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diff --git a/26054-0.txt b/26054-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8b5081a --- /dev/null +++ b/26054-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4178 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Color Notation, by Albert H. Munsell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Color Notation + A measured color system, based on the three qualities Hue, + Value and Chroma + +Author: Albert H. Munsell + +Release Date: July 14, 2008 [EBook #26054] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COLOR NOTATION *** + + + + +Produced by Louise Hope, K.D. Thornton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[This text uses utf-8 (unicode) file encoding. If the apostrophes and +quotation marks in this paragraph appear as garbage, make sure your +text reader’s “character set” or “file encoding” is set to Unicode +(UTF-8). You may also need to change the default font. As a last +resort, use the ascii-7 version of the file instead. + +The Table of Contents, Index, and all cross-references use paragraph +numbers, shown in (parentheses). + +Braces have been added to a few long fractions that were originally +printed on two lines. + +The numbers in expressions such as R2, R3, R4 were printed as +superscripts.] + + + + + [Illustration: A BALANCED COLOR SPHERE + PASTEL SKETCH] + + + + + A COLOR NOTATION + + _By_ + + A. H. MUNSELL + +A MEASURED COLOR SYSTEM, BASED ON THE THREE QUALITIES + + _Hue, Value, and Chroma_ + + with + + Illustrative Models, Charts, and + a Course of Study Arranged for Teachers + + _2nd Edition + Revised & + Enlarged_ + + GEO. H. ELLIS CO. + BOSTON + 1907 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1905 + by + A. H. MUNSELL + + _All rights reserved_ + + ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL + + + + +AUTHOR’S PREFACE. + + +At various times during the past ten years, the gist of these pages has +been given in the form of lectures to students of the Normal Art School, +the Art Teachers’ Association, and the Twentieth Century Club. In +October of last year it was presented before the Society of Arts of the +Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at the suggestion of Professor +Charles R. Cross. + +Grateful acknowledgment is due to many whose helpful criticism has aided +in its development, notably Mr. Benjamin Ives Gilman, Secretary of the +Museum of Fine Arts, Professor Harry E. Clifford, of the Institute, and +Mr. Myron T. Pritchard, master of the Everett School, Boston. + + A. H. M. + + CHESTNUT HILL, MASS., 1905. + + + + +PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. + + +The new illustrations in this edition are facsimiles of children’s +studies with measured color, made under ordinary school-room conditions. +Notes and appendices are introduced to meet the questions most +frequently asked, stress being laid on the unbalanced nature of colors +usually given to beginners, and the mischief done by teaching that red, +yellow, and blue are primary hues. + +The need of a scientific basis for color values is also emphasized, +believing this to be essential in the discipline of the color sense. + + A. H. M. + + CHESTNUT HILL, MASS., 1907. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The lack of definiteness which is at present so general in color +nomenclature, is due in large measure to the failure to appreciate the +fundamental characteristics on which color differences depend. For the +physicist, the expression of the wave length of any particular light is +in most cases sufficient, but in the great majority of instances where +colors are referred to, something more than this and something easier of +realization is essential. + +The attempt to express color relations by using merely two dimensions, +or two definite characteristics, can never lead to a successful system. +For this reason alone the system proposed by Mr. Munsell, with its three +dimensions of hue, value, and chroma, is a decided step in advance over +any previous proposition. By means of these three dimensions it is +possible to completely express any particular color, and to +differentiate it from colors ordinarily classed as of the same +general character. + +The expression of the essential characteristics of a color is, however, +not all that is necessary. There must be some accurate and not too +complicated system for duplicating these characteristics, one which +shall not alter with time or place, and which shall be susceptible of +easy and accurate redetermination. From the teaching standpoint also a +logical and sequential development is absolutely essential. This Mr. +Munsell seems to have most successfully accomplished. + +In the determination of his relationships he has made use of distinctly +scientific methods, and there seems no reason why his suggestions should +not lead to an exact and definite system of color essentials. The +Munsell photometer, which is briefly referred to, is an instrument of +wide range, high precision, and great sensitiveness, and permits the +valuations which are necessary in his system to be accurately made. We +all appreciate the necessity for some improvement in our ideas of color, +and the natural inference is that the training should be begun in early +youth. The present system in its modified form possesses elements of +simplicity and attractiveness which should appeal to children, and give +them almost unconsciously a power of discrimination which would prove of +immense value in later life. The possibilities in this system are very +great, and it has been a privilege to be allowed during the past few +years to keep in touch with its development. I cannot but feel that we +have here not only a rational color nomenclature, but also a system of +scientific importance and of practical value. + + H. E. CLIFFORD. + + MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, + February, 1905. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + Introduction By Professor Clifford. + + + Part I. + +Chapter Paragraph + + I. COLOR NAMES: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple 1 + Appendix I.--Misnomers for Color. + + II. COLOR QUALITIES: Hue, Value, Chroma 20 + Appendix II.--Scales of Hue, Value, and Chroma. + + III. COLOR MIXTURE: A Tri-Dimensional Balance 54 + Appendix III.--False Color Balance. + + IV. PRISMATIC COLORS 87 + Appendix IV.--Children’s Color Studies. + + V. THE PIGMENT COLOR SPHERE: TRUE COLOR BALANCE 102 + Appendix V.--Schemes based on Brewster’s Theory. + + VI. COLOR NOTATION: A Written Color System 132 + + VII. COLOR HARMONY: A Measured Relation 146 + + + Part II. + + A COLOR SYSTEM AND COURSE OF STUDY + BASED ON THE COLOR SOLID AND ITS CHARTS. + Arranged for nine years of school life. + + GLOSSARY OF COLOR TERMS. + Taken from the Century Dictionary. + + INDEX + (by paragraphs). + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +COLOR NAMES. + + +Writing from Samoa to Sidney Colvin in London, Stevenson[1] says: +“Perhaps in the same way it might amuse you to send us any pattern of +wall paper that might strike you as cheap, pretty, and suitable for a +room in a hot and extremely bright climate. It should be borne in mind +that our climate can be extremely dark, too. Our sitting-room is to be +in varnished wood. The room I have particularly in mind is a sort of bed +and sitting room, pretty large, lit on three sides, and the colour in +favour of its proprietor at present is a topazy yellow. But then with +what colour to relieve it? For a little work-room of my own at the back +I should rather like to see some patterns of unglossy--well, I’ll be +hanged if I can describe this red. It’s not Turkish, and it’s not Roman, +and it’s not Indian; but it seems to partake of the last two, and yet it +can’t be either of them, because it ought to be able to go with +vermilion. Ah, what a tangled web we weave! Anyway, with what brains you +have left choose me and send me some--many--patterns of the exact +shade.” + + [Footnote 1: Vailima Letters, Oct. 8, 1902.] + +(1) Where could be found a more delightful cry for some rational way to +describe color? He wants “a topazy yellow” and a red that is not Turkish +nor Roman nor Indian, but that “seems to partake of the last two, and +yet it can’t be either of them.” As a cap to the climax comes his demand +for “patterns of the exact shade.” Thus one of the clearest and most +forceful writers of English finds himself unable to describe the color +he wants. And why? Simply because popular language does not clearly +state a single one of the three qualities united in every color, and +which must be known before one may even hope to convey his color +conceptions to another. + +(2) The incongruous and bizarre nature of our present color names must +appear to any thoughtful person. Baby blue, peacock blue, Nile green, +apple green, lemon yellow, straw yellow, rose pink, heliotrope, royal +purple, Magenta, Solferino, plum, and automobile are popular terms, +conveying different ideas to different persons and utterly failing to +define colors. The terms used for a single hue, such as pea green, sea +green, olive green, grass green, sage green, evergreen, invisible green, +are not to be trusted in ordering a piece of cloth. They invite mistakes +and disappointment. Not only are they inaccurate: they are +inappropriate. Can we imagine musical tones called lark, canary, +cockatoo, crow, cat, dog, or mouse, because they bear some distant +resemblance to the cries of those animals? See paragraph 131. + + ++Color needs a system.+ + +(3) Music is equipped with a system by which it defines each sound in +terms of its pitch, intensify, and duration, without dragging in loose +allusions to the endlessly varying sounds of nature. So should color be +supplied with an appropriate system, based on the hue, value, and +chroma[2] of our sensations, and not attempting to describe them by the +indefinite and varying colors of natural objects. The system now to be +considered portrays the three dimensions of color, and measures each by +an appropriate scale. It does not rest upon the whim of an individual, +but upon physical measurements made possible by special color apparatus. +The results may be tested by any one who comes to the problem with “a +clear mind, a good eye, and a fair supply of patience.” + + [Footnote 2: See color variables in Glossary.] + + ++Clear mental images make clear speech. Vague thoughts find vague +utterance.+ + +(4) The child gathers flowers, hoards colored beads, chases butterflies, +and begs for the gaudiest painted toys. At first his strong color +sensations are sufficiently described by the simple terms of red, +yellow, green, blue, and purple. But he soon sees that some are light, +while others are dark, and later comes to perceive that each hue has +many grayer degrees. Now, if he wants to describe a particular +red,--such as that of his faded cap,--he is not content to merely call +it red, since he is aware of other red objects which are very unlike it. +So he gropes for means to define this particular red; and, having no +standard of comparison,--no scale by which to estimate,--he hesitatingly +says it is a “sort of dull red.” + +(5) Thus early is he cramped by the poverty of color language. He has +never been given an appropriate word for this color quality, and has to +borrow one signifying the opposite of sharp, which belongs to edge tools +rather than to colors. + + ++Most color terms are borrowed from other senses.+ + +(6) When his older sister refers to the “tone” of her green dress, or +speaks of the “key of color” in a picture, he is naturally confused, +because tone and key are terms associated in his mind with music. It may +not be long before he will hear that “a color note has been pitched too +high,” or that a certain artist “paints in a minor key.” All these terms +lead to mixed and indefinite ideas, and leave him unequipped for the +clear expression of color qualities. + +(7) Musical art is not so handicapped. It has an established scale with +measured intervals and definite terms. Likewise, coloristic art must +establish a scale, measure its intervals, and name its qualities in +unmistakable fashion. + + ++Color has three dimensions.+ + +(8) It may sound strange to say that color has three dimensions, but it +is easily proved by the fact that each of them can be measured. Thus in +the case of the boy’s faded cap its redness or HUE[3] is determined by +one instrument; the amount of light in the red, which is its VALUE,[3] +is found by another instrument; while still a third instrument +determines the purity or CHROMA[3] of the red. + +The omission of any one of these three qualities leaves us in doubt as +to the character of a color, just as truly as the character of this +studio would remain undefined if the length were omitted and we +described it as 22 feet wide by 14 feet high. The imagination would be +free to ascribe any length it chose, from 25 to 100 feet. This length +might be differently conceived by every individual who tried to supply +the missing factor. + +(9) To illustrate the tri-dimensional nature of colors. Suppose we peel +an orange and divide it in five parts, leaving the sections slightly +connected below (Fig. 4). Then let us say that all the reds we have ever +seen are gathered in one of the sections, all yellows in another, all +greens in the third, blues in the fourth, and purples in the fifth. Next +we will assort these HUES in each section so that the lightest are near +the top, and grade regularly to the darkest near the bottom. A white +wafer connects all the sections at the top, and a black wafer may be +added beneath. See Plate I. + + [Illustration: Fig. 4.] + + [Footnote 3: For definitions of Hue, Value, and Chroma, see + paragraphs 20-23.] + +(10) The fruit is then filled with assorted colors, graded from white to +black, according to their VALUES, and disposed by their HUES in the five +sections. A slice near the top will uncover light values in all hues, +and a slice near the bottom will find dark values in the same hues. +A slice across the middle discloses a circuit of hues all of MIDDLE +VALUE; that is, midway between the extremes of white and black. + +(11) Two color dimensions are thus shown in the orange, and it remains +to exhibit the third, which is called CHROMA, or strength of color. To +do this, we have only to take each section in turn, and, without +disturbing the values already assorted, shove the grayest in toward the +narrow edge, and grade outward to the purest on the surface. Each slice +across the fruit still shows the circuit of hues in one uniform value; +but the strong chromas are at the outside, while grayer and grayer +chromas make a gradation inward to neutral gray at the centre, where all +trace of color disappears. The thin edges of all sections unite in a +scale of gray from black to white, no matter what hue each contains. + +The curved outside of each section shows its particular hue graded from +black to white; and, should the section be cut at right angles to the +thin edge, it would show the third dimension,--chroma,--for the color is +graded evenly from the surface to neutral gray. A pin stuck in at any +point traces the third dimension. + + [Illustration: Fig. 5.] + + ++A color sphere can be used to unite the three dimensions of hue, +value, and chroma.+ + +(12) Having used the familiar structure of the orange as a help in +classifying colors, let us substitute a geometric solid, like a +sphere,[4] and make use of geographical terms. The north pole is white. +The south pole is black. The equator is a circuit of middle reds, +yellows, greens, blues, and purples. Parallels above the equator +describe this circuit in lighter values, and parallels below trace it in +darker values. The vertical axis joining black and white is a neutral +scale of gray values, while perpendiculars to it (like a pin thrust into +the orange) are scales of chroma. Thus our color notions may be brought +into an orderly relation by the color sphere. Any color describes its +light and strength by its location in the solid or on the surface, and +is named by its place in the combined scales of hue, value, and chroma. + + [Footnote 4: See frontispiece.] + ++Two dimensions fail to describe a color.+ + +(13) Much of the popular misunderstanding of color is caused by +ignorance of these three dimensions or by an attempt to make two +dimensions do the work of three. + +(14) Flat diagrams showing hues and values, but omitting to define +chromas, are as incomplete as would be a map of Switzerland with the +mountains left out, or a harbor chart without indications of the depth +of water. We find by aid of the measuring instruments that pigments are +very unequal in this third dimension,--chroma,--producing mountains and +valleys on the color sphere, so that, when the color system is worked +out in pigments and charted, some colors must be traced well out beyond +the spherical surface (paragraphs 125-127). Indeed, a COLOR TREE[5] is +needed to display by the unequal levels and lengths of its branches the +individuality of pigment colors. But, whatever solid or figure is used +to illustrate color relations, it must combine the three scales of hue, +value, and chroma, and these definite scales furnish a name for every +color based upon its intrinsic qualities, and free from terms purloined +in other sensations, or caught from the fluctuating colors of natural +objects. + + [Footnote 5: For description of the Color Tree see paragraphs 33 + and 34.] + + ++How this system describes the spectrum.+ + +(15) The solar spectrum and rainbow are the most stimulating color +experiences with which we are acquainted. Can they be described by this +solid system? + +(16) The lightest part of the spectrum is a narrow field of greenish +yellow, grading into darker red on one side and into darker green upon +the other, followed by still darker blue and purple. Upon the sphere the +values of these spectral colors trace a path high up on the yellow +section, near white, and slanting downward across the red and green +sections, which are traversed near the level of the equator, it goes on +to cross the blue and purple well down toward black. + +(17) This forms an inclined circuit, crossing the equator at opposite +points, and suggests the ecliptic or the rings of Saturn (see outside +cover). A pale rainbow would describe a slanting circuit nearer white, +and a dimmer one would fall within the sphere, while an intensely +brilliant spectrum projects far beyond the surface of the sphere, so +greatly is the chroma of its hues in excess of the common pigments with +which we work out our problems. + +(18) At the outset it is well to recognize the place of the spectrum in +this system, not only because it is the established basis of scientific +study, but especially because the invariable order assumed by its hues +is the only stable hint which Nature affords us in her infinite color +play. + +(19) All our color sensations are included in the color solid. None are +left out by its scales of hue, value, and chroma. Indeed, the +imagination is led to conceive and locate still purer colors than any we +now possess. Such increased degrees of color sensation can be named, and +clearly conveyed by symbols to another person as soon as the system is +comprehended. + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER I. + + ++Misnomers for Color.+ + +The Century Dictionary helps an intelligent study of color by its clear +definitions and cross-references to HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA,--leaving no +excuse for those who would confuse these three qualities or treat a +degree of any quality as the quality itself. + +Obscure statements were frequent in text-books before these new +definitions appeared. Thus the term “shade” should be applied only to +darkened values, and not to hues or chromas. Yet one writer says, “This +yellow shades into green,” which is certainly a change of hue, and then +speaks of “a brighter shade” in spite of his evident intention to +suggest a stronger chroma, which is neither a shade nor brighter +luminosity. + +Children gain wrong notions of “tint and shade” from the so-called +standard colors shown to them, which present “tints” of red and blue +much darker than the “shades” of yellow. This is bewildering, and, like +their elders, they soon drop into the loose habit of calling any degree +of color-strength or color-light a “shade.” _Value_ is a better term to +describe the light which color reflects to the eye, and all color +values, light or dark, are measured by the _value-scale_. + +“Tone” is used in a confusing way to mean different things. Thus in the +same sentence we see it refers to a single touch of the brush,--which is +not a tone, but a paint spot,--and then we read that the “tone of the +canvas is golden.” This cannot mean that each paint spot is the color of +gold, but is intended to suggest that the various objects depicted seem +enveloped in a yellow atmosphere. Tone is, in fact, a musical term +appropriate to sound, but out of place in color. It seems better to call +the brush touch a _color-spot_: then the result of an harmonious +relation between all the spots is _color-envelope_, or, as in Rood, “the +chromatic composition.” + +“Intensity” is a misleading term, if chroma be intended, for it depends +on the relative light of spectral hues. It is a degree rather than a +quality, as appears in the expressions, intense heat, light, +sound,--intensity of stimulus and reaction. Being a degree of many +qualities, it should not be used to describe the quality itself. The +word becomes especially unfit when used to describe two very different +phases of a color,--as its intense illumination, where the chroma is +greatly weakened, and the strongest chroma which is found in a much +lower value. “Purity” is also to be avoided in speaking of pigments, for +not one of our pigments represents a single pure ray of the spectrum. + +Examples are constantly found of the mental blur caused by such +unfortunate terms, and, since misunderstanding becomes impossible with +measured degrees of hue, value, and chroma, it seems only a question of +time when they will take the place of tint, tone, shade, purity and +intensity. