COLOUR.
Having considered some of the chief principles involved in the
production of decorative design so far as "expression" goes, we come
to notice that constant adjunct of form which has ever played an
important part in all decorative schemes--namely, colour.
Form can exist independently of colour, but it never has had any
important development without the chromatic adjunct. From a
consideration of history, we should be led to conclude that form alone
is incapable of yielding such enrichments as satisfy; for no national
system of decoration has ever existed in the absence of colour. Mere
outline-form may be good, but it is not satisfying; mere light and
shade may be pleasing, but it is not all that we require. With form
our very nature seems to demand colour; and it is only when we get
well-proportioned forms which are graceful, or noble, or vigorous, in
combination with colours harmoniously arranged, that we are satisfied.
Possibly this feeling results from our contact with nature. The
flowers appear in a thousand hues, and the hills are of ever-varying
tints. What a barren world ours would appear, were the ground, the
hills, the trees and the flowers, the sky and the waters all of one
colour! Form we should have, and that in its richest variety; light
and shade we should have, with ever-varying intensity and change; but
colour would be gone. There would be no green to cheer, no blue to
soothe, no red to excite; and, indeed, there would be a deadness,
although the world be full of life, so appalling that we can scarcely
conceive of it, and cannot _feel_ it.
Colour alone seems to have greater charms than form alone. A sunset is
entrancing when the sky glows with radiant hues; the blue is almost
lost in red, the yellow is as a sea of transparent gold, and the whole
presents a variety and blending of tints which charm, and soothe, and
lull to reverie; and yet all form is indistinct and obscure. If so
charming when separate from form, what is colour when properly
combined with beautiful shapes? It is difficult, indeed, for many of
those for whom I write to answer this question, even by a mental
conception, save by reference to nature; for I could scarcely point to
a single building in England which would be in any way a satisfactory
illustration of what may be done by the combination of forms and
colours. There is a beauty in Art which we in England do not even know
of: it does not exist around us, it is little talked of, rarely
thought about, and never seen. A decorator is called in to beautify a
house, and yet not one in fifty of the so-called decorators know even
the first principles of their art, and would not believe were they
told of the power of the art which they employ. They place on the
walls a few sickly tints--so pale that their want of harmony is not
very apparent. The colours of the wall become the colours of the
cornice and of the doors, because they know not how to produce a
harmony of hues; and the result is a house which may be clean, but
which is in every other respect an offence against good taste. I do
not wonder that persons here in England do not care to have their
houses "decorated," nor do I wonder at their not appreciating the
"decorations" when they are done. Colour, lovely colour, of itself
would make our rooms charming.
There are few objects to which colour may not be applied, and many
articles which are now colourless might be coloured with advantage.
Our reasons for applying colour to objects are twofold, and here, in
fact, we see its true use. 1st. Colour lends to objects a new charm--a
charm which they would not possess if without it; and, 2nd, Colour
assists in the separation of objects and parts of objects, and thus
gives assistance to form. These, then, are the two objects of colour.
Mark, first, it is to bestow on objects a charm, such as they could
not have in its absence. In the hands of the man of knowledge it will
do so--it will make an object lovely or lovable, but the mere
application of colour will not do this. Colour may be so applied to
objects as to render them infinitely more ugly than they were without
it. I have seen many a bowl so coloured at our potteries as to be much
less satisfactory when coloured than when white--the colouring having
marred, rather than improved, its general effect. Here, again, it is
knowledge that we want. Knowledge will enable us to transmute base
materials into works of marvellous beauty, worth their weight in gold.
Knowledge, then, is the true philosopher's stone; for, we may almost
say, if possessed by the artist it does enable him to transmute the
baser metals into gold. But a little knowledge will not do this. In
order that we produce true beauty, we require much knowledge, and this
can only be got by constant and diligent labour, as I have before
said; but the end to be gained is worth the plodding toil. Believe me,
there is a pleasure in seeing your works develop as things of beauty,
delighting all who see them--not the illiterate only, but also the
educated thinker--such as words fail to express. Although there is no
royal road to art-power, and although the road is long, and lies
through much toil and many difficulties, yet as you proceed there is
pleasure in feeling that one obstacle after another is cleared from
your path, and at the end there is inexpressible satisfaction. The
second object of colour is that of assisting in the separation of
form. If objects are placed near to one another, and these objects are
all of the same colour, the beholder will have much more difficulty in
seeing the boundaries or terminations of each than he would were they
variously coloured; he would have to come nearer to them in order to
see the limits of each, were all coloured in the same manner, than he
would were they variously coloured; thus colour assists in the
separation of form. This quality which colour has of separating forms
is often lost sight of, and much confusion thereby results. If it is
worth while to produce a decorative form, it is worth while to render
it visible; and yet, how much ornament, and even good ornament, is
lost to the eye through not being rendered manifest by colour! Colour
is the means by which we render form apparent.
Colours, when placed together, can only please and satisfy the
educated when combined harmoniously, or according to the laws of
harmony. What, then, are the laws which govern the arrangement of
colours? and how are they to be applied? We shall endeavour to answer
these questions by making a series of statements in axiomatic form,
and then we shall enlarge upon these propositions.
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.
1. Regarded from an art point of view, there are but three
colours--_i.e._, blue, red, and yellow.
2. Blue, red, and yellow have been termed _primary_ colours; they
cannot be formed by the admixture of any other colours.
