation of
certain effects of nature, which will be of use to you in the painting of landscape. I would
have you know what means are at your command, what is possible to accomplish in
certain directions, and how it is possible to accomplish it; then I would have you make
use of whatever will most directly and completely serve your purpose.
Do not use any color or colors, any method or point of view, because of any advocacy
whatsoever. Know first what you want to paint and why. Let nature speak to you. Go out
and look at landscape. Study and observe; see the effect which makes you want to paint
it, and then use the means and method which seem most entirely, adapted to it. Don’t
ask yourself, nor let any one else ask you, Is this So-and-So’s method? or, Does this
belong to this or that school? Don’t bother about schools or methods at all. Look frankly
to see, accept frankly, and then work to render and convey as frankly as you have seen.
Be sincere - sincere with yourself and with your painting: then you will surely work at
whatever you do from conviction, and not from fad; and whether it makes you paint as
an impressionist or not is a very minor matter, because sincerity of purpose is the most
important thing in painting, and method of representation one of the least.
Atmosphere. - A universal characteristic of nature will be a fundamental one in
landscape. A landscape which you cannot breathe in is not a perfect one. We live and
breathe in atmosphere, and the expression of atmosphere will go far to make your
landscape true. But atmosphere is not haziness. Neither is it vagueness nor negativeness
of color. Truth of color-quality, and justness of relation will do most in getting it. You
had better not try for atmosphere as a thing, but as a result. Anything so universal and so
indefinite can be expressed by no one thing. If you try to get it by anyone means you will
miss it. Study, then, the subtlety of color relation and justness of value. Try to be
sensitive to the slightest variety of tone, and be satisfied with no least falsity of
rendering, and you will find that your picture will not lack atmosphere.