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +COLOR QUALITIES. + + +(20) The three color qualities are hue, value, and chroma. + + ++HUE is the name of a color.+ + +(21) Hue is the quality by which we distinguish one color from another, +as a red from a yellow, a green, a blue, or a purple. This names the +hue, but does not tell whether it is light or dark, weak or +strong,--leaving us in doubt as to its value and its chroma. + +Science attributes this quality to difference in the LENGTH of ether +waves impinging on the retina, which causes the sensation of color. The +wave length M. 5269 gives a sensation of green, while M. 6867 gives a +sensation of red.[6] + + [Footnote 6: See Glossary for definitions of Micron, Photometer, + Retina, and Red, also for Hue, Tint, Shade, Value, Color + Variables, Luminosity, and Chroma.] + + ++VALUE is the light of a color.+ + +(22) Value is the quality by which we distinguish a light color from a +dark one. Color values are loosely called tints and shades, but the +terms are frequently misapplied. A tint should be a light value, and a +shade should be darker; but the word “shade” has become a general term +for any sort of color, so that a shade of yellow may prove to be lighter +than a tint of blue. A photometric[7] scale of value places all colors +in relation to the extremes of white and black, but cannot describe +their hue or their chroma. + +Science describes this quality as due to difference in the HEIGHT or +amplitude of ether waves impinging on the retina. Small amplitudes of +the wave lengths given in paragraph 21 produce the sensation of dark +green and dark red: larger amplitudes give the sensation of lighter +green and lighter red. + + [Footnote 7: See Photometer in paragraph 65.] + + ++CHROMA is the strength of a color.+ + +(23) Chroma is the quality by which we distinguish a strong color from a +weak one. To say that a rug is strong in color gives no hint of its hues +or values, only its chromas. Loss of chroma is loosely called fading, +but this word is frequently used to include changes of value and hue. +Take two autumn leaves, identical in color, and expose one to the +weather, while the other is waxed and pressed in a book. Soon the +exposed leaf fades into a neutral gray, while the protected one +preserves its strong chroma almost intact. If, in fading, the leaf does +not change its hue or its value, there is only a loss of chroma, but the +fading process is more likely to induce some change of the other two +qualities. Fading, however, cannot define these changes. + +Science describes chroma as the purity of one wave length separated from +all others. Other wave lengths, INTERMINGLING, make its chroma less +pure. A beam of daylight can combine all wave lengths in such balance as +to give the sensation of whiteness, because no single wave is in +excess.[8] + + [Footnote 8: See definition of White in Glossary.] + +(24) The color sphere (see Fig. 1) is a convenient model to illustrate +these three qualities,--hue, value, and chroma,--and unite them by +measured scales. + +(25) The north pole of the color sphere is white, and the south pole +black. Value or luminosity of colors ranges between these two extremes. +This is the vertical scale, to be memorized as _V_, the initial for both +value and vertical. Vertical movement through color may thus be thought +of as a change of value, but not as a change of hue or of chroma. Hues +of color are spread around the equator of the sphere. This is a +horizontal scale, memorized as _H_, the initial for both hue and +horizontal. Horizontal movement around the color solid is thus thought +of as a change of hue, but not of value or of chroma. A line inward from +the strong surface hues to the neutral gray axis, traces the graying of +each color, which is loss of chroma, and conversely a line beginning +with neutral gray at the vertical axis, and becoming more and more +colored until it passes outside the sphere, is a scale of chroma, which +is memorized as _C_, the initial both for chroma and centre. Thus the +sphere lends its three dimensions to color description, and a color +applied anywhere within, without, or on its surface is located and named +by its degree of hue, of value, and of chroma. + + [Illustration: Fig. 1.] + + ++HUES first appeal to the child, VALUES next, and CHROMAS last.+ + +(26) Color education begins with ability to recognize and name certain +hues, such as red, yellow, green, blue, and purple (see paragraphs 182 +and 183). Nature presents these hues in union with such varieties of +value and chroma that, unless there be some standard of comparison, it +is impossible for one person to describe them intelligently to another. + +(27) The solar spectrum forms a basis for scientific color analysis, +taught in technical schools; but it is quite beyond the comprehension of +a child. He needs something more tangible and constantly in view to +train his color notions. He needs to handle colors, place them side by +side for comparison, imitate them with crayons, paints, and colored +stuffs, so as to test the growth of perception, and learn by simple yet +accurate terms to describe each by its hue, its value, and its chroma. + +(28) Pigments, rather than the solar spectrum, are the practical agents +of color work. Certain of them, selected and measured by this system +(see Chapter V.), will be known as MIDDLE COLORS, because they stand +midway in the scales of value and chroma. These middle colors are +preserved in imperishable enamels,[9] so that the child may handle and +fix them in his memory, and thus gain a permanent basis for comparing +all degrees of color. He learns to grade each middle color to its +extremes of value and chroma. + + [Footnote 9: When recognized for the first time, a middle green, + blue, or purple, is accepted by most persons as well within + their color habit, but middle red and middle yellow cause + somewhat of a shock. “That isn’t red,” they say, “it’s terra + cotta.” “Yellow?” “Oh, no, that’s--well, it’s a very peculiar + shade.” + Yet these are as surely the middle degrees of red and yellow as + are the more familiar degrees of green, blue, and purple. This + becomes evident as soon as one accepts physical tests of color + in place of personal whim. It also opens the mind to a generally + ignored fact, that middle reds and yellows, instead of the + screaming red and yellow first given a child, are constantly + found in examples of rich and beautiful color, such as Persian + rugs, Japanese prints, and the masterpieces of painting.] + +(29) Experiments with crayons and paints, and efforts to match middle +colors, train his color sense to finer perceptions. Having learned to +name colors, he compares them with the enamels of middle value, and can +describe how light or dark they are. Later he perceives their +differences of strength, and, comparing them with the enamels of middle +chroma, can describe how weak or strong they are. Thus the full +significance of these middle colors as a practical basis for all color +estimates becomes apparent; and, when at a more advanced stage he +studies the best examples of decorative color, he will again encounter +them in the most beautiful products of Oriental art. + + ++Is it possible to define the endless varieties of color?+ + +(30) At first glance it would seem almost hopeless to attempt the naming +of every kind and degree of color. But, if all these varieties possess +the same three qualities, only in different degrees, and if each quality +can be measured by a scale, then there is a clue to this labyrinth. + + ++A COLOR SPHERE and COLOR TREE to unite hue, value, and chroma.+ + +(31) This clue is found in the union of these three qualities by +measured scales in a _color sphere and color tree_.[10] The equator of +the sphere[11] may be divided into ten parts, and serve as the scale of +hue, marked R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, and RP. Its vertical axis may +be divided into ten parts to serve as the scale of value, numbered from +black (0) to white (10). Any perpendicular to the neutral axis is a +scale of chroma. On the plane of the equator this scale is numbered 1, +2, 3, 4, 5, from the centre to the surface. + + [Illustration: Fig. 3.] + + [Footnote 10: See Color Tree in paragraph 14.] + + [Footnote 11: Unaware that the spherical arrangement had been + used years before, I devised a double tetrahedron to classify + colors, while a student of painting in 1879. It now appears that + the sphere was common property with psychologists, having been + described by Runge in 1810. Earlier still, Lambert had suggested + a pyramidal form. Both are based on the erroneous assumption + that red, yellow, and blue are primary sensations, and also fail + to place these hues in a just scale of luminosity. My twirling + color solid and its completer development in the present model + have always made prominent the artistic feeling for color value. + It differs in this and in other ways from previous systems, and + is fortunate in possessing new apparatus to measure the degree + of hue, value, and chroma.] + +(32) This chroma scale may be raised or lowered to any level of value, +always remaining perpendicular to the axis, and serving to measure the +chroma of every hue at every level of value. The fact that some colors +exceed others to such an extent as to carry them out beyond the sphere +is proved by measuring instruments, but the fact is a new one to many +persons. (Figs. 2 and 3.) + + [Illustration: Fig. 2. (See Fig. 20) The Color Tree] + +(33) For this reason the COLOR TREE is a completer model than the +sphere, although the simplicity of the latter makes it best for a +child’s comprehension. + +(34) The color tree is made by taking the vertical axis of the sphere, +which carries a scale of value, for the trunk. The branches are at right +angles to the trunk; and, as in the sphere, they carry the scale of +chroma. Colored balls on the branches tell their Hue. In order to show +the MAXIMA of color, each branch is attached to the trunk (or neutral +axis) at a level demanded by its value,--the yellow nearest white at the +top, then the green, red, blue, and purple branches, approaching black +in the order of their lower values. It will be remembered that the +chroma of the sphere ceased with 5 at the equator. The color tree +prolongs this through 6, 7, 8, and 9. The branch ends carry colored +balls, representing the most powerful red, yellow, green, blue, and +purple pigments which we now possess, and could be lengthened, should +stronger chromas be discovered.[12] + + [Footnote 12: See Plate I.] + +(35) Such models set up a permanent image of color relations. Every +point is self-described by its place in the united scales of hue, value, +and chroma. These scales fix each new perception of color in the child’s +mind by its situation in the color solid. The importance of such a +definite image can hardly be overestimated, for without it one color +sensation tends to efface another. When the child looks at a color, and +has no basis of comparison, it soon leaves a vague memory that cannot be +described. These models, on the contrary, lead to an intelligent +estimate of each color in terms of its hue, its value, and its chroma; +while the permanent enamels correct any personal bias by a definite +standard. + +(36) Thus defined, a color falls into logical relation with all other +colors in the system, and is easily memorized, so that its image may be +recalled at any distance of time or place by the notation. + +(37) These solid models help to memorize and assemble colors and the +memory is further strengthened by a simple NOTATION, which records each +color so that it cannot be mistaken for any other. By these written +scales a child gains an instinctive estimate of relations, so that, when +he is delighted with a new color combination, its proportions are noted +and understood. + +(38) Musical art has long enjoyed the advantages of a definite scale and +notation. Should not the art of coloring gain by similar definition? The +musical scale is not left to personal whim, nor does it change from day +to day; and something as clear and stable would be an advantage in +training the color sense. + +(39) Perception of color is crude at first. The child sees only the most +obvious distinctions, and prefers the strongest stimulation. But +perception soon becomes refined by exercise, and, when a child tries to +imitate the subtle colors of nature with paints, he begins to realize +that the strongest colors are not the most beautiful,--rather the +tempered ones, which may be compared to the moderate sounds in music. To +describe these tempered colors, he must estimate their hue, value, and +chroma, and be able to describe in what degree his copy departs from the +natural color. And, with this gain in perception and imitation of +natural color, he finds a strong desire to invent combinations to please +his fancy. Thus the study divides into three related attitudes, which +may be called recognition, imitation, and invention. Recognition of +color is fundamental, but it would be tedious to spend a year or two in +formal and dry exercises to train recognition of color alone; for each +step in recognition of color is best tested by exercise in its imitation +and arrangement. When perception becomes keener, emphasis can be placed +on imitation of the colors found in art and in nature, resting finally +on the selection and grouping of colors for design.[13] + + [Footnote 13: See Course of Study, Part II.] + + ++Every color can be recognized, named, matched, imitated, and written +by its HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA.+ + +(40) The notation used in this system places Hue (expressed by an +initial) at the left; Value (expressed by a number) at the right and +above a line; and Chroma (also expressed by a number) at the right, +below the line. Thus R 5/9 means HUE (red), VALUE (5)/CHROMA (9), and +will be found to represent the qualities of the pigment vermilion.[14] + + [Footnote 14: See Chapter VI.] + +Hue, value, and chroma unite in every color sensation, but the child +cannot grasp them all at once. _Hue-difference appeals to him first_, +and he gains a permanent idea of five principal hues from the enamels of +MIDDLE COLORS, learning to name, match, imitate, and finally write them +by their initials: R (red), Y (yellow), G (green), B (blue), and P +(purple). Intermediates formed by uniting successive pairs are also +written by the joined initials, YR (yellow-red), GY (green-yellow), BG +(blue-green), PB (purple-blue), and RP (red-purple). + +(41) Ten differences of hue are as many as a child can render at the +outset, yet in matching and imitating them he becomes aware of their +light and dark quality, and learns to separate it from hue as +_value-difference_. Middle colors, as implied by that name, stand midway +between white and black,--that is, on the equator of the sphere,--so +that a middle red will be written R 5/, suggesting the steps 6, 7, 8, +and 9 which are above the equator, while steps 4, 3, 2, and 1 are below. +It is well to show only three values of a color at first; for instance, +the middle value contrasted with a light and a dark one. These are +written R 3/, R 5/, R 7/. Soon he perceives and can imitate finer +differences, and the red scale may be written entire, as R 1/, R 2/, +R 3/, R 4/, R 5/, R 6/, R 7/, R 8/, R 9/, with black as 0 and white +as 10. + +(42) _Chroma-difference is the third_ and most subtle color quality. The +child is already unconsciously familiar with the middle chroma of red, +having had the enamels of MIDDLE COLOR always in view, and the red +enamel is to be contrasted with the strongest and weakest red chromas +obtainable. These he writes R /1, R /5, R /9, seeing that this describes +the chromas of red, but leaves out its values. R 5/1, R 5/5, R 5/9, is +the complete statement, showing that, while both hue and value are +unchanged, the chroma passes from grayish red to middle red (enamel +first learned) and out to the strongest red in the chroma scale obtained +by vermilion. + +(43) It may be long before he can imitate the intervening steps of +chroma, many children finding it difficult to express more than five +steps of the chroma scale, although easily making ten steps of value and +from twenty to thirty-five steps of hue. This interesting feature is of +psychologic value, and has been followed in the color tree and color +sphere. + + ++Does such a scientific scheme leave any outlet for feeling +and personal expression of beauty?+ + +(44) Lest this exact attitude in color study should seem inartistic, +compared with the free and almost chaotic methods in use, let it be said +that the stage thus far outlined is frankly disciplinary. It is somewhat +dry and unattractive, just as the early musical training is fatiguing +without inventive exercises. The child should be encouraged at each step +to exercise his fancy. + +(45) Instead of cramping his outlook upon nature, it widens his grasp of +color, and stores the memory with finer differences, supplying more +material by which to express his sense of coloristic beauty. + +(46) Color harmony, as now treated, is a purely personal affair, +difficult to refer to any clear principles or definite laws. The very +terms by which it seeks expression are borrowed from music, and suggest +vague analogies that fail when put to the test. Color needs a new set of +expressive terms, appropriate to its qualities, before we can make an +analysis as to the harmony or discord of our color sensations. + +(47) This need is supplied in the present system by measured CHARTS, and +a NOTATION. Their very construction preserves the _balance of colors_, +as will be shown in the next chapter, while the chapter on harmony +(Chapter VII.) shows how harmonious pairs and triads of color may be +found by MASKS with measured intervals. In fact, practice in the use of +the charts supplies the imagination with scales and sequences of color +quite as definite and quite as easily written as those sound intervals +by which the musician conveys to others his sense of harmony. And, +although in neither art can training alone make the artist, yet a +technical grasp of these formal scales gives acquaintance with the full +range of the instrument, and is indispensable to artistic expression. +From these color scales each individual is free to choose combinations +in accord with his feeling for color harmony. + +Let us make an outline of the course of color study traced in the +preceding pages.[15] + + [Footnote 15: _See_ Part II., A Color System and Course of + Study.] + + ++PERCEPTION of color.+ + +(48) _Hue-difference._ + + Middle hues (5 principals). + Middle hues (5 intermediates). + Middle hues (10 placed in sequence as SCALE of HUE). + + _Value-difference._ + + Light, middle, and dark values (without change of hue). + Light, middle, and dark values (traced with 5 principal hues). + 10 values traced with each hue. SCALE of VALUE. _The Color Sphere_. + + _Chroma-difference._ + + Strong, middle, and weak chroma (without change of hue). + Strong, middle and weak chroma (traced with three values without + change of hue). + Strong, middle, and weak chroma (traced with three values and + ten hues). + Maxima of color and their gradation to white, black, and gray. + _The Color Tree._ + + ++EXPRESSION of color.+ + +(49) _Matching and imitation_ of hues (using stuffs, crayons, and + paints). + + _Matching and imitation_ of values and hues (using stuffs, crayons, + and paints). + + _Matching and imitation_ of chromas, values, and hues (using stuffs, + crayons, and paints). + + _Notation of color._ + + Value V + Hue ------ , H - , + Chroma C + + Initial for hue, numeral above for value, numeral below for chroma. + + _Sequences of color._ + + Two scales united, as hue and value, or chroma and value. + Three scales united,--each step a change of hue, value, and chroma. + + _Balance of color._ + + Opposites of equal value and chroma (R 5/5 and BG 5/5). + Opposites of equal value and unequal chroma (R 5/9 and BG 5/3). + Opposites unequal both in value and chroma (R 7/3 and BG 3/7). + AREA as an element of balance. + + ++HARMONY of color.+ + +(50) _Selection of colors_ that give pleasure. + + Study of butterfly wings and flowers, recorded by the NOTATION. + Study of painted ornament, rugs, and mosaics, recorded by + the NOTATION. + Personal choice of color PAIRS, balanced by H, V, C, and area. + Personal choice of color TRIADS, balanced by H, V, C, and area. + + _Grouping of colors_ to suit some practical use: wall papers, rugs, + book covers, etc. + + Their analysis by the written notation. + Search for principles of harmony, expressed in measured terms. + + ++A definite plan of color study, with freedom as to details of +presentation.