“Remember that the most perfect guide that you can have and the best course (helm), is the triumphal gateway of drawing from nature: it is before all other example, and with a bold heart you may always trust to it, especially when you begin to have some judgement in design. And continue always, and without fail, to draw something every day, not too little to be enough, and it will do you excellent service.”

Il libro dell'arte, Cap. XXVIII, Cennino Cennini (c. 1370 – c. 1440)