3. All colours, other than blue, red, and yellow, result from the
admixture of the primary colours.
4. By the admixture of blue and red, purple is formed; by the
admixture of red and yellow, orange is formed; and by the admixture of
yellow and blue, green is formed.
5. Colours resulting from the admixture of two primary colours are
termed _secondary_: hence purple, orange, and green are secondary
colours.
6. By the admixture of two secondary colours a _tertiary_ colour is
formed: thus, purple and orange produce russet (the red tertiary);
orange and green produce citrine (the yellow tertiary); and green and
purple, olive (the blue tertiary); russet, citrine, and olive are the
three tertiary colours.
CONTRAST.
7. When a light colour is juxtaposed to a dark colour, the light
colour appears lighter than it is, and the dark colour darker.[10]
[10] If a dark grey tint be mixed upon a white slab it will appear
dark in contrast with the white, but if a small portion of this same
grey is applied to black paper it will appear almost white.
8. When colours are juxtaposed, they become influenced as to their
hue. Thus, when red and green are placed side by side, the red appears
redder than it actually is, and the green greener; and when blue and
black are juxtaposed, the blue manifests but little alteration, while
the black assumes an orange tint or becomes "rusty."
9. No one colour can be viewed by the eye without another being
created. Thus, if red is viewed, the eye creates for itself green, and
this green is cast upon whatever is near. If it views green, red is
in like manner created and cast upon adjacent objects; thus, if red
and green are juxtaposed, each creates the other in the eye, and the
red created by the green is cast upon the red, and the green created
by the red is cast upon the green; and the red and the green become
improved by being juxtaposed. The eye also demands the presence of the
three primary colours, either in their purity or in combination and if
these are not present, whatever is deficient will be created in the
eye, and this induced colour will be cast upon whatever is near. Thus,
when we view blue, orange, which is a mixture of red and yellow, is
created in the eye, and this colour is cast upon whatever is near; if
black is in juxtaposition with the blue, this orange is cast upon it,
and gives to it an orange tint, thus causing it to look "rusty."
10. In like manner, if we look upon red, green is formed in the eye,
and is cast upon adjacent colours; or, if we look upon yellow, purple
is formed.
HARMONY.
11. Harmony results from an agreeable contrast.
12. Colours which perfectly harmonise improve one another to the
utmost.
13. In order to perfect harmony, the three colours are necessary,
either in their purity or in combination.
14. Red and green combine to yield a harmony. Red is a primary colour,
and green, which is a secondary colour, consists of blue and
yellow--the other two primary colours. Blue and orange also produce a
harmony, and yellow and purple, for in each ease the three primary
colours are present.
15. It has been found that the primary colours in perfect purity
produce exact harmonies in the proportions of eight parts of blue, 5
of red, and 3 of yellow; that the secondary colours harmonise in the
proportions of 13 of purple, 11 of green, and 8 of orange; and that
the tertiary colours harmonise in the proportions of olive 24, russet
21, and citrine 19.
16. There are, however, subtleties of harmony which it is difficult to
understand.
17. The rarest harmonies frequently lie close on the verge of discord.
18. Harmony of colour is, in many respects, analogous to harmony of
musical sounds.
QUALITIES OF COLOURS.
19. Blue is a cold colour, and appears to recede from the eye.
20. Red is a warm colour, and is exciting; it remains stationary as to
distance.
21. Yellow is the colour most nearly allied to light; it appears to
advance towards the spectator.
22. At twilight blue appears much lighter than it is, red much darker,
and yellow slightly darker. By ordinary gaslight blue becomes darker,
red brighter, and yellow lighter. By this artificial light a pure
yellow appears lighter than white itself, when viewed in contrast with
certain other colours.
23. By certain combinations colour may make glad or depress, convey
the idea of purity, richness, or poverty, or may affect the mind in
any desired manner, as does music.
TEACHINGS OF EXPERIENCE.
24. When a colour is placed on a gold ground, it should be outlined
with a darker shade of its own colour.
25. When a gold ornament falls on a coloured ground, it should be
outlined with black.
26. When an ornament falls on a ground which is in direct harmony with
it, it must be outlined with a lighter tint of its own colour. Thus,
when a red ornament falls on a green ground, the ornament must be
outlined with a lighter red.
27. When the ornament and the ground are in two tints of the same
colour, if the ornament is darker than the ground, it will require
outlining with a still darker tint of the same colour; but if lighter
than the ground no outline will be required.
ANALYTICAL TABLES OF COLOUR.
When commencing my studies both in science and art, I found great
advantage from reducing all facts to a tabular form so far as
possible, and this mode of study I would recommend to others. To me
this method appears to have great advantages, for by it we see at a
glance what otherwise is difficult to understand; if carefully done,
it becomes an analysis of work; and by preparing these tabular
arrangements of facts the subject becomes impressed on the mind, and
the relation of one fact to another, or of one part of a scheme to
another, is seen.
