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diff --git a/77736-0.txt b/77736-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7660b88 --- /dev/null +++ b/77736-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4924 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77736 *** + + + + + COLOR PROBLEMS + + + A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR THE LAY STUDENT OF COLOR + + By + + EMILY NOYES VANDERPOEL + + _WITH ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN COLORED PLATES_ + +[Illustration] + + LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. + 91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK + _LONDON AND BOMBAY_ + 1902 + + + Copyright, 1901, by + EMILY NOYES VANDERPOEL. + + + _All rights reserved._ + + + Rockwell and Churchill Press + BOSTON, U.S.A. + + + _To_ + + _My Father_ + + WILLIAM CURTIS NOYES + + + + + PREFACE + + +From a scientific standpoint admirable works on color have been written, +but they demand more time and study than many can give to them, and are +too theoretical to be easily understood; while those written from an +artistic standpoint may be useful to those who paint pictures but are +not of much benefit to larger classes of people who are artists in other +occupations. Painters of pictures must study color as well as lines and +composition; but a better understanding of color would also be of great +value to decorators, designers, lithographers, florists, dressmakers, +and milliners; women in their dress and home decoration, and many +others. For such, to combine the essential results of the scientific and +artistic study of color in a concise, practical manual, and to classify +the study of color in individual eyes, in light, in history and in +nature, has been the aim of the author of this book. Also, as color +cannot be fully appreciated by any written description, the text has +been made as brief as possible, the plates full and elaborate. + +It has been asked by artists who have given years of study to form, +perspective and composition, why it should be necessary to study color +if one has a good eye for it, to which another question may serve as +answer. Suppose a person intending to make art his life work has a good +eye for form, will he, therefore, begin to paint pictures before +learning to draw, or without going through a thorough drill in +perspective? Later, having some subject in his mind which he wishes to +put on canvas, he does not stop to review all the rules he studied of +form and perspective; the knowledge and facility he gained in that study +will enable him unconsciously to crystallize his thought into better +shape on his canvas. Does the possessor of a naturally fine voice think +he can dispense with the time and trouble of cultivating it? The same +reasoning may well be applied to color and its study. + + E. N. V. + + + + + INTRODUCTION + + +For some years I have known of the study and research the author of this +book has devoted to problems in Color, and its uses in the arts of +Design and Decoration, and it is gratifying to me that the result of +much of this work is to be given to the public for the use of those who +are interested in the subject. + +A great deal will be found in these pages that will be of practical +service, particularly to those who have not been able to read the works +of Chevreul, Von Bezold, Rood, Church, and others. Indeed, even in +these, careful study would be necessary to select passages describing +combinations that could be applied to special work. + +Much attention is here given to contrasts of modified or subdued colors, +such colors as would be required constantly in decorative designs +covering large spaces, against which points of more positive color would +be placed. One of the greatest difficulties in arranging a color design +is in determining the _qualities_ and _quantities_ of color in an +effective and agreeable way, and very few works give the useful hints on +this subject contained in this book. Under the heading of “Historic +Color” are some very interesting and original diagrams, presented in a +way easily to be understood and made use of in actual practice. + +The study of color from the scientific side has very little attraction +for the layman, and it is even difficult for a painter to get out of +such study much that will help him in his work; but the presentation of +some of the salient points of the scientific side, by one who has also +borne in mind the artistic side, cannot fail to make this book +attractive and useful to a great number who wish to know something of +the laws that underlie agreeable arrangements of color. + + R. SWAIN GIFFORD. + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + PREFACE vii + INTRODUCTION ix + LIST OF PLATES xiii + I. COLOR-BLINDNESS 3 + II. COLOR THEORIES 13 + III. COLOR QUALITIES 26 + IV. CONTRASTS AND COMPLEMENTS 48 + V. COLOR-HARMONIES 73 + VI. HISTORIC COLOR 107 + VII. NATURE COLOR 111 + VIII. SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS 115 + ────────────────────────────────────── + APPENDIX A—DEFINITIONS 125 + APPENDIX B—BOOKS FOR REFERENCE 133 + + + + + LIST OF PLATES + + + I. Wools as sorted by a Color-Blind Man. + + II. Solar Spectra. + + III. Table of Spectral Colors. + + IV. The Spectral Colors (_a_) In their order of Luminosity; + + (_b_) Pure, and Grayed. + + V. Advancing and Retiring Colors. + + VI. Advancing and Retiring Colors. + + VII. Tints. + + VIII. Shades. + + IX. Violet with its Extremes. + + X. Blue with its Extremes. + + XI. Green with its Extremes. + + XII. Yellow with its Extremes. + + XIII. Orange with its Extremes. + + XIV. Red with its Extremes. + + XV. Shades by Contrast. + + XVI. Spectral Colors on Black, White, and Gray. + + XVII. White on Spectral Colors. + + XVIII. Black on Spectral Colors. + + XIX. Gray on Spectral Colors. + + XX. Spectral Red with its Complement. + + XXI. Spectral Red Disk for Experiment in Complements. + + XXII. Spectral Red and its Complement, Blue-Green, in their + relative Proportions. + + XXIII. Spectral Orange and its Complement, Green-Blue, in their + relative Proportions. + + XXIV. Spectral Yellow and its Complement, Spectral Blue, or + Spectral Blue and its Complement, Spectral Yellow, in + their relative Proportions. + + XXV. Spectral Green and its Complement, Purple, in their relative + Proportions. + + XXVI. Spectral Violet and its Complement, Yellow-Green, in their + relative Proportions. + + XXVII. Milton-Bradley Color Machine. + + XXVIII. Table of Complements arranged in Pairs. + + XXIX. Table of Complements arranged in a Circle. + + XXX. Contrast Diagram. + + XXXI. Color analysis from a Prize Dinner-table. + + XXXII. Color analysis from Teacup and Saucer. + + XXXIII. Harmony of one Color; Harmony of Contrast; Complex Harmony. + + XXXIV. Color analysis of a Book Advertisement. + + XXXV. Harmony helped by Outline. + + XXXVI. Good Dyads, or Pairs. + + XXXVII. Good Triads. + + XXXVIII. Harmony by Gradation. + + XXXIX. Harmony by Change of Quality. + + XL. Harmony by Change of Quantity. + + XLI. Harmony by Change of Both Quality and Quantity. + + XLII. Harmony by the Addition of another Color. + + XLIII. Harmony by the Addition of Black. + + XLIV. Harmony from a Dominant Hue. + + XLV. Harmony by Interchange. + + XLVI. Harmony by Counterchange. + + XLVII. The True Character of some of the so-called “Whites.” + + XLVIII. Some Changes by Gradation. + + XLIX. Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. + + L. Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. + + LI. Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. + + LII. Color analysis from a Mummy Cover. + + LIII. Color analysis from an Egyptian Mummy Case. + + LIV. Color analysis from a Mummy Case. + + LV. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LVI. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LVII. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LVIII. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LIX. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LX. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LXI. Color analysis from a Mummy Cloth. + + LXII. Color analysis from an early Greek Vase. + + LXIII. Color analysis from a Greek Vase. + + LXIV. Color analysis from a Greek Vase. + + LXV. Color analysis from a Greek Vase. + + LXVI. Color analysis from Arab Mosaics. + + LXVII. Color analysis from Arab Illumination. + + LXVIII. Color analysis from Moorish Tiles. + + LXIX. Color analysis from a Panel of the Alhambra. + + LXX. Color analysis from a Panel of the Taj Mahal, India. + + LXXI. Color analysis from Damascus Tiles. + + LXXII. Color analysis from Celtic Ornament. + + LXXIII. Color analysis from Italian Majolica Vase. + + LXXIV. Color analysis from Panel of Dutch Inlaid Cabinet of the + 15th Century. + + LXXV. Color analysis from Spanish Embroidery. + + LXXVI. Color analysis from Spanish Embroidery. + + LXXVII. Color analysis from an Antique Persian Rug. + + LXXVIII. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXIX. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXX. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXXI. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXXII. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXXIII. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. + + LXXXIV. Color scheme of an Antique Rug. + + LXXXV. Color analysis from an Antique Rug. (Plate lxxxiv.) + + LXXXVI. Color analysis from Japanese Silk Tapestry. + + LXXXVII. Color analysis from Japanese Silk Tapestry. + + LXXXVIII. Color analysis from Japanese Silk Brocade. + + LXXXIX. Color analysis from border of Japanese Cloisonné Vase. + + XC. Color analysis from Japanese Cloisonné Vase. + + XCI. Color analysis from Japanese Skirt Panel. + + XCII. Color analysis from Japanese Brocade. + + XCIII. Color analysis from Chinese Porcelain. + + XCIV. Color analysis from a Black Hawthorn Vase. + + XCV. Color analysis from a Rose-colored Vase. + + XCVI. Color analysis from Yellow Chinese Porcelain Vase. + + XCVII. Color analysis from a Chinese “Eggshell” Plate. + + XCVIII. Color analysis from a Butterfly. + + XCIX. Color analysis from a Stone. + + C. Color note from a Discolored Propeller Flange. + + CI. Color note from Leaves on a Tree. + + CII. Color note from a Sunset Sky. + + CIII. Color note from Bare Woods on the Edge of a Meadow. + + CIV. Color note from Evergreens against a Gray-Blue Rain cloud. + + CV. Color note from a Shadow on White Ground. + + CVI. Color note from a Bluebird. + + CVII. Color note from a Slice of an Orange. + + CVIII. Color note from an Orange Canna Blossom. + + CIX. Color note from a Bunch of Azaleas. + + CX. Color note from Oak leaves against a Distant Hillside. + + CXI. Color note from Oats seen from the Edge of the Field. + + CXII. Color note from a Pussy Willow. + + CXIII. Color note from a Trout Pond. + + CXIV. Color note from a Tree Fungus. + + CXV. Color scheme from Winter Landscape. + + CXVI. Spectral Red, neutralized by Black and White. + + CXVII. Spectral Yellow, neutralized by Black and White. + + + + + COLOR PROBLEMS + + + + + CHAPTER I + COLOR-BLINDNESS + + +The relation of color to light is much the same as that of music to +sound. Color has its many hues, its long scales of tints and shades, its +true and its false chords. Mere sound gives us but little pleasure; when +developed, however, into its highest form, music, we are thrilled, as by +the song of a bird, a favorite ballad, or a Beethoven Symphony. So in +light, our enjoyment culminates at the glories of color in a flower or a +sunset, at the shadows that play over the hills, or at the varied hues +of a salt marsh. Hence we may aptly term color _the music of light_; and +when we think of the wonderful ways in which it has been used and +combined by painters and designers for hundreds of years, it must seem +strange to us that _its_ harmonies have not been as thoroughly studied +and classified as those of sound. + +Furthermore, color has come to be so closely connected with all the +occupations and enjoyments of mankind that it is hard for us to realize +that many persons are wholly or partially blind to its beauties. It is +well known that there are some individuals with such perfect organs of +hearing that they are able to distinguish the slightest sounds, who yet +are so utterly unable to distinguish between two tones or between the +harmonies and discords of music that they are said to have “no ear.” So +there are those whose eyes are as well formed for seeing all and distant +objects, but who are unable to see _color_ as it is seen by people with +normal eyes. Such individuals may be said to have “no eye” for color, +and are scientifically termed “color-blind.” + +This fact is not so well known; and, in view of it, any one interested +in color will understand the wisdom of beginning a study of color with +some knowledge of color-blindness, and, if possible, with having his +eyes examined by an expert. Such an examination is a short and simple +matter. Dr. William Thomson of Philadelphia has devised what he calls a +“color stick,” on which colored wools are so hung and numbered that it +is not even necessary to be an expert to use it, and with the help of +which color-blindness can easily be detected. It has been used with +great success over some fifty thousand miles of railroad. From the same +hand has lately come a newer and simpler form of the same invention. + +Color-blindness is seldom a total want of the power to see colors, but +is rather a want of the true normal perception of colors, and it is more +common than is generally supposed. The most common form of the defect, +which has been called by some “red-blindness,” is that of not seeing +red, but of confusing it with green, as, for instance, being unable to +see any difference between the red flower of a geranium and the green of +its foliage; between green grass and red autumn leaves. A color-blind +person will sort variously colored wools in the strangest way, putting +the reds among the greens, and mixing the blues and the violets +together. + +Plate I shows part of the result of an examination of a color-blind man +by Doctor Thomson. The patient was given one hundred and fifty +different-colored wools to sort in little heaps according as he saw them +to be red, blue, green, etc.; he seemed to hesitate over but few of +them. These he put by themselves in a heap called neutral. To a normal +eye the result is almost incomprehensible, as he mixed green with all +the other colors and made other as strange combinations. Di-chromatic +vision has been suggested as a fitting term for such defective +color-perception, as colors to red-blind persons amount to but two, +_viz._, yellow and blue, with a long range of neutral grays between. + +There are other forms of color-blindness which are less common. Some +persons seem to see but red and blue, classing yellow and green with +red. A less common defect is that of not seeing violet, while there are +a few cases on record where all sensation of color is wanting, +everything appearing in differing degrees of gray. One such instance +coming under the notice of the writer occurred temporarily from +over-strained nerves in a person gifted with an abnormally fine +color-sense. No doubt some people are born color-blind, but the defect +is also brought on by disease, by the excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, +and other stimulants, and may, or may not, prove permanent. According to +Abney, the disease begins in the centre of the eye, so that those +suffering from its early stages can match colored wools correctly, but +when given instead small colored pellets to match make many mistakes, +because a pellet may happen to be directly before the small blind spot +that is insensible to its color, while the larger mass of wool extends +before the whole retina. Doctor Charcot and his school in Paris have +made many examinations into visual disturbances, and through these +examinations much of the peculiar coloring and mannerism of some of the +modern painters of the so-called impressionist, tachist, mosaist, +gray-in-gray, violet colorist, archaic, vibraist, and color orgiast +schools has been explained. The artists tell the truth when they say +that nature looks to them as they paint it, but they are suffering from +hysteria or from other nervous derangements by which their sight is +affected. + +For a long time railroad engineers would not believe that examinations +for color-blindness were necessary, but when shown the results of such +an examination the surprise of those with normal eyes was intense. They +realized what it would be to travel on a train in charge of an engineer +who did not know when the red danger signal had been put in place of the +usual green one. In other spheres of life correct knowledge of color is +not so vitally necessary, yet to artisans of many kinds—decorators, +florists, manufacturers, dressmakers, milliners, etc.—it is both useful +and important. + +As to the extent of color-blindness, it has been estimated that in +England about one person in eighteen is more or less afflicted with it. +In 1873 and 1875 Dr. Farre examined in France one thousand and fifty +officials of various grades, and found among them ninety-eight +color-blind, or nine and thirty-five hundredths per cent. In 1876 +Professor Holmgren examined in Sweden two hundred and sixty-five persons +on the Upsala Gefle line, with the result that thirteen were found to be +color-blind. Seebach found five young persons out of forty-one in a +gymnasium who were color-blind. None of them had been at all conscious +of the defect. + +Among the visitors to the International Health Association in London, in +1884, Mr. F. Galton found a large number of men and a small number of +women with more or less defective color-perception. In this country, +examinations in the army and navy and among railroad engineers reveal +that color-blindness, if not as general as in England, is quite common. +Dr. Thomson states that as far as has been gathered from statistics +generally, the percentage of color-blind men in the civilized world is +four per cent., or one in twenty-five,—among women one in four thousand. +While he has seen a great number of color-blind men he has never met a +woman with the defect. + +Singularly enough this color-blindness—the confounding of one color with +another, or the want of perception of certain colors—does not prevent +great enjoyment of both nature and art. A person so color-blind as to +see no difference between the scarlet of a geranium blossom and the +green of its leaves, or who buys a pair of bright green gloves supposing +them to be brown, is still an enthusiastic and seemingly an intelligent +admirer of landscape and art. One cannot say from what the enjoyment +arises, but it is certainly there. + +There is a noted instance of a man who learned in later life that he was +color-blind, and then first understood why he had never been able to +pick as many strawberries as his boy companions, because with his defect +he saw no difference between the colors of the berry and that of its +leaf. + +There is, however, a very simple way in which it is possible for some +color-blind persons to correct in a measure their erroneous impressions. +If they have something green to match and fear they may mistake red for +the green, by looking at their samples through a green or red glass they +can prove whether or not they are correct. Through a green glass the +green will keep its color, while the red will look nearly black. Through +a red glass the red will remain unchanged and the green will seem nearly +black. + +Color-blind people can have colored glasses mounted as spectacles at +small cost, which will almost entirely relieve their defect and be of +great help in their work. + +How far the eye of a color-blind person is susceptible of education is +still uncertain. Sufficient experiment has not been made in that +direction, but the fact that women notice color more than do men and +are, as a general rule, more correct in their judgment of color, points +to the fact that the eye is unconsciously educated by its surroundings. +The constant discrimination in choice of dress and home decoration which +enters early into a girl’s life gives an education which men, in Europe +and America at least, are deprived of, from generally wearing black or +quiet colors. + +That an eye normal in its perceptions of colors is capable of +cultivation cannot be doubted. “It does not admit of doubt that +individual sensibility to color admits of large variations, and that it +is susceptible of immense improvement. This cultivation of the sense of +color is, however, rather psychological than physiological, rather +mental than physical. It is not that the organ of vision is improved, +but our power of interpreting and coördinating the senses which it +transmits to the brain. And here it is that the effects of association +come most prominently, though often unconsciously, into play. We try to +trace out the causes of the vast numbers of color sensations which we +are continually receiving, but we constantly find that the cold methods +of analysis fail to explain the mental appreciation with which we regard +the astounding fertility of nature in its gifts of color.”