How much our memory of pictures colours the impressions of nature we receive is probably not suspected by us, but who could say how a scene would appear to him, had he never looked at a picture? So sensitive is the vision to the influence of memory that, after seeing the pictures of some painter whose work has deeply impressed us, we are apt, while the memory of it is still fresh in our minds, to see things as he would paint them. On different occasions after leaving the National Gallery I can remember having seen Trafalgar Square as Paolo Veronese, Turner, or whatever painter may have impressed me in the Gallery, would have painted it, the memory of their work colouring the impression the scene produced.
257But, putting aside the memory of pictures, let us consider the place of direct visual memory from nature in our work, pictures being indirect or second-hand4 impressions.
We have seen in an earlier chapter how certain painters in the nineteenth century, feeling how very second-hand and far removed from nature painting had become, started a movement to discard studio traditions and study nature with a single eye, taking their pictures out of doors, and endeavouring to wrest5 nature's secrets from her on the spot. The Pre-Raphaelite movement in England and the Impressionist movement in France were the results of this impulse. And it is interesting, by the way, to contrast the different manner in which this desire for more truth to nature affected6 the French and English temperaments7. The intense individualism of the English sought out every detail, every leaf and flower for itself, painting them with a passion and intensity9 that made their painting a vivid medium for the expression of poetic10 ideas; while the more synthetic11 mind of the Frenchman approached this search for visual truth from the opposite point of view of the whole effect, finding in the large, generalised impression a new world of beauty. And his more logical mind led him to inquire into the nature of light, and so to invent a technique founded on scientific principles.
But now the first blush of freshness has worn off the new movement, painters have begun to see that if anything but very ordinary effects are to be attempted, this painting on the spot must give place to more reliance on the memory.
Memory has this great advantage over direct vision: it retains more vividly12 the essential things, 258and has a habit of losing what is unessential to the pictorial13 impression.
But what is the essential in a painting? What is it makes one want to paint at all? Ah! Here we approach very debatable and shadowy ground, and we can do little but ask questions, the answer to which will vary with each individual temperament8. What is it that these rays of light striking our retina convey to our brain, and from our brain to whatever is ourselves, in the seat of consciousness above this? What is this mysterious correspondence set up between something within and something without, that at times sends such a clamour of harmony through our whole being? Why do certain combinations of sound in music and of form and colour in art affect us so profoundly? What are the laws governing harmony in the universe, and whence do they come? It is hardly trees and sky, earth, or flesh and blood, as such, that interest the artist; but rather that through these things in memorable14 moments he is permitted a consciousness of deeper things, and impelled15 to seek utterance16 for what is moving him. It is the record of these rare moments in which one apprehends17 truth in things seen that the artist wishes to convey to others. But these moments, these flashes of inspiration which are at the inception18 of every vital picture, occur but seldom. What the painter has to do is to fix them vividly in his memory, to snapshot them, as it were, so that they may stand by him during the toilsome procedure of the painting, and guide the work.
This initial inspiration, this initial flash in the mind, need not be the result of a scene in nature, 259but may of course be purely19 the work of the imagination; a composition, the sense of which flashes across the mind. But in either case the difficulty is to preserve vividly the sensation of this original artistic impulse. And in the case of its having been derived20 from nature direct, as is so often the case in modern art, the system of painting continually on the spot is apt to lose touch with it very soon. For in the continual observation of anything you have set your easel before day after day, comes a series of impressions, more and more commonplace, as the eye becomes more and more familiar with the details of the subject. And ere long the original emotion that was the reason of the whole work is lost sight of, and one of those pictures or drawings giving a catalogue of tired objects more or less ingeniously arranged (that we all know so well) is the result—work utterly21 lacking in the freshness and charm of true inspiration. For however commonplace the subject seen by the artist in one of his "flashes," it is clothed in a newness and surprise that charm us, be it only an orange on a plate.
Now a picture is a thing of paint upon a flat surface, and a drawing is a matter of certain marks upon a paper, and how to translate the intricacies of a visual or imagined impression to the prosaic22 terms of masses of coloured pigment23 or lines and tones is the business with which our technique is concerned. The ease, therefore, with which a painter will be able to remember an impression in a form from which he can work, will depend upon his power to analyse vision in this technical sense. The more one knows about what may be called the anatomy24 of picture-making—how certain forms produce certain 260effects, certain colours or arrangements other effects, &c.—the easier will it be for him to carry away a visual memory of his subject that will stand by him during the long hours of his labours at the picture. The more he knows of the expressive25 powers of lines and tones, the more easily will he be able to observe the vital things in nature that convey the impression he wishes to memorise26.
It is not enough to drink in and remember the emotional side of the matter, although this must be done fully27, but if a memory of the subject is to be carried away that will be of service technically28, the scene must be committed to memory in terms of whatever medium you intend to employ for reproducing it—in the case of a drawing, lines and tones. And the impression will have to be analysed into these terms as if you were actually drawing the scene on some imagined piece of paper in your mind. The faculty29 of doing this is not to be acquired all at once, but it is amazing of how much development it is capable. Just as the faculty of committing to memory long poems or plays can be developed, so can the faculty of remembering visual things. This subject has received little attention in art schools until just recently. But it is not yet so systematically30 done as it might be. Monsieur Lecoq de Boisbaudran in France experimented with pupils in this memory training, beginning with very simple things like the outline of a nose, and going on to more complex subjects by easy stages, with the most surprising results. And there is no doubt that a great deal more can and should be done in this direction than is at present attempted. What students should do is to form a habit of making every day in their sketch31-book 261a drawing of something they have seen that has interested them, and that they have made some attempt at memorising. Don't be discouraged if the results are poor and disappointing at first—you will find that by persevering32 your power of memory will develop and be of the greatest service to you in your after work. Try particularly to remember the spirit of the subject, and in this memory-drawing some scribbling33 and fumbling34 will necessarily have to be done. You cannot expect to be able to draw definitely and clearly from memory, at least at first, although your aim should always be to draw as frankly35 and clearly as you can.
