an idea of
perfection not only of beauty, but of what is perfection in a picture.
This conception he should always have fixed in his view, and unless he
has this view we shall never see any approaches towards perfection in
his works; for it will not come by chance.

"If a man has nothing of that which is called genius, that is, if he is
not carried away, if I may so say, by the animation, the fire of
enthusiasm, all the rules in the world will never make him a painter.

"He who possesses genius is enabled to see a real value in those things
which others disregard and overlook. He perceives a difference in cases
where inferior capacities see none; as the fine ear for music can
distinguish an evident variation in sounds which to another ear more
dull seem to be the same. This example will also apply to the eye in
respect to colouring."

In the beginning of the year 1760, Reynolds moved into the house on the
west side of Leicester Square which he occupied for the rest of his
life. It is now tenanted by Messrs. Puttick & Simpson, the Auctioneers.
Northcote has usefully recorded the following details his studio. His
painting-room was of an octagonal form, about twenty feet long and about
sixteen in breath. The window which gave the light to this room was
square, and not much larger than one half the size of a common window in
a private house, whilst the lower part of this window was nine feet four
inches from the floor. The chair for his sitters was raised eighteen
inches from the floor, and turned round on castors. His palettes were
those which are held by a handle, not those held on the thumb. The
sticks of his pencils (brushes) were long, measuring about nineteen
inches. He painted in that part of the room nearest the window, and
never sat down when he worked. As the actual methods of a great artist
are possibly of more value in a history of painting than the subjects,
or even the prices, of his pictures, I venture to quote the following
extracts from various parts of Sir Joshua's own memoranda:--

Never give the least touch with your pencil (_i.e._ brush) till you have
present in your mind a perfect idea of your future work.

Paint at the greatest possible distance from your sitter, and place the
picture ... near to the sitter, or sometimes under him, so as to see
both together.

In beautiful faces keep the whole circumference about the eye in a
mezzotinto, as seen in the works of Guido and the best of Carlo Maratt