Page:Landscape Painting by Birge Harrison.djvu/206

 XV THE IMPORTANCE OF FEARLESSNESS IN PAINTING courageous. Always dare to the limit of your knowledge and just a little beyond. You must show conviction yourself, if you would convince others. One of our best painters recently assured me that cheek was his only technical asset. This was not true, but it was half true. The public loves to be dictated to in matters of art—to feel that the painter is "onto his job." It will pass by the man who says "I think," and stand rapt every time before the picture of the man who says "I know." Aim to tell the truth; but if you have to lie, lie courageously. A courageous lie has [158]