Plate LIV.
STUDY ON BROWN PAPER IN BLACK AND WHITE CONTé CHALK
Illustrating36 a simple method of studying drapery forms.
Let us assume that you have found a subject that moves you and that, being too fleeting37 to draw on the spot, you wish to commit to memory. Drink a full enjoyment38 of it, let it soak in, for the recollection of this will be of the utmost use to you afterwards in guiding your memory-drawing. This mental impression is not difficult to recall; it is the visual impression in terms of line and tone that is difficult to remember. Having experienced your full enjoyment of the artistic matter in the subject, you must next consider it from the material side, as a flat, visual impression, as this is the only form in which it can be expressed on a flat sheet of paper. Note the proportions of the main lines, their shapes and disposition39, as if you were drawing it, in fact do the whole drawing in your mind, memorising the forms and proportions of the different parts, and fix it in your memory to the smallest detail.
If only the emotional side of the matter has been remembered, when you come to draw it you will be hopelessly at sea, as it is remarkable40 how 262little the memory retains of the appearance of things constantly seen, if no attempt has been made to memorise their visual appearance.
The true artist, even when working from nature, works from memory very largely. That is to say, he works to a scheme in tune41 to some emotional enthusiasm with which the subject has inspired him in the first instance. Nature is always changing, but he does not change the intention of his picture. He always keeps before him the initial impression he sets out to paint, and only selects from nature those things that play up to it. He is a feeble artist, who copies individually the parts of a scene with whatever effect they may have at the moment he is doing them, and then expects the sum total to make a picture. If circumstances permit, it is always as well to make in the first instance a rapid sketch that shall, whatever it may lack, at least contain the main disposition of the masses and lines of your composition seen under the influence of the enthusiasm that has inspired the work. This will be of great value afterwards in freshening your memory when in the labour of the work the original impulse gets dulled. It is seldom that the vitality42 of this first sketch is surpassed by the completed work, and often, alas43! it is far from equalled.
In portrait painting and drawing the memory must be used also. A sitter varies very much in the impression he gives on different days, and the artist must in the early sittings, when his mind is fresh, select the aspect he means to paint and afterwards work largely to the memory of this.
Always work to a scheme on which you have decided44, and do not flounder on in the hope of something 263turning up as you go along. Your faculties45 are never so active and prone46 to see something interesting and fine as when the subject is first presented to them. This is the time to decide your scheme; this is the time to take your fill of the impression you mean to convey. This is the time to learn your subject thoroughly47 and decide on what you wish the picture to be. And having decided this, work straight on, using nature to support your original impression, but don't be led off by a fresh scheme because others strike you as you go along. New schemes will do so, of course, and every new one has a knack48 of looking better than your original one. But it is not often that this is so; the fact that they are new makes them appear to greater advantage than the original scheme to which you have got accustomed. So that it is not only in working away from nature that the memory is of use, but actually when working directly in front of nature.
To sum up, there are two aspects of a subject, the one luxuriating in the sensuous49 pleasure of it, with all of spiritual significance it may consciously or unconsciously convey, and the other concerned with the lines, tones, shapes, &c., and their rhythmic50 ordering, by means of which it is to be expressed—the matter and manner, as they may be called. And, if the artist's memory is to be of use to him in his work, both these aspects must be memorised, and of the two the second will need the most attention. But although there are these two aspects of the subject, and each must receive separate attention when memorising it, they are in reality only two aspects of the same thing, which in the act of painting or drawing must be 264united if a work of art is to result. When a subject first flashes upon an artist he delights in it as a painted or drawn51 thing, and feels instinctively52 the treatment it will require. In good draughtsmanship the thing felt will guide and govern everything, every touch will be instinct with the thrill of that first impression. The craftsman53 mind, so laboriously54 built up, should by now have become an instinct, a second nature, at the direction of a higher consciousness. At such times the right strokes, the right tones come naturally and go on the right place, the artist being only conscious of a fierce joy and a feeling that things are in tune and going well for once. It is the thirst for this glorious enthusiasm, this fusing of matter and manner, this act of giving the spirit within outward form, that spurs the artist on at all times, and it is this that is the wonderful thing about art.
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1
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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second-hand
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| adj.用过的，旧的，二手的 | |
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wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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temperaments
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| 性格( temperament的名词复数 )； （人或动物的）气质； 易冲动； （性情）暴躁 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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10
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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synthetic
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| adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品 | |
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12
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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13
pictorial
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| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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15
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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17
apprehends
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的第三人称单数 )； 理解 | |
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inception
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| n.开端，开始，取得学位 | |
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purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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21
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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23
pigment
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| n.天然色素，干粉颜料 | |
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24
anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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25
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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26
memorise
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| vt.记住，熟记 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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technically
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| adv.专门地，技术上地 | |
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29
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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persevering
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| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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scribbling
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| n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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34
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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36
illustrating
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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38
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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42
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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43
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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46
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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48
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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50
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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51
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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52
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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53
craftsman
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| n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人 | |
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laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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