going over the painting, when quite dry, with opaque tints of a lighter hue, generally with a mixture of white. Colors that are too bright can thus be cooled down, and objects made to appear more distant; smoke mist, and the haziness of far-off hills, can be thus produced. The color should be laid on very thinly, with a hog's bristle brush, and should not be laid over shadows.
When painting, often retire from your work and look at it from a distance, so as to judge of the effect. When copying from nature, as in painting flowers, look at them sometimes with your eyes half closed, or through a tube formed of rolled up paper. This will isolate your subject, and help you to see the lights and shadows more correctly.
Much of the comfort, and success also, of an amateur depends on their keeping their painting materials in good working order. Brushes put away with paint in them will soon spoil, while if much paint is left on the palette considerable waste is involved. You can save your pure colors by taking them off the palette with your knife, placing them on a plate, and then covering them with water; they can be kept for several days in this condition. Now scrape all the waste color and oil off your palette; wipe it off with a rag and pour a little linseed oil on it (I believe kerosene oil is often used for this purpose); wash all the color out of your brushes, wiping~them with a rag, and then dip them in clean oil. Some prefer washing them in soap and water. Wipe the dirty oil off your palette and then rub it with a little clean oil. Put brushes and palette safely away from the dust.
If possible, paint from nature; take simple objects at first which will await your time, as flowers and landscapes will not. A bit of drapery is excellent practice. If you are at fault in drawing get a good copy of a flower, and by it learn how to draw the real flower, but copy the