[1] + +Artists often find that when the eyes are over-stimulated by false +lights or colors, or want of balance in the colors looked at, the nerves +are so irritated that a confusion of color and complementary tones takes +place. If continued to any length of time the nerves become so fatigued +that the color-sense is lost, and the eye responds only to gradations of +black and white. + +That there are also subtle shades of difference in the sensibility to +color even of good, normal eyes, no one who has paid any attention to +art can fail to know. These shades of difference it is impossible to +gauge, and they can only be known by the differing qualities of work +produced. In a studio where perhaps a dozen pupils may be painting from +one piece of still life, a vase, or bit of drapery, such differences can +be clearly seen. One pair of eyes may have a tendency to see more violet +than the others, another pair sees everything more brilliantly or in a +higher key than the others. One student may have more difficulty in +harmonizing on his canvas the different colors of the model than the +rest, while another with perhaps less skill in using the paint may have +such a fine eye for harmony as by the mere charm of his color to delight +every one in the room. + +There comes with advancing years a subtle change in the condition of the +eye which it is well to understand. With age the lens of the eye loses +its purity or whiteness and becomes tinged with yellow. This is not +generally known, and the change is not always strongly marked, but it +produces a decided effect upon the perception of blue and bluish colors. +The case of the English painter Mulready may be cited as a good +instance. His pictures in his later years were different in color from +his earlier ones, being much colder in tone, that is bluer or less +yellow. If, however, they were looked at through a piece of slightly +yellow glass they appeared of the same coloring as his earlier work, +painted when his eyes were normal. + + + + + CHAPTER II + COLOR THEORIES + + +A full review of the theories held about color is not necessary in a +work of this nature, and those who have more time for and further +interest in the subject will find mentioned in Appendix B to this volume +the titles of a number of admirable works and treatises. + +The sensation of color is first and preëminently produced by light. But +an electric discharge, internal causes, or even pressure on the eyeball +may also cause it; just how, we do not know. In fact, the whole subject +of color, its causes, and its mechanism, is still in the region of +speculation, although of speculation that may be useful. + +Leaving aside the theory of color production by other causes, we will +give our attention to that color sensation caused by the light of the +sun, and briefly to that produced by artificial light. + +The cut on page 14 shows the construction of the eye viewed from the +side. We see that light enters the front of the eye through the cornea +and lens and strikes the interior coating, which is the retina. This is +a wonderful membrane, very thin, but composed, as we see in the next +illustration, magnified many times (page 15), of a marvellous network +made of minute nerves and blood vessels ending on the innermost surface +in tiny rods and cones. These rods and cones in some mysterious way are +acted upon by light, and, like the outposts of an army, send messages of +form and color to the brain. Color is therefore spoken of as “an +internal sensation,” and is fine or poor as are the eyes and brain of +the person who sees it. + +[Illustration: + + THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HUMAN EYE AS VIEWED FROM THE SIDE. + + (Nearly life size.) +] + +What is light, we ask? Scientists answer that it is something which +comes to us from a luminous or light-giving body. Sir Isaac Newton +pronounced it to consist of fine atoms moving toward us rapidly. A later +theory is called the _wave theory_—that there exists throughout space a +fine impalpable medium, “the light-bearing ether,”—that this ether moves +in waves, which, beating upon the retinas of our eyes as ocean waves +beat upon the shore, produce what we call _light_. + +[Illustration: + + CROSS-SECTION OF THE RETINA, SHOWING THE RODS AND CONES. + + (Very much magnified.) +] + +Sunlight compared to candle or gas light appears to be white; this white +was proved by Sir Isaac Newton in 1672 to consist of many colors +combined in one ray. He was the first to divide such a ray of sunlight, +which he did by letting it fall through a slit in the window of a +darkened room, then through a prism, or three-sided piece of glass, on +white paper. If this experiment be repeated there will be seen “a long +streak of pure and beautiful colors which blend into each other by +gentle gradations.” Anyone who has seen a rainbow has seen the same +separation of colors, as the raindrops act in the same way as the prism +and divide the rays of sunlight into their component colors. + +The “spectrum” is the name given to the streak of colors when produced +by the help of the prism, and it and the rainbow contain the same colors +in the same order. The experiment has also been made of passing this +streak of colors through a second prism, when they again unite and the +ray of simple white light reappears. + +An instrument called a “spectroscope” has been invented, and is +constantly used by scientific students of color, which analyzes a ray of +light still better than the simple prism. With its aid, early in this +century, Wollaston and Fraunhofer discovered that the spectrum of +sunlight, in addition to its colors, was crossed by many fine, dark, +fixed lines. These have been named Fraunhofer lines, and are most useful +in dividing and mapping out the limits of the different colors. Still a +later invention called a “diffraction grating,” made either of speculum +metal or of glass silvered on the back and ruled with fine parallel +lines, sometimes as many as eighteen thousand to the English inch, is +used in place of a prism. With the use of improved methods Professor +Rowland of Johns Hopkins University has made one ruled with some fifty +or sixty thousand lines. A ray of sunlight can be divided by this +without the disadvantage of crowding the colors in the middle, as is +unavoidable by the wedge-shaped glass of the prism. + +Plate II shows a solar spectrum as produced by a prism and also one as +shown by a diffraction grating. They both give the colors and the main +Fraunhofer lines, the latter being numbered. + +Although not essential to the practical use of this manual, we will now +return to the theories of the primary colors, so called, upon which +differing views have been held. Sir David Brewster’s theory of three +primaries—red, yellow, and blue—has been the most popular, because of +the ease with which the three so-called secondary colors may be made by +mixing paint of the three primaries, as follows: red and blue, violet; +blue and yellow, green; yellow and red, orange. Artists have generally +adopted it; Chevreul, the great director of the Gobelin tapestries, +based his whole color system on the theory of three primary colors—red, +yellow, and blue; three secondary colors made by combinations of the +first three—orange, green, and violet; and three tertiary colors made +from combinations of the second three—olive, russet, and citrine. We +must, however, discriminate carefully between pigments, paints, and +light. By experiment we prove that yellow and blue light do not make +green, but white; that red and green light make yellow; and so on, so +that the theory of Thomas Young is now more generally followed by +scientists. As Rood gives it in his _Modern Chromatics_, “there can be +in an objective sense no such thing as three fundamental colors, or +three primary kinds of colored light. In a totally different sense, +however, something of this kind is not only possible, but, as the recent +advances of science show, highly probable. We have already seen in a +previous chapter that in the solar spectrum the eye can distinguish no +less than a thousand different hues. Every small, minute, almost +invisible portion of the retina possesses this power, which leads us to +ask whether each atom of the retina is supplied with an immense number +of nerve fibrils for the reception and conveyance of this vast number of +sensations. + +[Illustration: + + DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING THE YOUNG-HELMHOLTZ THEORY OF COLOR + SENSATION. +] + +“According to the theory of the celebrated Thomas Young, each minute +elementary portion of the retina is capable of receiving and +transmitting three different sensations; or we may say that each +elementary portion of its surface is supplied with three nerve fibrils, +adapted for the reception of three sensations. One set of these nerves +is strongly acted on by long waves of light and produces the sensation +we call red; another set responds most powerfully to waves of medium +length, producing the sensation we call green; finally, the third set is +strongly stimulated by short waves, and generates the sensation known as +violet.” (This might perhaps rather be called violet blue, as scientists +differ as to the exact shade.) “The red of the spectrum, then, acts +powerfully on the first set of these nerves; but according to Young’s +theory, it also acts on the two other sets, but with less energy. The +same is true of the green and violet rays of the spectrum; they each act +on all three sets of nerves, but most powerfully on those specially +designed for their reception.” All this will be better understood by the +aid of the accompanying diagram, which is taken from Helmholtz’s great +work, _Physiological Optics_. In this figure, along the horizontal lines +1, 2, 3 are placed the colors of the spectrum properly arranged, and the +curves above them indicate the degree to which the three kinds of nerves +are acted on by these colors. Thus we see that nerves of the first kind +are powerfully stimulated by red light, are much less affected by +yellow, still less by green, and very little by violet light. Nerves of +the second kind are much affected by green light, less by yellow and +blue, still less by red and violet. The third kind of nerves answer +readily to violet light, and are successively less affected by other +kinds of light in the following order: blue, green, yellow, orange, red. +The next point in the theory is that if all three sets of nerves are +simultaneously stimulated to about the same degree the sensation which +we call white will be produced. This result would almost lead us into +calling white a color—and the most brilliant one of all. These are the +main points of Young’s theory, which was published as long ago as 1802, +and more fully in 1807. Attention has been called to it within the last +few years by Helmholtz, and it is mainly owing to his labors and those +of Maxwell that it now commands such respectful attention. Thus far the +study of color-blindness has furnished evidence in favor of the theory +of Young, and its phenomena are more easily explained by this than by +any other theory. + +A recent invention by Frederick E. Ives of Philadelphia has also been +cited in its support. Through the use of what he calls a +photo-chromoscopic camera he takes through three color screens—a red, a +green, and a blue one—three negatives. These negatives, placed in an +instrument called by him a stereo-photo-chromo-scope (which resembles a +stereoscope, and which also holds three screens of the same colors), +produce to the eyes an image so perfect in color and relief that “people +have been seen to place their hand in front of it before they were +convinced that they did not see a direct reflection.” Various sets of +three hues, or modified hues, might be used to produce the same effect. + +In 1878, having re-investigated the subject thoroughly, Hering published +in Vienna a paper advocating another theory. According to this “the +retina is provided with three visual substances, and the fundamental +sensations are not three, but six,— + + Black and white, + Red and green, + Blue and yellow. + +Each of these three pairs corresponds to an assimilation or +diassimilation process in one of the visual substances; thus red light +acts on the red-green substance in exactly the opposite way from green +light, and when both kinds of light are present in suitable proportions +a balance is effected, and both sensations, red and green, vanish.”[2] + +One of the latest accounts of these theories (of Young-Helmholtz and +Hering), written in English, is to be found in Dr. Foster’s _Text-book +of Physiology_. It contains a full and clear discussion of the merits +and demerits of both theories from a scientific standpoint. From it we +give the accompanying diagram illustrating Hering’s theory of color +vision. + +[Illustration: + + DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING HERING’S THEORY OF COLOR SENSATION. +] + +Edridge Green also discusses both theories fully in connection with +color-blindness. + +On one point all these theories agree, which is that perfect or normal +color vision is made up of three factors, or as Foster says, it is +“_tri-chromic_, based on three or the equivalent of three primary +sensations.” The first, the Brewster theory, states that they are red, +yellow, and blue colors; the second, the Young-Helmholtz theory, that +there are three kinds of nerve fibrils in the retina, affected +respectively by red, blue, and green, and their combinations of the +spectrum; while that of Hering is that in the eye there are three +changeable visual substances which are increased or diminished +accordingly as the rays of black and white, yellow and blue, or red and +green, fall upon them. + +Le Conte, in his work _Sight_, says of the latter part of this +theory, “according to Hering, complementary colors are the result of +opposite affections of the retina, so that there are only two +essentially distinct color affections of the retina, which, with +their opposites, produce two pairs of complementary colors; the one +with its opposite produces red and green; the other with its +opposite, yellow and blue. This, though more doubtful, seems a +probable cause of complementariness.” Also, “Stanley Hall ... +believes that color is perceived by the cones (in the retina) alone; +further, that different parts of the same cone vibrate with +different degrees of rapidity, and therefore respond to different +colors, and the conical form is adapted for this purpose. In order +to gain a clearer conception we may imagine each cone to be made up +of a number of buttons of graduated sizes joined together. These +buttons, on account of their different sizes, would vibrate with +different degrees of rapidity, and therefore co-vibrate with +different colors. White light, he supposes, vibrates the whole +series; red light the thicker, and violet the thinner portion of the +series; or, taking Hering’s view of the primary colors, we may +imagine that red and green rays affect one portion and yellow and +blue rays another portion of the same cone.” + +From the fact that in 1876 F. Boll discovered that the retina contained +a red or purple substance that quickly disappeared on exposure to light, +Kuhne elaborated, after further experiments with light upon that +substance, a still later theory of color vision which supposes that the +light waves produce in the retina different compounds that give rise to +the sensation of the different colors. + +Mrs. Franklin of Baltimore has lately given us a theory of “light +sensation,” as she prefers to call it, which has been favorably +received.[3] The question of the specific uses of the rods and cones in +the retina has been a puzzling one, and she suggests that they may be of +the same nature, but in different stages of development,—in other words, +that the rods are undeveloped cones. As there are more cones than rods +in the middle of the retina, and as color is seen more vividly there, +the inference is that the cones are susceptible to both light and color, +while the rods are only sensitive to light. Such a theory seems to +explain the results of many experiments heretofore made by scientists. +Some discussion of the subtile and beautiful colors produced by +interference, refraction, absorption, and polarization, as well as by +opalescence, fluorescence, and phosphorescence, might aptly follow here, +but that such discussion hardly comes within the scope of this mainly +practical book. Readers who wish to understand and experiment with them +are referred to the works of Rood, Church, and Dove. + + + + + CHAPTER III + COLOR QUALITIES +HUE, PURITY, LUMINOSITY—COLD AND WARM COLORS—TINTS, SHADES, BROKEN TINTS + + +Colors have three principal qualities, called scientifically “constants +of color,” which should be studied as a preparation for the study of the +harmony of colors. These qualities are hue, purity, and luminosity. To +make these as clear as possible, we will for the present, at least, +ignore the delicate divisions of the spectrum made by both scientists +and artists of which about one thousand have been counted, and divide it +arbitrarily into six pure spectral colors differing from each other by +their hues as by their wave lengths; the wave lengths we give according +to Rood, expressed in ten-millionths of a millimetre (¹⁄₁₀₀₀₀₀₀₀). (See +Plate III.) These six divisions can be placed beside and compared with +flowers and colored materials, and are printed to imitate colored light +as nearly as pigments and paper can give them. At best, any such +imitation falls far short of nature. + +The first quality or constant of colors is _hue_, this term being +generally agreed upon by scientists to mean color pure and simple, +according to its wave length in the spectrum. Plate III gives us six +hues—violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Each of these is +quite different from the next one, as the violet hue is from the blue +hue, the blue hue from the green hue. + +The second quality or constant of colors is _purity_, that is, its lack +of any mixture of white, black, or any other color. These not only +weaken the color but change its character, as will be found by mixing +white paint with vermilion paint, which will be seen to grow more pink, +as well as lighter, as the white is added. + +The third quality or constant of colors is their _luminosity_ or +_brightness_, also sometimes called _clearness_. It is measured by the +total amount of light reflected to the eye, and is therefore independent +of hue and purity. The amount of luminosity of a color can be determined +correctly by means of an invention called Maxwell’s Disks. These disks +date back to the time of Ptolemy, but were brought into use early in +this century by Maxwell. A disk, or round piece of cardboard, painted +with the color to be tested, is put behind two smaller disks, one of +white and one of black, which can be so adjusted that on turning them +all rapidly the gray formed by the mingling of black and white matches +in luminosity the one back of it. + +From such experiments we see that a room papered or painted in yellow +will give you the lightest room, because it will reflect more light to +the eye than any of the other colors; one done in orange will come next, +and so on through the list. A practical knowledge of these different +luminosities is most useful in decoration, both on account of the +contrast between colors for this reason as well as for their hues. Also +for the ability to lighten a dark part of a room by placing there a +piece of luminous coloring, and _vice versa_ to darken what is too +bright. We must here add that these terms, purity of color and +luminosity, are used by artists in quite a different sense, as they call +paintings noticeable for purity of color, meaning only that the tints in +them have no tendency to look dull or dirty, but not at all implying the +absence of white or gray light. They call color in a painting luminous +simply because it actually recalls to the mind the impression of light, +not because it actually reflects much light to the eye. Plate No. IV +gives the six spectral colors in their order of luminosity. + +We will now take up in turn each of the six hues by itself and study it +in its variations towards its neighboring hues. + +That we do not appreciate the influence of color upon man as well as +upon the lower animals, is true; but color has not been studied by us as +it probably will be in the near future. The powers of attraction of +different colors for ants and bees have occupied the time and close +observation of Sir John Lubbock and of many other scientists, and now +the effect of different colors is being tried on the children in some +schools and on the patients in certain insane asylums. A few facts are +enough to show that there is still much to learn in that direction, and +that these questions can be investigated with profit. One of these facts +is that a certain shade of purple always produced the condition of the +skin commonly known as “goose-flesh” upon a girl in a normal condition +of health. + +Goethe in his _Theory of Colour_, as translated by Sir Charles Eastlake, +records observations and experiments of the most minute character with +regard to light and colors—of a character hardly touched upon by others. +His suggestion of using colored glass for study in colors is very +valuable. He says, “People experience a great delight in color +generally. The eye requires it as much as it requires light. We have +only to remember the refreshing sensation we experience, if on a cloudy +day the sun illumines a single portion of the scene before us and +displays its colors. That healing powers were ascribed to colored gems +may have arisen from the experience of this indefinable pleasure. + +“From some of our earlier observations we can conclude that general +impressions produced by single colors cannot be changed, that they act +specifically and must produce definite specific states in the living +organ. + +“They likewise produce a corresponding influence on the mind. Experience +teaches us that particular colors excite particular states of feeling. +It is related of a witty Frenchman, “Il pretendoit que son ton de +conversation avec Madame étoit changé depuis qu’elle avait changé en +cramoisi le meuble de son cabinet, qui étoit bleu.” (He imagined that +the tone of his conversation with Madame was changed since she had +changed the coloring of her sitting-room from blue to crimson.) + +“In order to experience these influences completely, the eye should be +entirely surrounded with one color; we should be in a room of one color, +or look through a colored glass. We are then identified with the hue, it +attunes the eye and mind in mere unison with itself.[4] + +“The colors on the _plus_ side are yellow, red-yellow and yellow-red. +The feelings they excite are quick, lively, and aspiring. + +“The colors on the _minus_ side are blue, red-blue and blue-red. They +produce a restless, susceptible, anxious impression.” + +Each of these six hues can be divided roughly into three, as they are +pure or tend toward their neighboring hues. So violet, of which we have +pure normal or spectral violet, with red-violet on one hand, blue-violet +on the other; or yellow, of which we have pure normal or spectral +yellow, with orange-yellow on one side, green-yellow on the other. + +Violet is a cold color, red-violet warmer than blue-violet. It is grave, +dignified, as compared with the other colors. Being a retiring color, it +will serve well as a background, as it will throw forward any more +luminous color put upon it. In flowers we have examples of this color in +its variety in violets, lilacs, asters, sweet peas, and morning-glories. +In the latter it is exquisitely shaded from one extreme to the other. +The wild Eupatorium furnishes a fine example of red-violet, the +cultivated variety an equally good one of the blue-violet, almost cold +enough for a blue. There is no sound pigment which can be used alone to +paint this color. The violet in the originals for these plates was made +with French blue and crimson lake, and crimson lake is not considered a +permanent color. Violet of all kinds suffers from artificial light, +losing much of its blue, and becoming more red and dull. + +Blue is a cold color, and a retiring one, especially suited for +backgrounds, as one will notice in studying a blue sky, against which +the landscape stands out with great beauty. In flowers, examples of this +color are more rare than of others. The blue gentian is not a true blue, +it is so close on blue-violet. Forget-me-nots, chicory, centaureas, and +larkspur give us blue in differing varieties. The sky from the deep +violet blue of a winter’s night to the pale, greenish tones near the +horizon on a summer’s day shows us an unsurpassed scale of this hue. + +Goethe says of it, “It may be said that blue brings a principle of +darkness with it. + +“This color has a peculiar and almost indescribable effect on the eye. +As a hue it is powerful, but it is on the negative side, and in its +highest purity is, as it were, a stimulating negation. Its appearance, +then, is a kind of contradiction between excitement and repose. + +“As the upper sky and distant mountains appear blue, so a blue surface +seems to retire from us. + +“But as we readily follow an agreeable object that flies from us, so we +love to contemplate blue, not because it advances to us, but because it +draws us after it. + +“Blue gives us an impression of cold, and thus again reminds us of +shade. We have before spoken of its affinity with black. + +“Rooms which are hung with pure blue appear in some degree larger, but +at the same time empty and cold. + +“The appearance of objects seen through a blue glass is gloomy and +melancholy. + +“When blue partakes in some measure of the _plus_ side the effect is not +disagreeable; sea-green is rather a pleasing color.” + +Genuine ultramarine is an expensive but very pure blue paint made from +lapis-lazuli. Artificial ultramarine generally inclines towards violet. +A good deal of green and violet light is reflected from cobalt blue. +There is some green in Prussian blue, in indigo, and in cerulean blue. +Prussian blue, if used quite thickly, reflects some red. The blue for +the original of Plate X was made of French blue (artificial +ultramarine), tinged on the violet end with crimson lake, and on the +greenish end with emerald green, which latter is not a permanent color, +but which approaches nearest of any pigment to the green hue in the +spectrum. Blue is one of the colors most used in decoration. + +Green may be cold or warm, retiring or advancing according as it +approaches blue or yellow, although pure spectral green is of a cold +nature. When one studies the great scale of greens as seen in a +landscape lit up with full sunshine, and notices the intense +yellow-green where the sun shines through the leaves, the pale gray +greens produced by the sun’s glancing over the polished surfaces of +others, and the rich dark green in the shadows, it seems as if no other +color would admit of so varied a scale or be more restful to the eye. + +Goethe says: “The eye experiences a distinctly grateful impression from +this color. The beholder has neither a wish nor the power to imagine a +state beyond it. Hence for rooms to live in constantly, the green color +is