[16]+ + + [Footnote 16: See Color Study assigned to each grade, in + Part II.] + +(51) Having memorized these broad divisions of the study, a clever +teacher will introduce many a detail, to meet the mood of the class, or +correlate this subject with other studies, without for a moment losing +the thread of thought or befogging the presentation. But to range at +random in the immense field of color sensations, without plan or +definite aim in view, only courts fatigue of the retina and a chaotic +state of mind. + +(52) The same broad principles which govern the presentation of other +ideas apply with equal force in this study. A little, well apprehended, +is better than a mass of undigested facts. If the child is led to +discover, or at least to think he is discovering, new things about +color, the mind will be kept alert and seek out novel illustrations at +every step. Now and then a pupil will be found who leads both teacher +and class by _intuitive_ appreciation of color, and it is a subtle +question how far such a nature can be helped or hurt by formal +exercises. But such an exception is rare, and goes to prove that +systematic discipline of the color sense is necessary for most children. + +(53) Outdoor nature and indoor surroundings offer endless color +illustrations. Birds, flowers, minerals, and the objects in daily use +take on a new interest when their varied colors are brought into a +conscious relation, and clearly named. A tri-dimensional perception, +like this sense of color, requires skilful training, and each lesson +must be simplified to the last point practicable. It must not be too +long, and should lead to some definite result which a child can grasp +and express with tolerable accuracy, while its difficulties should be +approached by easy stages, so as to avoid failure or discouragement. The +success of the present effort is the best incentive to further +achievement. + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II. + +PLATE I. + +THE COLOR SPHERE, WITH MEASURED SCALES OF HUE, VALUE, AND CHROMA. + + +The teacher of elementary grades introduces these scales of tempered +color as fast as the child’s interest is awakened to their need by the +exercises shown in Plates II. and III. Thus the Hue scale is learned +before the end of the second year, the Value scale during the next two +years, and the Chroma scale in the fifth year. By the time a child is +ten years old these definite color scales have become part of his mental +furnishing, so that he can name, write, and memorize any color group. + +1. _The Color Sphere in Skeleton._ This diagram shows the middle colors +on the equator, with strong red, yellow, green, blue, and purple, each +at its proper level in the value scale, and projecting in accordance +with its scale of chroma. See the complete description of these scales +in Chapter II. + +2. _The Color Score._ Fifteen typical steps taken from the color sphere +are here spread out in a flat field. The FIVE MIDDLE COLORS form the +centre level, with the same hues in a lighter value above and in a +darker value below. Chapter VI. describes the making of this Score, and +its use in analyzing colors and preserving a written record of their +groups. + +3. _The Value Scale and Chroma Scale._ Each of the five color maxima is +thus shown at its proper level in the scale of light, and graded by +uniform steps from its strongest chroma inward to neutrality at the axis +of the sphere. Pigment inequalities here become very apparent. + + + [Illustration: PLATE I. + Copyright 1907 by A. H. Munsell.] + + + + + FOR PLATES II. & III., + + SEE APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV., + CHILDREN’S COLOR STUDIES. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +COLOR MIXTURE AND BALANCE. + + ++All colors grasped in the hand.+ + + [Illustration: Fig. 6.] + +(54) Let us recall the names and order of colors given in the last +chapter, with their assemblage in a sphere by the three qualities of +HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA. It will aid the memory to call the thumb of the +left hand RED, the forefinger YELLOW, the middle finger GREEN, the ring +finger BLUE, and the little finger PURPLE (Fig. 6). When the finger tips +are in a circle, they represent a circuit of hues, which has neither +beginning nor end, for we can start with any finger and trace a sequence +forward or backward. Now close the tips together for white, and imagine +that the five strong hues have slipped down to the knuckles, where they +stand for the equator of the color Sphere. Still lower down at the wrist +is black. + +(55) The hand thus becomes a color holder, with white at the finger +tips, black at the wrist, strong colors around the outside, and weaker +colors within the hollow. Each finger is a scale of its own color, with +white above and black below, while the graying of all the hues is traced +by imaginary lines which meet in the middle of the hand. Thus a child’s +hand may be his substitute for the color sphere, and also make him +realize that it is filled with grayer degrees of the outside colors, all +of which melt into gray in the centre. + + ++Neighborly and opposite hues; and their mixture.+ + +(56) Let this circle (Fig. 7) stand for the equator of the color sphere +with the five principal hues (written by their initials R, Y, G, B, +and P) spaced evenly about it. Some colors are neighbors, as red and +yellow, while others are opposites. As soon as a child experiments with +paints, he will notice the different results obtained by mixing them. + + [Illustration: Fig. 7.] + +First, the neighbors, that is, any pair which lie next one another, as +red and yellow, will unite to make a hue which retains a suggestion of +both. It is _intermediate_ between red and yellow, and we call it +YELLOW-RED.[17] + +(57) Green and yellow unite to form GREEN-YELLOW, blue and green make +BLUE-GREEN, and so on with each succeeding pair. These intermediates are +to be written by their initials, and inserted in their proper place +between the principal hues. It is as if an orange (paragraph 9) were +split into ten sectors instead of five, with red, yellow, green, blue, +and purple as alternate sectors, while half of each adjoining color pair +were united to form the sector between them. The original order of five +hues is in no wise disturbed, but linked together by five intermediate +steps. + +(58) Here is a table of the intermediates made by mixing each pair:-- + + Red and yellow unite to form yellow-red (YR), popularly called + orange.[17] + Yellow and green unite to form green-yellow (GY), popularly called + grass green. + Green and blue unite to form blue-green (BG), popularly called + peacock blue. + Blue and purple unite to form purple-blue (PB), popularly called + violet. + Purple and red unite to form red-purple (RP), popularly called plum. + +Using the left hand again to hold colors, the principal hues remain +unchanged on the knuckles, but in the hollows between them are placed +intermediate hues, so that the circle now reads: red, yellow-red, +yellow, green-yellow, green, blue-green, blue, purple-blue, purple, and +red-purple, back to the red with which we started. This circuit is +easily _memorized_, so that the child may begin with any color point, +and repeat the series clock wise (that is, from left to right) or in +reverse order. + + [Footnote 17: Orange is a variable union of yellow and red. See + Appendix.] + +(59) Each principal hue has thus made two close neighbors by mixing with +the nearest principal hue on either hand. The neighbors of red are a +yellow-red on one side and a purple-red on the other. The neighbors of +green are a green-yellow on one hand and a blue-green on the other. It +is evident that a still closer neighbor could be made by again mixing +each consecutive pair in this circle of ten hues; and, if the process +were continued long enough, the color steps would become so fine that +the eye could see only a circuit of hues melting imperceptibly one into +another. + +(60) But it is better for the child to gain a fixed idea of red, yellow, +green, blue, and purple, with their intermediates, before attempting to +mix pigments, and these ten steps are sufficient for primary education. + +(61) Next comes the question of opposites in this circle. A line drawn +from red, through the centre, finds its opposite, blue-green.[18] If +these colors are mixed, they unite to form gray. Indeed, the centre of +the circle stands for a middle gray, not only because it is the centre +of the neutral axis between black and white, but also because any pair +of opposites will unite to form gray. + + [Footnote 18: Green is often wrongly assigned as the opposite of + red. See Appendix, on False Color Balance.] + +(62) This is a table of five mixtures which make neutral gray: + + { Red & Blue-green } + { Yellow Purple-blue } + Opposites { Green Red-purple } Each pair of which unites + { Blue Yellow-red } in neutral gray. + { Purple Green-yellow } + +(63) But if, instead of mixing these opposite hues, we place them side +by side, the eye is so stimulated by their difference that each seems to +gain in strength; _i.e._, each _enhances_ the other when separate, but +_destroys_ the other when mixed. This is a very interesting point to be +more fully illustrated by the help of a color wheel in Chapter V., +paragraph 106. What we need to remember is that the mixture of +neighborly hues makes them less stimulating to the eye, because they +resemble each other, while a mixture of opposite hues extinguishes both +in a neutral gray. + + ++Hues once removed, and their mixture.+ + + [Illustration: Fig. 8.] + +(64) There remains the question, What will happen if we mix, not two +neighbors, nor two opposites, but _a pair of hues once removed in the +circle_, such as red and green? A line joining this pair does not pass +through the neutral centre, but to one side nearer yellow, which shows +that this mixture falls between neutral gray and yellow, partaking +somewhat of each. In the same way a line joining yellow and blue shows +that their mixture contains both green and gray. Indeed, a line joining +any two colors in the circuit may be said to describe their union. +A radius crossing this line passes to some hue on the circumference, and +describes by its intersection with the first line the chroma of the +color made by a mixture of the two original colors. + + Red & Green make Yellow-gray } + Yellow Blue Green-gray } Each pair unites in a _colored_ + Green Purple Blue-gray } gray, which is an intermediate hue + Blue Red Purple-gray } of weak chroma. + Purple Yellow Red-gray } + + ++Mixture of white and black: a scale of grays.+ + +(65) So far we have thought only of the plane of the equator, with its +circle of middle hues in ten steps, and studied their mixture by drawing +lines to join them. Now let us start at the neutral centre, and think +upward to white and downward to black (Fig. 9.) + + [Illustration: Fig. 9.] + +This vertical line is the _neutral axis_ joining the poles of white and +black, which represent the opposites of light and darkness. Middle gray +is half-way between. If black is called 0, and white is 10, then the +middle point is 5, with 6, 7, 8, and 9 above, while 4, 3, 2, and 1 are +below, thus making a vertical scale of grays from black to white +(Chapter II., paragraph 25). + +If left to personal preference, an estimate of middle value will vary +with each individual who attempts to make it. This appears in the +neutral scales already published for schools, and students who depend +upon them, discover a variation of over 10 per cent. in the selection of +middle gray. Since this VALUE SCALE underlies all color work, it needs +accurate adjustment by scientific means, as in scales of sound, of +length, of weight, or of temperature. + +A PHOTOMETER (_photo_, light, and _meter_, a measure)[19] is shown on +the next page. It measures the relative amount of light which the eye +receives from any source, and so enables us to make a scale with any +number of regular steps. The principle on which it acts is very simple. + + [Footnote 19: Adopted in Course on Optical Measurements at the + Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Instruments have also + been made for the Harvard Medical School, the Treasury + Department in Washington, and various private laboratories.] + +A rectangular box, divided by a central partition into halves, has +symmetrical openings in the front walls, which permit the light to reach +two white fields placed upon the back walls. If one looks in through the +observation tube, both halves are seen to be exactly alike, and the +white fields equally illuminated. A valve is then fitted to one of the +front openings, so that the light in that half of the photometer may be +gradually diminished. Its white field is thus darkened by measured +degrees, and becomes black when all light is excluded by the closed +valve. While this darkening process goes on in one-half of the +instrument, the white field in the other half does not change, and, +looking into the eyepiece, the observer sees each step contrasted with +the original white. One-half is thus said to be _variable_ because of +its valve, and the other side is said to be _fixed_. A dial connected +with the valve has a hand moving over it to show how much light is +admitted to the field in the variable half. + +Let us now test one of these personal decisions about middle value. +A sample replaces the white field in the fixed half, and by means of the +valve, the white field in the variable half is alternately darkened and +lightened, until it matches the sample and the eye sees no difference in +the two. The dial then discloses the fact that this supposedly MIDDLE +VALUE reflects only 42 per cent. of the light; that is to say, it is +nearly a whole step too low in a decimal scale. Other samples err nearly +as far on the light side of middle value, and further tests prove not +only the varying color sensitiveness of individuals, but detect a +difference between the left and right eye of the same person. + + [Illustration: PHOTOMETER. + Back View. Front View.] + +The vagaries of color estimate thus disclosed, lead some to seek shelter +in “feeling and inspiration”; but feeling and inspiration are +temperamental, and have nothing to do with the simple facts of vision. +A measured and unchanging scale is as necessary and valuable in the +training of the eye as the musical scale in the discipline of the ear. + +It will soon be necessary to talk of the values in each color. We may +distinguish the values on the neutral axis from color values by writing +them N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6, N7, N8, N9, N10. Such a scale makes it easy +to foresee the result of mixing light values with dark ones. Any two +gray values unite to form a gray midway between them. Thus N4 and N6 +being equally above and below the centre, unite to form N5, as will also +N7 and N3, N8 and N2, or N9 and N1. But N9 and N3 will unite to form N6, +which is midway between 6 and 9. + + [Illustration: Vertical Section through light openings. + + PARTS. + + _C_, CABINET, with sample-holder (H) and mirror (M), which may be + removed and stored to left of dial (D) when instrument is closed + for transportation. + _D_, DIAL: records color values in terms of standard white (100), + the opposite end of the scale being absolute blackness (0). + _E_, EYE-PIECE: to shield eye and sample from extraneous light while + color determinations are being made. Fatigue of retina should be + avoided. + _G_, GEAR: actuates cat’s-eye shutter, which controls amount of + light admitted to right half of instrument. Its shaft carries + index-hand over dial. + _H_, FIELD-HOLDER: retains sample and standard white in same plane, + and isolates them. Is hinged upon lower edge, and secured by pivot + clamp. + _M_, MIRROR: permits observation of the isolated halves of the + holder, bearing standard white and the color to be measured. Should + be clean and free from dust on both sides of central partition. + _S_, DIFFUSING SCREEN, placed over front apertures, to evenly + distribute the light.] + +(66) When this numbered scale of values is familiar, it serves not only +to describe light and dark grays, but the value of colors which are at +the same level in the scale. Thus R7 (popularly called a tint of red) is +neither lighter nor darker than the gray of N7. A numeral written above +to the right always indicates _value_, whether of a gray or a color, so +that R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, describes a regular scale of +red values from black to white, while G1, G2, G3, etc., is a scale of +green values. + +(67) This matter of a notation for colors will be more fully worked out +in Chapter VI., but the letters and numerals already described greatly +simplify what we are about to consider in the mixture and balance of +colors. + + ++Mixture of light hues with dark hues.+ + +(68) Now that we are supplied with a decimal scale of grays, represented +by divisions of the neutral axis (N1, N2, etc.), and a corresponding +decimal scale of value for each of the ten hues ranged about the equator +(R1, R2,-- YR1, YR2,-- Y1, Y2,-- GY1, GY2,-- and so on), traced by ten +equidistant meridians from black to white, it is not difficult to +foresee what the mixture of any two colors will produce, whether they +are of the same level of value, as in the colors of the equator already +considered, or whether they are of different levels. + + [Illustration: Fig. 10.] + +(69) For instance, let us mix a light yellow (Y7) with a dark red (R3). +They are neighbors in hue, but well removed in value. A line joining +them centres at YR5. This describes the result of their mixture,--a +value intermediate between 7 and 3, with a hue intermediate between R +and Y. It is a yellow-red of middle value, popularly called “dark +orange.” But, while this term “dark orange” rarely means the same color +to three different people, these measured scales give to YR5 an +unmistakable meaning, just as the musical scale gives an unmistakable +significance to the notes of its score. + +(70) Evidently, this way of writing colors by their degrees of value and +hue gives clearness to what would otherwise be hard to express by the +color terms in common use. + +(71) If Y9 and R5 be chosen for mixture, we know at once that they unite +in YR7, which is two steps of the value scale above the middle; while Y6 +and R2 make YR4, which is one step below the middle. Charts prepared +with this system show each of these colors and their mixture with +exactness. + +(72) The foregoing mixtures of dark reds and light yellows are typical +of the union of light and dark values of any neighboring hues, such as +yellow and green, green and blue, blue and purple, or purple and red. +Next let us think of the result of mixing different values in opposite +hues; as, for instance, YR7 and B3 (Fig. 11). To this combination the +color sphere gives a ready answer; for the middle of a straight line +through the sphere, and joining them, coincides with the neutral centre, +showing that they _balance in neutral gray_. This is also true of any +opposite pair of surface hues where the values are equally removed from +the equator. + + [Illustration: Fig. 11.] + +(73) Suppose we substitute familiar flowers for the notation, then YR7 +becomes the buttercup, and B3 is the wild violet. But, in comparing the +two, the eye is more stimulated by the buttercup than by the violet, not +alone because it is lighter, but because it is stronger in chroma; that +is, farther away from the neutral axis of the sphere, and in fact out +beyond its surface, as shown in Fig. 11. + +The head of a pin stuck in toward the axis on the 7th level of YR may +represent the 9th step in the scale of chroma, such as the buttercup, +while the “modest” violet with a chroma of only 4, is shown by its +position to be nearer the neutral axis than the brilliant buttercup by +five steps of chroma. This is the third dimension of color, and must be +included in our notation. So we write the buttercup YR 7/9 and the +violet B 3/4,--chroma always being written below to the right of hue, +and value always above. (This is the invariable order: HUE +{VALUE/CHROMA}.) + +(74) A line joining the head of the pin mentioned above with B 3/4 does +not pass through the centre of the sphere, and its middle point is +nearer the buttercup than the neutral axis, showing that the hues of the +buttercup and violet _do not balance in gray_. + + ++The neutral centre is a balancing point for colors.+ + +(75) This raises the question, What is balance of color? Artists +criticise the color schemes of paintings as being “too light or too +dark” (unbalanced in value), “too weak or too strong” (unbalanced in +chroma), and “too hot or too cold” (unbalanced in hue), showing that +this is a fundamental idea underlying all color arrangements. + +(76) Let us assume that the centre of the sphere is the natural +balancing point for all colors (which will be best shown by Maxwell +discs in Chapter V., paragraphs 106-112), then color points equally +removed from the centre must balance one another. Thus white balances +black. Lighter red balances darker blue-green. Middle red balances +middle blue-green. In short, every straight line through this centre +indicates opposite qualities that balance one another. The color points +so found are said to be “_complementary_,” for each supplies what is +needed to complement or balance the other in hue, value, and chroma. + +(77) The true complement of the buttercup, then, is not the violet, +which is too weak in chroma to balance its strong opposite. We have no +blue flower that can equal the chroma of the buttercup. Some other means +must be found to produce a balance. One way is to use more of the weaker +color. Thus we can make a bunch of buttercups and violets, using twice +as many of the latter, so that the eye sees an _area_ of blue twice as +great as the _area_ of yellow-red. Area as a compensation for +inequalities of hue, value, and chroma will be further described under +the harmony of color in Chapter VII. + +(78) But, before leaving this illustration of the buttercup and violet, +it is well to consider another color path connecting them which does not +pass through the sphere, _but around it_ (Fig. 12). Such a path swinging +around from yellow-red to blue slants downward in value, and passes +through yellow, green-yellow, green, and blue-green, tracing a _sequence +of hue_, of which each step is less chromatic than its predecessor. + + [Illustration: Fig. 12.] + +This diminishing sequence is easily written thus,--YR 8/9, Y 7/8, +GY 6/7, G 5/6, BG 4/5, B 3/4,--and is shown graphically in Fig. 12. Its +hue sequence is described by the initials YR, Y, GY, G, BG, and B. Its +value-sequence appears in the upper numerals, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3, +while the chroma-sequence is included in the lower numerals, 9, 8, 7, 6, +5, and 4. This gives a complete statement of the sequence, defining its +peculiarity, that at each change of hue there is a regular decrease of +value and chroma. Nature seems to be partial to this sequence, +constantly reiterating it in yellow flowers with their darker green +leaves and underlying shadows. In spring time she may contract its +range, making the blue more green and the yellow less red, but in autumn +she seems to widen the range, presenting strong contrasts of yellow-red +and purple-blue. + +(79) Every day she plays upon the values of this sequence, from the +strong contrasts of light and shadow at noon to the hardly perceptible +differences at twilight. The chroma of this sequence expands during the +summer to strong colors, and contracts in winter to grays. Indeed, +Nature, who would seem to be the source of our notions of color harmony, +rarely repeats herself, yet is endlessly balancing inequalities of hue, +value, and chroma by compensations of quantity. + +(80) So subtle is this equilibrium that it is taken for granted and +forgotten, except when some violent disturbance disarranges it, such as +an earthquake or a thunder-storm. + + ++The triple nature of color balance illustrated.