The following analytical tables will illustrate many of the facts
stated in our propositions. The figures which follow the colours
represent the proportions in which they harmonise:--
_Primary Colours._ _Secondary Colours._ _Tertiary Colours._
Blue 8 Purple 13 Olive 24
Red 5 Green 11 Russet 21
Yellow 3 Orange 8 Citrine 19
_Primary Colours._ _Secondary Colours._ _Tertiary Colours._
Red 5 }
} Orange 8 }
Yellow 3 } }
} Citrine, or Yellow Tertiary 19
Blue 8 } }
} Green 11 }
Yellow 3 }
Blue 8 }
} Purple 13 }
Red 5 } }
} Russet, or Red Tertiary 21
Red 5 } }
} Orange 8 }
Yellow 3 }
Blue 8 }
} Green 11 }
Yellow 3 } }
} Olive, or Blue Tertiary 24
Blue 8 } }
} Purple 13 }
Red 5 }
This latter table shows at a glance how each of the secondary and
tertiary colours is formed, and the proportions in which they
harmonise. It also shows why the three tertiary colours are called
respectively the yellow tertiary, the red tertiary, and the blue
tertiary, for into each tertiary two equivalents[11] of one primary
enter, and one equivalent of each of the other primaries. Thus, in
citrine we find two equivalents of yellow, and one each of red and
blue; hence it is the yellow tertiary. In russet we find two
equivalents of red, and one each of blue and of yellow; and in olive
two of blue, and one each of red and yellow. Hence they are
respectively the red and blue tertiaries.
[11] An equivalent of blue is 8, of red 5, of yellow 3.
[Illustration: Fig. 24.]
[Illustration: Fig. 25.]
Figs 24 and 25 are diagrams of harmony. I have connected in the
centre, by three similar lines, the colours which form a harmony;
thus, blue, red, and yellow harmonise when placed together. Purple,
green, and orange also harmonise (I have connected them by dotted
lines in the first of the two diagrams). But when two colours are to
produce a harmony, the one will be a primary colour, and the other a
secondary formed of the other two primary colours (for the presence of
the three primary colours is necessary to a harmony), or the one will
be a secondary, and the other a tertiary colour formed of the two
remaining secondary colours. Such harmonies I have placed opposite to
each other; thus blue, a primary, harmonises with orange, a secondary;
yellow with purple; and red with green; and the secondary colour is
placed between the two primary colours of which it is formed; thus,
orange is formed of red and yellow, between which it stands; green, of
blue and yellow; and purple, of blue and red. In the second of the two
diagrams we see that purple, green, and orange produce a harmony, so
do olive, russet, and citrine. We also see that purple and citrine
harmonise, and green and russet, and orange and olive.
Continuing this diagrammatic form of illustration, we may set forth
the quantities in which the various colours harmonise: thus:--
_Blue._ _Red._ _Yellow._
O O O O O O O O O O O
O O O O O
_Blue._ _Orange._
O O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O O O O O
_Red._ _Green._
O O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O O
O O O
_Yellow._ _Purple._
O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O
O O O O
O
_Purple._ _Citrine._
O O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O O
O O O O O
O O O
_Green._ _Russet._
O O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O O O O O
O O O O O O O
O O O O
O O O O
O
_Orange._ _Olive._
O O O O harmonises with O O O O
O O O O O O O O
O O O O
O O O O
O O O O
O O O O
To those who are about to practise ornamentation, it is very important
that they have in the mind's eye a tolerably accurate idea of the
relative quantities of the various colours necessary to harmony, even
where the colours are considered as existing in a state of absolute
purity. We have rarely, however, to use the brightest blues, reds, and
yellows which pigments furnish, and even these are but poor
representatives of the potent colours of light as seen in the rainbow,
and with the agency of the prism; nevertheless, a knowledge of the
quantities in which these pure colours harmonise is very desirable.
The proportions in which we have stated that colours perfectly
harmonise, and in which the primary colours combine to form the
secondaries, and the secondaries the tertiaries, are given in respect
to the colours of light, and not of pigments or paints, which, as we
have just said, are more or less base representatives of the pure
colours of light. Yet certain pigments may, for our purpose, be
regarded as representing pure colours. Thus, the purest real
ultramarine we will regard as blue (cobalt is rather green, that is,
it has a little yellow in it, and the French and German ultramarines
are generally rather purple, or have a little red in them, yet the
best of these latter is a tolerably pure colour), the purest French
carmine as red (common carmine is frequently rather crimson, that is,
has blue in it; vermilion is much too yellow), and lemon-chrome as
yellow (the chrome selected must be without any green shade, and
without any orange shade, however slight); and these pigments will be
found to represent the colours of the prism as nearly as any that can
be found. I would recommend the learner to get a small quantity of
these colours in their powder form, substituting the best pale German
ultramarine for real ultramarine, as the latter is of high price,[12]
and to fill the various circles of our diagrams, which represent the
primary colours, with these pigments, mixing them with a little
dissolved gum arabic and water--just ufficient to prevent the colours
from rubbing off the paper. The secondary colours will be fairly
represented by pale-green lake, often called drop-green, by
orange-chrome--that of about the colour of a ripe, rather
deep-coloured, orange-rind--and the purple by the admixture of pale
German ultramarine and crimson-lake, in about equal proportions, with
a little white to bring it to the same depth as the green. I cannot
name any pigments which would well represent the tertiary colours.
Citrine is about the colour of candied _lemon_-peel; olive about the
colour of candied citron-peel, and russet is often seen on the skin of
certain apples called "russet apples," in the form of a slight
roughness; but this russet is in many cases not quite sufficiently red
to represent the colour bearing the same name. Iron rust is rather too
yellow. This colour should bear the same relation to red that the
candied lemon-peel does to yellow.
