Author: Francisco Pacheco

Cited by

• William Maxwell (1)
  • IN: Time Will Darken It (1948) Fiction, NULL
    EPIGRAPH: The order observed in painting a landscape -- once the canvas had been prepared -- is as follows: First, one draws it, dividing it into three or four distances or planes. In the foremost, where one places the figure or saint, one draws the largest trees and rocks, proportionate to the scale of the figure. In the second, smaller trees and houses are drawn; in the third yet smaller, and in the fourth, where the mountain ridges meet the sky, one ends with the greatest diminution of all. The drawing is followed by the blocking out or laying in of colors, which some painters are in the habit of doing in black and white, although I deem it better to execute it directly in color in order that the smalt may result brighter. If you temper the necessary quantity of pigment -- or even more -- with linseed or walnut oil and add enough white, you shall produce a bright tint. It must not be dark; on the contrary, it must be rather on the light side because time will darken it.... Once the sky, which is the upper half of the canvas, is done, you proceed to paint the ground, beginning with the mountains bordering on the sky. They will be painted with the lightest smalt-and-white tints, which will be somewhat darker than the horizon, because the ground is always darker than the sky, especially if the sun is on that side. These mountains will have their lights and darks, because it is the custom to put in the lower part -- after finishing -- some towns and small trees.... As you get nearer the foreground, the trees and houses shall be painted larger, and if desired they may rise above the horizon.... In this part it is customary to use a practical method in putting in the details, mingling a few dry leaves among the green ones .... And it is very praiseworthy to make the grass on the ground look natural, for this section is nearest the observer.
    FROM: NULL, (1654), NULL, NULL