most generally selected.” This assertion may be doubted, many persons +objecting to green, the truth probably being that it has been found +difficult to use, and not having been understood or well treated has not +been appreciated. Its healthfulness cannot be doubted if one considers +how refreshing the surroundings of trees and grass are to an invalid who +has been surrounded by city bricks and stones. Can we not derive a like +benefit from this color by decorating our city rooms with varying tones +of soft gray greens, like nature, relieved here and there with a touch +of brightness, as flowers, birds, and butterflies gleam amid the foliage +in their native haunts? The rules for heightening these contrasts with +certain varieties of green will be given in the chapter on contrasts. +The extremes of green blend better than those of other colors. Emerald +green has been used as being the best paint with which to imitate the +normal green of the spectrum, but it must be remembered that it is a +trifle bluer than it should be to be exact. + +Of yellow Goethe writes, “This is the color nearest the light. + +“In its highest purity it always carries with it the nature of +brightness, and has a serene, gay, softly exciting character. + +“In this state applied to dress, hangings, carpets, etc., it is +agreeable. Gold in its perfectly unmixed state, especially when the +effect of polish is superadded, gives us a new and high idea of this +color; in like manner, a strong yellow, as it appears on satin, has a +magnificent and noble effect. + +“We find from experience again that yellow excites a warm and agreeable +impression. Hence in painting it belongs to the illumined and emphatic +side. + +“This impression of warmth may be experienced in a very lively manner if +we look at a landscape through a yellow glass, particularly on a gray +winter’s day. The eye is gladdened, the heart expanded and cheered, a +glow seems at once to breathe towards us.” + +Yellow is both a warm and an advancing color, especially useful to apply +as ornament on other colors, as gold embroidery is beautiful on any +color. With the exception of white there are more yellow flowers than of +any other color. In Moorish decorations, which are some of the finest in +the world, gold is used as ornament on blue and red grounds; in fact, +throughout the history of ornament, yellow is more often used in that +way than as a groundwork. + +A thin wash of Aurora yellow gave the color for the original of Plate +XII. This paint, when put on thickly, tends too much toward orange to +imitate well the very narrow band of yellow in the spectrum. It is made +from cadmium, and, according to Church,[5] the deep or orange cadmiums +are all more lasting than the pale or lemon-colored kinds. + +Orange is still a warmer color than yellow, and is also an advancing +color. Goethe says, “All that we have said of yellow is applicable here +in a higher degree. The red-yellow (orange) gives an impression of +warmth and gladness, since it represents the hue of the intenser glow of +fire, and of the milder radiance of the setting sun.” Orange is perhaps +the most intense color and should be used sparingly in decoration, as it +needs great care as to the quality and quantity of other colors to +balance it. Orange cadmium was used for the original of Plate XI. + +Red is a warm color and an advancing one. Goethe says, “The agreeable, +cheerful sensation which red-yellow excites increases to an intolerably +powerful impression in bright yellow-red. + +“The active side is here in its highest energy, and it is not to be +wondered at that impetuous, robust, uneducated men should be especially +pleased with this color. Among savage nations the inclination for it has +been universally remarked, and when children left to themselves begin to +use tints (paints), they never spare vermilion and minium. + +“In looking steadfastly at a perfectly yellow-red surface, the color +seems actually to penetrate the organ. It produces an extreme +excitement, and still acts thus when somewhat darkened. A yellow-red +(scarlet) cloth disturbs and enrages animals. I have known men of +education to whom its effect was intolerable if they chanced to see a +person dressed in a scarlet cloak on a gray, cloudy day.” In nature we +have red only in small portions, a few red birds or those with throats +or spots of red; almost no butterflies, but many flowers. The rose, +which leads in beauty the long procession of flowers, contains an +immense scale of this color on the violet side, from the palest blush to +the deepest crimson, almost purple. There being less of red in nature +than of any other color, it becomes by contrast the decorative color. It +has also the quality of changing less with lessening light than any +other color, and is particularly fine in combination with blue. +Vermilion and carmine were used to make the spectral red of Plate XIV, +though they are far from reproducing the vivid quality of the original. +Vermilion used with oil is much more permanent than with water. Of the +lakes, Church says in his _Chemistry of Paints and Painting_: “No artist +who cares for his work, and hopes for its permanency, should ever employ +them.” + +There is another quality shown in Plate III by which colors may be +divided into the warm and cold classes. The six spectral colors we have +so far been studying in this chapter may be roughly divided as follows: + + COLD. WARM. + Violet Yellow + Blue Orange + Green Red + +although some varieties of green may be classed among the cold colors +because of the large amount of blue they seem to contain, and others may +be classed among the warm ones from their seeming to contain so large an +amount of yellow. + +It is well to remember that cold colors seem to retire or go back from +the eye, while the warm ones seem to come forward, and that the right +use of these qualities greatly affects architecture and decoration. (See +Plates V and VI.) + +To recapitulate, we have first, three qualities or constants of +_colors_: hue, purity, luminosity; then the qualities of being warm or +cold. Following upon these are divisions of the tones into three other +groups or scales of tints, shades, and gray or broken tints. + +These scales have been confined to six for the sake of simplicity, but +the reader may multiply them infinitely to correspond with the infinite +gradations in nature. + +1. TINTS.—“The reduced scale—that is, the normal hue mixed with +progressive increments (additions) of white, thus forming _tints_.” The +spectral hue of the color weakened by white. Plate VII. + +2. SHADES.—“The darkened scale—that is, the normal hue mixed with +progressive increments (additions) of black, thus forming _shades_.” The +spectral hue of the color darkened with black. Plate VIII. + +3. “The dulled scale—that is, the normal hue mixed with progressive +increments of gray, thus forming broken tints commonly called grays.” +The spectral hue of the color changed by black and white. Besides these +regular scales which can be approximately rendered in paint or colored +inks there is an infinite variety of what we might call irregular scales +which can never be given save in nature. They are those in which a color +is changed or neutralized by one or more of the other colors. These +cannot even be named, for their multitude. + +With the aid of a color wheel on which he used disks of black, white, +and the six prismatic colors, Professor Rood has drawn up and formulated +the proportions of 488 of these compound or neutralized colors. With the +formulæ a number of them have been printed in color quite successfully. +It is probably the first attempt to establish standard colors, and a +most valuable one, which it is hoped may bear fruit. If those and the +arbitrary terms for colors and their different states could come into +general use it would greatly help all descriptions of color-harmonies. + +Having become familiar with the six colors, we now arrive at the object +for which we have gone through the previous study; namely, the first +kind of _color harmony_, one-color combinations, also called +combinations of self-tones, the simplest and the preliminary harmony to +that of combined colors. The first rule to be observed in making +one-color combinations is to avoid putting together what we may call, +borrowing the term from the language of music, the large intervals, or +extremes, of a color in their pure spectral hues. For example, in +arranging a basket of flowers, never put those of a crimson or +violet-red, such as an American Beauty rose, next to a scarlet or +orange-red flower, such as a scarlet geranium. These are too unlike each +other, being at the large intervals of the hue. They injure each other +and are therefore disagreeable. + +As a second rule, all colors, even those above-named, may be combined in +one harmony, but this harmony must be produced from the fact that tints, +or shades, or both combined, are used, rather than the simple spectral +hues. In fact, nature uses pure colors most sparingly; they appear, if +you will remember, in small bright spots in jewels, in somewhat larger +quantities in flowers and fruit, in the wings of butterflies and the +plumage of birds, to relieve and ornament the more subdued great masses +of neutral greens and grays that make up the ordinary garb of nature. + +But to return to the combinations of larger intervals of color we were +considering. For instance, while scarlet (orange-red) and crimson +(violet-red) do not combine well, at a French sea-shore resort was seen +the combination of a pink (that is, a tint of violet-red) dress, shaded +by a brilliant scarlet (orange-red) parasol carried by its wearer. It +was as daring a combination as could be made; its success was complete +owing to the pale tint of the dress and the correspondingly correct hue +of the scarlet of the parasol. The effect was helped and complemented by +the large mass of the sea as background. No rule can prescribe these +tints or shades exactly, a gifted eye only can combine them with +success; but the fact might serve as a hint to those who find by +examination and experiment that they have such an eye. + +Besides the use of tints and shades to help us in combining what would +otherwise be inharmonious color, gradation is another means we can +employ to serve our purpose. For instance, considering different blues, +which are not agreeable together, we will look at a cloudless sky; we +find that above us it may be of a deep blue verging on violet blue, +while, as we let the eye follow it down through the infinite and +exquisite gradations it contains, near the horizon we come gently upon +our other blue, the greenish one, and feel no discord. The rainbow, +which is, in fact, a kind of spectrum, is the best possible example of +the great use of gradation; there we have all the pure colors, one +differing immensely from the other, but the gradations between them are +so fine and complete as to prevent the least discord. In opals and pearl +shells, in peacock’s feathers and soap bubbles, such coloring is also +seen enhanced by being broken by soft grays and greens. It is caused by +what is scientifically called interference; that is, the thin layers of +the material interfere or break up the waves of light and so produce the +color. + +Reflection in colored materials can be used to help greatly in +harmonizing them. Look at a piece of red sealing-wax. Hold it up by a +window and the high gloss on it will reflect so much light as to make +the side toward the light appear almost white. On another side the true +or local color, the brilliant red, will be seen, and the side in shadow +will be of another color still, darker and more crimson or violet-red. +Red satin will have the same varieties in its high lights, middle, and +shaded parts, and these whiter lights and shaded parts really gray and +subdue the color of the material. A woollen cloth of the same color +which has less power of reflection will therefore have less of the gray +about it. With practice, fine and beautiful one-color combinations, +greatly varied, can be made by using materials of different textures but +of the same color. + +What has been said so far of colors applies to them as seen in ordinary +daylight, but we must also know how they are affected by lessened, +increased, and artificial light. Rood made many elaborate experiments in +this direction, too numerous to be given here. With these in view, +Church gives the following table of the main changes that occur in +colored objects from the changing of the light in which they are +commonly seen: + + IF LIGHT INCREASE,— DIMINISH. + Red becomes Scarlet Purplish. + Scarlet „ Orange Red. + Orange „ Yellow Brown. + Yellow „ Paler Olive-Green. + Yellow-green „ Yellower Greener. + Blue-green „ More blue Greener. + Art’f. ultramarine becomes Blue More violet. + Violet „ More blue Purple. + Purple „ Redder More violet. + +We must also note the effect produced by double light; as, for instance, +at sunset when we find in one direction the cool light from the blue of +the sky, in another the warm light from the setting sun. This is more +complicated and difficult to understand. + +Reflections from near objects produce similar effects; as, for instance, +in the city, the light reflected from a red brick wall and that from a +blue sky. An artist painted a portrait in which the likeness was spoiled +by the unnatural amount of red in the complexion. On examination it was +found to have been put there rightly, inasmuch as the artist certainly +saw it; the error lay in choosing a place for the subject where the red +reflection from a brick wall was thrown on his face. In a room, a yellow +wall paper and a curtain of some other color may throw combined and +confusing though perhaps at the same time most interesting reflections +on some object. The combined effects of daylight and gas or lamp light +are similar. + +We will next consider the effect upon colored objects of a light, itself +colored,—of what is called a dominant light. (See Plate VI, with +instructions.) + +Chevreul made many experiments with these. Church gives them to us, with +modifications, in the following concise form: + + Red rays falling on white make it appear red. + „ „ „ red „ „ deeper red. + „ „ „ orange „ „ redder. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ orange. + „ „ „ green „ „ yellowish-gray. + „ „ „ blue „ „ violet. + „ „ „ violet „ „ purple. + „ „ „ black „ „ rusty black. + Orange „ „ white „ „ orange. + „ „ „ red „ „ reddish-orange. + „ „ „ orange „ „ deeper orange. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ orange-yellow. + „ „ „ green „ „ dark yellow-green. + „ „ „ blue „ „ dark reddish-gray. + „ „ „ violet „ „ dark purplish-gray. + „ „ „ black „ „ brownish-black. + Yellow „ „ white „ „ yellow. + „ „ „ red „ „ orange-brown. + „ „ „ orange „ „ orange-yellow. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ deeper yellow. + „ „ „ green „ „ yellowish-green. + „ „ „ blue „ „ slaty-gray. + „ „ „ violet „ „ purplish-gray. + „ „ „ black „ „ olive-black. + Green „ „ white „ „ green. + Green „ „ red „ „ yellowish-brown. + „ „ „ orange „ „ grayish-leaf-green. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ yellowish-green. + „ „ „ green „ „ deeper green. + „ „ „ blue „ „ bluish-green. + „ „ „ violet „ „ bluish-gray. + „ „ „ black „ „ dark greenish-gray. + Blue „ „ white „ „ blue. + „ „ „ red „ „ purple. + „ „ „ orange „ „ plum-brown. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ yellowish-gray. + „ „ „ green „ „ bluish-green. + „ „ „ blue „ „ deeper blue. + „ „ „ violet „ „ bluer. + „ „ „ black „ „ bluish-black. + Violet „ „ white „ „ violet. + „ „ „ red „ „ purple. + „ „ „ orange „ „ reddish-gray. + „ „ „ yellow „ „ purplish-gray. + „ „ „ green „ „ bluish-gray. + „ „ „ blue „ „ bluish-violet. + „ „ „ violet „ „ deeper violet. + „ „ „ black „ „ violet-black. + +In this table the effect of yellow light gives us the effect of gas or +lamp light on colors, as they are yellow in character. To make his +experiments with artificial light as sure as possible, Rood, or +Chevreul, in daylight, threw the light from a gas burner on colors set +in a camera so as to judge at the same time of the effects of the two +kinds of light, for we must remember that commonly when we see colors by +gas or lamp light we are so surrounded ourselves by the same yellow +light that everything is tinged by it, and our judgment is affected; all +we see being yellower, yellow objects will look less yellow for want of +the contrast seen in daylight. This effect is now understood and +provided for by dry goods merchants, who have for some time shown +materials for evening dresses in rooms lighted by gas. A fairly good +idea of the appearance which pictures, colored materials, articles of +dress and decoration will make by gas or lamp light can be had by +looking at them through a piece of pale orange-yellow glass. + +Electric and calcium lights, being much whiter than that of gas or oil, +make less difference in colors, but their intensity being different from +that of ordinary diffused daylight, it produces different and more +intense effects. + + + + + CHAPTER IV + CONTRASTS AND COMPLEMENTS + + +Given a certain amount of any color, say normal or spectral red, and +wishing to make it look as bright as it can, what color shall we put +with it, and how much of that color, to attain our purpose? To answer +that question correctly, having in the last chapter studied the harmony +possible in what have been called self-tones, or one-color combinations, +we will take up contrasts, of which we have several kinds, as follows: + + Simultaneous contrasts of tone, neutral. + Simultaneous contrasts of color on neutral grounds. + Successive contrasts. + Mixed contrasts. + Contrasts of complements. + Contrasts of other hues or lesser contrasts. + Contrasts of brightness. + Contrasts of purity. + Contrasts of cold and warm colors. + +The first point to understand clearly is the law of simultaneous +contrast of tone as studied and written about by Chevreul in his +elaborate work on color. Church explains this law: “Contrast caused by +difference in brightness is commonly called contrast of tone. This kind +of contrast may occur alone or it may be associated with contrast of hue +and contrast of purity. It will be well to consider first the simplest +cases, in which contrast of tone is not accompanied by other contrasts. +It is impossible, however, to reduce experiments on tone-contrast to +their simplest expressions, because a third element always comes in, +namely, the background on which the pair of tones is placed for +examination. Whether this background be black, white, gray, or colored, +it must necessarily differ in some one direction from one or both the +trial pieces, and will therefore itself produce a contrast. To minimize +the complication thus introduced we may try an experiment for producing +the phenomena of tone-contrast in three ways, using three backgrounds +with identical trial pieces on each. We first take two strips of light +gray paper, A and A′, in Plate XV, and place them a few inches apart on +a large sheet of (white) paper in a good light. We then prepare two +similar strips of a considerably darker shade of gray, B and B′, and +place them, as shown in the diagram, B′ alongside of A′ and the other +the same distance from B′ as A is from A′. On close observation it will +be seen that A′ close to B′ appears lighter than A, which lies at some +distance, while B appears correspondingly darker than B′. The effect of +contrast in enhancing differences of tone may be studied thus: Make such +openings, five in number, in a piece of card, as will serve to divide +each of the strips A and B into three portions. When viewed through this +card, held between the trial pieces and the eye, it will be found that +the two adjoining parts of the strip are most contrasted in tone, and +the others less so in proportion to their distance from the line of +contact. The experiment should now be repeated with a background of +black velvet, and again with a background of gray paper lighter in tone +than either of the strips. The effect of contrast of tone is still +better seen in a series of toned strips placed next each other. In such +a case the effect on all the strips save the end ones is that of +_double_ contrast. For the second strip or second tone has one side of +it made apparently darker by reason of the contiguity of the lighter +tone of strip, while the other side seems lighter, owing to the +contiguity of the darker tone of strip 3. The general result of these +double contrasts is that the whole series or scale of tones gives the +appearance of a number of hollows, although, in fact, the apparent +hollows are perfectly flat areas of uniform shade. The effect of this +experiment is approximately represented in Plate XV, where the real +flatness of each tone of the six may be verified by covering up all the +others by a card. Tones of any one color instead of gray may be thus +employed to illustrate this kind of simultaneous contrast, but its +characteristic effect is not seen unless the contrasting tones differ +considerably in intensity, increase by regular gradations, and are near +each other, or in absolute contact. However, if tones of a color, +whether in tints or shades, be used, there is generally a complication +introduced, owing to the difficulty of getting a series of such tones +which shall be the same in hue. + +“This phenomenon of simultaneous contrast of tone of course largely +affects ... all drawings in black and white and in monochrome.” + +Following upon the law of simultaneous contrast of tone is the law of +simultaneous contrast of color formulated by Chevreul, as follows: “In +the case where the eye sees at the same time two contiguous (or +adjoining) colors, they will appear as dissimilar as possible, both in +their optical composition and the height of their tone. We have, then, +at the same time simultaneous contrast of color, properly so called, and +contrast of tone.” Plate XVI gives the simplest examples of this +simultaneous contrast of color, the six spectral colors we have been +studying on grounds of white, black, and gray. The colors seem brighter +on the black ground and darker on the white, while with the gray the +yellow alone is much affected, it seeming to grow brighter. The +following plates (Nos. XVII, XVIII, and XIX) give the same coloring, but +reversed, the white, black, and gray being in spots or disks on the six +colored grounds. By covering the squares on Plate XIX. with the prepared +sheet of paper having a square opening just large enough to allow but +one of its six divisions to be seen at a time, we shall find that each +one of the disks or spots looks, not pure gray, but tinged with another +color. This result gives us our first hint of what is called a +complementary color. In the case of the gray on blue the gray will +appear rusty or yellowish, yellow being the complement of blue; the gray +on yellow will appear bluer, blue being the complement of yellow; on the +green the gray will look purplish-red, on the orange greenish-blue, on +red bluish-green, and on the violet yellowish-green. + +Black lace over colors is always affected by them in a similar way. Over +yellow, its complement being blue, the lace will look at its best, that +is, blackest; over blue, the lace will tend to yellow, and will lose +something of its strength and the fulness of its black; over greens, it +will partake of their complement, red, and tend to look rusty. + +In connection with this tinging of black with the color complementary to +that of the color of the ground on which it is placed, Chevreul tells an +interesting anecdote. A manufacturer was given black and colored wools +with which to make some goods, the pattern to be black on colored +grounds. When they were delivered the man who had ordered the goods +complained that he had not been given the same black wool, that the +blacks were not pure and clear. The manufacturer declared he had used +the same wools. A lawsuit followed, in the course of which Chevreul was +called upon to give his testimony as to color, when he proved that, +according to the law of simultaneous contrast of color, the black wool +was the same, but when woven in figures, as for instance, black on blue, +the