[12] Real ultramarine is sold at L8 per ounce. The best imitation, or
German ultramarine, is procurable at any oil-shop at about 3s. to 4s.
per pound. The best carmine should be procurable at 6s. per ounce, but
artists' colourmen often charge L1 1s., owing to the small demand for
this pigment. The best chrome yellow (chrome yellow is kept in many
shades) is about 1s. 6d. per pound.
If the student will try carefully to realise these colours, and will
fill up the circles in our diagrams with them, he will thereby be much
assisted in his studies; but it will be still better if he prepare
fresh diagrams on a larger scale, and use squares instead of circles.
I should recommend, and that I do strongly, that the student work out
all the diagrams which I have suggested on a tolerably large scale,
using the colours where I have used words. I should also advise him to
do an ornament, say in red on a gold ground, and outline this red
ornament with a deeper red; to do a gold ornament on a coloured
ground, and outline it with black; and indeed to carefully work out an
ornamental illustration of our propositions, Nos. 24, 25, 26, and 27,
and to keep these before him till he is so impressed by them as to
_feel_ the principle which they set forth. This should be done on a
large scale in all our designing-rooms and art-workshops.
As we shall have to refer to colours by naming pigments, and as I am
constantly asked what pigments I employ, I shall enumerate the paints
in my colour-box; but I shall place a dagger against those which I
have in my private box, and which I do not supply in my offices; but
these I seldom use. Of yellows I have [14]king's yellow (not a permanent
colour), [14]very pale chrome, lemon-chrome (about the colour of a ripe
lemon), middle-chrome (half-way between the lemon and orange-chrome),
orange-chrome (about the colour of the rind of a ripe orange),
[14]yellow-lake, [14]Indian yellow. Of reds--vermilion, carmine,
crimson-lake. Of blues--[14]cobalt, German ultramarine, both deep and
pale, Antwerp blue, indigo. Of greens--emerald, green-lake, pale and
deep. Of browns--raw Turkey umber, vandyke, Venetian red,
purple-brown, brown-lake. Besides these I have what is called
celestial blue, which is a very pure and intense turquoise, vegetable
black, flake white, and gold bronze.[13]
[13] Some of these colours are not of a permanent character and could
not be used in work intended to be lasting. I use them for patterns
for our manufactures, where when the drawing is once copied in a
fabric it is destroyed. Some of the brightest colours are
unfortunately the most fleeting.
There are certain facts connected with the mixing of colours which
must never be lost sight of; thus, while the colours of light
co-mingle without any deterioration, or loss of brilliancy, pigments
or paints will not do so, but by admixture tend to destroy one
another. This takes place only to a small extent when but two primary
colours are combined; but if any of the third primary enters into the
composition of a tint, a decided deterioration, or loss of intensity,
occurs.
For this reason we employ many pigments, so as to avoid as far as
possible the mixing of colours. But there is another reason why the
great admixture of colours is undesirable. Colours are chemical
agents, and in some cases the various pigments act chemically on one
another. Of all colours yellows suffer most by admixture with other
colours: but this is accounted for by their delicacy and purity. For
this reason I use a greater variety of yellow pigments than of red or
blue.[14]
[14] Of all mediums in which colours can be mixed, paraffine is the
safest; it is without chemical affinities, and is therefore well
calculated to preserve pigments in their original condition.
Were it possible to procure three pigments devoid of chemical
affinities, and each of the same physical constitution, as of equal
degrees of transparency or opacity, one truly representing the blue of
light, another the red, and another the yellow, we should need no
others, for of these we could form all other colours; but as no
pigments come even near to the fulfilment of these conditions, we have
to employ roundabout and clumsy methods of arriving at desired
results.
There is one statement which I have made that, perhaps, needs a little
elucidation, although the careful student may have seen the reason of
my assertion. I said that purple harmonised with citrine, green with
russet, and orange with olive. I might have expressed it (and many
would have done so) thus:--The complement of citrine is purple, the
complement of russet is green, and the complement of olive is orange.
A colour which is complementary to any other is that which, with it,
completes the presence of the three primary colours: thus green is the
complement of red, and red of green, for each, together with the
colour to which it is the complement, completes the presence of the
three colours. But in order to a harmony, the complement must be made
up in certain proportions. Let us now refer to our second diagrammatic
table, and we there see that citrine is formed of two equivalents of
yellow and only one equivalent of red and of blue. Now, in order to a
harmony, each primary should be present in two equivalents, as one is
present in this quantity--_i.e._, the yellow. One equivalent of blue
and one of red (both of which are wanting in the citrine) form purple;
hence purple is the complement of citrine, or the colour that with it
produces a harmony. In russet one equivalent of blue and one of yellow
are wanting, and these in combination are green--green, then, is the
complement of russet. And in olive one equivalent of red and one of
yellow are wanting--red and yellow form orange, hence orange is the
complement of olive.
I have spoken of all colours as of full intensity and purity, but we
have to deal also with other conditions. All colours may be darkened
by black, when _shades_ are produced; or reduced by white, when
_tints_ are produced. Besides these alterations in intensity, a
portion of one colour may be added to another. Thus, if a small
portion of blue be mingled with red, the red becomes a crimson or
blue-red; or if a small portion of yellow be added to the red, the
latter becomes a scarlet or yellow-red. In like manner, when yellow is
in excess in a green, we have a yellow-green; or when blue is in
excess, a blue-green; and so with the other colours. Such alterations
produce _hues_ of colour.
