Five Essays on Picturesque Subjects; With a Poem on Landscape Painting. on Picturesque Beauty on Picturesque Travel and on Sketching Landscape with a Poem, on Landscape Painting. to These Are Now Added Two Essays, Giving an Account of the Principles and M (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1808. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... We often admire these first, rude touches. The story of the two old masters will be remembered, who left cards of compliments to each other, on which only the simple outline of a figure was drawn by one, and corrected by the other; but with such a superior elegance in each, that the signature of names could not have marked them more decisively. 323 Firji Jketch a slight cartoon. It is the practice indeed of the generality of painters, when they have any great design to execute, to make a slight sketch, sometimes on paper, and sometimes on canvas. And these sketches are often greatly superior to the principal picture, which'has been laboured and finished with the exactest care. King William' on horse-back at Hampton court, by sir Godfrey Kneller, is a striking example of this remark. The picture is highly finished; but is a tame, and unmasterly performance. At Houghton-hall I have seen the original sketch of this picture; which T should 1- have valued, not only greatly beyond the * picture itself, but beyond" any thing I ever saw from the pencil of sir Godfrey. 336 One truth Jhe gives, &c. From these three virgin colours, red, blue, and yellow, all the tints of nature are composed. Greens of various hues, are composed of blue, and yellow: orange, of red, and yellow: purple and violet, of red, and blue. The tints of the rainbow seem to be composed also of these colours. They lie in order thus: violet--red--orange--yellow--green --blue --violet--red: in which assortment we observe that orange comes between red, and yellow; that is, it is composed of those colours melting into each other. Green is in the same way composed of yellow and blue j and violet, or purple of blue, and red.--Nay even browns of all kinds may, in a degree, be effected by a mixtur...