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abt London
[[strikethrough]] THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1936 [[/strikethrough]] 
142nd Day  Ascension Day   224 Days to come

Cont.  S.S. Wash

- drawing them in literally like a child. In their line drawings nothing within the figure is cut up - & most of their things [[strikethrough]] are built on [[/strikethrough]] consist of design & form. In a line drawing they paint a faintly deeper shade next to each line. Every color is mixed with the sepia of the background - or whatever is the common denominator in color. In their huge portraits of great leaders - they have a glorious mixture of flat black & white design, & gentle forms. Well this is nothing to what I would like to write, but I came away each time I went with eyes & emotions aching most painfully, for it hurts to see so much beauty all at once. As for the Gainsborough Exhibition - this is what I listed as his characteristics which is a shocking way to treat a great painter! His values, quality of flesh & textures, perspective, & composition (not design) - are all marvelous; his colors are gentle & true, & he must have loved animals as one sees from his lambs


abt London
[[strikethrough]] FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1936 [[/strikethrough]] 
143rd Day  Maritime Day   223 Days to come

Cont.  S.S. Wash

(see next page about Gainsborough)*

& dogs & cows, which he uses every excuse to include. His paintings are not very vital or exciting, nor has he much sense of form or pattern or action - even in facial expressions - but he has a gentle understanding & a real sense of atmosphere & consistancy.

One day I went to the Aquarium - I was most disappointed to find that the octopus had died from overeating. The salt water there is imported once a year all the way from the Bay of Biscay - & the whole place is ideally arranged, except when you look at a case with 50 fishes of different varieties in you, you look below to see what is what, & there are only fifty names! They should ask me to draw each of the fish beside each name, so you would recognize them. The cat fishes are what [[strikethrough]] did [[/strikethrough]] charmed me most - especially from the front when they look like this [[image]] Such a sweet smile - talk about Alice in Wonderland's "cat grin"! The axolotl - a Mexican - charmed me [[strikethrough]] out [[/strikethrough]] so much that I felt lonely in my emotions as I looked at him with his seaweed ears [[image]] The angel fish had tremendous style - & there was a goldfish of such a heavenly goldy yellow colour as