complementary color to blue, namely, yellow, being called up by the +eye, made the black look a rusty-brownish black instead of pure clear +black. He added that the only way to make the black on blue look pure +would be to color it with a little of the blue so as to overcome its +yellowish complement. + +This delicate impression of the color complementary to the one we are +looking at, is called up involuntarily by the eye, of which the nerve +fibrils become fatigued by the strong color, and incline to see the +extreme opposite or complementary color. The complement of a color may +also be called up or produced by looking fixedly at a round spot like +that on Plate XX for some time. After a while there may be seen a faint +image of its complement on the white paper around it. A still better way +of seeing the complement of a color is by looking fixedly for some time +at a disk of the selected color placed on white paper (Use Plate XXI); +then suddenly slip a sheet of white paper over it, and, continuing to +look at the place where it was, the same-sized image of its complement +will be seen. Here we have the answer to the question at the beginning +of the chapter: bluish-green is the color complementary to spectral red. +The eye becomes tired with looking at the red, and the nerve fibrils +excited by it incline to see its complement, bluish-green. We can, +however, prove this conclusion most correctly by means of what are +called Maxwell’s disks. If we cut out a disk or circular piece of +cardboard and paint it spectral red, then cut a second one just like it +but paint it bluish-green, cutting a slit in both from the edge to the +middle so we can slip one into the other as shown in Plate XXII, and +then turn them rapidly, the color in both will seem to fade away until, +when turning fast enough, we shall see no color at all,—simply a +complete disk of light gray. That result proves that spectral red and +bluish-green are true complements of each other, because a certain +number of parts of red neutralize a certain number of parts of +bluish-green. If, instead of using paints and paper we were able to use +colored light, the result would be even better; we should have white +light as the result of mixing the red and the bluish-green in the right +quantities. Pigments are so dull or non-luminous compared with light +that with them we can only produce gray, or as it has been called, dark +white, or white in shadow. To be quite sure that we have gray, let us +add in front of our disks two smaller ones of black and white, and we +will find the gray produced by the mixture of the black and white to +match perfectly the gray made of spectral red and bluish-green. To +measure the quantity of each color necessary, we can put behind the two +disks a white disk that is not slit, the circumference of which is +divided, as in Plates XXII, XXIII, XXIV, XXV, and XXVI, into one hundred +parts. These are plates of the six specified spectral colors with their +complements. The numbers give the quantity in one-hundredths of each +color. The “number of luminosity” means the quantity of white in +proportion to black, in one-hundredths necessary to make the gray of +that particular degree. + +The Milton-Bradley Company, of Springfield, Massachusetts, make an +excellent little machine, including several sets of disks of different +sizes and good colors, and a stout frame on which to put the disks, with +a crank by which to turn them. It can be set up and screwed on a table, +so that any one can make for himself these delightful experiments. Plate +XXVII is an illustration of this machine. There is hardly a limit to the +number of the other complementary colors that can be made with this set +of disks. Study of this set of complementary colors is most important as +a foundation for all contrasts. Experiment has also proved that colors +have more than one complement. + +“Complementary colors of full brightness and purity afford the most +striking examples of the effect called contrast. When each of a pair of +such colors differs as much as possible from its fellow in hue, but is +of the same degree of brightness, it is found, while the brightness of +both is enhanced, that the hue of both is unchanged by the close +neighborhood or contiguity of the two colors. But if the pair be not +truly complementary, or if in brightness or purity one color differ from +the other, then such difference will not be seen exactly as it is, but +such dissimilarity as exists, whether it be of one hue, of purity, or of +brightness, will be increased or enhanced by juxtaposition. This is the +primary law of contrast, which embraces three varieties dependent +respectively upon differences as to the three constants of color, +namely, hue, purity, and brightness (or luminosity). If two adjacent +colors differ in brightness, that which is the brighter, or, in other +words, the more luminous, will increase in brightness, while the less +luminous will have its brightness diminished. If two adjacent colors +differ in hue, such difference will be increased, each hue tending to +change as if it had been mixed with the complementary of the other. In +the case of complementaries no increase of difference in hue is, +however, possible.”[6] + +Plate XXVIII shows us the six spectral colors with their complements, +not in quantity, but as a table. After thorough study of this table of +first and simplest contrasts, the practical advantage of Plates XXII to +XXVI will be apparent. To make it easier we give Plate XXIX, which shows +the same set of complements. Here they are arranged in a circle in which +each color is opposite its own complement. This circle leads us from the +strongest contrasts of complements to _lesser contrasts_. This should +also be studied till it can be remembered for future reference. Being in +simple spectral colors, it is easier than the more numerous tints of +shades of neutralized colors, and is also a key for understanding and +classifying them. It is well here to note how many complements are green +or greenish in hue. + +Concerning the law of simultaneous contrast, with regard more especially +to lesser contrasts, Rood says: “When any two colors of the chromatic +circle are brought into competition or contrasted, the effect produced +is apparently to move them both farther apart. In the case, for example, +of orange and yellow, the orange is moved toward the red, and assumes +the appearance of reddish-orange; the yellow moves toward the green, and +appears for the time to be greenish-yellow. Colors which are +complementary are already as far apart in the chromatic circle as +possible; hence they are not changed in hue, but merely appear more +brilliant and saturated.” Plate XXX will be found of great assistance in +comparing pairs of colors with each other. Here we have a diagram of a +chromatic circle. By placing over it the transparent color screen found +at the end of the book, and moving it slowly in the same direction, it +will be seen that red when contrasted with greenish-blue causes this +last color to move away from the centre of the circle in a straight +line; hence, as the new point is on the same diameter, but farther from +the centre, we know that the greenish-blue is not made more or less blue +or green, but is simply caused to appear more saturated or brilliant. +The new point for the red lies also on the same diameter, but is nearer +the centre of the circle; that is, the color remains red, but appears +duller or less saturated. Experience confirms this. If a considerable +number of pieces of red cloth, for example, are examined in succession, +the last one will appear duller and inferior in brilliancy to the +others, but it will still appear red. Proceeding with the examination of +the effects produced on the other colors, we find that the orange has +been moved toward yellow and also toward the centre of the circle; hence +our diagram tells us that red, when put into competition with orange, +causes the latter to appear more yellowish and at the same time less +intense. So we can go on comparing one color with another and find out +the effect of each by moving the one circle over the other in different +directions, always finding that the complements as moved away from each +other only grow more brilliant but more changing in color. Church gives +us a list of the changes due to the principal pairs of lesser contrasts +from the observations of Chevreul, Rood, etc., as follows: + +(It may be remarked that this table of changes as here given is more +easily understood than in its original form as given by Church.) + + PAIRS OF COLORS. CHANGE DUE TO SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST. + Red with orange inclines to purple. + Orange with red „ yellow. + Red with yellow „ purple. + Yellow with red „ green. + Red with blue-green becomes more brilliant. + Blue-green with red „ „ + Red with blue inclines to orange. + Blue with red „ green. + Red with violet „ orange. + Violet with red „ blue. + Red with purple „ orange. + Purple with red „ blue. + Orange with yellow „ red. + Yellow with orange „ green. + Orange with green „ red. + Green with orange „ blue-green. + Orange-yellow with turquoise becomes more brilliant. + Turquoise with orange-yellow „ „ + Orange with violet inclines to yellow. + Violet with orange „ blue. + Orange with purple „ yellow. + Purple with orange „ blue. + Yellow with green „ orange. + Green with yellow „ blue-green. + Yellow with turquoise „ orange. + Turquoise with yellow „ blue. + Yellow with blue becomes more brilliant. + Blue with yellow „ „ + Green with blue inclines to yellow-green. + Blue with green „ violet. + Green with violet „ yellow-green. + Violet with green „ purple. + Green with purple becomes more brilliant. + Purple with green „ „ + Blue with violet inclines to green. + Violet with blue „ purple. + Violet with purple „ blue. + Purple with violet „ red. + +“It must not be imagined that the changes enumerated in the above table +are at all equal to one another in amount. We have, indeed, always some +change, but it varies much in the case of different pairs. When the +chromatic interval (on the color-circle) is small, then the change of +_hue_, in virtue of simultaneous contrast, is large; when the interval +is large the change of hue is slight, but it is accompanied by change of +brightness; when the interval is as large as possible there is no change +of hue, but the brightness of both hues is increased.” + +After simultaneous contrasts Chevreul gives us successive contrasts, +which latter “may be observed when we tire one set of retinal fibrils by +gazing for some time on a surface of a very decided color and +brightness. Afterward, on looking at a colorless surface of white, gray, +or black, it will be found to be tinctured with the complementary of the +first color.” If we stare at a piece of bright red paper and then look +at white paper we will see blue-green, the complement of the red. So, if +we look at a series of pieces of red cloth the first will appear the +brightest, the second less so, the third still less, but if the eye is +rested by looking at a piece of bluish-green cloth the red will then be +seen of its original brightness. When a black spot laid on red cloth is +looked at steadily for some time, then is taken suddenly away, the place +where the black spot was will appear to be of a brighter red than that +around it on account of the less fatigue there has been to that part of +the retina. A salesman who understood complementary colors could use +this law of successive contrasts with great effect in showing goods. + +Still another form of contrast is called _mixed contrast_. “The +distinction of simultaneous and successive contrast renders it easy to +comprehend a phenomenon which we may call mixed contrast; because it +results from the fact that the eye, having seen for a time a certain +color, acquires an aptitude to see for another period the complementary +of that color and also a new color, presented to it by an exterior +object; the sensation then perceived is that which results from this new +color and the complementary of the first. The following is a very simple +method of observing this mixed contrast: One eye being closed, the right +for instance, let the left eye regard fixedly a piece of paper of the +color A; when this color appears dimmed, immediately direct the eye upon +a sheet of paper colored B; then we have the impression which results +from the mixture of this color B with the complementary color, C, of the +color A. To be satisfied of this mixed impression it is sufficient to +close the left eye, and to look at the color B with the right: not only +is the impression that produced by the color B, but it may appear +modified in a direction contrary to the mixed impression C + B, or, what +comes to the same thing, it appears to be more A + B.”[7] + +That the complementary of a color exists in its shadow may be seen by +watching a stretch of snow when the sun is hidden by a cloud: the snow +is white, the shadow gray. When the cloud passes away, the light on the +snow makes it look yellow; the shadow will also be seen to be more or +less blue as the atmosphere is more or less clear and free from the +moisture which veils the sunlight. The same result in a greater or less +degree exists in all shadows, which shows how useful study of the +complementary colors is for painters. + +The purple or violet shadows of the “impressionists” are in many cases +exaggerations. On snow, dust, or sand, violet shadows are to be found in +certain conditions of the atmosphere, but “impressionists” often do not +seem to take into sufficient account the color called by artists “local +color” of the substance or material on which the shadow is thrown, or +the color of the sky reflected in the shadow. A true colorist detects +these subtle varieties. An artist who has not a fine eye for color uses +the pure colors given by scientists, thus making the crude, harsh +pictures so much criticised. They are true to a great extent +scientifically, but are cold and glaring, and without the true spirit of +nature. + +In studying the complements of these six spectral hues we come across +the theory that because a color and its complement together make white, +therefore they must prove to be an agreeable harmony. Now, is that true? +At first sight we answer, No. We do know that if we wish to make a color +as brilliant as possible, we must add to it its complement. Under +certain circumstances that may give us a good result, but artistic taste +declares that a pure spectral color and its complement make a +combination so strong and vivid as almost to amount to crudeness, and to +jar on a sensitive eye. Still, the theory that complementary colors make +a true and perfect harmony is well considered in the following extract +from Eastlake: + +“Every treatise on the harmonious combination of colors contains the +diagram of the chromatic circle more or less elaborately constructed. +These diagrams, if intended to exhibit the contrasts produced by the +action and reaction of the retina, have one common defect. The opposite +colors are made equal in intensity; whereas the complemental color +pictured on the retina is always less vivid, and always darker or +lighter than the original color. This variety undoubtedly accords more +with harmonious effects in painting. + +“The opposition of two pure hues of equal intensity, differing only in +the abstract quality of color, would immediately be pronounced crude and +inharmonious. It would not, however, be strictly correct to say that +such a contrast is too violent; on the contrary, it appears the contrast +is not carried far enough, for though differing in color, the two hues +may be exactly similar in purity and intensity. Complete contrast, on +the other hand, supposes dissimilarity in all respects. In addition to +the mere difference of hue, the eye, it seems, requires difference in +the lightness or darkness of the hue. The spectrum of a color relieved +as a dark on a light ground is a light color on a dark ground, and _vice +versa_. Thus, if we look at a bright red wafer on the whitish surface, +the complemental image will be still lighter than the white surface; if +the same wafer is placed on a black surface the complemental image will +be still darker. The color of both these spectra may be called greenish +(bluish-green), but it is evident that a color must be scarcely +appreciable as such, if it is lighter than white and darker than black. +It is, however, to be remarked, that the white surface round the light +greenish image seems tinged with a reddish hue, and the black surface +round the dark image becomes slightly illuminated with the same color, +thus in both cases assisting to render the image apparent. + +“The difficulty or impossibility of describing degrees of color in words +has also had a tendency to mislead, by conveying the idea of more +positive hues than the physiological contrast warrants. Thus, supposing +scarlet to be relieved as a dark, the complemental color is so light in +degree and so faint in color that it should be called a pearly gray; +whereas the theorists, looking at the quality of color abstractedly, +would call it a green-blue, and the diagram would falsely present such a +hue equal in intensity to scarlet, or as nearly equal as possible. + +“Even the difference of mass which good taste requires may be suggested +by the physiological phenomena, for unless the complemental image is +suffered to fall on a surface precisely as near to the eye as that on +which the original color was displayed, it appears larger or smaller +than the original object, and this in a rapidly increasing proportion. +Lastly, the shape itself soon becomes changed. That vivid color demands +the comparative absence of color, either on a lighter or darker scale, +as its contrast, may be inferred again from the fact that bright +colorless objects produce strongly colored spectra. In darkness the +spectrum, which is first white, or nearly white, is followed by red; in +light, the spectrum, which is first black, is followed by green. All +color, as the author observes, is to be considered as half light, +inasmuch as it is in every case lighter than black and darker than +white. Hence no contrast of color with color, or even of color with +black or white, can be so great (as regards lightness or darkness) as +the contrast of black and white, or dark and light abstractedly. This +distinction between the differences of degree and the differences of +kind is important, since a just application of contrast in color may be +counteracted by an undue difference in lightness or darkness. The mere +contrast of color is happily employed in some of Guido’s lighter +pictures, but if intense dark had been opposed to his delicate +carnations, their comparative whiteness would have been unpleasantly +apparent. On the other hand, the flesh-color in Giorgione, Sebastian del +Piombo (his best imitator), and Titian, was sometimes so extremely +glowing that the deepest colors and black were indispensable +accompaniments. The manner of Titian, as distinguished from his +imitation of Giorgione, is golden rather than fiery, and his biographers +are quite correct in saying that he was fond of opposing red (lake) and +blue to his flesh. The correspondence of these contrasts with the +physiological phenomena will be immediately apparent, while the +occasional practice of Rubens in opposing bright red to a still cooler +flesh-color will be seen to be equally consistent.... + +“It was before observed that the description of colors in words may +often convey ideas of too positive a nature, and it may be remarked +generally that the colors employed by the great masters are, in their +ultimate effect, more or less subdued or broken. The physiological +contrasts are, however, still applicable in the most comparatively +neutral scale.” + +Chevreul gives us in his book, _Colour_ (a work published in 1835, which +has gone through many editions and translations, having finally been +edited and republished in 1889 by his son), an elaborate system of color +contrasts based upon the older theory of three primary colors, red, +yellow, and blue. There followed upon this in 1890 one by Charles La +Couture, _Répertoire Chromatique_, containing an ingenious and beautiful +system of color scales also founded upon the Brewster theory of red, +yellow, and blue as primary colors. Of these color charts it has been +well said that they are only able to display the effects, not of mixing +colored light, but colored pigments. + +The following are rules to be used in regard to contrasting colors: + +_Rule I._—A pair of complementary colors in their pure spectral tones in +the proportions in which they neutralize or complement each other, as in +Plates XXII to XXVI, should only be used if you wish to produce a bold, +striking, perhaps harsh effect; or if you wish to create a focus in your +picture, your room, or your decoration. In the latter case it will be +well to soften the effect (especially in the case of a picture) by +repeating the same colors in tints or shades in some other part of the +work. + +_Rule II._—Harmony of contrast exists only in proportion to the changes +in quality or quantity in equal portions of pure spectral tones. + +_Rule III._—The more neutral you make the tint or shade of one of the +pair of complements, so much the more may you add to its quantity. For +instance, a small quantity of bright spectral red will balance a large +quantity of pale blue-green. + +_Rule IV._—By using two or more tints, or shades and tints, of one of +the pair of complements, so much the finer becomes the harmony. The +artist Turner sent to an exhibition of the Royal Academy in England a +marine which was accepted and hung, but which, being a quiet picture +consisting mainly of pale, grayish sea-greens, attracted little +attention. On varnishing day, however, he went to the Academy and +painted in the foreground of his picture a scarlet buoy, when to the +surprise of every one, owing to the correct balance of the quality and +quantity of his complementary contrast, the scarlet and blue-green so +intensified each other that the picture became a striking one, dulling +the others around it and drawing constant admiration. + +From a dinner table set out at a flower show in the Madison Square +Garden, which took a first prize, Plate XXXI is taken. It was a harmony +of yellow and blue. + + 1. Yellow chrysanthemums. + + 2. Yellow lamp-shades. + + 3. Yellow satin centrepiece. + + 4. Yellow candies. + + 5. Yellow candies. + + 6. Yellow candies. + + 7. Yellow-brown almonds. + + 8. Gold ornament on glass, china, and candies. + + 9. Dark purple-blue grapes. + +In this case some of the yellow was in pure spectral tones, the blue +very strong, dark, and neutralized. + +_Rule VI._—The finest harmony of contrast will be found where tints and +shades of both the pair of complements can be combined. Then a small +amount of both in spectral tones may be introduced to give accent to the +rest. Plate XXXII gives a blue and yellow harmony taken from an English +china cup composed of two blues and two yellows, both neutral. The +ground, being of a pale tint of yellow, is greater in quantity according +to Rule III. The dainty pattern painted on it is in the two blues; the +delicate stems holding and uniting the conventional leaves and flowers +are of brown (or dark yellow). The brown, being the darkest color, is +the smallest in quantity, as the harmony is intended to be light and +cheerful. + +Harmonies in blue and yellow have been used with great success in old +decoration, when blended, modified, and interchanged with each other, +and are one of the most useful combinations of colors that can be made. +They are largely used in Italian and Spanish tiles and other porcelains. +They are complementary colors strongly opposed to each other, but the +reason for their being more agreeable than other pairs of complements +seems to arise from the fact that one, the yellow, is so much more +luminous (or lighter) than the other that it affords a greater contrast +than appears in the other pairs of complements. + +_Rule VII._—Even pure spectral colors may be used with good effect by +blending them in small portions, as in what are technically called +diaper patterns. + +We have still a further power of adding to our harmony of contrasts by +the use of different materials, such as paper, paint, plaster, silk, +satin, velvet, plush, and metals, in which the variety of surfaces gives +an infinite number of tones, absorbing and reflecting, etc. These will +be considered in the chapter on color-harmonies, and seem really +inexhaustible. In that chapter is given a list of pairs of the lesser +contrasting colors, such as have been found by observation of historic +color to be the most agreeable to the eye. + + + + + CHAPTER V + COLOR-HARMONIES + HARMONIES OF COMPLEX OR VARIOUS COLORS + + +It is said that the use of agreeable and harmonious colors tends to the +sanity of the whole body by strengthening the nerves; so much so, that +part of the treatment of insane patients in a European asylum consists +in surrounding them with certain colors, and, probably, of changing +these according to certain rules. From these facts we surely learn that +there is reason beyond that of our mere enjoyment of colors to lead us +to study color-harmonies. + +The most widely accepted division of these harmonies is that of +Chevreul, who in his life of over one hundred years had time to +formulate, revise, and amplify his laws of color, and, from his position +as director of the manufacture of the Gobelin tapestries, great +opportunities for experiment. The two chief groups, based respectively +on analogy and on contrast, are resolved into three sub-divisions each. +These are quoted as follows from Church, who has added some explanations +to them as given in _The Law of Simultaneous Contrast_: + + “I.