largely to his badger-hair brush to produce his effects of softness
and marbly appearance; but in painting in water-colours, this
softness, depth, and marbly appearance are produced mostly by the
colour placed upon the surface, and left entirely untouched by badger
or any other brush. The colour drying quickly, does not allow much
time for working, and when dry it cannot be touched without spoiling
the whole of the work. The difference first of all between painting in
water and in oil colour, is that a peculiar grain exists with painting
in water that it is absolutely impossible to get in oil. The charm of
a marble is, I think, its translucency as much as its beautiful
colour; it is to that translucency (for in marble fixed we have no
transparency) that it owes its softness of effect, which makes marble
of such decorative value. This translucency can only be obtained by
thin glazes of colour, by which means each succeeding glaze only
partly covers the previous one, the character of the marble being thus
produced. This is done sometimes in oil-colour in a marvellous manner,
but even the best of oil-painting in marble cannot stand the
comparison of water-colour, and it is only by comparison that any
accurate judgment can be formed of any work. The production of marbles
in water-colour has a depth, softness, and stoniness that defies
oil-painting, and in some cases will defy detection unless by an
expert of marbles. It may be that first of all the materials employed
are more in keeping with the real material, as no oil enters into the
composition of real marble, and by using the medium of water we thus
start better, but the real secret is that by using water as a medium
the colours take an entirely different effect. In painting in
water-colour greys of any tint or strength can be obtained suitable
for the production of a marble of greyish ground, by pure white,
tinted as required, being applied of different thicknesses of colour,
all the modulations of tone being obtained by the difference in the