We now come to the subtleties of harmony. Thus, if we have a
yellow-red or scarlet--a red with yellow in it--the green that will
harmonise with it will be a blue-green; or if we have a blue-red or
crimson--a red with blue in it--the green that will harmonise with it
will be a yellow-green. This is obvious, for the following
reasons:--Let us suppose a red represented by the equivalent number,
five, with one part of blue added to it, thus causing it to be a
blue-red or crimson. Were the red pure, there should be eleven parts
of green as a complement to the five of red, of which green eight
parts would be blue and three yellow; but the blue-red occurs in six
parts, one of which is blue--there are, then, but seven parts of blue
remaining in the equivalent quantity to combine with the three of
yellow, one being already used; hence the green formed is a
yellow-green, one of the equivalents of blue necessary to the
formation of a true green being already in combination with the red,
and thus absent from the green.
The same reasoning will apply to the scarlet-red and blue-green, and,
indeed, to all similar cases; but to take the case of the crimson-red
and yellow-green, as just given, and carry it a stage further, we
might add two parts (out of the eight) of blue to the red, and make it
more blue, and then form the complementary green of six parts of blue
and three of yellow, and thus make it more yellow. Or we may go
further still, and add to the red six of the eight parts of blue, when
the admixture would appear as a red-purple rather than as a blue-red,
in which case the complementary green--or, rather, green-yellow--would
consist of two parts of blue and three of yellow. These facts are
diagrammatically expressed in the following:--
Red O O O O O } Yellow { O O O Yellow
} Crimson harmonises with {
Blue O } Green { O O O O O O O Blue
Or,
Red O O O O O } Blue Very { O O O Yellow
} harmonises with Yellow {
Blue O O } Crimson Green { O O O O O O Blue
Or,
Red. O O O O O } Red Green { O O O Yellow
} harmonises with {
Blue. O O O O O O } Purple Yellow { O O Blue
In all these cases it will be seen that we have eight parts of blue,
five of red, and three of yellow, only the mode of combination varies.
This variation may occur to any extent, provided the totals of each be
always the equivalent proportions.
These remarks will apply equally to hues of colour, shades, and tints,
and to shades and tints of hues.
Care, and a little practice, will enable the learner to arrange
colours into a number of degrees of depth, or shades, as they are
generally called. (We do not here use the term as signifying pure
colours darkened with black.) Ten shades of each colour differing
obviously in degree of depth can readily be arranged by the
experienced, the ten shades being equidistant from each other as
regards depth--that is, shade 3 will be as much darker than shade 2 as
shade 2 is darker than shade 1, and so on throughout the whole. Purple
is a colour intermediate between blue and red. Imagine ten hues
between the purple and the red, and ten more between the purple and
the blue: thus we should have purple, then a slightly red purple, then
a rather redder purple, then a purple still redder, and so on till we
get purple-reds, and finally the pure red; and the same variations of
hue at the blue side also. Imagine, further, the green having ten hues
extending towards the blue, and ten more stretching towards the
yellow; and the orange having ten hues towards the red, and ten
towards the yellow--in all cases I count the colour from which we
start as one of the ten, thus:--
Blue Purple Red
0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
--and we shall have 54 colours and hues of colour. Of each of these 54
colours and hues imagine 10 degrees of depth, and we get 540 colours,
hues, tints, and shades, all differing from one another to an obvious
degree.
Mark this fact, that any colour, tint, hue, or shade of such a diagram
has its complement in one other of the colours, tints, hues, or shades
of the diagram, and that only two of this series of 540 are
complementary to each other; thus, if you fix on any one colour of the
540, there is but one colour in the whole that is complementary to it,
and it is complementary to but this one other colour.
The student will do well to try and make a colour-diagram of this
kind, of a simple character, say such as the following, only using
pigments for my numbers; but in doing so he must exercise the utmost
care, in order that he secure some degree of accuracy of tint or
shade, and if he can call to his aid an experienced colourist it will
be of great assistance to him.
[Illustration]
This table is highly valuable, as it gives ninety harmonies, if
carefully prepared in colour; and the preparation of such a table is
the very best practice that a student can possibly have.
Let us for a moment consider this table, and suppose that we want to
find the complement to some particular colour, as the third shade of
red. We find the complement of this in the third shade of green
opposite. If we want the complement of the second shade of
orange-yellow, we find it in the second shade of blue-purple opposite,
and so on. Thus we have a means of at once judging of the harmony of
colours.
It must ever be borne in mind that pigments mixed in the proportions
given will not yield results such as would occur when the coloured
rays of light are combined; thus three parts, either by weight or
measure, of chrome yellow when combined with eight parts of
ultramarine would not form a colour representing the secondary green,
nor would the result be more satisfactory were other pigments combined
in the proportions given. What we have said in respect to the
proportions in which colours combine to form new colours applies only
to the coloured rays of light.
It must now be noticed that while colours harmonise in the proportions
stated, the areas occupied by the different colours may vary if there
be a corresponding alteration in intensity. Thus eight of blue and
eight of orange form a perfect harmony when both colours are of
prismatic intensity; but we shall still have a perfect harmony if the
orange is diluted to one-half its strength with white, and thus formed
into a tint, provided there be sixteen parts of this orange of half
strength to the eight parts of blue of full strength.