—HARMONIES OF ANALOGY. + + “II.—HARMONIES OF CONTRAST. + +“1. _The Harmony of Analogy of Scale._—This harmony is essentially that +of a series, the harmony of gradation. It includes those cases in which +is presented a simultaneous view of three or more tones of the same +scale, whether these tones be tints, or shades, or broken tones. It is +obtained in various degrees of perfection, according to the number of +tones present, and the value of the intervals between them. When the +tones are not easily separable by the eye, and pass into one another, +then the effect called ‘shading’ is produced. + +“2. _The Harmony of Analogy of Tones._—When two or more tones of the +same depth, or of very nearly the same depth, but belonging to different +but related or neighboring scales, are viewed together, the harmony of +tone is produced. Many such assortments are, however, displeasing to the +educated eye, unless the tones be so selected as to fall into a series +with a gradually increasing quantity of some one of their color +elements, when they may be arranged in the third kind of harmonies of +analogy. + +“3. _The Harmony of a Dominant Hue._—An example of this harmony is +afforded by viewing a contrasted color assortment, a bouquet of flowers, +or even a landscape, through a piece of glass so slightly tinctured with +a color as not to obliterate, but merely to modify, the various colors +belonging to the arrangement or composition. + +“1. _The Harmony of Contrast of Scale_ is produced by the simultaneous +view of two or more distant tones of the same scale. + +“2. _The Harmony of Contrast of Tones_ is produced by the simultaneous +view of two or more tones of different depths belonging to neighboring +or related scales. + +“3. _The Harmony of Contrast of Hue_ is produced by the simultaneous +view of colors belonging to distant scales, and assorted in accordance +with the laws of contrast. This kind of contrast includes also those +cases in which the effect is still further enhanced by difference of +tone as well as of color. + +“The distinction between these two classes or groups of harmonies is +somewhat arbitrary, for the collocation of any two tones or any two +colors, whether its results be agreeable or otherwise, inevitably +involves the element of contrast. Color-harmonies, so far as contrast is +concerned, differ in degree and complexity, but Chevreul’s harmonies of +analogy pass by steps more or less marked into distinct and undoubted +harmonies of contrast. In every harmony there is contrast of tone or of +color, and therefore contrast cannot be employed as a criterion of +classification. The two fundamental ideas underlying complex +color-harmonies may perhaps be expressed as those of _gradual change_ +and of _abrupt change_. Instead of separating color-harmonies into two +distinct groups, it would be better to arrange them in order upon the +arc of a circle, placing at one extremity those harmonies on which the +succession of contiguous tones or hues is marked by the smallest +differences, and at the other extremity, those harmonies in which the +elements of contrast are most strongly developed. About the middle of +the arc will be arranged those transitional harmonies in which contrasts +of tone, contrasts of color, and contrasts of tone and color combined, +begin to make themselves felt as modifying the effect of the regular +sequence of tones and related hues. According to this scheme, we may +commence with harmonies in which the succession of tones is so gentle as +to be barely perceptible, and we may end with those harmonies in which +the change of hue and of tone is most abrupt. A list of illustrative +examples will help to elucidate the scheme: + +“1. The passage, by insensible differences, of the tints, shades, or +broken tones of a single hue from light to dark. + +“2. The passage, by small but regular, definite, and perceptible steps, +of the tints, shades, or broken tones of a single hue from light to +dark. + +“3. The passage, as in the preceding example (2), of the tones of one +hue, from light to dark, when each step is separated by a neutral +element, such as white, gray, or black. + +“4. The passage, by insensible differences, of one hue, or of the tones +of one hue into another related hue, or its tones. + +“5. The passage, by definite steps, of one hue, or of the tones of one +hue, into another related hue or its tones. + +“6. The passage, as above (5), of related hues into each other, each +step separated by a neutral element. + +“7. The passage, by insensible differences, of one hue into another +chromatically remote hue. + +“8. The passage, by definite steps, of one hue into another +chromatically remote hue. + +“9. The passage, as above (8), of one hue into another, when each step +is separated by a neutral element. + +“10. The collocation of distant tones. + +“11. The collocation of chromatically distant hues with or without the +interposition of neutral elements. + +“It will be noticed how the idea of seriation or gradation becomes more +and more involved with that of change as we follow the sequence of the +above examples. Gradually the notion of orderly succession, of a regular +series with the presence of a pervading and dominant constituent, is +lost by the abruptness of change caused by the introduction of foreign +elements, or by the contiguity of distant tones and distant hues.” + +As both of these sets of rules for harmonies of colors are so elaborate +as to amount almost to color charts, and would be difficult and +complicated to print in colors, for our practical purpose we will +roughly divide harmonies of colors under three heads; as follows (See +Plate XXXIII): + + Harmonies of one color. + Harmonies of contrast (of color). + Harmonies of complex or various colors. + +This division is not strictly correct, because even in a harmony of one +color the element of contrast will appear; as, for instance, when we +combine a pale tint of yellow, say straw color, with brown, which is a +dark shade of yellow. As, however, in this case it is contrast of tone, +not contrast of color, we will not let that interfere with the order of +our arbitrary classification. The first class, harmonies of one color, +have been considered in Chapter III. When simple, refined color is +wanted in either dress or decoration, or where from inexperience one is +afraid to combine colors, it is best and safest to use this simplest +kind of color harmony. With this class, as black and white are not +colors, we will also include harmonies of one color combined with black, +or white, or gray, or two or all three of these. From a book +advertisement most successful in its clear, simple, and agreeable +character we give Plate XXXIV. It was on white paper, the proportions as +follows: Most white, less black, least yellow, this latter always +outlined with black. The white also showed through the yellow in some +places and served to lighten the design. + +In decoration, when two tones of one color are used they are often +separated with a fine line of white or black or gray. In Plate XXXV the +useful effect of such a line of separation is shown. A light tint on a +dark shade does not so much need an outline, but a dark shade on a light +tint is much improved by white outlines. The white line increases the +apparent strength of both tint and shade, while black will increase +their brightness but diminish their purity. + +“In the consideration of the specific effects of the association of +white, gray, or black with a single color, we follow the order in which +the colors succeed each other in the spectrum, adding purple at the end. + +“1. RED.—_Red_ with _white_ becomes deeper, more saturated or purer, and +less bright. The combination, as to intensity of contrast, is similar to +that of green with white, being less than that of blue, violet, or +purple with white, but more marked than that of orange or yellow with +white. + +“_Red_ with _gray_, when the latter is moderately pale, becomes brighter +and less saturated, sometimes acquiring an orange tinge. + +“2. ORANGE.—_Orange_ with _white_ is rendered deeper, and perhaps a +trifle more reddish. The contrast of tone between orange and white is +much greater than that between yellow and white; the combination is +consequently more effective. + +“_Orange_ with _gray_, when the latter is pale, is deepened and +reddened. With dark tones of gray orange becomes lighter. + +“_Orange_ with _black_ becomes brighter and slightly yellower. + +“3. YELLOW.—_Yellow_ with _white_ is rendered deeper, less bright, and +less advancing, acquiring a slight greenish hue. The lighter the tone of +the yellow the less pleasing is the combination. + +“_Yellow_ with _gray_ is rendered brighter and perhaps slightly orange. +The combination is satisfactory when the gray is rather dark. + +“_Yellow_ with _black_ is rendered paler, brighter, and more advancing. +The combination affords the most intense contrast of tone next to that +of white with black. The blackness of the black is modified by acquiring +a slight bluish hue which enriches it. + +“4. GREEN.—_Green_ with _white_ becomes deeper and purer; the +combination is capable of yielding very beautiful effects. + +“_Green_ with _gray_ becomes deeper only when the gray is pale; if the +gray be at all dark it acquires a purplish tinge. + +“_Green_ with _black_ is rendered brighter and paler, while the black +suffers, being tinged with a reddish or purplish hue. + +“5. BLUE.—_Blue_ with _white_ constitutes a generally pleasing +combination. The contrast of tone is very decided when the blue is at +once pure and bright. The effect of strongly illuminated white clouds in +deepening the tone of the blue of the sky bordering them is a good +example of one of the chief characteristics of this combination; under +such conditions the white often assumes a slightly yellowish tint. + +“_Blue_ with _gray_. Gray, if pale, deepens and purifies blue; the +combination, though necessarily cold, is often most serviceable in +pictorial as well as in ornamental art. + +“_Blue_ with _black_. This combination is less agreeable than that of +blue with gray, or of violet with black, especially when the tone of the +blue is deep. Light tones of blue are made still paler, but broken tones +more saturated, by contiguity with black. + +“6. VIOLET.—_Violet_ with _white_ affords a strong contrast of tone; the +combination is an agreeable one, resembling that of blue with white. + +“_Violet_ with _gray_. The distinctive hue of violet makes itself felt +strongly in this combination, which is a quiet and agreeable one. + +“_Violet_ with _black_ gives but a slight contrast of tone when the +violet is pure. The black acquires a rusty brown hue, which reduces its +depth. + +“7. PURPLE.—_Purple_ with _white_ affords a good contrast of tone. Pale +purples and rosy tints form agreeable combinations with white. + +“_Purple_ with _gray_ resembles in effect the combination of violet with +gray; the gray, if of moderate area, becomes decidedly greenish. + +“_Purple_ with _black_ is rarely a satisfactory combination; the black +acquires a greenish hue.”[8] + +The second class, harmonies of contrast, have been studied in Chapter +IV. Where bold, striking, emphatic color is needed the complementary +colors may be used. The most prominent part of a picture, a room, or a +decoration will be, as far as color is concerned, where some color and +its complement in nearly, or quite, spectral hues are given. This +striking effect of contrast will lessen accordingly as the colors darken +into shades, or lighten into tints, or become more and more neutral from +the mixture with some other color. An eye untrained or inexperienced +will find these complementary contrasts difficult to use, there being +danger of producing a crude or harsh effect. Rules for their use are +given in Chapter IV. Classifying the complementary pairs according to +the pleasure we take in them we may put yellow and blue first, then +orange and green-blue, red and blue-green, finally violet and green. +Chevreul, Rood, Von Bezold, and Bruecke, having made many experiments +and observations in their attempts to lay down rules for harmonious +combinations, state that here we come upon problems that cannot be +solved by purely scientific reasoning. By comparing the art of one +country or of one period of one country with that of another, we find +that throughout them all, certain pairs of colors have been preferred to +certain others and we feel that æsthetic taste, which cannot be +explained, influences us greatly in our liking for certain combinations. +Beside taste, inheritance, training, environment, and contrast all have +their unconscious effect upon these preferences. Church divides pairs of +colors into three classes: Pairs of the small intervals, pairs of +decided differences, and the extremes or complements. The latter we have +considered in Chapter IV. Pairs of the small intervals are such as + + Orange-red and yellowish-orange, + Reddish-orange and orange-yellow, + Orange and yellow, + +which, being so close to each other in the color scale in decoration, +are apt to injure each other unless separated by outlines of black, +white, gray, or gold. Rood gives the following table of small intervals: + + “DARKER. LIGHTER. + Red Orange-red. + Orange-red Orange. + Orange Orange-yellow. + Orange-yellow Yellow. + Yellowish-green Greenish-yellow. + Green Yellowish-green. + Cyan-blue Green. + Blue Cyan-blue. + Ultramarine-blue Blue. + Violet Purple. + Purple Red.” + +Church gives us the following list of pairs as, from his and others’ +observations, they have been found to have been more or less agreeable: + +“An asterisk attached to the name of a color indicates that the mixture +of gray or black with it improves the effect of its association. It may +be further remarked that in many cases where two colors of full depth +yield a bad or unsatisfactory assortment the reduction of the tone of +one of them by a considerable addition of white often makes the +combination agreeable. + + “Normal red with violet bad. + „ „ „ blue excellent. + „ „ „ blue-green good, but strong. + „ „ „ green good, but hard. + „ „ „ green-yellow fair. + „ „ „ yellow* unpleasing. + Scarlet „ violet bad. + „ „ turquoise good. + „ „ blue good. + „ „ yellow unpleasing. + „ „ green fair. + Orange-red „ violet good. + „ „ „ purple fair. + „ „ „ blue excellent. + „ „ „ turquoise good. + „ „ „ blue-green unpleasing. + „ „ „ yellow-green fair. + Orange „ purple bad. + „ „ violet good. + „ „ blue good, but strong. + „ „ turquoise good. + „ „ blue-green good. + „ „ green fair. + Orange-yellow „ purple good. + „ „ „ violet excellent. + „ „ „ blue good. + „ „ „ turquoise fair. + „ „ „ blue-green moderate. + „ „ „ green bad. + Yellow „ violet excellent. + „ „ purple good. + „ „ normal red poor. + „ „ turquoise moderate. + „ „ blue-green* bad. + „ „ green* bad. + Greenish-yellow „ purple good. + „ „ „ violet excellent. + „ „ „ scarlet strong, and hard. + „ „ „ orange-red fair. + „ „ „ turquoise bad. + „ „ „ normal blue good. + Yellowish-green „ normal red good, but hard. + „ „ „ purple difficult. + „ „ „ blue-green bad. + „ „ „ blue good. + Normal green „ purple strong, but hard. + „ „ „ scarlet difficult. + „ „ „ orange-red hard. + „ „ „ turquoise bad. + Blue-green „ purple fair. + „ „ „ violet good. + „ „ „ blue bad. + „ „ „ green bad. + „ „ „ yellowish-green bad. + „ „ „ turquoise bad. + +“The above list comprises fifty-five only of the very numerous +combinations, in pairs, of some of the decided hues.... It is assumed +that in our experiments on their chromatic effects, pleasing or +otherwise, we have been using colored materials, which neither by any +peculiarity of texture, nor quality, nor design, are capable of +improving the results. Cloth and paper are suitable; silk, velvet, +glass, and enamel, for various reasons, give results which are +complicated by the introduction of new elements. Pairs in these latter +materials, in consequence of the presence of lustre, translucency, or +‘throbbing’ hues, in varying degrees, will often become quite +acceptable, while in prosaic cloth, or paper, they are just the +reverse.” + +The third class, harmonies of complex or various colors, follows, and +includes groups of three or more colors. The difficulties of combination +increase as the number of colors increases. It is well to remember, if +one is bewildered with these difficulties, that, however fine the +harmony of many colors may be, it can hardly surpass the beauty of one +made of but two or three, provided that these are well proportioned to +each other in quantity and quality, suited to and combined in some good +design, or made up of various materials with differing surfaces. As to +triads, or three-color combinations, Rood gives us the following groups +as having been most extensively used, and if we draw on our memory we +may probably recall both paintings and decorations consisting of any one +of these combinations. (See Plates XXXVI and XXXVII.) + + Spectral red, yellow, and blue. + Purple-red, yellow, cyan-blue (greenish-blue like a turquoise). + Orange, green, violet. + Orange, green, purple-violet. + +With regard to these he calls our attention to the fact that in them the +colors are nearly, or quite, 120° apart on the chromatic circle, also +that artists in their choice of these colors have been evidently guided +by their wish to have two out of three warm colors. According to +Bruecke: + +_Carmine_, _yellow_, and _green_, a favorite combination during the +middle ages, to us seems “somewhat hard and unrefined.” + +_Orange-yellow_, _violet_, and _bluish-green_ are not so agreeable +because two of the colors are cold. In the triad _vermilion_, _green_, +and _violet-blue_, used greatly by the Italian schools, there seem at +first to be two cold colors, but as the _green_ was _olive_ it might be +called _vermilion_, _dark greenish-yellow_, and _violet-blue_. + +Attempts have been made to give formulas of certain colors as they are +supposed properly to balance one another, or to make “chromatic +equivalents.” Field elaborated this theory in his _Chromatography_, and +it was adopted by Owen Jones in his _Grammar of Ornament_. Later writers +on color, however, show that Field’s experiments were not such as to +justify his conclusions. The leading idea he tried to prove was, that to +make a perfect harmony, each color in a given picture or design should +bear such a mathematical relation to the whole that the combination of +all should make, when seen at a distance, “a neutralized bloom, or a +whitish-gray.” He speaks, for instance, of red, yellow, and blue. This +has a plausible sound, but cannot be correct, for with a color wheel we +find that red, yellow, and blue will not in _any_ proportions make a +“whitish-gray,” also because almost all of the best works of good +colorists have throughout them some dominant hue, more generally on the +warm side, such as yellow, orange, or red. At the same time careful +study of texture will be very useful, as different weaves reflect and +absorb the colors so as to produce a sort of “neutralized bloom,” such +as Field speaks of. + +That chromatic equivalents can be made is shown by Maxwell’s disks; as, +for instance, Church gives us the proportions of three colors which on +being turned on the wheel rapidly produce a neutral gray, as follows: + + “Red 36½ + green 33¾ + blue 29¾ = 100.” + +We have also already seen in the chapter on Contrasts that certain parts +of one color require certain parts of another color to neutralize it and +so make gray. + +As there is no end to the possible combinations of colors we can only +give certain rules for making them, leaving it to the student to follow +up his previous practice with two colors and by experience to enlarge +his knowledge and ability to use all colors with skill. + +A full harmony, in fact a symphony, of colors can hardly be better +explained than by describing one used in the trial scene in the +“Merchant of Venice,” as given by Mr. Mansfield. The tribune or desk +behind which Portia delivered her speech was white, draped with a +full-hued scarlet cloth. The black of her gown, the strongest contrast +to white, and the brilliant red, were admirably used to focus the eye +upon this part of the scene just as the ear was focused on the speech +“The quality of mercy is not strained.” The other principal actors, +Shylock, Antonio, and Bassanio, wore red, yellow, blue; bright colors, +but less bright and less contrasting than the white, black, and scarlet. +The attendants and spectators were in more neutral and subdued colors, +while away behind them all stretched a grayish blue sky seen between the +pillars of a wide porch which formed a background well calculated to +throw into relief the colors of the costumes. + +From what we have learned we find the following ways of harmonizing +colors: + +_First._ BY GRADATION, that is, the gradual blending of one color into +another, or one variety of one color into another variety of the same +color, as in the morning-glory blossom, in which the different hues +grade softly into one another from edge to heart; or as in a clear +sunset sky, where the blue above changes into green, the green into +yellow, and the yellow into red near the horizon, and where still we +cannot find the exact boundary of any one of the colors. (See Plate +XXXVIII.) + +“These ever-present gentle changes of color in all natural objects give +to the mind a sense of the richness and vastness of the resources of +Nature; there is always something more to see, some new evanescent +series of delicate tints to trace; and, even where there is no conscious +study of color, it still produces its effect on the mind of the +beholder, giving him the sense of the fulness of Nature, and a dim +perception of the infinite series of gentle changes by which she +constantly varies the aspects of the commonest objects. This orderly +succession of tints, gently blending into one another, is one of the +greatest sources of beauty that we are acquainted with, and the best +artists constantly strive to introduce more and more of this element +into their works, relying for their triumphs far more on gradation than +on contrast. The greatest effects in oratory are also produced by +corresponding means; it is the modulation of the tone and thought, far +more than sharp contrasts, that is effective in deeply moving audiences. +We are very sensitive to the matter of modulation even in ordinary +speech, and instantly form a general judgment with regard to the degree +of cultivation and refinement of a stranger from the mode in which a few +words are pronounced. All this has its parallel in the use of color, not +only in painting, but also in decoration. Ruskin, speaking of gradation +of color, says: ‘You will find in practice that brilliancy of hue and +vigor of light, and even the aspect of transparency in shade, are +essentially dependent on this character alone; hardness, coldness, and +opacity resulting far more from _equality_ of color than from nature of +color.’ In another place the same author, in giving advice to a +beginner, says: ‘And it does not matter how small the touch of color may +be, though not larger than the smallest pin’s head, if one part of it is +not darker than the rest, it is a bad touch; for it is not merely +because the natural fact is so that your color should be gradated; the +preciousness and pleasantness of color depends more on this than on any +other of its qualities, for gradation is to colors just what curvature +is to lines, both being felt to be beautiful by the pure instinct of +every human mind, and both, considered as types, expressing the law of +gradual change and progress in the human soul itself. What the +difference is in mere beauty between a gradated and ungradated color may +be seen easily by laying an even tint of rose-color on paper, and +putting a rose-leaf beside it. The victorious beauty of the rose as +compared with other flowers depends wholly on the delicacy and quantity +of its color-gradations, all other flowers being either less rich in +gradation, not having so many folds of leaf, or less tender, being +patched and veined instead of flashed.’”[9] + +In connection with gradation, Church says: “There is one _quality_ of +good color which lies at the very root of all successful employment of +vivid hues. It consists in minute variations of hue and tone within the +same surface. A color must not be absolutely uniform, flat, and +monotonous unless it be very pale, very dull, or very dark, when the +absence of this ‘throbbing’ or ‘palpitating’ quality, though +undesirable, is less observed. We have before us, as we write, a fine +old Chinese vase of turquoise crackle. Apart from the mosaic texture, +resulting from the innumerable fissures in the glaze, what a number of +variations in appearance does this turquoise color offer! Where the +color is thinnest it is paler, and verges more upon green; where it is +thickest, it is at once deeper, and more blue, and there are innumerable +hues and tones. In painting, similar effects may be produced by unequal +glazings and scumblings of one hue upon another, or by apposition of +minute dots and patches of closely related colors.”[10] + +The following is a practical way of using this beauty of gradation: “For +instance, in the morning glory and the sweet pea we may observe a +perfectly beautiful combination of crimson, purple, and violet. Notice +the charming gradation of color in the morning glory; one tone runs into +the other with a subtlety which is quite wonderful, and all the colors +merge into the luminous green-white centre from absolute positivism to +perfect delicacy with an ease which is surprising. Now let us try to +mass a large group of crimson, purple, violet, and greenish-white asters +together with the same result. Alas! what a task it is and how confused +we become with the distracting color tones; but we must feel our way +carefully and systematically. First, our most powerful color—crimson or +violet—must be grouped gracefully and placed in a prominent position; +next, we must run our color tone either toward blue or crimson, as the +case may be. If we have any gaslight near we must make use of it to +accent our prominent group, and last, mingled slightly with the palest +tones of dull pink and purplish-blue, we may group our greenish-white +asters in some position where they will contrast well with the strong +color group, and where they will be sure to have the intermediate blue +and crimson tones act like a bridge to connect the color scheme. Nothing +distracts the eye so much as violent transitions of color.”[11] + +A similar element of beauty in Oriental rugs, not always understood, and +one in which they differ from those made by machinery, arises from the +fact that being made by hand there are slight variations throughout, +even in the dyeing of the wools. In an unusually fine specimen the rich +green ground varied slightly in tone three or four times. To an +uncultivated eye this might seem a defect; to an artistic one, the play +of color, the variety in unity, is far finer than the even monotony of a +perfectly matched surface. + +_Second._ BY CHANGE OF QUALITY; as from pure spectral colors to their +tints or shades. The greater we make this change either way, the more +sure we may be of harmony, as a color scheme of very pale tints or very +dark shades is almost sure to be good even if quite varied. In fact, +contrast of tone, which is change of quality, will harmonize any two +colors, as pale blue and dark green, or pale green and dark blue. Of +pairs of contrasts which in pure spectral colors we have seen to be +crude and harsh, Rood says, “Complementary colors are very valuable when +the artist is obliged to use dark, dull, or pale colors, and still is +desirous of obtaining a strong or brilliant effect.” Another kind of +change of quality helps us to make very beautiful combinations. It lies +in the use of colors that are neither spectral, nor pure tints, nor +shades, but of such as are neutralized by mixtures of other colors; as, +for instance, if instead of using pure yellow, pure red, and pure blue, +we use a yellow toned down by an admixture of a little red and blue, a +red toned in the same way with blue and yellow, and a blue that has in +it something of red and yellow; the colors will still be yellow, red, +and blue, but in approaching each other will become more related and so +far more harmonious. Still another change of quality allows us to put in +the place of one or more of the colors the same amount of a tint or a +shade of the same color which will improve the harmony by varying its +luminosity and by bringing all nearer together. (See Plate XXXIX.) + +_Third._ BY CHANGE OF QUANTITY; as of a large amount of one of the +colors to a small amount of the other, so as to introduce another +element of contrast. For want of the better balance as given by the +fourth rule it is inferior to it. (See Plate XL.) + +_Fourth._ BY CHANGE OF QUALITY AND QUANTITY; or by making a small amount +of a dark shade of one color balance a much larger amount of a light +tint of another color, or, _vice versa_, a small amount of a light tint +to balance a much larger amount of a dark shade, or a small amount of a +pure color to balance a large amount of a more neutral color. In this +case the rule is that accordingly as you lower or raise the quality of +your color so in proportion may you increase its quantity. (See Plate +XLI.) + +_Fifth._ BY THE ADDITION OF ANOTHER COLOR, however unobtrusive, which +breaks the even balance between two colors, just as in form, where we +may find two trees of the same size and shape make an unpleasant +composition. There the effect can be much improved by the addition of a +third tree of a different size and shape. For instance, with yellow and +yellowish-green, the addition of violet would improve and harmonize +them. This third color can be added in different ways, by outlines, +small masses, etc. (See Plate XLII.) + +_Sixth._ BY THE ADDITION OF BLACK, WHITE, GRAY, GOLD, OR SILVER.—When +two colors are not quite harmonious a small quantity of black will much +improve the combination. The strong contrast in depth between the black +and the colors seems to bring them together and so make them more +related. In Chinese coloring the happy effect of black should be noted, +also in old Japanese prints where the black hair of the figures acts in +the same way. This black, white, gray, gold, or silver may be added in +outlines, as the brass in Japanese cloisonné, or in such lines as these +| | | | | | | | drawn over the whole design, as seen in a wall paper, +softening the colors and blending them with each other. It may be as in +cement around and between the little bits of stone in mosaic, which +produces much the same effect in throwing a sort of bloom over the +colors. It may be in separating some part of the design from the other, +as seen in a wall decoration where there was a rectangle of +greenish-blue on a ground of dark violet-blue separated by white and +gold, of which the result was excellent; or it may be by little dots +over all the colors. (See Plate XLIII.) + +_Seventh._ BY A DOMINANT HUE, which may run through all the design in +outlines, although colored outlines are not so good as those of black, +white, gray, gold, or silver, or those which may be added in small spots +over all the colors; or those which may be added in small quantities to +all the colors, changing their quality, and so bringing them to a +harmony of a dominant hue. To make this clear, look at Plate VI. In it +we have pure spectral yellow, pure spectral blue, and pure spectral red. +Put over it the blue screen found in the end of the book; the blue will +be seen to be bluer, the yellow will become a greenish-yellow, the red +will have a violet tinge to it. It will have become a harmony of the +dominant hue of blue, but as blue is a cold color the harmony will not +have become much more agreeable for the change. Try what making the same +colors a harmony of the dominant hue of yellow will do by putting over +it the yellow screen. The colors will be seen to be quite different. The +yellow will be changed very little, only growing slightly darker, the +red from the pure spectral hue will be moved toward the orange, and the +blue will be moved toward the green. This gives us a fine harmony, and a +favorite one with artists. Harmonies of the dominant hues of red, +orange, or yellow—warm colors—are much more generally liked than those +of blue, green, or violet, the cold colors. Age has done much for old +pictures by darkening and mellowing the paints and varnish so as to give +them harmony of the dominant hue. Jean François Millet’s have such +harmony already, owing to his fine eye for color; it will be noticed +that though he may have put many fairly bright colors, blue, red, green, +and yellow on one canvas, they all blend wonderfully together. “Harmony” +(we quote from Burnet on _Colour_, who speaks of Mengs) “he considers to +consist in the true equilibrium of the different colors regulated by the +general tone of light by which they are illuminated; thus, if the light +is yellow, all the colors will appear tinged with the same hue, as the +air interposed between them and the eye of the spectator is already +tinged with that color.” The harmony resulting from a dominant hue in +nature may also be seen in a spray of young leaves in spring when many +hues of green and yellow will be found connected and harmonized by the +red of the stem, which color runs through it all, carrying the red into +the greens and yellows. (See Plate XLIV.) + +_Eighth._ BY INTERCHANGE.—If two unbroken masses of the same quantity of +strong color are put side by side the result may be unbearable. By +interchanging them, however, in this way, in what are called in design +diaper patterns, they may blend so as to be quite agreeable. Or they may +be blended in weaving by interchange, as if one thread be of green, the +next of purple, then again green. (See Plate XLV.) + +_Ninth._ BY COUNTERCHANGE.—Examples of fine decorative art may be found +of two colors where the design and the ground change places at certain +intervals. It is an ingenious and beautiful way of obtaining variety of +coloring. To make it successful the amount of ground color should +balance that of the design. Plate XLVI gives us a good example. + +_Tenth._ BY FORM AND TEXTURE, as by the curves in a vase or any object +which deepens the color as it goes away from the light and lightens it +as it turns toward the light; as in a curtain of which the folds modify +the color; as in rough and shaggy stuffs like plush, etc., which produce +constant variation and vibration of color, and just so much added charm. +The sparkle in jewels and colored glass, the sheen on satins, silks, and +metals, and the down on fruit also come under this rule, as so many +modifications of color tending to break up its flat surface and produce +harmony. + +_Eleventh._ BY OUTLINING a mass of flat color in a design with black or +a dark color, then adding a second outline inside the first, but of +either a light tint of the same color as the dark mass or of another +color which harmonizes with it; then there will be found an agreeable +result. In fact, this will give a velvety appearance to the color. + +In making a complex color arrangement it is well to begin by planning +first its leading parts; the additions will be much easier. Harmony of +color must come not alone from the object we are planning for, but also +from the place in which it is to be used, or the person who is to wear +it. The color of an object may be beautiful in itself, but much of that +beauty may be lost or neutralized by its surroundings. On the other +hand, an object giving but one good, simple color note may be so +appropriate to its position, may so exactly suit its surroundings, as to +complete a perfect harmony. + +Colors should also be adapted to the form of the object or designs on +which they are to be used. Thus, when wishing to emphasize a part that +retires from the eye, retiring colors should be used, and _vice versa_. + +In addition to the above rules a few suggestions for making +color-harmonies may be useful: + +First, texture can be used to help the harmony. + +Second, harmonies with warm colors predominating are preferred. + +Third, if certain colors are to be used in any decoration it is wise to +put them together first in paint, paper, or plain materials, for the +reason that any unpleasant effect they may have on one another will show +more quickly in such materials; for the better the material, the more +readily the colors blend on account of the richer surfaces. In colored, +not painted, glass, this can be appreciated. It will be noticed that the +quality of the glass and the brilliancy of the light through it help to +harmonize the colors. + +Fourth, a simple pattern, if pattern at all, should be tried first, as +the beauty of a good design may blind one to the quality of the +coloring. + +Fifth, remember that combinations in which warm colors prevail are more +agreeable than those made mainly of cold colors, while it is also true +that the finest harmony of complex or various colors is that in which +there is a proper balance of both warm and cold colors, so used that +they enhance each other. + +Sixth, it is safe to affirm that any colors may be used together with +success, provided that they are harmonized by the use of some of the +rules here given. + +Any one unused to working with colored materials would do wisely to +begin cautiously, experimenting at first with simple combinations of one +color according to the first rule on page 75 for such combinations. In +some flowers we do see the two extremes of a color combined, as in a +jonquil the centre is of orange-yellow, the outer petals of +greenish-yellow, but they are rather the exception. Attention here +should also be had to the suggestion as to the use of differing +materials of one color. When some skill has been gained in the simplest +kind of color harmony, a single note of the complementary color may be +added. For example, see the dinner table harmony, page 69, of yellows +with a strong note of dark blue. When the eye has become somewhat +trained by practice of this kind, harmonies in triads or three colors +may be tried. Constant practice in pairs and triads cannot be too fully +recommended. Finally, trials may be made in complex combinations. One +other way to begin working in color is by the use of neutral or grayed +colors. Turner, the English artist, one of the greatest, if not the +greatest, of modern landscape painters, began in this way, in the use of +what are called “broken tints,” using finally in his pictures the +fullest palette of glowing colors. + +Let us suppose three ways of being called upon to make a color harmony. +The first, that a designer has an order for a bouquet, a dress, a +curtain, or for the decoration of a room, but is limited by the terms of +the order to the use of certain colors. Then let him begin by studying +the qualities of those colors, and ask himself if they are cool or warm, +tints or shades, bright or dull, whether they are tones of one color, +contrasts or complex. + +Again, suppose the order to be less limited in color, but that the +bouquet is to be put in a room of certain coloring, or the dress to be +worn by a person of such and such complexion and hair, or that the +curtain is to be hung in a north room where warm color is needed, or +perhaps in a light room where the southern sun needs to be toned down as +it enters, to prevent a glare. The general coloring of the room must +also be taken into account, but is it not seen that the answer must be +different in each case? One colored flower would give quite a different +effect from another, the dress that would suit a fair face with yellow +hair would be quite unlike one becoming to a dark skin with black hair, +while a curtain of soft yellow would tinge the northern light with some +of the sunshine color that never enters the dull room, and in the sunny +room a curtain of cool, non-luminous color would soften the glare and +add to its comfort and harmony. The light and shade in the room should +also be taken into account. The warm and cold tones can be arranged in +such balance that color will glow from the shadows. + +In a third supposable case the designer is given unlimited choice of +colors. Then every resource can be called in, and the work resulting +should be beautiful in proportion to the freedom of the order. + +Furthermore, colors should be appropriate; for a quiet room, a quiet, +commonplace person, for anything where quiet effect is desired, the +designer should adhere to quiet, neutral combinations, or to +combinations of one color. When a woman has a brilliant complexion, +black eyes and dark hair, gay colors may be worn and seem all in harmony +with the wearer, but these same gay colors would only emphasize the more +commonplace character and coloring of others. + +Plates XLVII and XLVIII have been added here to show the true character +of _whites_ so-called; as blue-white, which is really a very pale tint +of blue; and how by _gradation_, one color changes into another in +nature. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + HISTORIC COLOR + + +To continue our color study we must next ask what has been done with it +in the past and how it has been used and combined. Our knowledge would +be incomplete without the experience of the past. The simplest and +easiest way will be to consult the _Grammar of Ornament_, by Owen Jones, +and _L’Ornement Polychrome_, by Racinet, the two best books of the kind, +remembering, however, that there are several editions of each, varying +in the quality of the coloring of the plates, and that even the best of +these do not succeed in thoroughly reproducing the rare harmonies of +color attained in the pictures, rugs, pottery, silks, metal, and jewel +work that served as models. For these we must turn to the museums, and +there is where the real lover of, and worker in, color must go for +examples of the most skilful use of color by man up to this time. To +many of them age has helped to give the great charm they possess, by +fading and refining the colors so that they blend more perfectly with +each other. + +Unfortunately, no mention is made in the _Grammar of Ornament_ of +Japanese color, and Racinet gives but small space to it. Since the +publication of these books we have become familiar with it even in the +shop windows. We must bear in mind, however, that intercourse with +western nations and the increasing demand for Japanese goods is already +lowering their artistic standard, especially as they are making many +goods entirely for western markets, so that for their best work we must +look for old specimens made when Japan was a shut-in nation. As a whole, +nothing finer can be found. For pure coloring, for the most complex and +happiest combinations, they have no equals. Thorough study of these is +one of the best schools for designers. The Japanese themselves are +taught by being made to copy the best old works. + +The Japanese love of color and their sense of fitness went so far that +they even changed the ornaments of their rooms with the changing +seasons. Nay, more, their women wore garments of which the embroidery +harmonized with the different months: cherry, apple, pear blossoms when +the fruit trees bloomed, colored leaves in the autumn, and so on, +keeping in tune with the year, and getting great enjoyment out of things +too little thought of by us. + +At this point in his course the student will be wise to bear four things +in mind: First, that as this is the study of color, not form, he should +confine his attention to the colors as far as possible, as a fine design +may tend to warp the judgment of them. Secondly, that different lights +may vary what is really the same color. Thirdly, that if he isolates one +color from another by means of such a card with a small opening in it as +is to be found with the color screens at the end of this book, he will +be greatly helped to understand it. Fourthly, that he should pay special +attention to the proportions of the colors. + +The following plates have been taken from specimens of color of +different nations, and are given in simple proportions of quality and +quantity, the latter in one-hundredths, as nearly as it is possible to +measure, when the design may be much complicated and broken up. In +studying these with reference to making the plates, it has seemed +probable that those who made them took their color in many instances +directly from nature; as, for instance, Plate LIV reminds one of the +qualities and quantities of color of a gayly feathered parrot. It is +hoped that these plates may help to create a taste for hard study of +whatever originals may be at hand in books, shops, private houses, or +museums. + +Plate LXXXIV is a drawing of the antique rug from which Plate LXXXV is +reduced. By comparison the student will see how these and the other +plates have been made. + + + + + CHAPTER VII + NATURE COLOR + + +“And you, painter, who are desirous of great practice, understand that +if you do not rest it on the good foundation of Nature, you will labor +with little honor and less profit; and if you do it on a good ground, +your works will be many and good, to your great honor and advantage. + +“A painter ought to study universal Nature, and reason much within +himself on all he sees, making use of the most excellent parts that +compose the species of every object before him. His mind will by this +method be like a mirror, reflecting truly every object placed before it, +and become, as it were, a second nature.” + +From the _Treatise on Painting_, by Leonardo da Vinci, we copy the above +passages. May they serve as an introduction to the next branch of our +color study, and prove a stimulus of the highest kind not only to +painters, but to other artists. This final step in our study leads us to +Nature, a step easy to make, but once made, it places us in a school as +vast as it is great, and in one which we should never leave. Until our +attention is called to it, we are unconscious what apparently +unpromising material may yield new and beautiful motives for +color-harmonies. + +“We do not sufficiently study from nature; we ought to draw and study +vegetable forms, shells, fishes, birds, beasts. A continual use of your +notebook should enable you to lay up an inexhaustible store of artistic +materials and suggestions.... Then, again, the study of the arrangement +of color of natural objects is almost entirely ignored; yet how pregnant +would it be with the most valuable and original suggestions. There is +hardly anything in nature that is not perfect in color. A dead sparrow +would enable you to arrange the marquetrie of a cabinet with faultless +harmony. Then, again, the varied tints of any color in light, shade, and +half tint are always harmonious. The gradations of color in a flower, if +properly studied, would teach a lady to dress with a taste that would be +the envy of her sex. That dress is not, more than it is, the study and +recognized province of an artist, is a matter of wonder.”