as they ought to be; and treat buildings with
as much care and love as artists do their rock foregrounds, drawing all
the moss and weeds, and stains upon them. But if, without caring to
understand architecture, you merely want the picturesque character of
it, and to be able to sketch it fast, you cannot do better than take
Prout for your _exclusive_ master; only do not think that you are
copying Prout by drawing straight lines with dots at the end of them.
Get first his "Rhine," and draw the subjects that have most hills, and
least architecture in them, with chalk on smooth paper, till you can lay
on his broad flat tints, and get his gradations of light, which are very
wonderful; then take up the architectural subjects in the "Rhine," and
draw again and again the groups of figures, &c., in his "Microcosm," and
"Lessons on Light and Shadow." After that, proceed to copy the grand
subjects in the sketches in "Flanders and Germany;" or in "Switzerland
and Italy," if you cannot get the Flanders; but the Switzerland is very
far inferior. Then work from Nature, not trying to Proutise Nature, by
breaking smooth buildings into rough ones, but only drawing _what you
see_, with Prout's simple method and firm lines. Don't copy his coloured
works. They are good, but not at all equal to his chalk and pencil
drawings, and you will become a mere imitator, and a very feeble
imitator, if you use colour at all in Prout's method. I have not space
to explain why this is so, it would take a long piece of reasoning;
trust me for the statement.

2. John Lewis.

His sketches in Spain, lithographed by himself, are very valuable. Get
them, if you can, and also some engravings (about eight or ten, I think,
altogether) of wild beasts, executed by his own hand a long time ago;
they are very precious in every way. The series of the "Alhambra" is
rather slight, and few of the subjects are lithographed by himself;
still it is well worth having.

But let _no_ lithographic work come into the house, if you can help it,
nor even look at any, except Prout's, and those sketches of Lewis's.

3. George Cruikshank.

If you ever happen to meet with the two volumes of "Grimm's German
Stories," which were illustrated by him long ago, pounce upon them
instantly; the etchings in them are the finest things, next to
Rembrandt's, that, as far as I know, have been done since etching was
invented. You cannot look at them too much, nor copy them too often.

All