for the sake of
the body of it.

=Loaded Lights.=--It was a principle with the older painters to paint
the shadows thinly and with transparent color, and to load the lights.
It gave a richness to the shadows and a solidity to the lights which
was much valued. But don't think about this; don't let it influence
the frankness of your painting. The theory is in itself largely
obsolete now, and in fact has been disregarded by almost every able
painter who ever lived, in practice, no matter what he said about it.
I only speak of it because almost all books on painting have laid it
down as a rule, and you had better know its true relation to painting.
Like all other traditional methods of painting it has been used by the
greatest of painters, and has also been disregarded by the greatest of
painters; and as far as you are concerned, you may use it or not as
suits your purpose. The main thing is to get the right color and value
in the right place, in the most direct and natural, in the least
affected, manner possible.

You may work into your _frottee_, then, more or less solidly as you
feel will give you the best representation of the color you see.

=Solid Painting.=--Don't paint always in the same way. It is a mistake
to get too accustomed to one manner of procedure. Different things
require different handling. Let the thing suggest how you shall paint
it. If you want to paint directly, paint solidly from first to last
instead of rubbing in thinly first. But always have an accurate
drawing underneath.

In working solidly without previous laying in, begin where each
brush-stroke will have the greatest effect toward establishing the
appearance of reality. If the canvas is light, begin by putting in the
main darks, and if the canvas is dark, do the reverse. You get the
most immediate effect of reality by the _relief_; the relief you get
most directly by putting in first those values which contrast with
what is already there. Establish your most telling values first, then
work from them towards less immediately effective things.

=Color and Values.=--Study the color at the same time you do the
value. Put on no touch of paint as a value or a color alone. If you
do, you will have to paint that spot twice,--once for the value, and
again for the color. You might as well paint for the two qualities in
one stroke. It takes more thought, but it gives you more command of
your work. It doesn't load your canvas with useless paint, a