[12] + +Following closely upon this advice of Mr. Moody, an artist tells us that +in Algiers he has seen the Arab girls working the beautiful embroideries +so much admired with boxes of butterflies beside them, that from their +harmonious blending of colors they may gain fresh enthusiasm and +inspiration for their work. Those who are not privileged to go to +foreign lands in search of color motives can find them in our own +country, and those who can leave the city’s walls for but a day’s +holiday may find in the suburbs much that is new and helpful. Why not +make excursions for the purpose? A color hunt would surely be as cheap +and harmless as it would be enjoyable and helpful. In New York City +itself, the Museum of Natural History holds case upon case of birds, +butterflies, shells, and minerals that can give an infinite number of +novel motives, the florists’ shops contain many more, and, if one keeps +his eyes about him, even in the street he may meet with good and +unexpected combinations, as, for instance, Plate C, which is from the +flange of a propeller, of which the discoloration of the metal gave a +fine color motive. + +The Japanese have always been distinguished for their intense sympathy +with nature, and we find that a large part of the enjoyment of their +lives the year round comes from their constant study and observation of +nature, the result, of course, showing itself in their art. + +Condor says, in _The Flowers of Japan_, “Flower-viewing excursions, +together with such pastimes as shell-gathering, mushroom-picking, and +moon-viewing, form the favorite occupations of the holiday seeker +throughout the year,” and “Snow-viewing is included as one of the flower +festivals of the year.” + +One caution must be given to those looking to nature for color motives, +which is this: to make allowance for the modifications of form, +contrast, composition, gradation, and atmosphere which may deceive us as +to the true color of our object. It can be more truly judged by being +looked at through a card with an opening in it, which thus isolates it +from the adjoining colors. “We should be cautious in basing our +conclusions even on observations made directly from nature itself; for +here our judgment is liable to be warped by the presence of beautiful +form, good composition, exquisite gradation, and high luminosity.”[13] A +few plates made directly from nature are given, not for the sake of the +imitation, but to suggest some of the many directions in which to look +for fresh inspiration in color-designing. + +Students in art and science are constantly bidden to go to nature for +the abundant secrets she is ready to reveal to those who seek and prize +them, and why should not workers in simpler, if not lower, occupations, +be sent to the same source, which is so bountiful as to contain +something for every one, and so, profiting by her fulness, learn at the +same time to find contentment and joy in their work? + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS + + +After having carried the study of color as far as the limits of our plan +allow, a few simple, practical suggestions may not come amiss. + +Students of painting and design will find Rood’s many experiments with +colors in his _Modern Chromatics_ minute and valuable, especially those +on the effects of mixing paints and their consequent loss of luminosity. +If their time for the scientific study of color be limited, _Colour_, by +Church, is well adapted for their purpose, being small, clear, and +admirably illustrated. It gives briefly the gist of what has been +written heretofore on the subject. + +Burnet, in _Colour in Painting_, is helpful on the artistic side. He +says, “Harmony arising from the reflection of one color upon the +adjoining, so as to produce a blending and union of the several hues, +has been practised with the greatest success by many of the Dutch +school, producing a chain of connections between the two extremes of hot +and cold.” + +As to materials for painting, Church’s _Chemistry of Paints and +Painting_ gives much useful information as to their substance, +permanence, adulteration, and effect upon one another. Recollecting, as +we do from experiments with Maxwell’s disks, that neutral colors are +simply any one of the six colors diluted or changed by black or white, +or black and white, or other colors, it is interesting to know that an +ingeniously illustrated book, published in Paris by E. Guichard, _La +Grammaire de la Couleur_, gives abundant examples of neutral colors, and +printed beside them samples of the colors of which they are made. The +author suggests that in embroidery any of these combinations can be made +by twisting together threads of each of the colors required to make the +neutral color, as by Plates CXVI and CXVII. + +In the matter of the choice of draperies and any kind of still life to +be used to paint from, one of our leading artists advised his pupils +generally to select _old_ things as being usually finer than new ones, +because age mellows and refines colors; and also that objects of _one +country_ harmonize better with each other than those of different +countries, and those of _one period_ of _one country_ still better. + +Florists, gardeners, and fruit-dealers will find a large part of +Chevreul’s book devoted to color as applied to horticulture, with notes +of his experiments in the arrangement of plants and flowers. + +While other nations love flowers and use and cultivate them, the +Japanese, along with their great skill in growing them, have elaborated +an art of arranging them, of which art a full and clear account, +admirably illustrated, is given in _The Flowers of Japan, and the Art of +Floral Arrangement_, a recent work published in Tokio. Many features of +this art are very attractive, and much can be learned from them even if +we do not wish to carry it to the same extent of form and ceremony. They +make much of common flowers, and while our admiration is mainly given to +the blossoms, they value every part of the plant, using stem, leaf, and +bud in their arrangements so as to display each to advantage, with the +flower as the crowning beauty of the whole. The author writes, “The +arrangement of flowers has always been regarded in Japan as an +occupation befitting learned men and literati. Ladies of the aristocracy +have practised it, as they have other arts, but it is by no means +considered as an effeminate accomplishment. Priests, philosophers, and +men of rank who have retired from public life have been its most +enthusiastic followers. Various virtues are attributed to professors of +the art, who are considered to belong to a sort of aristocracy of +talent, enjoying privileges of rank and precedence in society to which +they are not by birth entitled. A religious spirit, selfdenial, +gentleness, and forgetfulness of cares are some of the virtues said to +follow from a habitual practice of the art of arrangement of +flowers.”[14] + +The fact that flowers usually make a focus wherever they may be +placed,—on a table, in a room, or in a landscape,—on account of their +comparative purity and luminosity of color, increases their beauty and +shows the skill of the person who arranges them, but there is also a +corresponding disadvantage that if discord there be, the arrangement is +all the more prominent, the eye being called to it immediately. + +While we speak of the “comparative purity and luminosity” of colors we +may at the same time quote from one of a series of interesting articles +by F. Schuyler Matthews:[15] + +“Even our anxiety to obtain definite names for definite colors is +completely overshadowed by the stronger wish to understand the secret of +their harmonious relationship. + +“Now let us try to discover if we can some small portion of this secret. +Why is it that nature nearly always puts yellow stamens in her white +flowers? Why is it that nearly all of her white flowers are _not_ a +colorless pure white? Why is it difficult for us to find a positively +blue or positively yellow flower? What is the reason that there is such +a multitude, such an infinity of color tones in the flowers, on the +earth, over the sea, in the sky, everywhere? What a perplexing, +changeable, evasive thing the whole world of color is! What is the +reason of it all? Simply this: Nature abhors the commonplace—she +despises crude red, yellow, and blue. Variety she _will_ have; harmony +she insists upon; positivism she only employs to emphasize her love of +the infinite. Thus we have one rather questionably perfect yellow +marigold and a dozen others which have more orange in them than yellow; +one scarlet-lake colored gladiolus and an infinity of red roses, which +cannot be called anything which is an approach to the pure red color +which scarlet-lake nearest resembles. We have the forget-me-not, which +is nearly a true blue, but we have a host of so-called blue flowers, +every one of which has barely fifty per cent. of the true sky blue in +its composition.” + +It seems as though in the face of these facts it would be hardly +possible to designate any special flowers which possess the prismatic +colors in an absolutely pure form. + +The rules for making harmonies can be made to apply to the arrangements +of gardens, shop windows, bouquets and other decorations, as well as to +the catalogues of florists, etc. A recently issued catalogue strikes a +true color chord in its cover. It shows a bunch of sweet peas and leaves +of agreeable colors well balanced by the background of pale neutralized +green, thus making a true and tempting harmony to lovers of flowers and +color. + +Salesmen and women would be helped in their line of work by studying +particularly the qualities of colors, and the effect on them of +different kinds of artificial light. Knowledge of the contrasts of color +will help greatly in showing goods to advantage, as one color may be +made to heighten the color of another, and counters and shop windows may +be well arranged according to the rules given for different classes of +harmonies. + +Women in their dress, embroidery, and house decorations have immense +opportunities; no art is finer or higher for a woman however placed than +that of being a harmonious whole herself, and of making or adding to a +harmonious home, in which the unconscious influence of good color holds +a large share. To do this it must not be thought that much money is +necessary; it adds, of course, to the ability of choice among fine +goods, but cheap materials of good colors wisely combined may produce a +far happier, we may even say healthier, result, than an unlimited purse +without knowledge and taste. This is difficult to overestimate. No woman +has a right to say she has no influence, conscious or unconscious, on +the world around her. Does not much of the influence for good or ill +come from a woman’s dress? It may be cheap, it may be plain, but it +should be, and can be, in good taste and in harmony with the character +and position of the person who wears it, and knowledge of one’s own +coloring and of that suited to it is one of the most important details. + +Women in their dress, milliners and dressmakers, would do well to +realize that a dress or bonnet may be good in color in itself, when it +is a whole, but when worn it becomes only part of a whole and will be +harmonious and becoming, or inharmonious and unbecoming, as it does, or +does not, suit the coloring of the wearer. To wear anything simply +because it is beautiful is unwise; it should first of all be suitable. +Study of the law of contrast of color will here help immensely. + +For instance, according to that law, red and yellow next to each other +make the yellow seem more yellow, the red more red, so if a woman with a +sallow, colorless complexion wears pink roses or pink ribbons, the +yellow in her skin is intensified and the small amount of pink in her +cheeks is lost. As blue is the complement of yellow, a bright blue will +have a still worse effect, but let her try a shade of not too intense +yellow; the skin will seem to lose _its_ yellow, and whatever pink there +may be will be brought out by the contrast. So other peculiarities may +be softened or increased by contrast or harmony of color. White hair is +made to seem whiter by the contrast of black or a very dark color; black +hair and rosy cheeks are made more brilliant by a white surrounding; +delicate blonde coloring will be made insipid and colorless by too +strong colors, and a plain face may be made attractive by surrounding it +with harmonizing coloring. + + + + + APPENDICES + + + + + APPENDIX A + DEFINITIONS + + ABSOLUTE COLORS: _see_ Local Colors. + + ADVANCING COLORS: those of the longer wave lengths; those that seem to + come forward; but each color only advances or recedes according to + its relation to some other color. _See_ Luminosity. + + ANALOGOUS HARMONY: _see_ Harmony. + + BEAM OF LIGHT: a linear portion[16] of light made of a number of rays. + + BRIGHTNESS: _see_ Luminosity. + + BROKEN COLOR: a color changed by the addition of black and white or + gray. + + COLD COLORS: those of the shorter wave lengths, such as green, blue, + and violet. + + COLOR: an internal sensation, produced by various causes, chiefly by + waves of incomplete light acting on the eye; as used by artists, + the rich, harmonious effect, or full appearance produced by + certain combinations of colors. + + COLOR CHART: a systematic arrangement of colors in a geometrical + design such that every variation and combination of hue, tint, and + shade is in its proper place and in correct relation to all other + hues, tints, and shades. + + _Advancing_ _Colors_, see under Advancing; + _Bright_ „ „ „ Brightness; + _Broken_ „ „ „ Broken; + _Cold_ „ „ „ Cold; + _Complementary_ „ „ „ Complement; + _Complements of_ „ „ „ „ + _Constants of_ „ „ „ Constants; + _Contrast of_ „ „ „ Contrast; + _Harmony of_ „ „ „ Harmony; + _Hue of_ „ „ „ Hue; + _Intense_ „ „ „ Saturated; + _Local_ „ „ „ Local; + _Luminosity of_ „ „ „ Brightness; + _Luminous_ „ „ „ Luminous; + _Neutral_ „ „ „ Neutral; + _Normal_ „ „ „ Normal; + _Opaque_ „ „ „ Opaque; + _Pigment_ „ „ „ Pigment; + _Primary_ „ „ „ Primary; + _Prismatic_ „ „ „ Prismatic; + _Pure_ „ „ „ Pure; + _Quality of_ „ „ „ Constants; + _Saturated_ „ „ „ Saturated; + _Secondary_ „ „ „ Secondary; + _Spectral_ „ „ „ Normal; + _Tertiary_ „ „ „ see under Tertiary; + _Transparent_ „ „ „ Transparent; + _Value of_ „ „ „ Values; + _Warm_ „ „ „ Warm. + + COMPLEMENTS or + + COMPLEMENTARY COLORS: any color and the color of its after-image; any + two colors which when mixed make white. + + COMPOUND or MIXED COLOR: a color changed or neutralized by the + addition of another color or colors. + + CONSTANTS or QUALITIES OF COLORS: Hue, Purity, and Luminosity. + + CONTRAST: _see_ Simultaneous Contrast, page 53. + + CONTRASTED HARMONY: _see_ Harmony. + + DIFFRACTION GRATING: a polished metal or brass surface ruled with fine + lines and used instead of a prism to divide a ray of light and + produce a spectrum. + + DOMINANT HARMONY: _see_ Harmony. + + DOMINANT HUE: _see_ Hue. + + HARMONY: the pleasing effect due to the action upon each other of + colors improved and made more beautiful by being put together; + such an agreement between the different hues, tints, or shades of + a design as will produce unity of effect. + + _Analogous Harmony_: an agreeable combination of colors that are + related to a fundamental color. + + _Complex Harmony_: an agreeable combination of three or more + colors, or with the addition of black or white, or gray, or + gold, or silver, or any or all of them. + + _Contrasted or Complementary Harmony_: an agreeable combination + of any pair of complementary colors, or of their tints or + shades, or tints and shades. + + _Dominant Harmony_: an agreeable combination of colors in which + one color predominates by modifying all the other colors, by + serving as a ground, or by being added in small portions all + over the design. + + _One-color Harmony, also called a Harmony of Self-tones_: an + agreeable combination of one color used in tints or shades, or + tints and shades, or hue and tints, or hue and shades, or hue, + tints, and shades. + + HUE: color, by wave length, much the same as color; the chief + quality by which one color differs from another color, as red + differs from blue or green. + + _Dominant Hue_: the hue which predominates through the larger + part of a design or composition. + + INTENSE: _see_ Saturated. + + LIGHT: the chief agent that produces vision. + + LOCAL COLOR: the actual color of an object unaffected by shadows + or reflected lights. + + LUMINOSITY: the strength of the light sent to the eye by any + color; a luminous color sends more than a non-luminous one. + + LUMINOUS COLORS: those which reflect light in large quantities; + the colors of the long wave lengths are more luminous than those + of the short ones. + + NEUTRAL COLORS: a term often incorrectly applied to black, white, + gray, gold, and silver. + + NORMAL, SPECTRAL, PRIMITIVE, or PRISMATIC COLORS: those seen in + the rainbow and the solar spectrum are generally accepted as such + and are used as the standard for the study of colors. Pigment + colors can only imitate these colors imperfectly. + + OIL COLORS: pigments ground in oil. + + OPAQUE COLORS: pigment colors which are so thick that paper or + canvas cannot be seen through them. + + PIGMENTS: materials from which paints, inks, dyes, and stains are + made. + + PIGMENT COLORS: paints, inks, dyes, and stains used in the fine + and industrial arts. + + PRIMARY COLORS: red, blue, and yellow; so called because it was + supposed that all other colors could be made from them. + + PRIMITIVE COLORS: _see_ Normal Colors. + + PRISM: a triangular or three-sided bar of clear glass. + + PRISMATIC COLORS: those that appear when a ray of white light + shines through a prism. _See_ Normal Colors. + + PURE COLORS: those unmixed with white light or any other color; + those of the spectrum. + + PURITY OF COLORS: the absence of an admixture of any other color + or colors, or white or black. + + QUALITIES OF COLORS: _see_ Constants of Colors. + + RAY OF LIGHT: a small linear portion or streak of light which may + be white or any color. + + RECEDING COLORS: those which seem to retire or recede from the + eye; those of the short wave lengths. + + RETINA: a thin inner lining of the eye. _See_ page 20. + + SATURATED or INTENSE COLORS: colors that are pure and luminous to + their greatest extent; without any mixture of white light. + + SECONDARY COLORS: orange, green, and violet; so called because it + has been thought they were made from combinations of the primary + colors. + + SELF-TONES: _see_ Tone. + + SHADE: a tone of a color darkened by the addition of black + pigments to paints, inks, dyes, and stains, or by the action of + diminished light on immaterial colors. + + SHADOW: about the same as _shade_, as generally used, but for the + sake of clearness it is best to designate by _shadow_ those parts + of an object which do not receive any direct rays of light, while + those surfaces which receive but little direct light, and are thus + intermediate in value between the light and the shadow, are called + _shade surfaces._ Then the term _cast-shadow_ denotes the shadow + projected by one body on another body or surface. + + SOLAR SPECTRUM: _see_ Spectrum. + + SPECTRAL COLORS: _see_ Normal Colors. + + SPECTRUM: the result of the decomposition of a ray of sunlight + into all the colors which form it; the streak of colors formed by + a ray of light that has passed through a prism or over a + Diffraction Grating. + + STANDARD COLORS: those of the spectrum. + + TERTIARY COLORS: citrine, olive, and russet, so called because it + has been thought that they were made from combinations of the + secondary colors. + + TINT: a tone of a color produced by the addition of white to oil, + water to water, and white light to immaterial colors. + + TONE: the given state of a color as it may be pure, luminous, + broken, compound, a tint, or a shade. + + _Self-tones_: tones of the same color. + + TRANSPARENT COLORS: those in which the color tints the paper or + canvas, which shows through the color, thus helping to produce the + effect. + + VALUES: the relative amount of light contained in the different + colors of a picture, design, or composition; the lightest or most + luminous being called the highest in value. + + WARM COLORS: those of the longer wave lengths, as yellow, orange, + and red. + + WATER COLORS: pigments prepared to be used with water. + + WAVE LENGTHS OF COLORS: objects having no color in themselves + possess the power of reflecting waves of light; waves of light of + varying lengths give us the effect of color. Either the amount of + motion of the ether, or _height_ of the wave, produces the + intensity or brightness of the light, and the _length_ of the wave + produces the color; _red_ has a wave length of about + 7000/250,000,000 of an inch, _orange_ 5979/250,000,000, _yellow_ + 5802/250,000,000, _green_ 5272/250,000,000, _blue_ + 4732/250,000,000, and _violet_ 4059/250,000,000. + + + + + APPENDIX B + + +As whatever may be of value in this little work on a theme so large and +complex as color must of necessity be drawn largely from what has been +written before, the following list of books and authors is given, partly +as having been referred to during its preparation, and partly as a +suggestion for further reading to any student of color who can afford +the time and labor necessary to the acquisition of a larger and wider +comprehension of a subject which can be treated only scantily enough +within the scope of a single small volume. + +Although no pretence is here made to completeness as bibliography, yet +it is believed that the fifty works enumerated below fairly cover the +history of color and of its ever-growing relation to Art and +Manufacture. For the sake of convenience the list is chronologically +arranged. + + A TREATISE ON PAINTING. By Leonardo da Vinci. (London, 1835: Nichols & + Sons.) (Translation.) + + COLOUR. By M. E. Chevreul. (London, 1839: Geo. Bell & Sons.) + (Translation.) + + THEORY OF COLOUR. By J. W. von Goethe. (London, 1840: J. Murray.) + (Translation, with notes, by Sir Chas. Eastlake.) + + RUDIMENTS OF THE PAINTER’S ART; OR A GRAMMAR OF COLOURING. By George + Field. (London, 1850: Weale.) + + DARSTELLUNG DER FARBENLEHRE UND OPTISCHE STUDIEN. By W. H. Dove. + (Berlin, 1853.) + + RESEARCHES ON COLOUR-BLINDNESS. By G. Wilson. (Edinb., 1855: + Sutherland & Knox.) + + GRAMMAR OF ORNAMENT. By Owen Jones. (London, 1856.) + + ON COLOUR (ETC.). By Sir J. S. Wilkinson. (London, 1858: J. Murray.) + + DIE FARBENHARMONIE IN IHRER ANWENDUNG AUF DIE DAMENTOILETTE. By R. + Adams. (Leipzig, 1862: J. J. Weber.) + + PRACTICAL HINTS ON COLOUR IN PAINTING. By John Burnet. (London, 1865: + J. & J. Leighton.) + + DES COULEURS AU POINT DE VUE PHYSIQUE, PHYSIOLOGIQUE ARTISTIQUE ET + INDUSTRIEL. By Ernst Bruecke. (Paris, 1866: J. B. Baillière & + fils.) + + THE PRINCIPLES OF THE SCIENCE OF COLOUR. By William Benson. (London, + 1868: Chapman & Hall.) + + COLOR. By M. É. Cavé. (New York, 1869.) (Translation.) + + MANUAL OF THE SCIENCE OF COLOUR. By W. Benson. (London, 1871: Chapman + & Hall.) + + THE THEORY OF COLOURING. By J. Bacon. (London, 1872: G. Rowney & + Company.) + + L’ORNEMENT POLYCHROME. By A. Racinet. 2 vols. F^o. (Paris, 1873–86: + Firmin Didot.) + + A GRAMMAR OF COLOURING APPLIED TO DECORATIVE PAINTING AND THE ARTS. By + George Field. (London, 1875: Lockwood & Company.) + + THEORY OF COLOR. By Dr. Wilhelm von Bezold. (Boston, 1876: L. Prang & + Company.) (Translation.) + + DIE GESCHICHTLICHE ENTWICKELUNG DES FARBENSINNES. By Hugo Magnus. + (Leipzig, 1877: Veit.) + + THE PRINCIPLES OF LIGHT AND COLOR. By E. D. Babbitt. (New York, 1878: + Babbitt & Company.) + + COMPLÉMENT DES ÉTUDES SUR LA VISION DES COULEURS PAR E. CHEVREUL. By + M. E. Chevreul. (_In_ Institut de France. _Académie des + Sciences_—Memoires. T. 41, partie 2.) (Paris, 1879.) (English + translations exist.) + + MODERN CHROMATICS, WITH APPLICATION TO ART AND INDUSTRY. By O. N. + Rood. (New York, 1879: D. Appleton.) + + THE COLOUR SENSE: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. By Grant Allen. (London, + 1879: Trübner & Company.) + + COLOR-BLINDNESS. By B. Joy Jeffries. (London, 1879.) + + A HANDBOOK FOR PAINTERS AND ART STUDENTS ON THE CHARACTER AND USE OF + COLOURS. By W. J. Muckley. (London, 1880: T. & C. Baillière.) + + SIGHT; AN EXPOSITION OF MONOCULAR AND BINOCULAR VISION. By Joseph Le + Conte. (New York, 1881: D. Appleton & Company.) + + UNTERSUCHUNGEN ÜBER DEN FARBENCONTRAST VERMITTELST ROTIRENDER + SCHEIBEN. By G. B. T. Schmerler. (Leipzig, 1882: W. Engelmann.) + + LA GRAMMAIRE DE LA COULEUR. By E. Guichard. 