The orange might be further diluted to one-third of its full power,
but then twenty-four parts would be necessary to a perfect harmony
with eight parts of prismatic blue; or to one-fourth of its strength,
when thirty-two parts would be necessary to the harmony.
It is not desirable that I occupy space with diagrams of these
quantities, but the industrious student will prepare them for himself,
and will strive to realise a true half-tint, quarter-tint, etc., which
is not a very easy thing to do. By practice, however, it will readily
be accomplished, and anything achieved is a new power gained.
What I have said respecting the harmony of blue with tints of orange
will apply in all similar cases. Thus red will harmonise with tints of
green, provided the area of the tint be increased as the intensity is
decreased; and so will yellow harmonise with tints of purple under
similar conditions.
But we may reverse the conditions, and lower the primary to a tint
retaining the secondary in its intensity. Thus blue, if reduced to a
half-tint, will harmonise with orange of prismatic intensity in the
proportion of sixteen of blue to eight of orange; or, if reduced to a
quarter-tint, in the proportion oL thirty-two of blue to eight of
orange. Red, if reduced to a half-tint, will harmonise in the
proportion of ten red to eleven of green; and yellow as a half-tint in
the proportion of six yellow to thirteen of purple.
The same remarks might be made respecting the harmony of shades of
colour with colours of prismatic intensity. Thus, if orange is diluted
to a shade of half intensity with black, it will harmonise with pure
blue in the proportion of sixteen of orange to eight of blue, and so
on, just as in the case of tints; and this principle applies to the
harmony of all hues of colour also.
To go one step further: we scarcely ever deal with pure colours or
their shades or tints, or even come as near them as we can. With great
intensity of colour we seem to require an ethereal character, such as
we have in those of light; but our pigments are coarse and
earthy--they are too real-looking, and are not ethereal--they may be
said to be corporeal rather than spiritual in character. For this
reason we have to avoid the use of our purest pigments in such
quantities as render their poverty of nature manifest, and to use for
large surfaces such tints as, through their subtlety of composition,
interest and please. A tint the composition of which is not apparent
is always preferable to one of more obvious formation. Thus we are led
to use tints which are subtly formed, and such as please by their
newness and bewilder by the intricacy of formation.
To do what I here mean it is not necessary that many pigments be mixed
together in order to the formation of a tint. The effect of which I
speak can frequently be got by two well-chosen pigments. Thus a fine
series of low-toned shades can be produced by mixing together
middle-chrome and brown-lake in various proportions, and in all of the
shades thus formed the three primary colours will be represented, but
in some yellow will predominate, and in others red; while in many it
will not be easy to discover to what proportionate extent the three
primary colours are present.
Let us suppose that we make a tint by adding white to cobalt blue.
This blue contains a small amount of yellow, and is a slightly green
blue. But to this tint we add a small amount of raw umber with the
view of imparting a greyness[15] or atmospheric character. Raw umber
is a neutral colour, leaning slightly to yellow--that is, it consists
of red, blue, and yellow, with a slight excess of the latter. In order
that an orange harmonise with this grey-blue of a slightly yellow
tone, the orange must be slightly inclined to red, so as to form the
complement of the little green formed by the yellow in the blue. It
may harmonise with the grey-blue as a pure tint if the area of the
diluted and neutralised primary is sufficiently extended, or may
itself be likewise reduced to a tint of the same depth, when both
tints would have the same area.
[15] Cobalt, raw umber, and white make a magnificent grey, both in
oil-colours, in tempera (powder-colours mixed with gum-water), and in
distemper (powder-colours mixed with size).
I might go on multiplying cases of this character to almost any
extent, but these I leave the student to work out for himself, and
pass to notice that while it is desirable to use subtle tints (often
called "broken tints") it is rarely expedient to make up the full
harmony by a large area of a tertiary tone and a single positive
colour. Thus, we might have a shade or a tint of citrine spreading
over a large surface as a ground on which we wished to place a figure.
This figure would harmonise in pure purple were it of a certain size,
and yet if thus coloured it would give a somewhat common-place effect
when finished, for the harmony would be too simple and obvious. It
would be much better to have the nineteen parts of citrine reduced,
say, to half intensity, when the area would be increased to
thirty-eight, with the figure of eight parts of blue and five of red,
than of thirteen parts of purple.
But it would be better still if there were the thirty-eight parts of
reduced citrine, three parts of pure yellow, thirteen of purple, five
of red, and eight of blue, together with white, black, or gold, or all
three (these may be added without altering the conditions, as all act
as neutrals), for here the harmony is of a more subtle character.
If we count up the equivalents of the colours employed in this scheme
of harmony, we shall see that we have, in the citrine--
Yellow 6 (two equivalents).
Blue 8 (one equivalent).
Red 5 (one equivalent).
In the purple--
Blue 8 (one equivalent).
Red 5 (one equivalent).
Of the pure colours--
Yellow 3 (one equivalent).
Red 5 (one equivalent).
Blue 8 (one equivalent).
Thus we have three equivalents of each primary, which give a perfect
harmony.
I must not say more respecting the laws of harmony, for in the space
of a small work it is impossible to do so, but proceed to notice
certain effects or properties of colours, which I have as yet only
alluded to, or have passed altogether unnoticed.
I have said that black, white, and gold are neutral as regards colour.
This is the case, although many would suppose that gold was a yellow.
