“用脑子，先生”“

John Brown，1810—1882，was born in Lanarkshire，Scotland，and graduated at the U-niversity of Edinburgh.His father was John Brown，an eminent clergyman and the author of several books.Dr.Brown's literary reputation rests largely upon a series of papers contributed to the “North British Review.”“Rab and his Friends，”a collection of papers published in book form，is the most widely known of all his writings.

“Pray，Mr.Opie，may I ask you what you mix your colors with？”said a brisk dilettante student to the great painter.“With brains，sir，”was the gruff reply—and the right one.It did not give much of information；it did not expound the principles and rules of the art；but，if the inquirer had the commodity referred to，it would awaken him；it would set him agoing，athinking，and a-painting to good purpose.If he had not the wherewithal，as was likely enough，the less he had to do with colors and their mixture the better.

Many other artists，when asked such a question，would have either set about detailing the mechanical composition of such and such colors，in such and such proportions，rubbed up so and so；or perhaps they would （and so much the better，but not the best）have shown him how they laid them on；but even this would leave him at the critical point.Opie preferred going to the quick and the heart of the matter： “With brains，sir.”

Sir Joshua Reynolds was taken by a friend to see a picture.He was anxious to admire it，and he looked it over with a keen and careful but favorable eye.“Capital composition；correct drawing；the color，tone，chiaroscuro excellent；but—but—it wants—hang it，it wants—that！”snapping his fingers；and，wanting “that，”though it had everything else，it was worth nothing.

Again，Etty was appointed teacher of the students of the Royal Academy，having been preceded by a clever，talkative，scientific expounder of aesthetics，who delighted to tell the young men how everything was done，how to copy this，and how to express that.A student came up to the new master，“How should I do this，sir？”“Suppose you try.”Another，“What does this mean，Mr.Etty？”“Suppose you look.”“But I have looked.”“Suppose you look again.”

And they did try，and they did look，and looked again；and they saw and achieved what they never could have done had the how or the what （supposing this possible，which it is not，in full and highest meaning）been told them，or done for them；in the one case，sight and action were immediate，exact，intense，and secure；in the other，mediate，feeble，and lost as soon as gained.

译文　TRANSLATION

约翰·布朗（1810一1882），出生于苏格兰拉纳克郡，毕业于爱丁堡大学。他父亲老约翰·布朗是著名牧师、作家。布朗最著名的作品为论文集《拉布和他的朋友们》。

“求求您，奥佩先生，您能告诉我您用什么调色吗？”一个自信满满的业余爱好者问那位大画家。“用脑子，先生。”这是画家的回答——突兀而中肯。这句回答没有给出很多信息；也没有阐述绘画的原理与规则；但是，如果提问者有所谓“脑子”，那么这番话就会令他警醒，使他进步，促进他思索，感悟绘画的妙旨。如果他没有足够的脑子，那他还是离色彩、美术越远越好。

在被问及这一问题时，很多别的艺术家要么不厌其烦地解说色彩的成分以及调制的比例和方法；要么他们会向提问者演示他们如何调色——这种方法比较好，但还不是最好的；而且即便如此，却仍会使提问者未达一间。奥佩则偏爱一语破的：“用脑子，先生。”

一次，一个朋友带约书亚·雷诺兹爵士去看画。他急于欣赏画，待他细致、敏锐而又赞赏地反复看了几遍后，说：“构图精巧，用笔工致，色彩、色调、明暗对比堪称完美；不过，不过，它没——挂起来，嗯，它没神韵。”他打了个响指。没有神韵，即使别的都一应俱全，也是枉然。

艾迪再次被任命为皇家美术学院的教师，他的前任聪明而又健谈，总在严谨地解说着美学原理，乐于告诉这群年轻人每件事该怎么做，如何临摹，如何表现。一个学生走到这位新老师面前，“先生，我该怎么办？”“自己试试。”老师说。“这是什么意思，艾迪先生？”“自己看看。”“可是我看过了。”“试着再看看。”

学生们真的试了，看了，而且看了又看；而他们看到并且完成的一切，是他们从前无法企及的，如果仅仅教他们或向他们演示方法和原则；让学生自己去试、去看，所见所行都是直接、准确、强烈、稳定的；而只学习方法与原则，所见所行则是间接、模糊、随得随失的。