DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18972#0181
letter ii.] SKETCHING FROM NATURE.
153
think you had entirely mastered it. But at first,
and even for some time, you must be prepared
for very discomfortable failure; which, neverthe-
less, will not be without some wholesome result.
As, however, I have told you what most definitely
to avoid, I may, perhaps, help you a little by saying
what to seek. In general, all Banks are beautiful
things, and will reward work better than large land-
scapes. If you live in a lowland country, you must
look for places where the ground is broken to the
river's edges, with decayed posts, or roots of trees;
or, if by great good luck there should be such
things within your reach, for remnants of stone
quays or steps, mossy mill-dams, &c. Nearly every
other mile of road in chalk country will present
beautiful bits of broken bank at its sides; better in
form and colour than high chalk cliffs. In woods,
one or two trunks, with the flowery ground below,
are at once the richest and easiest kind of study:
a not very thick trunk, say nine inches or a foot
in diameter, with ivy running up it sparingly, is an
easy, and always a rewarding subject.
153
think you had entirely mastered it. But at first,
and even for some time, you must be prepared
for very discomfortable failure; which, neverthe-
less, will not be without some wholesome result.
As, however, I have told you what most definitely
to avoid, I may, perhaps, help you a little by saying
what to seek. In general, all Banks are beautiful
things, and will reward work better than large land-
scapes. If you live in a lowland country, you must
look for places where the ground is broken to the
river's edges, with decayed posts, or roots of trees;
or, if by great good luck there should be such
things within your reach, for remnants of stone
quays or steps, mossy mill-dams, &c. Nearly every
other mile of road in chalk country will present
beautiful bits of broken bank at its sides; better in
form and colour than high chalk cliffs. In woods,
one or two trunks, with the flowery ground below,
are at once the richest and easiest kind of study:
a not very thick trunk, say nine inches or a foot
in diameter, with ivy running up it sparingly, is an
easy, and always a rewarding subject.