+ + +(81) The simplest idea of balance is the equilibrium of two halves of a +stick supported at its middle point. If one end is heavier than the +other, the support must be moved nearer to that end. + +But, since color unites three qualities, we must seek some type of +_triple balance_. The game of jackstraws illustrates this, when the +disturbance of one piece involves the displacement of two others. The +action of three children on a floating plank or the equilibrium of two +acrobats carried on the shoulders of a third may also serve as examples. + + [Illustration: Fig. 14.] + +(82) Triple balance may be graphically shown by three discs in contact. +Two of them are suspended by their centres, while they remain in touch +with a third supported on a pivot, as in Fig. 14. Let us call the lowest +disc Hue (H), and the lateral discs Value (V) and Chroma (C). Any dip or +rotation of the lower disc H will induce sympathetic action in the two +lateral discs V and C. When H is inclined, both V and C change their +relations to it. If H is raised vertically, both V and C dip outward. If +H is rotated, both V and C rotate, but in opposite directions. Indeed, +any disturbance of V affects H and C, while H and V respond to any +movement of C. So we must be prepared to realize that any change of one +color quality involves readjustment of the other two. + +(83) Color balance soon leads to a study of optics in one direction, to +æsthetics in another, and to mathematical proportions in a third, and +any attempt at an easy solution of its problems is not likely to +succeed. It is a very complicated question, whose closest counterpart is +to be sought in musical rhythms. The fall of musical impulses upon the +ear can make us gay or sad, and there are color groups which, acting +through the eye, can convey pleasure or pain to the mind. + +(84) A colorist is keenly alive to these feelings of satisfaction or +annoyance, and consciously or unconsciously he rejects certain +combinations of color and accepts others. Successful pictures and +decorative schemes are due to some sort of balance uniting “light and +shade” (value), “warmth and coolness” (hue), with “brilliancy and +grayness” (chroma); for, when they fail to please, the mind at once +begins to search for the unbalanced quality, and complains that the +color is “too hot,” “too dark,” or “too crude.” This effort to establish +pleasing proportions may be unconscious in one temperament, while it +becomes a matter of definite analysis in another. Emerson claimed that +the unconscious only is complete. We gladly permit those whose color +instinct is unerring--(and how few they are!)--to neglect all rules and +set formulas. But education is concerned with the many who have not this +gift. + +(85) Any real progress in color education must come not from a blind +imitation of past successes, but by a study into the laws which they +exemplify. To exactly copy fine Japanese prints or Persian rugs or +Renaissance tapestries, while it cultivates an appreciation of their +refinements, does not give one the power to create things equally +beautiful. The masterpieces of music correctly rendered do not of +necessity make a composer. The musician, besides the study of +masterpieces, absorbs the science of counterpoint, and records by an +unmistakable notation the exact character of any new combination of +musical intervals which he conceives. + +(86) So must the art of the colorist be furnished with a scientific +basis and a clear form of color notation. This will record the successes +and failures of the past, and aid in a search, by contrast and analysis, +for the fundamentals of color balance. Without a measured and systematic +notation, attempts to describe color harmony only produce hazy +generalities of little value in describing our sensations, and fail to +express the essential differences between “good” and “bad” color. + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III. + + + [Illustration] + +FALSE COLOR BALANCE. There is a widely accepted error that red, yellow, +and blue are “primary,” although Brewster’s theory was long ago dropped +when the elements of color vision proved to be RED, GREEN, and +VIOLET-BLUE. The late Professor Rood called attention to this in +Chapters VIII.-XI. of his book, “Modern Chromatics,” which appeared in +1879. Yet we find it very generally taught in school. Nor does the harm +end there, for placing red, yellow, and blue equidistant in a circle, +with orange, green, and purple as intermediates, the teacher goes on to +state that opposite hues are complementary. + + Red is thus made the complement of Green, + Yellow „ „ Purple, and + Blue „ „ Orange. + +Unfortunately, each of these statements is wrong, and, if tested by the +mixture of colored lights or with Maxwell’s rotating discs, their +falsity is evident. + +There can be no doubt that green is not the complement of red, nor +purple of yellow, nor orange of blue, for neither one of these pairs +unites as it should in a balanced neutrality, and a total test of the +circle gives great excess of orange, showing that red and yellow usurp +too great a portion of the circumference. Starting from a false basis, +the Brewster theory can only lead to unbalanced and inharmonious effects +of color. + +The fundamental color sensations are RED, GREEN, and VIOLET-BLUE. + + RED has for its true complement BLUE-GREEN, + GREEN „ „ RED-PURPLE, and + VIOLET-BLUE „ „ YELLOW, + +all of the hues in the right-hand column being compound sensations. The +sensation of green is not due to a mixture of yellow and blue, as the +absorptive action of pigments might lead one to think: GREEN IS +FUNDAMENTAL, and not made by mixing any hues of the spectrum, while +YELLOW IS NOT FUNDAMENTAL, but caused by the mingled sensations of red +and green. This is easily proved by a controlled spectrum, for all +yellow-reds, yellows, and green-yellows can be matched by certain +proportions of red and green light, all blue-greens, blues, and +purple-blues can be obtained by the union of green and violet light, +while purple-blue, purple, and red-purple result from the union of +violet and red light. But there is no point where a mixture gives red, +green, or violet-blue. They are the true primaries, whose mixtures +produce all other hues. + +Studio and school-room practice still cling to the discredited theory, +claiming that, if it fails to describe our color sensations, yet it may +be called practically true of pigments, because a red, yellow, and blue +pigment suffice to imitate most natural colors. This discrepancy between +pigment mixture and retinal mixture becomes clear as soon as one learns +the physical make-up and behavior of paints. + + [Illustration: + { Vermilion + Spectra { + { Em. Green + P. B. G. Y. R.] + +Spectral analysis shows that no pigment is a pure example of the +dominant hue which it sends to the eye. Take, for example, the very +chromatic pigments representing red and green, such as vermilion and +emerald green. If each emitted a single pure hue free from trace of any +other hue, then their mixture would appear yellow, as when spectral red +and green unite. But, instead of yellow, their mixture produces a warm +gray, called brown or “dull salmon,” and this is to be inferred from +their spectra, where it is seen that vermilion emits some green and +purple as well as its dominant color, while the green also sends some +blue and red light to the eye.[20] + + [Footnote 20: See Rood, Chapter VII., on Color by Absorption.] + +Thus stray hues from other parts of the spectrum tend to neutralize the +yellow sensation, which would be strong if each of the pigments were +pure in the spectral sense. Pigment absorption affects all palette +mixtures, and, failing to obtain a satisfactory yellow by mixture of red +and green, painters use original yellow pigments,--such as aureolin, +cadmium, and lead chromate,--each of them also impure but giving a +dominant sensation of yellow. Did the eye discriminate, as does the ear +when it analyzes the separate tones of a chord, then we should recognize +that yellow pigments emit both red and green rays. + +White light dispersed into a colored band by one prism, may have the +process reversed by a second prism, so that the eye sees again only +white light. But this would not be so, did not the balance of red, +green, and violet-blue sensations remain undisturbed. All our ideas of +color harmony are based upon this fundamental relation, and, if pigments +are to render harmonious effects, we must learn to control their +impurities so as to preserve a balance of red, green, and violet-blue. + +Otherwise, the excessive chroma and value of red and yellow pigments so +overwhelm the lesser degrees of green and blue pigments that no balance +is possible, and the colorist of fine perception must reject not alone +the theoretical, but also the practical outcome of a “red-yellow-blue” +theory. + +Some of the points raised in this discussion are rather subtle for +students, and may well be left until they arise in a study of optics, +but the teacher should grasp them clearly, so as not to be led into +false statements about primary and complementary hues. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +PRISMATIC COLOR. + + ++Pure color is seen in the spectrum of sunlight.+ + +(87) The strongest sensation of color is gained in a darkened room, with +a prism used to split a beam of sunlight into its various wave lengths. +Through a narrow slit there enters a straight pencil of light which we +are accustomed to think of as _white_, although it is a bundle of +variously colored rays (or waves of ether) whose union and balance is so +perfect that no single ray predominates. + + [Illustration: Fig. 13.] + +(88) Cover the narrow slit, and we are plunged in darkness. Admit the +beam, and the eye feels a powerful contrast between the spot of light on +the floor and its surrounding darkness. Place a triangular glass prism +near the slit to intercept the beam of white light, and suddenly there +appears on the opposite wall a band of brilliant colors. This delightful +experiment rivets the eye by the beauty and purity of its hues. All +other colors seem weak by comparison. + +Their weakness is due to impurity, for all pigments and dyes reflect +portions of hues other than their dominant one, which tend to “gray” and +diminish their chroma. + +(89) But prismatic color is pure, or very nearly so, because the shape +of the glass refracts each hue, and separates it by the length of its +ether wave. These waves have been measured, and science can name each +hue by its wave length. Thus a certain red is known as M. 6867, and a +certain green sensation is M. 5269.[21] Without attempting any +scientific analysis of color, let it be said that Sir Isaac Newton made +his series of experiments in 1687, and was privileged to name this color +sequence by seven steps which he called red, orange, yellow, green, +blue, violet, and indigo. Later a scientist named Fraunhofer discovered +fine black lines crossing the solar spectrum, and marked them with +letters of the alphabet from a to h. These with the wave length serve to +locate every hue and define every step in the sequence. Since Newton’s +time it has been proved that only three of the spectral hues are +_primary_; viz., a red, a green, and a violet-blue, while their mixture +produces all other gradations. By receiving the spectrum on an opaque +screen with fine slits that fit the red and green waves, so that they +alone pass through, these two primary hues can be received on mirrors +inclined at such an angle as to unite on another screen, where, instead +of red or green, the eye sees only yellow.[22] + + [Footnote 21: See Micron in Glossary.] + + [Footnote 22: The fact that the spectral union of red and green + makes yellow is a matter of surprise to practical workers in + color who are familiar with the action of pigments, but + unfamiliar with spectrum analysis. Yellow seems to them a + primary and indispensable color, because it cannot be made by + the union of red and green pigments. Another surprise is + awaiting them when they hear that the yellow and blue of the + spectrum make _white_, for all their experience with paints goes + to prove that yellow and blue unite to form green. Attention is + called to this difference between the mixture of colored light + and of colored pigments, not with the idea of explaining it + here, but to emphasize their difference; for in the next chapter + we shall describe the practical making of a color sphere with + pigments, which would be quite impractical, could we have only + the colors of the spectrum to work with. See Appendix to + preceding chapter.] + +(90) A similar arrangement of slits and mirrors for the green and +violet-blue proves that they unite to make blue, while a third +experiment shows that the red and violet-blue can unite to make purple. +So yellow, blue-green, and purple are called secondary hues because they +result from the mixture of the three primaries, red, green, and +violet-blue. + +In comparing these two color lists, we see that the “indigo” and +“orange” of Sir Isaac Newton have been discarded. Both are indefinite, +and refer to variable products of the vegetable kingdom. Violet is also +borrowed from the same kingdom; and, in order to describe a violet, we +say it is a purple violet or blue violet, as the case may be, just as we +describe an orange as a red orange or a yellow orange. Their color +difference is not expressed by the terms “orange” or “violet,” but by +the words “red,” “yellow,” “blue,” or “purple,” all of which are true +color names and arouse an unmixed color image. + +(91) In the nursery a child learns to use the simple color names red, +yellow, green, blue, and purple. When familiarity with the color sphere +makes him relate them to each other and place them between black and +white by their degree of light and strength, there will be no occasion +to revert to vegetables, animals, minerals, or the ever-varying hues of +sea and sky to express his color sensations. + +(92) Another experiment accentuates the difference between spectral and +pigment color. When the spectrum is spread on the screen by the use of a +prism, and a second prism is placed inverted beyond the first, it +regathers the dispersed rays back into their original beam, making a +white spot on the floor. This proves that all the colored rays of light +combine to balance each other in whiteness. But if pigments which are +the closest possible imitation of these hues are united on a painter’s +palette, either by the brush or the knife, they _make gray, and not +white_. + +(93) This is another illustration of the behavior of pigments, for, +instead of uniting to form white, they form gray, which is a darkened or +impure form of white; and, lest this should be attributed to a chemical +reaction between the various matters that serve as pigments, the +experiment can be carried out without allowing one pigment to touch +another by using Maxwell discs, as will be shown in the next chapter. + +(94) Before leaving these prismatic colors, let us study them in the +light of what has already been learned of color dimensions. Not only do +they present different values, but also different chromas. Their values +range from darkness at each end, where red and purple become visible, to +a brightness in the greenish yellow, which is almost white. So on the +color tree described in Chapter II., paragraph 34, yellow has the +highest branch, green is lower, red is below the middle, with blue and +purple lower down, near black. + + [Illustration: Fig. 15.] + +(95) Then in chroma they range from the powerful stimulation of the red +to the soothing purple, with green occupying an intermediate step. This +is also given on the color tree by the length of its branches. + +(96) In Fig. 15 the vertical curve describes the values of the spectrum +as they grade from red through yellow, green, blue, and purple. The +horizontal curve describes the chromas of the spectrum in the same +sequence; while the third curve leaning outward is obtained by uniting +the first two by two planes at right angles to one another, and sums up +the three qualities by a single descriptive line. Now the red and purple +ends are far apart, and science forbids their junction because of their +great difference in wave length. But the mind is prone to unite them in +order to produce the red-purples which we see in clouds at sunset, in +flowers and grapes and the amethyst. Indeed, it has been done +unhesitatingly in most color schemes in order to supply the opposite of +green. + +(97) This gives a slanting circuit joining all the branch ends of the +color tree, and has been likened to the rings of Saturn in Chapter I., +paragraph 17. + + ++A prismatic color sphere.+ + +(98) With a little effort of the imagination we can picture a prismatic +color sphere, using only the colors of light. In a cylindrical chamber +is hung a diaphanous ball similar to a huge soap bubble, which can +display color on its surface without obscuring its interior. Then, at +the proper points of the surrounding wall, three pure beams of colored +light are admitted,--one red, another green, and the third violet-blue. + +(99) They fall at proper levels on three sides of the sphere, while +their intermediate gradations encircle the sphere with a complete +spectrum plus the needed purple. As they penetrate the sphere, they +unite to balance each other in neutrality. Pure whiteness is at the top, +and, by some imaginary means their light gradually diminishes until they +disappear in darkness below. + +(100) This ideal color system is impossible in the present state of our +knowledge and implements. Even were it possible, its immaterial hues +could not serve to dye materials or paint pictures. Pigments are, and +will in all probability continue to be, the practical agents of +coloristic productions, however reluctant the scientist may be to accept +them as the basis of a color system. It is true that they are chemically +impure and imperfectly represent the colors of light. Some of them fade +rapidly and undergo chemical change, as in the notable case of a green +pigment tested by this measured system, which in a few weeks lost four +steps of chroma, gained two steps of value, and swung into a bluer hue. + +(101) But the color sphere to be next described is worked out with a few +reliable pigments, mostly natural earths, whose fading is a matter of +years and so slight as to be almost imperceptible. Besides, its +principal hues are preserved in safe keeping by imperishable enamels, +which can be used to correct any tendency of the pigments to distort the +measured intervals of the color sphere. + +This meets the most serious objection to a pigment system. Without it a +child has nothing tangible which he can keep in constant view to imitate +and memorize. With it he builds up a mental image of measured relations +that describe every color in nature, including the fleeting hues of the +rainbow, although they appear but for a moment at rare intervals. +Finally, it furnishes a simple notation which records every color +sensation by a letter and two numerals. With the enlargement of his +mental power he will unite these in a comprehensive grasp of the larger +relations of color. + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER IV. + + ++Children’s Color Studies.+ + +These reproductions of children’s work are given as proof that color +charm and good taste may be cultivated from the start. + +FIVE MIDDLE HUES are first taught by the use of special crayons, and +later with water colors. They represent the equator of the color sphere +(see Plate I.),--a circle midway between the extremes of color-light and +color-strength,--and are known as MIDDLE RED, MIDDLE YELLOW, MIDDLE +GREEN, MIDDLE BLUE, and MIDDLE PURPLE. + +These are starting-points for training the eye to measure regular scales +of Value and Chroma.[23] Only with such a trained judgment is it safe to +undertake the use of strong colors.