Gold will act as a yellow, but it is generally employed as a neutral
in decorative work, and it is more of a neutral than a yellow, for
both red and blue exist largely in it. The pictorial artist frames his
picture with gold because it, being a neutral, does not interfere with
the tints of his work. It has the further advantage of being rich and
costly in appearance, and thus of giving an impression of worth where
it exists.
Black, white, and gold, being neutral, may be advantageously employed
to separate colours where separation is necessary or desirable.
Yellow and purple harmonise, but yellow is a light colour and purple
is dark. These colours not only harmonise, but also contrast as to
depth, the one being light and the other dark. The limit of each
colour, wherever these are used in juxtaposition, is therefore
obvious.
It is not so with red and green, for these harmonise when of the same
depth. This being the case, and red being a glowing colour, if a red
object is placed on a green ground, or a green object on a red ground,
the "figure" and ground will appear to "swim" together, and will
produce a dazzling effect. Colour must assist form, and not confuse
it. It will do this in the instance just named if the figure is
outlined with black, white, or gold, and there will be no loss of
harmony. But experience has shown that this effect can also be averted
by outlining the figure with a lighter tint of its own colour. Thus,
if the figure is red and the ground green, an outline of lighter red
(pink) may be employed. (See Proposition 26, page 34.)
A blue figure on a red ground (as ultramarine on carmine), or a red
figure on a blue ground, will also produce this swimming and
unsatisfactory effect, but this is again obviated by an outline of
black, white, or gold.
Employing the outline thus must not be regarded as a means of merely
rendering what was actually unpleasant endurable, for it does much
more--it affords one of the richest means of effect. A carmine ground
well covered with bold green ornament having a gold outline is, if
well managed, truly gorgeous; and were the figure blue on the red
ground, the lavish use of gold would render the employment of yellow
unnecessary as the yellow formed in the eye and cast upon the gold
would satisfy all requirements.
It is a curious fact that the eye will create any colour of which
there is a deficiency. This it will do, but the colour so created is
of little use to the composition unless white or gold is present; if,
however, there be white or gold in the composition, the colour which
is absent, or is insufficiently represented, will be formed in the eye
and cast upon these neutrals, and the white or the gold, as the case
may be, will assume the tint of the deficient or absent colour. (See
Propositions 8 and 9, page 32.)
While this occurs (and sometimes it occurs to a marked degree, as can
be shown by experiment), it must not be supposed that a composition in
which any element is wanting is as perfect as one which reveals no
want. It is far otherwise; only Nature here comes to our assistance,
and is content to help herself rather than endure our short-comings;
but in the one case we give Nature the labour of completing the
harmony; while in the other, all being prepared, we receive a sense of
satisfaction and repose.
In Proposition 8 we showed that when blue and black are juxtaposed,
the black becomes "rusty," or assumes an orange tint; and in
Proposition 9 we gave the cause of this effect. Let a blue spot be
placed on a black silk necktie, and however black the silk, it will
yet appear rusty. This is a fact; but we sometimes desire to employ
blue on black, and wish the black to look black, and not an
orange-black. How can we do this? Obviously by substituting for the
black a very dark blue, as indigo. The bright blue spot induces orange
(the complement of blue) in the eye. This orange, when cast upon
black, causes the latter to look "rusty;" but if we place in the black
an amount of blue sufficient to neutralise the orange cast upon it,
the effect will be that of a jet-black.
We have now considered those qualities of colour, and those laws of
contrast and harmony, which may be said to be of the grosser sort; but
we have scarcely touched on those considerations which pertain to
special refinement or tenderness of effect. But let me close the part
of my subject of which I have treated, by repeating a statement
already made--a statement, let me say, which first led me to perceive
really harmony of colour--that _those colours, and those particular
hues of colour, which improve each other to the utmost, are those
which perfectly harmonise_. (Consider this statement in connection
with Propositions 8, 9, 10, and 14, pages 32 and 33.)
* * * * *
We come now to consider delicacies and refinements in colour effects,
which, although dependent upon the skilful exercise of the laws
enunciated, are yet of a character, the power to produce which only
results from the consideration of the works of the masters of great
art-nations; but of these effects I can say little beyond pointing out
what should be studied.
This principle however I cannot pass without notice--namely, that the
finest colour effects are those of a rich, mingled, bloomy character.
Imagine a luxuriant garden, the beds in which are filled with a
thousand flowers, having all the colours of the rainbow, and imagine
these arranged as closely together as will permit of their growth.
When viewed from a distance the effect is soft and rich, and full and
varied, and is all that is pleasant. This is Nature's colouring. It is
our work humbly to strive at producing like beauty with her.
This leads me to notice that primary colours (and secondary colours,
also, when of great intensity) should be used chiefly in small masses,
together with gold, white, or black.
Visit the Indian Museum at Whitehall,[16] and consider the beautiful
Indian shawls and scarves and table-covers; or, if unable to do so,
look in the windows of our large drapers in the chief towns, and see
the true Indian fabrics,[17] and observe the manner in which small
portions of intense reds, blues, yellows, greens, and a score of
tertiary tints, are combined with white and black and gold to produce
a very miracle of bloom. I know of nothing in the way of colour
combination so rich, so beautiful, so gorgeous, and yet so soft, as
some of these Indian shawls.
[16] This museum is open free to the public.
[17] These will only be seen in very first-class shops.
