DOI Heft:
No. 73 (April 1899)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: Some sketches by Alfred Parsons, A.R.A.
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19231#0168
Some Sketches by Alfred Parsons, A .R.A.
futility of keeping up even the pretence of observ-
ing the duties of his clerkship, and he declined any
longer to divide his attention between what he had
to do and the work with which he wished to
occupy himself. So London was abandoned, and
all the chances that might have been open to him
of rising to a prominent official position; and
he gladly took up again his life in the country,
determined now to make art his only occupation.
That he was thoroughly serious in this important
step appeared at once in his manner of setting to
work there. He began immediately to paint out
of doors, studying always directly from nature, and
aiming assiduously at the acquisition of a thorough
and exact knowledge of landscape characteristics.
At the same time he took whatever chances came
in his way of improving himself as a draughtsman ;
and, whenever he could, made drawings from life,
from the friends whom he could induce to give
him sittings, and from the occasional models that
were available among the village people in his
district. By degrees he built up a very sound and
workmanlike method, a purely individual manner
unaffected by school traditions, and reflecting only
his own personal conviction. He gained a peculiar
freshness of interpretation, expressive of a frank
reliance upon his judgment of the relative value of
the facts that nature presented to him. The sub-
jects he began to treat showed a pleasant quaint-
ness of taste that was never eccentric, and an
agreeable preference for character over mere
popular prettiness. He laid the foundation then
of the style which distinguishes his work at the
present time, and started soundly a process of
steady development which has brought him into
the front rank of our landscape painters.
fn one way particularly he showed in his self-
education a very marked prudence. He fitted
himself by varied study, and by experiment in all
sorts of mediums, for proficiency in many branches
of artistic practice. He qualified as an illustrator
by the command he gained over black and white,
and acquired a rare facility in the management of
pen and pencil; he learned thoroughly the techni-
calities of water-colour painting, and made himself
a master of oils; and he has never allowed his
SKETCH IN CHALKS
154
BY ALFRED PARSONS, A.R.A.
futility of keeping up even the pretence of observ-
ing the duties of his clerkship, and he declined any
longer to divide his attention between what he had
to do and the work with which he wished to
occupy himself. So London was abandoned, and
all the chances that might have been open to him
of rising to a prominent official position; and
he gladly took up again his life in the country,
determined now to make art his only occupation.
That he was thoroughly serious in this important
step appeared at once in his manner of setting to
work there. He began immediately to paint out
of doors, studying always directly from nature, and
aiming assiduously at the acquisition of a thorough
and exact knowledge of landscape characteristics.
At the same time he took whatever chances came
in his way of improving himself as a draughtsman ;
and, whenever he could, made drawings from life,
from the friends whom he could induce to give
him sittings, and from the occasional models that
were available among the village people in his
district. By degrees he built up a very sound and
workmanlike method, a purely individual manner
unaffected by school traditions, and reflecting only
his own personal conviction. He gained a peculiar
freshness of interpretation, expressive of a frank
reliance upon his judgment of the relative value of
the facts that nature presented to him. The sub-
jects he began to treat showed a pleasant quaint-
ness of taste that was never eccentric, and an
agreeable preference for character over mere
popular prettiness. He laid the foundation then
of the style which distinguishes his work at the
present time, and started soundly a process of
steady development which has brought him into
the front rank of our landscape painters.
fn one way particularly he showed in his self-
education a very marked prudence. He fitted
himself by varied study, and by experiment in all
sorts of mediums, for proficiency in many branches
of artistic practice. He qualified as an illustrator
by the command he gained over black and white,
and acquired a rare facility in the management of
pen and pencil; he learned thoroughly the techni-
calities of water-colour painting, and made himself
a master of oils; and he has never allowed his
SKETCH IN CHALKS
154
BY ALFRED PARSONS, A.R.A.