[24] + + [Footnote 23: See Century Dictionary for definition of chroma. + Under the word “color” will be found definitions of Primary, + Complementary, Constants (chroma, luminosity, and hue), and the + Young-Helmholtz theory of color-sensation.] + + [Footnote 24: It must not be assumed because so much stress is + laid upon quiet and harmonious color that this system excludes + the more powerful degrees. To do so would forfeit its claim to + completeness. A Color Atlas in preparation displays all known + degrees of pigment color arranged in measured scales of Hue, + Value, and Chroma.] + +_Beginners should avoid Strong Color._ Extreme red, yellow, and blue are +discordant. (They “shriek” and “swear.” Mark Twain calls Roxana’s gown +“a volcanic eruption of infernal splendors.”) Yet there are some who +claim that the child craves them, and must have them to produce a +thrill. So also does he crave candies, matches, and the carving-knife. +He covets the trumpet, fire-gong, and bass-drum for their “thrill”; but +who would think them necessary to the musical training of the ear? Like +the blazing bill-board and the circus wagon, they may be suffered +out-of-doors; but such boisterous sounds and color sprees are unfit for +the school-room. + +_Quiet Color is the Mark of Good Taste._ Refinement in dress and the +furnishings of the home is attractive, but we shrink from those who are +“loud” in their speech or their clothing. If we wish our children to +become well-bred, is it logical to begin by encouraging barbarous +tastes? Their young minds are very open to suggestion. They quickly +adopt our standards, and the blame must fall upon us if they acquire +crude color habits. Yellow journalism and rag-time tunes will not help +their taste in speech or song, nor will violent hues improve their taste +in matters of color. + +_Balance of Color is to be sought._ Artists and decorators are well +aware of a fact that slowly dawns upon the student; namely, that color +harmony is due to the preservation of a subtle balance and impossible by +the use of extremes. This balance of color resides more _within_ the +spherical surface of this system than in the excessive chromas which +project beyond. It is futile to encourage children in efforts to rival +the poppy or buttercup, even with the strongest pigments obtainable. +Their sunlit points give pleasure because they are surrounded and +balanced by blue ether and wide green fields. Were these conditions +reversed, so that the flowers appeared as little spots of blue or green +in great fields of blazing red, orange, and yellow, our pained eyes +would be shut in disgust. + +The painter knows that pigments _cannot_ rival the brilliancy of the +buttercup and poppy, enhanced by their surroundings. What is more, he +does not care to attempt it. Nor does the musician wish to imitate the +screech of a siren or the explosion of a gun. These are not subjects for +art. Harmonious sounds are the study of the musician, and tuned colors +are the materials of the colorist. Corot in landscape, and Titian, +Velasquez, and Whistler in figure painting, show us that Nature’s +richest effects and most beautiful color are enveloped in an atmosphere +of gray. + +_Beauty of Color lies in Tempered Relations._ Music rarely touches the +extreme range of sound, and harmonious color rarely uses the extremes of +color-light or color-strength. Regular scales in the middle register are +first given to train the ear, and so should the eye be first +familiarized with medium degrees of color. + +This system provides measured scales, established by special +instruments, and is able to select the middle points of red, yellow, +green, blue, and purple as a basis for comparing and relating all +colors. These five middle colors form a Chromatic Tuning Fork. (See page +70.) It is far better that children should first become familiar with +these tuned color intervals which are harmonious in themselves rather +than begin by blundering among unrelated degrees of harsh and violent +color. Who would think of teaching the musical scale with a piano out +of tune? + +_The Tuning of Color cannot be left to Personal Whim._ The wide +discrepancies of red, yellow, and blue, which have been falsely taught +as primary colors, can no more be tuned by a child than the musical +novice can tune his instrument. Each of these hues has three variable +factors (see page 14, paragraph 14), and scientific tests are necessary +to measure and relate their uneven degrees of Hue, Value, and Chroma. + +Visual estimates of color, without the help of any standard for +comparison, are continually distorted by doubt, guess-work, and the +fatigue of the eye. Hardly two persons can agree in the intelligible +description of color. Not only do individuals differ, but the same eye +will vary in its estimates from day to day. A frequent assumption that +all strong pigments are equal in chroma, is far from the truth, and +involves beginners in many mishaps. Thus the strongest blue-green, +chromium sesquioxide, is but half the chroma of its red complement, the +sulphuret of mercury. Yet ignorance is constantly leading to their +unbalanced use. Indeed, some are still unaware that they are the +complements of each other.[25] + + [Footnote 25: See Appendix to Chapter III.] + +It is evident that the fundamental scales of Hue, Value, and Chroma must +be established by scientific measures, not by personal bias. This system +is unique in the possession of such scales, made possible by the +devising of special instruments for the measurement of color, and can +therefore be trusted as a permanent basis for training the color sense. + +The examples in Plates II. and III. show how successfully the tuned +crayons, cards, and water colors of this system lead a child to fine +appreciations of color harmony. + + +PLATE II. + +COLOR STUDIES WITH TUNED CRAYONS IN THE LOWER GRADES. + +Children have made every example on this plate, with no other material +than the five crayons of middle hue, tempered with gray and black. +A Color Sphere is always kept in the room for reference, and five color +balls to match the five middle hues are placed in the hands of the +youngest pupils. Starting with these middle points in the scales of +Value and Chroma, they learn to estimate rightly all lighter and darker +values, all weaker and stronger chromas, and gradually build up a +disciplined judgment of color. + +Each study can be made the basis of many variations by a simple change +of one color element, as suggested in the text. + + 1. Butterfly. Yellow and black crayon. Vary by using any single + crayon with black. + + 2. Dish. Red crayon, blue and green crayons for back and foreground. + Vary by using the two opposites of any color chosen for the dish and + omitting the two neighboring colors. See No. 4. + + 3. Hiawatha’s canoe. Yellow crayon, with rim and name in green. Vary + color of canoe, keeping the rim a neighboring color. See No. 4. + + 4. Color-circle. Gray crayon for centre, and five crayons spaced + equidistant. This gives the invariable order, red, yellow, green, + blue, purple. _Never use all five in a single design._ Either use + a color and its two neighbors or a color and its two opposites. By + mingling touches of any two neighbors, the intermediates are made + and named yellow-red (orange), green-yellow, blue-green, purple-blue + (violet), and red-purple. Abbreviated, the circle reads R, YR, Y, + GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, RP. + + 5. Rosette. Red cross in centre, green leaves: blue field, black + outline. Vary as in No. 2. + + 6. Rosette. Green centre and edge of leaves, purple field and black + accents. Vary color of centre, keeping field two colors distant. + + 7. Plaid. Use any three crayons with black. Vary the trio. + + 8. Folding screen. Yellow field (lightly applied), green and black + edge. Make lighter and darker values of each color, and arrange in + scales graded from black to white. + + 9. Rug. Light red field with solid red centre, border pattern and + edges of gray. This is called self-color. Change to each of the + crayons. + + 10. Rug. Light yellow field and solid centre, with purple and black + in border design. Vary by change of ground, keeping design two + colors distant and darkened with black. + + 11. Lattice. Yellow with black: alternate green and blue lozenges. + Vary by keeping the lozenges of two neighboring colors, but one + color removed from that of the lattice. + +For principles involved in these color groups, see Chapter III. + + +PLATE III. + +COLOR STUDIES WITH TUNED WATER COLORS IN THE UPPER GRADES. + +Previous work with measured scales, made by the tuned crayons and tested +by reference to the color sphere, have so trained the color judgment +that children may now be trusted with more flexible material. They have +memorized the equable degrees of color on the equator of the sphere, and +found how lighter colors may balance darker colors, how small areas of +stronger chroma may be balanced by larger masses of weaker chroma, and +in general gained a disciplined color sense. Definite impressions and +clear thinking have taken the place of guess-work and blundering. + +Thus, before reaching the secondary school, they are put in possession +of the color faculty by a system and notation similar to that which was +devised centuries ago for the musical sense. No system, however logical, +will produce the artist, but every artist needs some systematic training +at the outset, and this simple method by measured scales is believed to +be the best yet devised. + + [Illustration: PLATE 2. + Copyright 1907 by A. H. Munsell] + + [Illustration: PLATE 3. + Copyright 1907 by A. H. Munsell] + +Each example on this plate may be made the basis of many variants, by +small changes in the color steps, as suggested in the text, and further +elaborated in Chapter VI. Indeed, the studies reproduced on Plates II. +and III. are but a handful among hundreds of pleasing results produced +in a single school.[26] + + 1. Pattern. Purple and green: the two united and thinned with water + will give the ground. Vary with any other color pair. + + 2. Pattern. Figure in middle red, with darker blue-green accent. + Ground of middle yellow, grayed with slight addition of the red and + green. Vary with purple in place of blue-green. + + 3. Japanese teapot. Middle red, with background of lighter yellow + and foreground of grayed middle yellow. + + 4. Variant on No. 3. Middle yellow, with slight addition of green. + Foreground the same, with more red, and background of middle gray. + + 5. Group. Background of yellow-red, lighter vase in yellow-green, + and darker vase of green, with slight addition of black. Vary by + inversion of the colors in ground and darker vase. + + 6. Wall decoration. Frieze pattern made of cat-tails and + leaves,--the leaves of blue-green with black, tails of yellow-red + with black, and ground of the two colors united and thinned with + water. Wall of blue-green, slightly grayed by additions of the two + colors in the frieze. Dado could be a match of the cat-tails + slightly grayer. _See Fig. 23, page 82._ + + 7. Group. Foreground in purple-blue, grayed with black. Vase of + purple-red, and background in lighter yellow-red, grayed. + +For analysis of the groups and means of recording them, see Chapter III. + + [Footnote 26: The Pope School, Somerville, Mass.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A PIGMENT COLOR SPHERE.[27] + + ++How to make a color sphere with pigments.+ + +(102) The preceding chapters have built up an ideal color solid, in +which every sensation of color finds its place and is clearly named by +its degree of hue, value, and chroma. + + [Illustration: Fig. 16.] + +It has been shown that the neutral centre of the system is a balancing +point for all colors, that a line through this centre finds opposite +colors which balance and complement each other; and we are now ready to +make a practical application, carrying out these ideal relations of +color as far as pigments will permit in a color sphere[27] (Fig. 16). + + [Footnote 27: Patented Jan. 9, 1900.] + +(103) The materials are quite simple. First a colorless globe, mounted +so as to spin freely on its axis. Then a measured scale of value, +specially devised for this purpose, obtained by the daylight +photometer.[28] Next a set of carefully chosen pigments, whose +reasonable permanence has been tested by long use, and which are +prepared so that they will not glisten when spread on the surface of the +globe, but give a uniformly mat surface. A glass palette, palette knife, +and some fine brushes complete the list. + + [Footnote 28: See paragraph 65.] + +(104) Here is a list of the paints arranged in pairs to represent the +five sets of opposite hues described in Chapter III., paragraphs +61-63:-- + + _Color Pairs._ _Pigments Used._ _Chemical Nature._ + + Red and Venetian red. Calcined native earth. + Blue-green. Viridian and Cobalt. Chromium sesquioxide. + + Yellow and Raw Sienna. Native earth. + Purple-blue. Ultramarine. Artificial product. + + Green and Emerald green. Arsenate of copper. + Red-purple. Purple madder. Extract of the madder plant. + + Blue and Cobalt. Oxide of cobalt with alumina. + Yellow-red. Orange cadmium. Sulphide of cadmium. + + Purple and Madder and cobalt. See each pigment above. + Green-yellow. Emerald green See each pigment above. + and Sienna. + +(105) These paints have various degrees of hue, value, and chroma, but +can be tempered by additions of the neutrals, zinc white and ivory +black, until each is brought to a middle value and tested on the value +scale. After each pair has been thus balanced, they are painted in their +appropriate spaces on the globe, forming an equator of balanced hues. + + [Illustration: Fig. 17.] + +(106) The method of proving this balance has already been suggested in +Chapter IV., paragraph 93. It consists of an ingenious implement devised +by Clerk-Maxwell, which gives us a result of mixing colors without the +chemical risks of letting them come in contact, and also measures +accurately the quantity of each which is used (Fig. 17). + +(107) This is called a Maxwell disc, and is nothing more than a circle +of firm cardboard, pierced with a central hole to fit the spindle of a +rotary motor, and with a radial slit from rim to centre, so that another +disc may be slid over the first to cover any desired fraction of its +surface. Let us paint one of these discs with Venetian red and the other +with viridian and cobalt, the first pair in the list of pigments to be +used on the globe. + +(108) Having dried these two discs, one is combined with the other on +the motor shaft so that each color occupies half the circle. As soon as +the motor starts, the two colors are no longer distinguished, and rapid +rotation melts them so perfectly that the eye sees a new color, due to +their mixture on the retina. This new color is a reddish gray, showing +that the red is more chromatic than the blue-green. But by stopping the +motor and sliding the green disc to cover more of the red one, there +comes a point where rotation melts them into a perfectly neutral gray. +No hint of either hue remains, and the pair is said to balance. + +(109) Since this balance has been obtained by _unequal areas_ of the two +pigments, it must compensate for a lack of equal chroma in the hues (see +paragraphs 76, 77); and, to measure this inequality, a slightly larger +disc, with decimal divisions on its rim, is placed back of the two +painted ones. If this scale shows the red as occupying 3⅓ parts of the +area, while blue-green occupies 6⅔ parts, then the blue-green must be +only half as chromatic as the red, since it takes twice as much to +produce the balance. + +(110) The red is then grayed (diminished in chroma by additions of a +middle gray) until it can occupy half the circle, with blue-green on the +remaining half, and still produce neutrality when mixed by rotation. +Each disc now reads 5 on the decimal scale. Lest the graying of red +should have disturbed its value, it is again tested on the photometric +scale, and reads 4.7, showing it has been slightly darkened by the +graying process. A little white is therefore added until its value is +restored to 5. + +(111) The two opposites are now completely balanced, for they are equal +in value (5), equal in chroma (5), and have proved their equality as +complements by uniting in equal areas to form a neutral mixture. It only +remains to apply them in their proper position on the sphere. + +(112) A band is traced around the equator, divided in ten equal spaces, +and lettered R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, and RP (see Fig. 18). This +balanced red and blue-green are applied with the brush to spaces marked +R and BG, care being taken to fill, but not to overstep the bounds, and +the color laid absolutely flat, that no unevenness of value or chroma +may disturb the balance. + +(113) The next pair, represented by Raw Sienna and Ultramarine, is +similarly brought to middle value, balanced by equal areas on the +Maxwell discs, and, when correct in each quality, is painted in the +spaces Y and PB. Emerald Green and Purple Madder, which form the next +pigment pair, are similarly tempered, proved, and applied, followed by +the two remaining pairs, until the equator of the globe presents its ten +equal steps of middle hues. + + ++An equator of ten balanced hues.+ + +(114) Now comes the total test of this circuit of balanced hues by +rotation of the sphere. As it gains speed, the colors flash less and +less, and finally melt into a middle gray of perfect neutrality. Had it +failed to produce this gray and shown a tinge of any hue still +persisting, we should say that the persistent hue was in excess, or, +conversely, that its opposite hue was deficient in chroma, and failed to +preserve its share in the balance. + + [Illustration: Fig. 18.] + +(115) For instance, had rotation discovered the persistence of reddish +gray, it would have proved the red too strong, or its opposite, +blue-green, too weak, and we should have been forced to retrace our +steps, applying a correction until neutrality was established by the +rotation test. + +(116) This is the practical demonstration of the assertion (Chapter I., +paragraph 8) that a _color has three dimensions which can be measured_. +Each of these ten middle hues has proved its right to a definite place +on the color globe by its measurements of value and chroma. Being of +equal chroma, all are equidistant from the neutral centre, and, being +equal in value, all are equally removed from the poles. If the warm hues +(red and yellow) or the cool hues (blue and green) were in excess, the +rotation test of the sphere would fail to produce grayness, and so +detect its lack of balance.[29] + + [Footnote 29: Such a test would have exposed the excess of warm + color in the schemes of Runge and Chevreul, as shown in the + Appendix to this chapter.] + + ++A chromatic tuning fork.+ + +(117) The five principal steps in this color equator are made in +permanent enamel and carefully safeguarded, so that, if the pigments +painted on the globe should change or become soiled, it could be at once +detected and set right. These five are middle red (so called because +midway between white and black, as well as midway between our strongest +red and the neutral centre), middle yellow, middle green, middle blue, +and middle purple. They may be called the CHROMATIC TUNING FORK, for +they serve to establish the pitch of colors, as the musical tuning fork +preserves the pitch of sounds. + + ++Completion of a pigment color sphere.+ + +(118) When the chromatic tuning fork has thus been obtained, the +completion of the globe is only a matter of patience, for the same +method can be applied at any level in the scale of value, and a new +circuit of balanced hues made to conform with its position between the +poles of white and black. + + [Illustration: Fig. 19.] + +(119) The surface above and below the equatorial band is set off by +parallels to match the photometric scale, making nine bands or value +zones in all, of which the equator is fifth, the black pole being 0 and +the white pole 10. + +(120) Ten meridians carry the equatorial hues across all these value +zones and trace the gradation of each hue through a complete scale from +black to white, marked by their values, as shown in paragraph 68. Thus +the red scale is R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 (middle red), R6, R7, R8, and R9, +and similarly with each of the other hues. When the circle of hues +corresponding to each level has been applied and tested, the entire +surface of the globe is spread with a logical system of color scales, +and the eye gratified with regular sequences which move by measured +steps in each direction. + +(121) Each meridian traces a scale of value for the hue in which it +lies. Each parallel traces a scale of hue for the value at whose level +it is drawn. Any oblique path across these scales traces a regular +sequence, each step combining change of hue with a change of value and +chroma. The more this path approaches the vertical, the less are its +changes of hue and the more its changes of value and chroma; while, the +nearer it comes to the horizontal, the less are its changes of value and +chroma, while the greater become its changes of hue. Of these two +oblique paths the first may be called that of a Luminist, or painter +like Rembrandt, whose canvases present great contrasts of light and +shade, while the second is that of the Colorist, such as Titian, whose +work shows great fulness of hues without the violent extremes of white +and black. + + ++Total balance of the sphere tested by rotation on any desired axis.+ + +(122) Not only does the mount of the color sphere permit its rotation on +the vertical axis (white-black), but it is so hung that it may be spun +on the ends of any desired axis, as, for instance, that joining our +first color pair, red and blue-green. With this pair as poles of +rotation, a new equator is traced through all the values of purple on +one side and of green-yellow on the other, which the rotation test melts +in a perfect balance of middle gray, proving the correctness of these +values. In the same way it may be hung and tested on successive axes, +until the total balance of the entire spherical series is proved. + +(123) But this color system does not cease with the colors spread on the +surface of a globe.