It is curious that we never find a purely Indian work otherwise than
in good taste as regards colour harmony. Indian works, in this
respect--whether carpets, or shawls, or dress materials, or lacquered
boxes, or enamelled weapons--are almost perfect--perfect in harmony,
perfect in richness, perfect in the softness of their general effect.
How strangely these works contrast with ours, where an harmonious work
in colours is scarcely ever seen.
By the co-mingling (not co-mixing) of colours in the manner just
described, a rich and bloomy effect can be got, having the general
tone of a tertiary colour of any desired hue. Thus, if a wall be
covered with little ornamental flowerets, by colouring all alike, and
letting each contain two parts of yellow and one part of blue and one
of red, as separate and pure colours, the distant hue will be that of
citrine: the same effect will result if the flowers are coloured
variously, while the same proportions of the primaries are preserved
throughout. I can conceive of no decorative effects more subtle, rich,
and lovely than those of which I now speak.
Imagine three rooms, all connected by open archways, and all decorated
with a thousand flower-like ornaments, and these so coloured, in this
mingled manner, that in one room blue predominates, in another red,
and in another yellow; we should then have a beautiful tertiary bloom
in each--a subtle mingling of colour, an exquisite delicacy and
refinement of treatment, a fulness such as always results from a rich
mingling of hues, and an amount of detail which would interest when
closely inspected; besides which, we should have the harmony of the
general effect of the three rooms, the one appearing as olive, another
as citrine, and the other as russet.
This mode of decoration has this advantage, that it not only gives
richness and beauty, but it also gives purity. If pigments are mixed
together they are thereby reduced in intensity, as we have already
seen; but if placed side by side, when viewed from a distance the eye
will mix them, but they will suffer no diminution of brilliancy.
With the view of cultivating the eye, Eastern works cannot be too
carefully studied. The Indian Museum should be the home of all who can
avail themselves of the opportunity of study which it affords; and the
small Indian department of the South Kensington Museum should not be
neglected, small though it is.[18] Chinese works must also be
considered, for they likewise supply most valuable examples of colour
harmony; and although they do not present such a perfect colour bloom
as do the works of India, yet they are never inharmonious, and give
clearness and sharpness, together with great brilliancy, in a manner
not attempted by the Indians.
[18] It may not be generally known, but nearly all our large
manufacturing towns have, in connection with the Chamber of Commerce,
a collection of Indian fabrics, filling several large volumes, which
were prepared, at the expense of Government, under the superintendence
of Dr. Forbes Watson, and which were given to the various towns on the
condition that they be accessible to all persons who are trustworthy.
Although these collections do not embrace the costly decorated
fabrics, yet much can be learned from them, and the combinations of
colour are always harmonious. A much larger collection is now in
course of formation.
The best works of Chinese embroidery are rarely seen in this country;
but these are unsurpassed by the productions of any other people. For
richness, splendour, and purity of colour, together with a delicious
coolness, I know of nothing to equal them.
The works of the Japanese are not to be overlooked, for in certain
branches of art they are inimitable, and as colourists they are almost
perfect. On the commonest of their lacquer trays we generally have a
bit of good colouring, and their coloured pictures are sometimes
marvels of harmony.
As to the styles of colouring adopted by the nations referred to, I
should say that the Indians produce rich, mingled, bloomy, _warm_
effects--that is, effects in which red and yellow prevail; that the
Chinese achieve clearness, repose, and _coolness_--a form of colouring
in which blue and white prevail; and that the Japanese effects are
_warm_, simple, and quiet.
Besides studying the works of India, China, and Japan, study those
also of Turkey and Morocco, and even those of Algeria, for here the
colouring is much better than with us, although not so good as in the
countries first named. No aid to progress must be neglected, and no
help must be despised.[19]
[19] The South Kensington Museum has a very interesting collection of
art-works from China and Japan; but the latter are chiefly lent. It is
a strange thing that the perfect works of the East are so poorly
illustrated in this national collection, while costly, yea, very
costly works of inferior character, illustrative of Renaissance art,
swarm as thickly as flies in August. This can only be accounted for by
the fact that the heads of the institution have a feeling for
pictorial rather than decorative art, and the Renaissance ornament is
that which has most of the pictorial element. To me, the style appears
to owe its very weakness to this fact, for decorative art should be
wholly ideal. Pictorial art is of necessity more or less imitative.
With the view of refining the judgment further in respect to colour,
get a good colour-top,[20] and study its beautiful effects. See also
the "gas tubes" illuminated by electricity, as sold by opticians, and
let the prism yield you daily instruction. Soap-bubbles may also be
blown, and the beautiful colours seen in them carefully noted. These
and any other available means of cultivating the eye should constantly
be resorted to, as by such means only can we become great colourists.
[20] Not the so-called colour or "chameleon" top sold in the
toy-shops, but the more scientific toy procurable of opticians,
together with the perforated discs of Mr. John Graham, M.R.C.S., of
Tunbridge, Kent.
As to works on colour, we have the writings of Field, to whom we are
indebted for valuable discoveries; of Hay, the decorator, and friend
of the late David Roberts, but some of his ideas are wild and Utopian;
of Chevreul, whose work will be most useful to the student; and the
small catechism of colour by Mr. Redgrave, of the South Kensington
Museum, which is excellent. The student will also do well to carefully
study the excellent manual of "Colour" by Professor Church, of
Cirencester College.