3 vols. (Paris, 1882: H. + Cagnon.) + + DIE FARBENWELT. By Max Schasler. (Berlin, 1883: C. Habel.) + + THE LAWS OF CONTRAST OF COLOUR AND THEIR APPLICATION TO THE ARTS AND + MANUFACTURES. By M. E. Chevreul. (London, 1883: Routledge.) + (Translation.) + + COLOUR. By A. H. Church. (London, 1887: Cassell & Company.) + + IL LIBRO DEI COLORI. SEGRETI DEL SECOLO XV. Da O. Guerrini & C. Ricci. + (Bologna, 1887: Romagnoli Dall’ Acqua.) + + COLOUR, AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE. By C. T. Whitmell. (Cardiff, 1888: W. + Lewis.) + + F. C. SCHROEDER’S “SYSTEMATIC INDEX.” By F. C. Schroeder. (Boston, + 1888: F. C. Schroeder.) + + IRIS: STUDIES IN COLOUR AND TALKS ABOUT FLOWERS. By A. F. Dielitzsch. + (Edinburgh, 1889: T. & T. Clark.) (Translation.) + + RÉPERTOIRE CHROMATIQUE. By Charles La Couture. (Paris, 1890: Gauthier, + Villars & Fils.) + + THE CHEMISTRY OF PAINTS AND PAINTING. By A. H. Church. (London, 1890: + Seeley & Company.) + + COLOUR IN WOVEN DESIGN. By R. Beaumont. (London, 1890: Whittaker & + Company.) + + COLOUR-BLINDNESS AND COLOUR-PERCEPTION. By F. W. Edridge Green. + (London, 1891: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Company.) + + A TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY. By M. Foster. (London, 1891: Macmillan & + Company.) + + FLOWERS OF JAPAN AND THE ART OF FLORAL ARRANGEMENT. By Condor. + (Yokohama, 1891: Kelly & Walsh.) + + COLOUR MEASUREMENT AND MIXTURE. By W. de W. Abney. (London, 1891.) + + HARMONIOUS COLOURING. 3 vols. F^o. By C. H. Wilkinson. (Manchester, + 1891: Harmonious Colouring Company.) + + COLOUR VISION. By E. Hunt. (Glasgow, 1892: Smith.) + + ON A COLOR SYSTEM. By O. N. Rood. (New Haven, 1892.) + + STUDENTS’ TEXT-BOOK OF COLOR; OR, MODERN CHROMATICS. By O. N. Rood. + (New York, 1892: D. Appleton & Company.) + + COLOUR VISION. By W. de W. Abney. (London, 1895; Low.) + + COLOR-VISION AND COLOR-BLINDNESS. By J. E. Jennings. (Phila., 1896: + Davis Company.) + + COLOUR IN NATURE. A STUDY IN BIOLOGY. By M. I. Newbegin. (London, + 1898: J. Murray.) + +[Illustration: + + PLATE I + + WOOLS AS SORTED BY A COLOR-BLIND MAN +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE II + + SOLAR SPECTRA +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE III +] + + TABLE OF SPECTRAL COLORS + ┌──────┬───────────────┬──────┬────────────────────┬──────────┬───────┐ + │Names │Paints used │ Wave│Purity │Luminosity│Warm or│ + │ │ │length│ │ │Cold │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Violet│French Blue and│ 4.059│As great as can be │ 6 │Cold │ + │ │Crimson Lake │ │given by pigments │ │ │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Blue │French Blue │ 4.732│ „ │ 5 │Cold │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Green │Emerald Green │ 5.271│ „ │ 3 │Cold │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Yellow│Aurora Yellow │ 5.808│ „ │ 1 │Warm │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Orange│Vermilion and │ 5.972│ „ │ 2 │Warm │ + │ │Cadmium │ │ │ │ │ + ├──────┼───────────────┼──────┼────────────────────┼──────────┼───────┤ + │Red │Vermilion and │ 7.000│ „ │ 4 │Warm │ + │ │Crimson Lake │ │ │ │ │ + └──────┴───────────────┴──────┴────────────────────┴──────────┴───────┘ + +[Illustration: + + PLATE IV + + THE SPECTRAL COLORS +] + + (a) In their order of Luminosity + + (b) Pure and Grayed + +[Illustration: + + PLATE V + + ADVANCING AND RETIRING COLORS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE VI + + ADVANCING AND RETIRING COLORS + + See page 99. The color screens at end of volume are for use with this + plate. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE VII + + TINTS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE VIII + + SHADES +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE IX + + VIOLET + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE X + + BLUE + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XI + + GREEN + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XII + + YELLOW + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XIII + + ORANGE + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XIV + + RED + + with its extremes +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XV + + SHADES BY CONTRAST +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XVI + + SPECTRAL COLORS + ON BLACK, WHITE AND GRAY +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XVII + + WHITE + ON SPECTRAL COLORS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XVIII + + BLACK + ON SPECTRAL COLORS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XIX + + GRAY + ON SPECTRAL COLORS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XX + + SPECTRAL RED WITH ITS COMPLEMENT + + N. B. The blue-green complementary is here imitated as closely as + possible, but when spontaneously called up by the eye it is really + brighter than the white paper. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXI + + SPECTRAL RED DISK FOR EXPERIMENT IN COMPLEMENTS + + Gaze steadily at the red disk for three minutes, cover it quickly with + the preceding blank page without removing the eyes and you will see + its complementary image. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXII + + SPECTRAL RED AND ITS COMPLEMENT, BLUE-GREEN, IN THEIR RELATIVE + PROPORTIONS + + The gray in the centre of this Plate is the gray produced by the above + two complements when mixed on a color wheel, and corresponds exactly + to the gray produced by the given amounts of black and white. + + (N. B. The above proportions were obtained in an average light. They + will vary with all variations in the quality and quantity of the + illumination. This applies as well to the following four Plates.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXIII + + SPECTRAL ORANGE AND ITS COMPLEMENT, GREEN-BLUE, IN THEIR RELATIVE + PROPORTIONS + + The gray in the centre of this Plate is the gray produced by the above + two complements when mixed on a color wheel, and corresponds exactly + to the gray produced by the given amounts of black and white. + + (N. B. The above proportions were obtained in an average light. They + will vary with all variations in the quality and quantity of the + illumination.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXIV + + SPECTRAL YELLOW AND ITS COMPLEMENT, SPECTRAL BLUE, + + OR + + SPECTRAL BLUE AND ITS COMPLEMENT, SPECTRAL YELLOW, IN THEIR RELATIVE + PROPORTIONS + + The gray in the centre of this Plate is the gray produced by the above + two complements when mixed on a color wheel, and corresponds exactly + to the gray produced by the given amounts of black and white. + + (N. B. The above proportions were obtained in an average light. They + will vary with all variations in the quality and quantity of the + illumination.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXV + + SPECTRAL GREEN AND ITS COMPLEMENT, PURPLE, IN THEIR RELATIVE + PROPORTIONS. + + The gray in the centre of this plate is the gray produced by the above + two complements when mixed on a color wheel, and corresponds exactly + to the gray produced by the given amounts of black and white. + + (N. B. The above proportions were obtained in an average light. They + will vary with all variations in the quality and quantity of the + illumination.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXVI + + SPECTRAL VIOLET AND ITS COMPLEMENT, YELLOW-GREEN, IN THEIR RELATIVE + PROPORTIONS + + The gray in the centre of this plate is the gray produced by the above + two complements when mixed on a color wheel, and corresponds exactly + to the gray produced by the given amounts of black and white. + + (N. B. The above proportions were obtained in an average light. They + will vary with all variations in the quality and quantity of the + illumination.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXVII + + MILTON-BRADLEY COLOR MACHINE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXVIII + + TABLE OF COMPLEMENTS ARRANGED IN + PAIRS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXIX + + TABLE OF COMPLEMENTS ARRANGED IN A + CIRCLE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXX + + CONTRAST DIAGRAM + + See page 58. Transparency accompanying the volume is + for use with this plate. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXI + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A PRIZE DINNER + TABLE + + A harmony of yellow and blue. + + See page 70. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM TEACUP AND SAUCER + Yellow Tint 65 + Yellow Shade 5 + Blue Tint 20 + Spectral Blue 10 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXIII +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXIV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS OF A BOOK ADVERTISEMENT + White 60 + Black 22 + Yellow 18 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXV + + HARMONY HELPED BY OUTLINE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXVI + + GOOD DYADS OR PAIRS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXVII + + GOOD TRIADS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXVIII + + HARMONY BY GRADATION +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XXXIX + + HARMONY BY CHANGE OF QUALITY + + (In the yellow.) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XL + + HARMONY BY CHANGE OF QUANTITY +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLI + + HARMONY BY CHANGE OF BOTH QUANTITY AND QUALITY + + Three yellows, two blues. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLII + + HARMONY BY THE ADDITION OF + ANOTHER COLOR +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLIII + + HARMONY BY THE ADDITION OF BLACK +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLIV + + HARMONY FROM A DOMINANT HUE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLV + + HARMONY BY INTERCHANGE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLVI + + HARMONY BY COUNTERCHANGE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLVII + + THE TRUE CHARACTER OF SOME OF THE SO-CALLED “WHITES” + + (which are really pale tints) +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLVIII + + SOME CHANGES BY GRADATION FROM ONE COLOR TO ANOTHER +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XLIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ASSYRIAN TILES + Blue-Green Ground 60 + Greenish Yellow 3 + Orange 6 + Purple-Brown 6 + White 20 + ——— + 100 + The variation of color in the blue-green tiles is especially fine. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE L +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ASSYRIAN TILES + Blue 35 + Yellow 30 + White 15 + Dull Red 10 + Black 10 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ASSYRIAN TILES + Blue 69 + Deep Yellow 20 + Light Yellow 10 + White 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY COVER + Pale Yellow 34 + Green 27 + Blue 25 + Red 6 + Gold 4 + Black 2 + White 2 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN EGYPTIAN MUMMY CASE + Black Ground 63 + Yellow (all through design) 17 + Green 9 + Red 4 + Light Red 3 + Blue 3 + White 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LIV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CASE + Green 36 + Blue-Green 24 + Yellow 14 + Red 11 + White 10 + Dull Red 3 + Black 2 + ——— + 100 + Much like a parrot’s plumage. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Purple Red 91 + Black 5 + Pale Gray 4 + ——— + 100 + Dull yellow ground. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LVI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Dull Green 29 + Bright Green 10 + Red 10 + Blue 5 + Orange 4 + Yellow 2 + Ground Color 40 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LVII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Deep, Dull Blue 50 + Gray 43 + Green 3 + Dull Red 2 + Pale Red 1 + Yellow 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LVIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Light Blue 32 + Dark Blue 17 + Light Red 33 + Dark Red 12 + Black Stems 5 + ——— + 100 + Gray ground; the ornament a stripe of embroidered leaves and stems. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Red 25 + Green 25 + Yellow 25 + Blue 25 + ——— + 100 + Gray ground. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Red 50 + Green 24 + Blue 20 + Orange 6 + ——— + 100 + Light gray ground. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A MUMMY CLOTH + Maroon 92 + Dull Yellow 5 + Cream White 3 + ——— + 100 + Green linen ground with red border. Cream and yellow runs through + design in small portions. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN EARLY GREEK VASE + Gray 72 + Black 21 + Dull Red 7 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A GREEK VASE + Light Red 35 + Dark Red 19 + Black 45 + White 1 + ——— + 100 + The Ground partly red, partly black, white in fine outlines or small + dotted outlines. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXIV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A GREEK VASE + Dull Orange 60 + Dull Red 10 + Black 30 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A GREEK VASE + Gray Ground 71 + Black 24 + Red 5 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXVI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ARAB MOSAICS + Black 33 + White 26 + Light Red 21 + Dull Red 20 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXVII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ARABIAN ILLUMINATION + Blue 20 + Green 20 + Red 20 + Pale Red 10 + Gray 8 + Gold 10 + White 12 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXVIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM MOORISH TILES + Olive-Green 30 + White 20 + Yellow 20 + Violet 30 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A PANEL OF THE ALHAMBRA + Blue 40 + Red 30 + Gold 24 + White 6 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A PANEL OF THE TAJ MAHAL, INDIA + White Ground 52 + Pale Yellow 10 + Deep Yellow 7 + Red 5 + Pale Green 10 + Medium Green 5 + Dark Green 5 + Black 3 + Pale Pink 3 + ——— + 100 + Lilies and leaves on white ground. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM DAMASCUS TILES + Pale Yellow Ground 40 + Deep Cool Blue 25 + Light Blue 20 + Green 13 + Brown 2 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM CELTIC ORNAMENT + Green 50 + Red 18 + Yellow 17 + Black 7 + White 8 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM ITALIAN MAJOLICA VASE + White Ground 38 + Deep Blue 34 + Yellow 16 + Dark Yellow 6 + Green 6 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXIV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM PANEL OF DUTCH INLAID CABINET OF THE 15TH CENTURY + Brown Wood 58 + Light „ 19 + Yellow „ 5 + Green „ 15 + Dull Red „ 2 + Black „ 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM SPANISH EMBROIDERY + Black Ground 50 + Yellow Design 40 + Red in Design 10 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXVI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM SPANISH EMBROIDERY + A harmony of contrast. + Blue Ground 45 + Dark Neutral Yellow 30 + Pale Yellow 20 + Gold 5 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXVII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE PERSIAN RUG + Old Rose 55 + Old Yellow 40 + Black 5 + ——— + 100 + The black was used in fine outlines between the rose and + yellow to harmonize them. + + The following eight examples have had their harmony greatly increased + by time which has toned their colors. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXVIII +] + + ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Old Yellow 70 + Old Rose 15 + Green-Blue 9 + Black 6 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Pale Green Tint Ground 50 + Yellow-Pink 15 + Yellow 13 + Blue 10 + Black 7 + White 5 + ——— + 100 + Black used in fine lines. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Camel’s-Hair Gray 50 + Cool Blue Tint 20 + Green 20 + Yellow 10 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Green-Blue Ground 50 + Red Tint 25 + Yellow 25 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Blue Shade 50 + Yellow Shade 25 + Red 15 + Light Blue Tint 10 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM AN ANTIQUE RUG + Neutral Red 65 + Cold Blue 20 + Silver 15 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXIV + + THE COLOR SCHEME OF AN ANTIQUE RUG + FROM WHICH PLATE LXXXV IS AN + ANALYSIS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXV +] + + ANALYSIS OF AN ANTIQUE RUG + (See Plate LXXXIV) + Dull Blue Shade 62 + Dull Yellow Shade 38 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXVI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM JAPANESE SILK TAPESTRY + Old Gold Ground 77.5 + Blue 8 + Brown 5 + Light Brown 1 + Gray 1 + Dark Green 1 + Light Green 1 + Gray-Green 1 + Dull Red 1 + Light Red .5 + Gold 2 + White 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXVII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM JAPANESE SILK TAPESTRY + Gray Ground 64 + Dark Blue 8 + Light Blue 7 + Gray-Blue 10 + Brown 10 + Green 1 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXVIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM JAPANESE SILK BROCADE + Yellow-Gray Ground 60 + Blue-Gray Leaves 15 + White Daisies 16 + Pink Tips to Daisies 5 + Gold Veins to Leaves and Centres to Daisies 4 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE LXXXIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM BORDER OF JAPANESE CLOISONNÉ VASE, Pl. XC + Greenish White 66 + Blue 34 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XC +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM JAPANESE CLOISONNÉ VASE + Green-Blue Ground 43 + Dark Blue 14 + Black 7 + Red 9 + Yellow 5 + Violet 4 + White 4 + Light Red 3 + Lightest Red 3 + Greenish Blue 3 + Green 2 + Gray 1 + Brass 2 + ——— + 100 + The fine brass outlines add much to the harmony. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A JAPANESE SKIRT PANEL + + BORDER + White Ground 23 + Black 11 + Gold Edge 2 + Purple-Blue 4 + Dull Gold 6 + Dull Pink 4 + + CENTRE + Green Ground 26 + Shades of Red 11 + Yellow 2 + Blue 2 + Greens 4 + Lavender 1 + Gold Edge 1 + Black 1 + Orange 2 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM JAPANESE BROCADE + Brown 50 + Red 10 + Dark Blue 8 + Dark Green 8 + Light Blue 7 + Light Green 7 + Light Brown 5 + White 5 + ——— + 100 + Fine example of a harmony of a dominant hue. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM CHINESE PORCELAIN + Deep Lapis Lazuli Blue Ground 50 + Turquoise Blue 29 + Ochre Yellow 12 + Violet 9 + ——— + 100 + Plates XCIII to XCVII inclusive are from Chinese porcelain, the colors + having remained brilliant. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCIV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A “BLACK HAWTHORN VASE” + Black Ground 30 + Green-White Flowers 26 + Green Leaves 20 + Yellow-Green Leaves 10 + Brown Stems 3 + Pale Red Flowers 5 + Yellow „ 6 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCV +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A ROSE-COLORED VASE + Rose Ground 50 + White Panel 23 + Blue-Green 10 + Yellow-Green 3 + Yellow 7 + Deep Pink 5 + Blue 2 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCVI +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM YELLOW CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE + Yellow Ground 44 + Light Green Leaves 23 + Dark Green „ 8 + Cream White Flowers 16 + Brown Stems 9 + ——— + 100 + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCVII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A CHINESE “EGGSHELL” PLATE + Blue 18 + Yellow 18 + White 18 + Green 18 + Pink 18 + Dark Pink 3 + Dark Green 3 + Black 2 + Gold 2 + ——— + 100 + Pale tints with delicate decoration in strong tones. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCVIII +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A BUTTERFLY + Dark Yellow Shade 30 + Medium Yellow 25 + Light Yellow 20 + Silver 15 + Black 10 + ——— + 100 + The black was well placed to contrast with the light tones, the silver + to contrast with the dark tone. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE XCIX +] + + COLOR ANALYSIS FROM A STONE + Pale Gray-Green 40 + Gray-Green 35 + Pale Red 25 + ——— + 100 + Ground, pale green. + +[Illustration: + + PLATE C + + COLOR NOTE FROM AN OLD AND PARTLY + DISCOLORED PROPELLER FLANGE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CI + + COLOR NOTE FROM LEAVES ON A TREE + + The sun glancing across the smooth leaves makes a cool gray, and + shining through them makes a warm green. + The shaded leaves are a deep green. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CII + + COLOR NOTE FROM A SUNSET SKY +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CIII + + COLOR NOTE FROM BARE WOODS ON THE + EDGE OF A MEADOW +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CIV + + COLOR NOTE FROM EVERGREENS AGAINST + A GRAY-BLUE RAIN CLOUD +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CV + + COLOR NOTE FROM A SHADOW ON + WHITE GROUND +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CVI + + COLOR NOTE FROM A BLUEBIRD + + A harmony of cobalt and light red. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CVII + + COLOR NOTE FROM A SLICE OF AN ORANGE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CVIII + + COLOR NOTE FROM ORANGE CANNA BLOSSOM + + with part of leaf +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CIX + + COLOR NOTE FROM A BUNCH OF AZALEAS +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CX + + COLOR NOTE FROM OAK LEAVES AGAINST + A DISTANT HILLSIDE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXI + + COLOR NOTE FROM OATS SEEN FROM THE + EDGE OF THE FIELD + + So the top was a mass of soft blue-gray-green, while the + stalks were highly colored. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXII + + COLOR NOTE FROM A PUSSY WILLOW +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXIII + + COLOR NOTE FROM A TROUT POND +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXIV + + COLOR NOTE FROM A TREE FUNGUS + + Texture like velvet. +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXV + + COLOR SCHEME FROM WINTER LANDSCAPE BETWEEN BALTIMORE AND WASHINGTON +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXVI + + SPECTRAL RED + NEUTRALIZED BY BLACK AND WHITE +] + +[Illustration: + + PLATE CXVII + + SPECTRAL YELLOW + NEUTRALIZED BY BLACK AND WHITE +] + +[Illustration: Circular color wheel diagram: a circle divided into 10 +wedge-shaped sectors by radiating lines from the center, labeled around +the rim (clockwise) Red-purple, Violet, Blue, Green-blue, Blue-green, +Green, Yellow-green, Yellow, Orange, and Red.] + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Church, _Colour_. + +Footnote 2: + + Rood, _Modern Chromatics_. + +Footnote 3: + + “Mind,” n.s., Vol. II. 1893. + +Footnote 4: + + The use of this suggestion as to colored glass is strongly urged by + the author, as it is a capital way of seeing how the world would look + were everything in it blue, or any other color. + +Footnote 5: + + _The Chemistry of Paints and Painting._ + +Footnote 6: + + Church. + +Footnote 7: + + Chevreul. + +Footnote 8: + + COLOUR. By A. H. Church. Ch. X., p. 116. + +Footnote 9: + + MODERN CHROMATICS. By Prof. O. N. Rood. Ch. XVI. + +Footnote 10: + + COLOUR. By A. H. Church. Ch. XI., p. 144. + +Footnote 11: + + F. Schuyler Matthews. + +Footnote 12: + + Lectures and Lessons on Art. F. W. Moody. P. 131. + +Footnote 13: + + Rood. + +Footnote 14: + + FLORAL ART OF JAPAN. By Condor. + +Footnote 15: + + In THE AMERICAN FLORIST. + +Footnote 16: + + NOTE.—“A streak of light.”—_Rood._ + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator, applicable to + individual characters (like 2^d) and even entire phrases (like + 1^{st}). + ● HTML alt text was added for images that didn’t have captions. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77736 *** |