[30] The first illustration of an orange filled with +color was chosen for the purpose of stimulating the imagination to +follow a surface color inward to the neutral axis by regular decrease of +chroma. A slice at any level of the solid, as at value 8 (Fig. 10), +shows each hue of that level passing by even steps of increasing +grayness to the neutral gray N8 of the axis. In the case of red at this +level, it is easily described by the notation R 8/3, R 8/2, R 8/1, of +which the initial and upper numerals do not change, but the lower +numeral traces loss of chroma by 3, 2, and 1 to the neutral axis. + + [Footnote 30: No color is excluded from this system, but the + excess and inequalities of pigment chroma are traced in the + Color Atlas.] + +(124) And there are stronger chromas of red outside the surface, which +can be written R 8/4, R 8/5, R 8/6, etc. Indeed, our color measurements +discover such differences of chroma in the various pigments used, that +the color tree referred to in paragraphs 34, 35, is necessary to bring +before the eye their maximum chromas, most of which are well outside the +spherical shell and at various levels of value. One way to describe the +color sphere is to suggest that a color tree, the intervals between +whose irregular branches are filled with appropriate color, can be +placed in a turning lathe and turned down until the color maxima are +removed, thus producing a color solid no larger than the chroma of its +weakest pigment (Fig. 2). + + ++Charts of the color solid.+ + +(125) Thus it becomes evident that, while the color sphere is a valuable +help to the child in conceiving color relations, in uniting the three +scales of color measure, and in furnishing with its mount an excellent +test of the theory of color balance, yet it is always restricted to the +chroma of its weakest color, the surplus chromas of all other colors +being thought of as enormous mountains built out at various levels to +reach the maxima of our pigments. + +(126) The complete color solid is, therefore, of irregular shape, with +mountains and valleys, corresponding to the inequalities of pigments. To +display these inequalities to the eye, we must prepare cross sections or +charts of the solid, some horizontal, some vertical, and others oblique. + +(127) Such a set of charts forms an atlas of the color solid, enabling +one to see any color in its relation to all other colors, and name it by +its degree of hue, value, and chroma. Fig. 20 is a horizontal chart of +all colors which present middle value (5), and describes by an uneven +contour the chroma of every hue at this level. The dotted fifth circle +is the equator of the color sphere, whose principal hues, R 5/5. Y 5/5, +G 5/5, B 5/5, and P 5/5, form the chromatic tuning fork, paragraph 117. + + [Illustration: Fig. 20. + + Chart of + Middle Value + - 5 - + Showing Unequal Chroma + in circle of Hues. (See Fig. 2).] + +(128) In this single chart the eye readily distinguishes some three +hundred different colors, each of which may be written by its hue, +value, and chroma. And even the slightest variation of one of them can +be defined. Thus, if the principal red were to fade slightly, so that it +was a trifle lighter and a trifle weaker than the enamel, it would be +written R{5.1/4.9}, showing it had lightened by 1 per cent. and weakened +by 1 per cent. The discrimination made possible by this decimal notation +is much finer than our present visual limit. Its use will stimulate +finer perception of color. + +(129) Such a very elementary sketch of the Color Solid and Color Atlas, +which is all that can be given in the confines of this small book, will +be elsewhere presented on a larger and more complete scale. It should be +contrasted with the ideal form composed of prismatic colors, suggested +in the last chapter, paragraphs 98, 99, which was shown to be +impracticable, but whose ideal conditions it follows as far as the +limitations of pigments permit. + +(130) Besides its value in education as setting all our color notions in +order, and supplying a simple method for their clear expression, it +promises to do away with much of the misunderstanding that accompanies +the every-day use of color. + +(131) Popular color names are incongruous, irrational, and often +ludicrous. One must smile in reading the list of 25 steps in a scale of +blue, made by Schiffer-Muller in 1772:-- + + A. _a._ White pure. + _b._ White silvery or pearly. + _c._ White milky. + B. _a._ Bluish white. + _b._ Pearly white. + _c._ Watery white. + C. Blue being born. + D. Blue dying or pale. + E. Mignon blue. + F. Celestial blue, or sky-color. + G. _a._ Azure, or ultramarine. + _b._ Complete or perfect blue. + _c._ Fine or queen blue. + H. Covert blue or turquoise. + I. King blue (deep). + J. Light brown blue or indigo. + K. _a._ Persian blue or woad flower. + _b._ Forge or steel blue. + _c._ Livid blue. + L. _a._ Blackish blue. + _b._ Hellish blue. + _c._ Black-blue. + M. _a._ Blue-black or charcoal. + _b._ Velvet black. + _c._ Jet black. + +The advantage of spacing these 25 colors in 13 groups, some with three +and others with but one example, is not apparent; nor why ultramarine +should be several steps above turquoise, for the reverse is generally +true. Besides which the hue of turquoise is greenish, while that of +ultramarine is purplish, but the list cannot show this; and the +remarkable statement that one kind of blue is “hellish,” while another +is “celestial,” should rest upon an experience that few can claim. +Failing to define color-value and color-hue, the list gives no hint of +color-strength, except at C and D, where one kind of blue is “dying” +when the next is “being born,” which not inaptly describes the color +memory of many a person. Finally, it assures us that Queen blue is +“fine” and King blue is “deep.” + +This year the fashionable shades are “burnt onion” and “fresh spinach.” +The florists talk of a “pink violet” and a “green pink.” A maker of inks +describes the red as a “true crimson scarlet,” which is a contradiction +in terms. These and a host of other names borrowed from the most +heterogeneous sources, become outlawed as soon as the simple color terms +and measures of this system are adopted. + +Color anarchy is replaced by systematic color description. + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. + + ++Color schemes based on Brewster’s mistaken theory.+ + + [Illustration] + +Runge, of Hamburg (1810), suggested that red, yellow, and blue be placed +equidistant around the equator of a sphere, with white and black at +opposite poles. As the yellow was very light and the blue very dark, any +coherency in the value scales of red, yellow, and blue was impossible. + +Chevreul, of Paris (1861), seeking uniform color scales for his workmen +at the Gobelins, devised a hollow cylinder built up of ten color +circles. The upper circle had red, yellow, and blue spaced equidistant, +and, as in Runge’s solid, yellow was very light and blue very dark. Each +circle was then made “one-tenth” darker than the next above, until black +was reached at the base. Although each circle was supposed to lie +horizontally, only the black lowest circle presents a level of uniform +values. + +Yellow values increase their luminosity thrice as fast as purple values, +so that each circle should tilt at an increasing angle, and the upper +circle of strongest colors be inclined at 60° to the black base. Besides +this fault shared with Runge’s sphere, it falls into another by not +diminishing the size of the lower circles where added black diminishes +the chroma. + +Desire to make colors fit a chosen contour, and the absence of measuring +instruments, cause these schemes to ignore the facts of color relation. +Like ancient maps made to satisfy a conqueror, they amuse by their +distortion. + +Brewster’s mistaken theory underlies these schemes, as is also the case +with Froebel’s gifts, whose color balls continue to give wrong notions +at the very threshold of color education. As pointed out in the Appendix +to Chapter III., the “red-yellow-blue” theory inevitably spreads the +warm field of yellow-red too far, and contracts the blue field, so that +balance of color is rendered impossible, as illustrated in the gaudy +chromo and flaming bill-board. + +These schemes are criticised by Rood as “not only in the main arbitrary, +but also vague”; and, although Chevreul’s charts were published by the +government in most elaborate form, their usefulness is small. Interest +in the growth of the present system, because of its measured character, +led Professor Rood to give assistance in the tests, and at his request a +color sphere was made for the Physical Cabinet at Columbia. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +COLOR NOTATION. + + ++Suggestion of a chromatic score.+ + + [Illustration: Fig. 21.] + +(132) The last chapter traced a series of steps leading to the +construction of a practical color sphere. Each color was tested by +appropriate instruments to assure its degree of hue, value, and chroma, +before being placed in position. Then the total sphere was tested to +detect any lack of balance. + +(133) Each color was also _written_ by a letter and two numerals, +showing its place in the three scales of hue, value, and chroma. This +naturally suggests, not only a record of each separate color sensation, +but also a union of these records in series and groups to form a _color +score_, similar to the musical score by which the measured relations of +sound are recorded. + +(134) A very simple form of color score may be easily imagined as a +transparent envelope wrapped around the equator of the sphere, and +forming a vertical cylinder (Fig. 21). On the envelope the equator +traces a horizontal centre line, which is at 5 of the _value scale_, +with zones 6, 7, 8, and 9 as parallels above, and the zones 4, 3, 2, and +1 below. Vertical lines are drawn through ten equidistant points on this +centre line, corresponding with the divisions of the _hue scale_, and +marked R, YR, Y, GY, G, BG, B, PB, P, and RP. + +(135) The transparent envelope is thus divided into one hundred +compartments, which provide for ten steps of value in each of the ten +middle colors. Now, if we cut open this envelope along one of the +verticals,--as, for instance, red-purple (RP), it may be spread out, +making a flat chart of the color sphere (Fig. 22). + + ++Why green is given the centre of the score.+ + +(136) A cylindrical envelope might be opened on any desired meridian, +but it is an advantage to have green (G) at the centre of the chart, and +it is therefore opened at the opposite point, red-purple (RP). To the +right of the green centre are the meridians of green-yellow (GY), yellow +(Y), yellow-red (YR), and red (R), all of which are known as _warm +colors_, because they contain yellow and red. To the left are the +meridians of blue-green (BG), blue (B), purple-blue (PB), and purple +(P), all of which are called _cool colors_, because they contain blue. +Green, being neither warm nor cold of itself, and becoming so only by +additions of yellow or of blue, thus serves as a balancing point or +centre in the hue-scale.[31] + + [Footnote 31: To put this in terms of the spectrum wave lengths, + long waves at the red end of the spectrum give the sensation of + warmth, while short waves at the violet end cause the sensation + of coolness. Midway between these extremes is the wave length of + green.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 22.] + +(137) The color score presents four large divisions or color fields made +by the intersection of the equator with the meridian of green. Above the +centre are all light colors, and below it are all dark colors. To the +right of the centre are all warm colors, and to the left are all cool +colors. Middle green (5G 5/5) is the centre of balance for these +contrasted qualities, recognized by all practical color workers. The +chart forms a rectangle whose length equals the equator of the color +sphere and its height equals the axis (a proportion of 3.14:1), +representing a union and balance of the scales of hue and of value. This +provides for two color dimensions; but, to be complete, the chart must +provide for the third dimension, chroma. + +(138) Replacing the chart around the sphere and joining its ends, so +that it re-forms the transparent envelope, we may thrust a pin through +at any point until it pierces the surface of the sphere. Indeed, the pin +can be thrust deeper until it reaches the neutral axis, thus forming a +scale of chroma for the color point where it enters (see paragraph 12). +In the same way any colors on the sphere, within the sphere, or without +it, can have pins thrust into the chart to mark their place, and the +length by which each pin projects can be taken as a measure of chroma. +If the chart is now unrolled, it retains the pins, which by their place +describe the hue and value of a color, while their length describes its +chroma. + + ++Pins stuck into the score represent chroma.+ + +(139) With this idea of the third color dimension incorporated in the +score we can discard the pin, and record its length by a numeral. Any +dot placed on the score marks a certain degree of hue and value, while a +numeral beside it marks the degree of chroma which it carries, uniting +with the hue and value of that point to give us a certain color. +Glancing over a series of such color points, the eye easily grasps their +individual character, and connects them into an intelligible series. + +(140) Thus a flat chart becomes the projection of the color solid, and +any color in that solid is transferred to the surface of the chart, +retaining its degrees of hue, value, and chroma. So far the scales have +been spoken of as divided into ten steps, but they may be subdivided +much finer, if desired, by use of the decimal point. It is a question of +convenience whether to make a small score with only the large divisions, +or a much larger score with a hundred times as many steps. In the +latter case each hue has ten steps, the middle step of green being +distinguished as 5G-5/5 to suggest the four steps 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, which +precede it, and 6G, 7G, 8G, and 9G, which follow it toward blue-green. + + [Illustration: Fig. 23. + COLOR SCORE--(or Nº 6 in Plate III)--GIVING AREAS BY H, V AND C.] + + ++The score preserves color records in a convenient shape.+ + +Such a color score, or notation diagram, to be made small or large as +the case demands, offers a very convenient means for recording color +combinations, when pigments are not at hand. + + [Illustration: Fig. 24.] + +(141) To display its three dimensions, a little model can be made with +three visiting cards, so placed as to present their mutual intersection +at right angles (Fig. 24). + +5G 5/5 is their centre of mutual balance. A central plane separates all +colors into two contrasted fields. To the right are all warm colors, to +the left are all cool colors. Each of these fields is again divided by +the plane of the equator into lighter colors above and darker colors +below. These four color fields are again subdivided by a transverse +plane through 5G 5/5 into strong colors in front and weak colors beyond +or behind it. + +(142) Any color group, whose record must all be written to the right of +the centre, is warm, because red and yellow are dominant. One to the +left of the centre must be cool, because it is dominated by blue. +A group written all above the centre must have light in excess, while +one written entirely below is dark to excess. Finally, a score written +all in front of the centre represents only strong chromas, while one +written behind it contains only weak chromas. From this we gather that a +balanced composition of color preserves some sort of equilibrium, +uniting degrees of warm and cool, of light and dark, and of weak and +strong, which is made at once apparent by the dots on the score. + +(143) A single color, like that of a violet, a rose, or a buttercup, +appears as a dot on the score, with a numeral added for its chroma. +A parti-colored flower, such as a nasturtium, is shown by two dots with +their chromas, and a bunch of red and yellow flowers will give by their +dots a color passage, or “silhouette,” whose warmth and lightness is +unmistakable. + +The chroma of each flower written with the silhouette completes the +record. The hues of a beautiful Persian rug, with dark red +predominating, or a verdure tapestry, in which green is dominant, or a +Japanese print, with blue dominant, will trace upon the score a pattern +descriptive of its color qualities. These records, with practice, become +as significant to the eye as the musical score. The general character of +a color combination is apparent at a glance, while its degrees of chroma +are readily joined to fill out the mental image. + +(144) Such a plan of color notation grows naturally from the spherical +system of measured colors. It is hardly to be hoped, in devising a color +score, that it should not seem crude at first. But the measures forming +the basis of this record can be verified by impartial instruments, and +have a permanent value in the general study of color. They also afford +some definite data as to personal bias in color estimates. + +(145) This makes it possible to collect in a convenient form two +contrasting and valuable records, one preserving such effects of color +as are generally called pleasing, and another of such groups as are +found unpleasant to the eye. Out of such material something may be +gained, more reliable than the shifting, personal, and contradictory +statements about color harmony now prevalent. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +COLOR HARMONY. + + ++Colors may be grouped to please or to give annoyance.+ + +(146) Attempts to define the laws of harmonious color have not attained +marked success, and the cause is not far to seek. The very sensations +underlying these effects of concord or of discord are themselves +undefined. The misleading formula of my student days--that three parts +of yellow, five parts of red, and eight parts of blue would combine +harmoniously--was unable to define the _kind_ of red, yellow, and blue +intended; that is, the hue, value, and chroma of each of these colors +was unknown, and the formula meant a different thing to each person who +tried to use it. + +(147) It is true that a certain red, green, and blue can be united in +such proportions on Maxwell discs as to balance in a neutral gray; but +the slightest change in either the hue, value, or chroma, of any one of +them, upsets the balance. A new proportion is then needed to regain the +neutral mixture. This has already been shown in the discussion of triple +balance (paragraph 82). + +(148) Harmony of color has been still further complicated by the use of +terms that belong to musical harmony. Now music is a _measured art_, and +has found a set of intervals which are defined scientifically. The two +arts have many points of similarity; and the impulses of sound waves on +the ear, like those of light waves on the eye, are measured vibrations. +But they are far apart in their scales, and differ so much in important +particulars that no practical relationship can be set up. The intervals +of color sensation require fit names and measures, ere their infinite +variety can be organized into a fixed system. + +(149) Any effort to compare certain sounds to certain colors soon leads +to the wildest vagaries. + + ++Harmony of sound is unlike harmony of color.+ + +(150) The poverty of color language tempts to a borrowing from the +richer terminology of music. Musical terms, such as “pitch, key, note, +tone, chord, modulation, nocturne, and symphony,” are frequently used in +the description of color, serving by association to convey certain vague +ideas. + +(151) In the same way the term _color harmony_, from association with +musical harmony, presents to the mind an image of color +arrangement,--varied, yet well proportioned, grouped in orderly fashion, +and agreeable to the eye. But any attempt to define this image in terms +of color is disappointing. Here is a beautiful Persian rug: why do we +call it beautiful? One says “because its colors are _rich_.” Why are +they rich? “Because they are _deep in tone_.” What does that mean? The +double-bass and the fog-horn are _deep_ in tone, but not necessarily +beautiful on that account. “Oh, no,” says another, “it is all in _one +harmonious key_.” But what is a key of color? Is it made by all the +values of one color, such as red, or by all the hues of equal value, +such as the middle hues in our color solid? + +(152) Certainly it is neither, for the rug has both light and dark +colors; and, of the reds, yellows, greens, and blues, some are stronger +and others weaker. Then what do we mean by a key of color? One must +either continue to flounder about or frankly confess ignorance. + +(153) Musical harmony explains itself in clear language. It is +illustrated by fixed and definite sound intervals, whose measured +relations form the basis of musical composition. Each key has an +unmistakable character, and the written score presents a statement that +means practically the same thing to every person of musical +intelligence. But the adequate terms of color harmony are yet to be +worked out. + +Let us leave these musical analogies, retaining only the clue that _a +measured and orderly relation underlies the idea of harmony_. The color +solid which has been the subject of these pages is built upon measured +color relations. It unites measured scales of hue, value, and chroma, +and gives a definite color name to every sensation from the maxima of +color-light and color-strength to their disappearance in darkness. + +(154) Must not this theoretical color solid, therefore, locate all the +elements which combine to produce color harmony or color discord?