William Morris Hunt's "Talks on Art": Simplify

Sand Dunes, Newbury, Massachusetts
by William Morris Hunt

"Nature is economical. She puts her lights and darks only where she needs them. Don't try to be more skillful than she is! Why draw more than you see? We must sacrifice in drawing as in everything else. You thought it needed more work. It needs less. You don't get mystery because you are too conscientious. When a bird flies through the air you see no feathers! You are to draw not reality, but the appearance of reality!"

"You see a beautiful sunset, and a barn comes into your picture. Will you grasp the whole at once in a grand sweep of broad sky and a broad mass of dark building, or will you stop to draw in all the shingles on the barn, perhaps even the nails on each shingle; possibly the shaded side of each nail? Your fine sunset is all gone while you are doing this."

"In your sketches keep the first vivid impression. Add no details that shall weaken it. Look first for the big things. 1) Proportions 2) Values - or masses of light and shade 3) Details that will not spoil the beginnings."

"Strive for simplicity, not complexity! If you are going to Africa with a large cargo of merchandise, and you learn that, by reaching there on a certain day, you can double the price you were to get, throw half your cargo overboard and arrive there in season to get your double price. Don't put needless expense into painting a head."

"Picturesqueness can be expressed in five minutes by light and shade."

(These extracts, fragmentary and incomplete from Mr. Hunt's instructions were jotted down on backs of canvases and scraps of drawing paper without knowledge of short-hand. Their publication has been requested by artists in Europe and America. Helen M. Knowlton.)