[32] + + [Footnote 32: Professor James says there are three classic + stages in the career of a theory: “First, it is attacked as + absurd; then admitted to be true, but obvious and insignificant; + finally it is seen to be so important that its adversaries claim + to be its discoverers.”] + +(155) Instead of theorizing, let us experiment. As a child at the piano, +who first strikes random and widely separated notes, but soon seeks for +the intervals of a familiar air, so let us, after roaming over the color +globe and its charts, select one familiar color, and study what others +will combine with it to please the eye. + +(156) Here is a grayish green stuff for a dress, and the little girl who +is to wear it asks what other colors she may use with it. First let us +find it on our instrument, so as to realize its relation to other +degrees of color. Its value is 6,--one step above the equator of middle +value. Its hue is green, G, and its chroma 5. It is written G 6/5. + +(157) Color paths lead out from this point in every direction. Where +shall we find harmonious colors, where discordant, where those paths +most frequently travelled? Are there new ones still to be explored? + +(158) _There are three typical paths: one vertical_, with rapid change +of value; _another lateral_, with rapid change of hue; and a _third +inward_, through the neutral centre to seek the opposite color field. +All other paths are combinations of two or three of these typical +directions in the color solid. + + ++Three typical color paths.+ + + [Illustration: Fig. 25.] + +(159) 1. The vertical path finds only lighter and darker values of +gray-green,--“self-colors or shades,” they are generally called,--and +offers a safe path, even for those deficient in color sensation, +avoiding all complications of hue, and leaving the eye free to estimate +different degrees of a single quality,--color-light. + +(160) 2. The lateral path passes through neighboring hues on either +side. In this case it is a sequence from blue, through green into +yellow. This is simply change of hue, without change of value or chroma +if the path be level, but, by inclining it, one end of the sequence +becomes lighter, while the other end darkens. It thus becomes an +intermediate between the first and second typical paths, combining, at +each step, a change of hue with a change of value. This is more +complicated, but also more interesting, showing how the character of the +gray-green dress will be set off by a _lighter_ hat of Leghorn straw, +and further improved by a trimming of _darker_ blue-green. The sequence +can be made still more subtle and attractive by choosing a straw whose +yellow is _stronger_ than the green of the dress, while a _weaker_ +chroma of blue-green is used in the trimming. This is clearly expressed +by the notation thus: Y 8/7, G 6/5, BG 4/3, and written on the score by +three dots and their chromas,--7, 5, and 3 (see Fig. 23). + +(161) 3. The inward path which leads by increase of gray to the neutral +centre, and on to the opposite hue red-purple, RP 4/5, is full of +pitfalls for the inexpert. It combines great change of hue and chroma, +with small change of value. + +(162) If any other color point be chosen in place of gray-green, the +same typical paths are just as easily traced, written by the notation, +and recorded on the color score. + + ++These paths trace sequences from any point in the color solid.+ + +(163) In the construction of the color solid we saw that its scales were +made of equal steps in hue, value, and chroma, and tested by balance on +the centre of neutral gray. Any step will serve as a point of departure +to trace regular sequences of the three types. The vertical type is a +sequence of value only. It is somewhat tame, lacking the change of hue +and chroma, but giving a monotonous harmony of regular values. The +horizontal type traces a sequence of neighboring hues, less tame than +the vertical type, but monotonous in value and chroma. The inward type +connects opposite hues by a sequence of chroma balanced on middle gray, +and is more stimulating to the eyes. + +(164) These paths have so far been treated as made up of equal steps in +each direction, with the accompanying idea of equal quantities of color +at each step. But by using _unequal quantities of color_, the balance +may be preserved by compensations to the intervals that separate the +colors (see paragraphs 109, 110). + + ++Unequal color quantities compensated by relations of hue, value, +and chroma.+ + +(165) Small bits of powerful color can be used to balance large fields +of weak chroma. For instance, a spot of strong reddish purple is +balanced and enhanced by a field of gray-green. So an amethyst pin at +the neck of the girl’s dress will appear to advantage with the gown, and +also with the Leghorn straw. But a large field of strong color, such as +a cloth jacket of reddish purple, would be fatal to the measured harmony +we seek. + +(166) This use of a small point of strong chroma, if repeated at +intervals, sets up a notion of rhythm; but, in order to be rhythmic, +there must be recurrent emphasis, “a succession of similar units, +combining unlike elements.” This quality must not be confused with the +unaccented succession, seen in a measured scale of hue, value, or +chroma. + + ++Paper masks to isolate color intervals.+ + +(167) A sheet of paper large enough to hide the color sphere may be +perforated with three or more openings in a straight line, and applied +against the surface, so as to isolate the steps of any sequence which we +wish to study. Thus the sequence given in paragraph 160--Y 8/7, G 6/5, +BG 4/3--may be changed to bring it on the surface of the sphere, when it +reads Y 8/3, G 6/5, BG 5/5. A mask with round holes, spaced so as to +uncover these three spots, relieves the eye from the distraction of +other colors. Keeping the centre spot on green, the mask may be moved so +as to study the effect of changing hue or value of the other two steps +in the sequence. + +(168) The sequence is lightened by sliding the whole mask upward, and +darkened by dropping it lower. Then the result of using the same +intervals in another field is easily studied by moving the mask to +another part of the solid. + +(169) Change of interval immediately modifies the character of a color +sequence. This is readily shown by having an under-mask, with a long, +continuous slit, and an over-mask whose perforations are arranged in +several rows, each row giving different spaces between the perforations. +In the case of the girl’s clothing, the same sequence produces quite a +different effect, if two perforations of the over-mask are brought +nearer to select a lighter yellow-green dress, while the ends of the +sequence remain unchanged. To move the middle perforation near the other +end, selects a darker bluish green dress, on which the trimming will be +less contrasted, while the hat appears brighter than before, because of +greater contrast. + +(170) The variations of color sequence which can thus be studied out by +simple masks are almost endless; yet upon a measured system the +character of each effect is easily described, and, if need be, preserved +by a written record. + + ++Invention of color groups.+ + +(171) Experiments with variable masks for the selection of color +intervals, such as have been described, soon stimulate the imagination, +so that it conceives sequences through any part of the color solid. The +color image becomes a permanent mental adjunct. Five middle colors, +tempered with white and black, permit us to devise the greatest variety +of sequences, some light, others dark, some combining small difference +of chroma with large difference of hue, others uniting large intervals +of chroma with small intervals of hue, and so on through a well-nigh +inexhaustible series. + +(172) As this constructive imagination gains power, the solid and its +charts may be laid aside. _We can now think color consecutively._ Each +color suggests its place in the system, and may be taken as a point of +departure for the invention of groups to carry out a desired relation. + +(173) This selective mental process is helped by the score described in +the last chapter; and the quantity of each color chosen for the group is +easily indicated by a variable circle, drawn round the various points on +the diagram. Thus, in the case of the child’s clothes, a large circle +around G 6/5 gives the area of that color as compared with smaller +circles around Y 8/7 and BG 4/3, representing the area of the straw and +the trimming. + +(174) When the plotting of color groups has become instinctive from long +practice, it opens a wide field of color study. Take as illustration the +wings of butterflies or the many varieties of pansies. These fascinating +color schemes can be written with indications of area that record their +differences by a simple diagram. In the same way, rugs, tapestries, +mosaics,--whatever attracts by its beauty and harmony of color,--can be +recorded and studied in measured terms; and the mental process of +estimating hues, values, chromas, and areas by established scales must +lead the color sense to finer and finer perceptions. + +The same process serves as well to record the most annoying and +inharmonious color groups. When sufficient of these records have been +obtained, they furnish definite material for a contrast of the color +combinations which please, with those that cause disgust. Such a +contrast should discover some broad law of color harmony. It will then +be in measured terms which can be clearly given; not a vague personal +statement, conveying different meanings to each one who hears it. + + ++Constant exercise needed to train the color sense.+ + +(175) Appreciation of beautiful color grows by exercise and +discrimination, just as naturally as fine perception of music or +literature. Each is an outlet for the expression of taste,--a language +which may be used clumsily or with skill. + +(176) As color perception becomes finer, it discards the more crude and +violent contrasts. A child revels in strong chromas, but the mark of a +colorist is ability to employ low chroma without impoverishing the color +effect. As a boy’s shrieks and groans can be tempered to musical +utterance, so his debauches in violent red, green, and purple must be +replaced by tempered hues. + +(177) Raphael, Titian, Velasquez, Corot, Chavannes, and Whistler are +masters in the use of gray. Personal bias may lead one colorist a little +more toward warm colors, and another slightly toward the cool field, in +each case attaining a sense of harmonious balance by tempered degrees of +value and chroma.[33] + + [Footnote 33: “Nature’s most lively hues are bathed in lilac + grays. Spread all about us, yet visible only to the fine + perception of the colorist, is this gray quality by which he + appeals. Not he whose pictures abound in ‘_couleurs voyantes_,’ + but he who preserves in his work all the ‘_gris colorés_’ is the + good colorist.” + + Translation from J. F. Rafaelli, in _Annales Politiques & + Litteraires_.] + +(178) It is not claimed that discipline in the use of subtle colors will +make another Corot or Velasquez, but it will make for comprehension of +their skill. It is grotesque to watch gaudily dressed persons going into +ecstasies over the delicate coloring of a Botticelli, when the internal +as well as the external evidence is against them. + +(179) The colors which we choose, not only in personal apparel, but in +our rooms and decorations, are mute witnesses to a stage of color +perception. + +If that perception is trained to finer distinctions, the mind can no +longer be content with coarse expression. It begins to feel an +incongruity between the “loud” color of the wall paper, bought because +it was fashionable, and the quiet hues of the rug, which was a gift from +some artistic friend. It sees that, although the furniture is covered +with durable and costly materials, their color “swears” at that of the +curtains and wood-work. In short, the room has been jumbled together at +various periods, without any plan or sense of color design. + +(180) Good taste demands that a room be furnished, not alone for +convenience and comfort, but also with an eye to the beauty of the +various objects, so that, instead of confusing and destroying the +colors, each may enhance the other. And, when this sense of color +harmony is aroused, it selects and arranges the books, the rugs, the +lamp shade, the souvenirs of travel and friendship, the wall paper, +pictures, and hangings, so that they fit into a color scheme, not only +charming to the eye at first glance, but which continues to please the +mind as it traces out an intelligent plan, bringing all into general +harmony. + +(181) Nor will this cease when one room has been put to rights. Such a +coloristic attitude is not satisfied until the vista into the next +apartment is made attractive. Or should there be a suite of rooms, it +demands that, with variety in each one, they all be brought into +harmonious sequence. Thus the study of color finds immediate and +practical use in daily life. It is a needed discipline of color vision, +in the sense that geometry is a discipline of the mind, and it also +enters into the pleasure and refinement of life at every step. Skill or +awkwardness in its use exerts as positive an influence upon us as do the +harmonies and discords of sound, and a far more continuous one. It is +thought a defect to be unmusical. Should it not be considered a mark of +defective cultivation to be insensitive to color? + +(182) In this slight sketch of color education it has been assumed that +we are to deal with those who have normal perceptions. But there are +some who inherit or develop various degrees of color-blindness; and a +word in their behalf may be opportune. + +(183) A case of total color-blindness is very rare, but a few are on +record. When a child shows deficient color perception,[34] a little care +may save him much discomfort, and patient training may correct it. If he +mismatches some hues, confuses their names, seems incapable of the finer +distinctions of color, study to find the hues which he estimates well, +and then help him to venture a little into that field where his +perception is at fault. Improvement is pretty sure to follow when this +is sympathetically done. One student, who never outgrew the habit of +giving a purplish hue to all his work, despite many expedients and the +use of various lights and colored objects to correct it, is the single +exception among hundreds whom it has been my privilege to watch as they +improved their first crude estimates, and gained skill in expressing +their sense of Nature’s subtle color. + + [Footnote 34: See Color Blindness in Glossary.] + +(184) To sum up, the first chapter suggests a measured color system in +place of guess-work. The next describes the three color qualities, and +sketches a child’s growth in color perception. The third tells how +colors may be mingled in such proportions as to balance. After the +impracticability of using spectral color has been shown in the fourth +chapter, the fifth proceeds to build a practical color solid. The sixth +provides for a written record of color, and the last applies all that +has preceded to suggestions for the study of color harmony. + +(185) Wide gaps appear in this outline. There is much that deserves +fuller treatment. But, if the search for refined color and a clearer +outlook upon its relations are stimulated by this fragmentary sketch, +some of its faults may be overlooked. + + + [Illustration: + REPRODUCTION OF FLOWER STUDIES, PAINTED WITH MUNSELL WATER COLOR + Published By + WADSWORTH, HOWLAND & CO., INCORPORATED + BOSTON, MASS.] + + + + + PART II. + + A COLOR SYSTEM AND COURSE OF STUDY + BASED ON THE COLOR SOLID AND ITS CHARTS. + + Arranged for nine years of school life. + + + GLOSSARY OF COLOR TERMS. + + Taken from the Century Dictionary. + + + INDEX + + (by paragraphs). + + + + + [Illustration: Fig. 2 (See Fig. 20) + The Color Tree] + + A COLOR SYSTEM WITH COURSE OF STUDY + BASED ON THE COLOR SOLID AND ITS CHARTS + + + _See Chapter II._ + + Copyright, 1904, by A. H. Munsell. + + + + + A COLOR SYSTEM AND COURSE OF STUDY + + BASED ON THE COLOR SOLID AND ITS CHARTS, + ADAPTED TO NINE YEARS OF SCHOOL LIFE. + + Gr. Grade + Ill. Illustration + App. Application + Mat. Materials + + ==================================================================== + Gr. |Subject. | Colors Studied. | Ill. | App. | Mat. + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 1. | HUES | Red. R. | Sought in | Borders | Colored + | of | Yellow. Y. | Nature | and | crayons + | color. | Green. G. | and Art. |Rosettes.| and + | | Blue. B. | | | papers. + | | Purple. P. | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 2. | HUES | Yellow-red. YR. | Sought in | Borders | Colored + | of | Green-yellow. GY. | Nature | and | crayons + | color. | Blue-green. BG. | and Art. |Rosettes.| and + | | Purple-blue. PB. | | | papers. + | | Red-purple. RP. | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 3. | VALUES | Light, middle, | Sought in | Design. | Color + | of | and dark R. | Nature | | sphere. + | color. | „ „ Y. | and Art. | | + | | „ „ G. | | | + | | „ „ B. | | | + | | „ „ P. | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 4. | VALUES | 5 values of YR.} | Sought in | Design. | Charts. + | of | „ „ „ GY.} | Nature | | + | color. | „ „ „ BG.} | and Art. | | + | | „ „ „ PB.} | | | + | | „ „ „ RP.} | | | + | | 9/, 7/, 5/, 3/, 1/. | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 5. | CHROMAS | 3 chromas of R5/. | Sought in | Design. | Charts. + | of | „ „ „ Y5/. | Nature | | + | color. | „ „ „ G5/. | and Art | | + | | „ „ „ B5/. | | | + | | „ „ „ P5/. | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 6. | CHROMAS | 3 chromas of YR5/. | Sought in | Design | Color + | of | „ „ „ GY5/. | Nature | | Tree. + | color. | „ „ „ BG5/. | and Art. | | + | | „ „ „ PB5/. | | | + | | „ „ „ RP5/. | | | + | | „ „ „ | | | + | | R7/ and R3/.} | | | + | | „ Y7/ „ Y3/.} | | | + | | „ G7/ „ G3/.} | | | + | | „ B7/ „ B3/.} | | | + | | „ P7/ „ P3/.} | | | + ----+---------+---------------------+-----------+---------+--------- + 7. |To OBSERVE IMITATE & WRITE + | color by HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA „ „ Paints. + | + ----+--------------------------------------------------------------- + 8. |QUANTITY of color. + | Pairs of equal area and unequal area „ „ Paints. + | Balanced by HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA. + ----+--------------------------------------------------------------- + 9. |QUANTITY of color. + | Triads of equal area and unequal area „ „ Paints. + | Balanced by HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA. + ==================================================================== + +Copyright, 1904, by A. H. Munsell. + + +STUDY OF SINGLE HUES AND THEIR SEQUENCE. Two Years. + +_FIRST GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Talk about familiar objects, to bring out color names, + 2. as toys, flowers, clothing, birds, insects, etc. + 3. Show soap bubbles and prismatic spectrum. + 4. Teach term HUE. Hues of flowers, spectrum, plumage of + birds, etc. + 5. Show MIDDLE[35] RED. Find other reds. + 6. Show MIDDLE YELLOW. Find other yellows, and compare + with reds. + 7. Show MIDDLE GREEN. Find other greens, „ + with reds and yellows. + 8. Show MIDDLE BLUE. Find other blues, „ + with preceding hues. + 9. Show MIDDLE PURPLE. Find other purples, „ + with preceding hues. + 10-15. Review FIVE MIDDLE HUES,[35] match with colored papers, + and place in circle. + 16-20. Show COLOR SPHERE. Find sequence of five middle hues. + Memorize order. + 21. Middle red imitated with crayon, named and written + by initial R. + 22. Middle yellow „ „ „ „ + by initial Y. + 23. Middle green „ „ „ „ + by initial G. + 24. Middle blue „ „ „ „ + by initial B. + 25. Middle purple „ „ „ „ + by initial P. + 26-30. Review, using middle hues[35] in borders and rosettes + for design. + +_Aim._--To recognize sequence of five middle hues. To name, match, +imitate, write, and arrange them. + + +_SECOND GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1-3. Review sequence of five middle hues.[35] + 4. Show a hue INTERMEDIATE between red and yellow. Find it + in objects. + 5. Compare with red and yellow. + 6. Recognize and name YELLOW-RED. Match, imitate, and write YR. + 7-8. Show GREEN-YELLOW between green and yellow. Treat as above, + and write GY. + 9-10. Show BLUE-GREEN between blue and green. „ „ + and write BG. + 11-12. Show PURPLE-BLUE between purple and blue. „ „ + and write PB. + 13-14. Show RED-PURPLE between red and purple. „ „ + and write RP. + 15-20. Make circle of ten hues. Place Intermediates, and memorize + order so as to repeat forward or backward. Match, imitate, + and write by initials. + 21-25. Find sequence of ten hues on COLOR SPHERE. Compare with + hues of natural objects. + 26-30. Review, using any two hues in sequence for borders and + rosettes. + +_Aim._--To recognize sequence of ten hues, made up of five middle[35] +hues and the five intermediates. To name, match, write, imitate, and +arrange them. + + [Footnote 35: The term MIDDLE, as used in this course of color + study, is understood to mean only the five principal hues which + stand midway in the scales of VALUE and CHROMA. Strictly + speaking, their five intermediates are also midway of the + scales; but they are obtained by mixture of the five principal + hues, as shown in their names, and are of secondary importance.] + + +STUDY OF SINGLE VALUES AND THEIR SEQUENCE. Two Years. + +_THIRD GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequence of ten hues. + 2. Recognize, name, match, imitate, write, and find them + 3. on the COLOR SPHERE. Also in objects. + 4. Teach use of term VALUE. Color value recognized apart from + color hue. + 5. Find values of red, lighter and darker than the middle + value already familiar. + 7. THREE VALUES of RED. Find on sphere. Name as LIGHT, MIDDLE, + and DARK values of red. + 8. THREE VALUES of RED. Imitate with crayons, and write them + as 3, 5, and 7. + 9. THREE VALUES of YELLOW. Compare with above. + 10. Recognize, name, match, and imitate with crayons. + 11. THREE VALUES of GREEN. Compare, and treat as above. + 12. Find on sphere and in objects. + 13. THREE VALUES of BLUE. „ „ + 14. + 15. THREE VALUES of PURPLE. „ „ + 16. + 17-20. Review, combining two values and a single hue for design.[36] + +_Aim._--To recognize a sequence combining three values and five middle +hues. To name, match, imitate, and arrange them. + + [Footnote 36: These ten lessons in this and succeeding grades + are devoted to color perception only. Their application to + design is a part of the general course in drawing, and will be + so considered in the succeeding grades. Note that, although thus + far nothing has been said about complementary hues, the child + has been led to associate them in opposite pairs by the color + sphere. (See Chapter III., p. 76.)] [[Error for “paragraph 76”]] + + +_FOURTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequence of three values in each of the five middle hues. + 2. To recognize, name, match, imitate, and + 3. find them on sphere and in objects. + 4. Show FIVE VALUES of RED. Find them on large color sphere. + 5. Number them 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. Match, imitate, and write. + 6. Show FIVE VALUES of BLUE-GREEN. „ „ „ + Treat as above and review. + 7. Show FIVE VALUES of PURPLE-BLUE compared with Yellow. + Treat as above and review. + 8. Show FIVE VALUES of RED-PURPLE „ Green. + Treat as above and review. + 9. Show FIVE VALUES of YELLOW-RED „ Blue. + Treat as above and review. + 10. Show FIVE VALUES of GREEN-YELLOW „ Purple. + Treat as above and review. + +_Aim._--To recognize sequences combining five values in each of ten +hues. To name, match, imitate, WRITE, and arrange them. + + +STUDY OF SINGLE CHROMAS AND THEIR SEQUENCES. Two Years. + +_FIFTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequences of hue and value. Find them on the color sphere. + Name, match, imitate, write, and arrange them by hue and value. + 2. Teach use of term CHROMA. Compare three chromas with three + values of red. + Name them WEAK, MIDDLE, and STRONG chromas. + Find in nature and art. + 3. THREE CHROMAS of RED. Compare with three of blue-green. + 4. Show COLOR TREE. Suggest unequal chroma of hues. + 5. THREE CHROMAS of YELLOW. Compare with three chromas of + purple-blue. + 6. THREE CHROMAS of GREEN. „ „ + red-purple. + 7. THREE CHROMAS of BLUE. „ „ + yellow-red. + 8. THREE CHROMAS of PURPLE. „ „ + green-yellow. + 9. Arrange five middle hues in circle, described as on the surface + of the Color Sphere (middle chroma), with weaker chromas inside, + and stronger chromas outside, the sphere. + 10. Review,--to find these sequences of chroma in nature and art. + +_Aim._--To recognize sequences combining three chromas, middle value, +and ten hues. To name, match, imitate, and arrange them. + + +_SIXTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequences combining three chromas, five hues, and middle + value. + Find on Color Tree, name, match, imitate, and arrange them. + 2. THREE CHROMAS of LIGHTER and DARKER RED. Compare with middle red. + 3. Write „ „ „ „ as a fraction, + chroma under value, using 3, 5, and 7. Thus R 5/7. + 4. Find CHROMAS of LIGHTER RED, and compare with darker blue-green. + 5. THREE CHROMAS of LIGHTER and DARKER YELLOW, with purple-blue. + 6. „ „ „ „ GREEN, „ red-purple. + 7. „ „ „ „ BLUE, „ yellow-red. + 8. „ „ „ „ PURPLE, „ green-yellow. + 9. Colors in nature and art, defined by hue, value, and chroma. + Named, matched, imitated, written, and arranged by Color Sphere + and Tree. + 10. Review,--to find sequences combining three chromas, five values, + and ten hues. + +_Aim._--To recognize sequences of chroma, as separate from sequences +of hue or sequences of value. To name, match, write, imitate, and +arrange colors in terms of their hue, value, and chroma. + + +COLOR EXPRESSION IN TERMS OF THE HUES, VALUES, AND CHROMAS. + +_SEVENTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequences of hue (initial), value (upper numeral), + & chroma (lower numeral). + 2. „ „ „ „ + 3. Exercises in expressing colors of natural objects by the NOTATION, + 4. and tracing their relation by the spherical solid. + 5. REDS in Nature and Art, imitated, written, and traced + by the spherical solid. + 6. YELLOWS in Nature and Art, „ „ + by the spherical solid. + 7. GREENS in Nature and Art, „ „ + by the spherical solid. + 8. BLUES in Nature and Art, „ „ + by the spherical solid. + 9. PURPLES in Nature and Art, „ „ + by the spherical solid. + 10. ONE COLOR PAIR selected, defined, and arranged for design. + (See note 4th Grade.) + +_Aim._--To define any color by its hue, value, and chroma. To imitate +with pigments and write it. + + +_EIGHTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review sequences, and select colors which balance. + Illustrate the term. + 2. BALANCE of light and dark,--weak and strong,--hot and cold colors. + 3. RED and blue-green balanced in hue, value, and chroma, + with EQUAL AREAS. + 4. YELLOW and purple-blue „ „ + with EQUAL AREAS. + 5. GREEN and red-purple „ „ + with EQUAL AREAS. + 6. BLUE and yellow-red „ „ + with EQUAL AREAS. + 7. PURPLE and green-yellow „ „ + with EQUAL AREAS. + 8. UNEQUAL AREAS of the above pairs, balanced by compensating + 9. qualities of hue, value, and chroma. Examples from nature + and art. + 10. ONE COLOR PAIR of unequal areas selected, defined, + and used in design. + +_Aim._--To BALANCE colors by area, hue, value, and chroma. To imitate +with pigments and write the balance by the notation. + + +_NINTH GRADE LESSONS._ + + 1. Review balance of color pairs, by area, hue, value, and chroma. + 2. To recognize, name, imitate, write, and record them. + 3. SELECTION of two colors to balance a given RED. + 4. „ „ „ „ YELLOW. + 5. „ „ „ „ GREEN. + 6. „ „ „ „ BLUE. + 7. „ „ „ „ PURPLE. + 8-10. TRIAD of color, selected, balanced, written, and used in design. + +_Aim._--To recognize triple balance of color, and express it in terms +of area, hue, value, and chroma. Also to use it in design. + + + + + GLOSSARY OF COLOR TERMS + + TAKEN FROM + THE + + _CENTURY DICTIONARY_. + + + + +GLOSSARY + +_The color definitions here employed are taken from the Century +Dictionary. Special attention is called to the cross references which +serve to differentiate HUE, VALUE, and CHROMA._ + + +AFTER IMAGE.--An image perceived after withdrawing the eye from a +brilliantly illuminated object. Such images are called positive when +their colors are the same as that of the object, and negative when they +are its complementary colors. + +BLUE.--Of the color of the clear sky; of the color of the spectrum +between wave lengths .505 and .415 micron, and more especially .487 and +.460; or of such light mixed with white; azure, cerulean. + +BLACK.--Possessing in the highest degree the property of absorbing +light; reflecting and transmitting little or no light; of the color of +soot or coal; of the darkest possible hue; sable. Optically, wholly +destitute of color, or absolutely dark, whether from the absence or the +total absorption of light. Opposed to white. + +BROWN.--A dark color, inclined to red or yellow, obtained by mixing red, +black, and yellow. + ++CHROMA.--The degree of departure of a color sensation from that of +white or gray; the intensity of distinctive hue; color intensity.+ + +CHROMATIC.--Relating to or of the nature of color. + +COBALT BLUE.--A pure blue tending toward cyan blue and of high +luminosity; also called Hungary blue, Lethner’s blue, and Paris blue. + +COLOR.--Objectively, that quality of a thing or appearance which is +perceived by the eye alone, independently of the form of the thing; +subjectively, a sensation peculiar to the organ of vision, and arising +from the optic nerve. + +COLOR BLINDNESS.--Incapacity for perceiving colors, independent of the +capacity for distinguishing light and shade. The most common form is +inability to perceive red as a distinct color, red objects being +confounded with gray or green; and next in frequency is the inability to +perceive green. + +COLOR CONSTANTS.--The numbers which measure the quantities, as well as +any other system of three numbers for defining colors, are called +constants of color. + +COLOR VARIABLES.--Colors vary in CHROMA, or freedom from admixture of +white light; in BRIGHTNESS, or luminosity; and in HUE, which roughly +corresponds to the mean wave length of the light emitted. + +COLORS, COMPLEMENTARY.--Those pairs of color which when mixed produce +white or gray light, such as red and green-blue, yellow and indigo-blue, +green-yellow and violet. + +COLORS, PRIMARY.--The red, green, and violet light of the spectrum, from +the mixture of which all other colors can be produced. Also called +fundamental colors. + +DYESTUFFS.--In commerce, any dyewood, lichen, or dyecake used in dyeing +and staining. + +ELECTRIC LIGHT.--Light produced by electricity and of two general kinds, +the arc light and the incandescent light. In the first the voltaic arc +is employed. In the second a resisting conductor is rendered +incandescent by the current. + +ENAMEL.--In the fine arts a vitreous substance or glass, opaque or +transparent, and variously colored, applied as a coating on a surface of +metal or of porcelain. + +GRATING, DIFFRACTION.--A series of fine parallel lines on a surface of +glass, or polished metal, ruled very close together, at the rate of +10,000 to 20,000 or even 40,000 to the inch; distinctively called a +diffraction or a diffraction grating, much used in spectroscopic work. + +GRAY.--A color having little or no distinctive hue (CHROMA) and only +moderate luminosity. + +GREEN.--The color of ordinary foliage; the color seen in the solar +spectrum between wave lengths 0.511 and 0.543 micron. + +EMERALD GREEN.--A highly chromatic and extraordinarily luminous green of +the color of the spectrum at wave length 0.524 micron. It recalls the +emerald by its brilliancy, but not by its tint; applied generally to the +aceto-arsenate of copper. Usually known as Paris green. + +HIGH COLOR.--A hue which excites intensely chromatic color sensations. + ++HUE.--Specifically and technically, distinctive quality of coloring in +an object or on a surface; the respect in which red, yellow, green, +blue, etc., differ one from another; that in which colors of equal +luminosity and CHROMA may differ.+ + +INDIGO.--The violet-blue color of the spectrum, extending, according to +Helmholtz, from G two-thirds of the way to F in the prismatic spectrum. +The name was introduced by Newton, but has lately been discarded by the +best writers. + +LIGHT.--Adjective applied to colors highly luminous and more or less +deficient in CHROMA. + +LUMINOSITY.--Specifically, the intensity of light in a color, measured +photometrically; that is to say, a standard light has its intensity, or +_vis viva_, altered, until it produces the impression of being equally +bright with the color whose light is to be determined; and the measure +of the _vis viva_ of the altered light, relatively to its standard +intensity, is then taken as the luminosity of the color in question. + +MAXWELL COLOR DISCS.--Discs having each a single color, and slit +radially so that one may be made to lap over another to any desired +extent. By rotating these on a spindle, the effect of combining certain +colors in varying proportions can be studied. + +MICRON.--The millionth part of a metre, or 1/23400 of an English inch. +The term has been formally adopted by the International Commission of +Weights and Measures, representing the civilized nations of the world, +and is adopted by all metrologists. + +ORANGE.--A reddish yellow color, of which the orange is the type. + +VISION, PERSISTENCE OF.--The continuance of a visual impression upon the +retina of the eye after the exciting cause is removed. The length of +time varies with the intensity of the light and the excitability of the +retina, and ordinarily is brief, though the duration may be for hours, +or even days. The after image may be either positive or negative, the +latter when the bright part appears dark and the colored parts in their +corresponding contrast colors. It is because of this persistence that, +for example, a firebrand moved very rapidly appears as a band or circle +of light. + +PHOTOMETER.--An instrument used to measure the intensity of light. +Specifically, to compare the relative intensities of the light emitted +from various sources. + +PIGMENT.--Any substance that is or can be used by painters to impart +color to bodies. + +PINK.--A red color of low chroma, but high luminosity, inclining toward +purple. + +PRIMARY COLORS.--See Colors, primary. + +PURE COLOR.--A color produced by homogeneous light. Any very brilliant +or decided color. + +PURPLE.--A color formed by the mixture of blue and red, including the +violet of the spectrum above wave length 0.417, which is nearly a violet +blue, and extending to, but not including, crimson. + +RAINBOW.--A bow or an arc of a circle, consisting of the prismatic +colors, formed by the refraction and the reflection of rays of light +from drops of rain or vapor, appearing in the part of the heavens +opposite to the sun. + +RED.--A color more or less resembling that of blood, or the lower end of +the spectrum. Red is one of the most general color names, and embraces +colors ranging in hue from aniline to scarlet iodide of mercury and red +lead. A red yellower than vermilion is called scarlet. One much more +crimson is called crimson red. A very dark red, if pure or crimson, is +called maroon; if brownish, chestnut or chocolate. A pale red--that is, +one of low CHROMA and high LUMINOSITY--is called a pink, ranging from +rose pink or pale crimson to salmon pink or pale scarlet. + +VENETIAN RED.--An important pigment used by artists, somewhat darker +than brick red in color, and very permanent. + +RETINA.--The innermost and chiefly nervous coat of the posterior part of +the eyeball. + +SATURATION, OF COLORS.--In optics the degree of admixture with white, +the saturation diminishing as the amount of white is increased. In other +words, the highest degree of saturation belongs to a given color when in +the state of greatest purity. + +SCALE.--A graded system, by reference to which the degree, intensity, or +quality of a sense perception may be estimated. + +SHADE.--Degree or gradation of defective luminosity in a color, often +used vaguely from the fact that paleness, or high luminosity, combined +with defective CHROMA, is confounded with high luminosity by itself. See +Color, Hue, and Tint. + +SPECTRUM.--In physics the continuous band of light showing the +successive prismatic colors, or the isolated lines or bands of color, +observed when the radiation from such a source as the sun or an ignited +vapor in a gas flame is viewed after having been passed through a prism +(prismatic spectrum) or reflected from a diffraction grating +(diffraction or interference spectrum). See Rainbow. + +TINT.--A variety of color; especially and properly, a luminous variety +of low CHROMA; also, abstractly, the respect in which a color may be +raised by more or less admixture of white, which at once increases the +luminosity and diminishes the CHROMA. + +TONE.--A sound having definiteness and continuity enough so that its +pitch, force, and quality may be readily estimated by the ear. Musical +sound opposed to noise. The prevailing effect of a color. + +ULTRAMARINE.--A beautiful natural blue pigment, obtained from the +mineral lapis-lazuli. + ++VALUE.--In painting and the allied arts, relation of one object, part, +or atmospheric plane of a picture to the others, with reference to light +and shade, the idea of HUE being abstracted.+ + +VERMILION.--The red sulphate of mercury. + +VIOLET.--A general class of colors, of which the violet flower is a +highly chromatic example. The sensation is produced by a pure blue whose +CHROMA has been diminished while its LUMINOSITY has been increased. Thus +blue and violet are the same color, though the sensations are different. +A mere increase of illumination may cause a violet blue to appear +violet, with a diminution of apparent CHROMA. This color, called violet +or blue according to the quality of the sensation it excites, is one of +the three fundamental colors of Young’s theory. A deep blue tinged with +red. + +VIRIDIAN.--Same as Veronese green. + +WHITE.--A color transmitting, and so reflecting to the eye, all the rays +of the spectrum, combined in the same proportion as in the impinging +light. + +YELLOW.--The color of gold and of light, of wave length 0.581 micron. +The name is restricted to highly chromatic and luminous colors. When +reduced in CHROMA, it becomes buff; when reduced in LUMINOSITY, a cool +brown. See Brown. + +VERONESE GREEN.--A pigment consisting of hydrated chromium sesquioxide. +It is a clear bluish green of great permanency. Also called Viridian. + + + + +INDEX BY PARAGRAPHS. + + + Balance of color, 23, 47, 67, 75-77, 81-86, 106, 108, 111, 114, 132, + 136, 142, 147, Appendix III. + Black, 12, 16, 22, 31, 41, 54, 55, 65, 91, 119. + Blue, 9, 12, 16, 34, 104, 146, 147. + Brewster’s theory, Appendix III. + + Charts of the color sphere, 14, 17, 126, 127, 135, 136, 140. + Chevreul, Appendix III., V. + Chroma, 3, 4, 8, 11, 14, 21-24, 28, 39, 40, 42, 45, 64, 76, 78, 82, + 88, 94, 95, 105, 121, 132. + Scale of, 12, 19, 25, 31-35, 42, 133. + Strongest, 32, 34, 42. + Chromatic tuning fork, 117, 118, 119-127. + Circuit, inclined, 16, 17, 97. + Color, apparatus, 3, 8, 14, 132. + Atlas, 129. + Balance, 23, 47, 67, 75-77, 81-86 (triple), 106, 108, 111, 114, 132, + 136, 142, 147. + Blindness, 182, 183. + Charts, 14, 17, 126, 127, 135, 136, 140. + Circuit, 54, 58, 59. + Complementary, 76, 77. + Color, dimensions of, 3, 8, 9, 13, 25, 53, 94, 116. + Curves, 94. + Discs, Maxwell’s, 76, 93, 106-112, 113, 117. + Harmony, 47, 77, 86, 145-148, 151-174, 180. + Hand as a holder of, 54-58. + Key of, 6, 151, 152. + Language, poverty of, 5, 175. + Lists, 131. + Measured, 3, 14, 32. + Meridians, 136, 137. + Middle, 28, 29, 40-42, 113. + Misnomers, Appendix I. + Mixture, 56-72. + Names, 1, 2, 14, 19, 25, 90, 91, 131. + Notation, 36, 37, 40-42, 47, 67, 72, 86, 101, 133. + Orange, 9-11, 89, 123. + Parallels, 12, 119. + Paths, 157, 158, 160-164. + Perception, 27, 29, 39, 179. + Principal (5), 4, 16, 21, 26, 31, 34, 40, 54, 56, 57. + Principal (5) and intermediates (5), 31, 60, 68, 112, 134. + Purity, 8, 19, 23, 89, 98, 99. + Records 145. + Relations, 14, 24, 36, 37, 153. + Rhythm, 166. + Scale, 3, 7, 24, 30, 55, 120, 140, Appendix II. + Score, 133-139, 142, 173. + Sensations, 3, 4, 15, 19, 21, 87. + Sequences, 47, 78, 79, 120, 156, 169-171, 181. + Sir Isaac Newton’s, 89. + Schemes, Appendix V. + Solid, 14, 19, 102, 126, 129, 140, 153. + Spectral, 16, 88, 94, 129. + Sphere, 12-17, 24, 25, 31, 43, 55, 72, 91, 101, 102, 111, 122, 132. + Standard, 4, 26, 35. + System, 3, 8, 28, 123, 130. + Need of, 46, 148. + Tree, 14, 30-34, 43, 94, 95, 124. + Waves, 21, 23, 136. + Tones, 134. + Children’s color studies, Appendix IV. + Colorist, 84, 121, 177. + Coloristic art, 7, 38, 45, 177. + Combined scales, 12, 14, 36, 37, 47. + Complements, 76, 77. + Course of color study, 48-50. + + Daylight photometer, 22, 103, 119. + + Enamels, 28, 29, 101, 117. + + Fading, 8, 23. + False color balance, Appendix III. + Flat diagrams, 14. + Fundamental sensations, 28, Appendix III. + + Green, 2, 32, 104, 136, 137, 140, 147, 148. + + Hue, 3, 4, 8, 9-11, 14, 18, 21-26, 34, 39, 40, 43, 54, 59, 76, 82, + 89, 105. + Scale of, 12, 19, 25, 31, 35, 120, 133. + + Ideal color system, 100. + + Lambert’s pyramid, note to 31. + Luminist, 121. + + Masks, 47, 167-171. + Maxwell discs, 93, 107, 113, 117. + Measurement of colors, 3, 8, 14, 116, Appendix IV. + Middle gray, 61, 65, 72. + Middle hues, 10, 28, 65. + Mixture of hues, 56-72. + Musical terms used for colors, 6, 46, 148-150. + + Neutral axis, 31, 34, 61, 65, 121. + Neutral gray, 11, 23, 25, 62, 64, 65, 72, 114, 102. + Notation diagram, 140. + + Orange, 9-11, 18, 123. + + Personal bias, 144, 174. + Pigments, 14, 27-29, 101-104, 125, 129. + Photometer, 65. + Primary sensations, 89. + Prismatic color sphere, 98. + Purple, 5. + + Rainbow, 15, 17. + Red, middle, 1, 32, 41, 60, 66, 72, 104, 110, 122, 147, 148. + Retina, 21. + Rood, modern chromatics, Appendix I. + Runge, note to 31, Appendix V. + + Shades and tints, 22. + Spectrum, solar, 15-18, 27, 28, 87, 88, 92, 95, 96. + + Tone, 6. + + Value, 3, 8-11, 14, 21-24, 28, 34, 39, 40-43, 54, 76, 78, 82, 94, + 105, 120, 132. + Scale of, 12, 19, 25, 31, 34, 35, 64, 102, 120, 133. + Vermilion, 42, Appendix III. + Vertical (neutral) axis, 12, 25, 31, 34, 65, 68. + Violet, 90. + + Warm and cold colors, 72, 123, note to 136, 137, 138. + Wave lengths, 21, 22, 23, 89. + White, 12, 16, 17, 22, 31, 41, 54, 55, 65, 87, 91, 92, 99, 119. + + Yellow, 1, 32, 54, 104, 136. + + + + +The MUNSELL PHOTOMETER + + Patented November 19, 1901 + + + A portable, daylight instrument, adapted to laboratory work + in general, and of especial service in the comparison + of color values. Placed in the course + of Optical Measurements at the + Massachusetts Institute of + Technology + + Price, $50 + + + [Decoration] + + + IN PREPARATION + + A COLOR ATLAS + + Also text-books and models + specially designed + to serve in the education of + the color sense + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Color Notation, by Albert H. Munsell + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A COLOR NOTATION *** + +***** This file should be named 26054-0.txt or 26054-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/0/5/26054/ + +Produced by Louise Hope, K.D. 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