CHAPTER III.
SECTION II.
COLOURS OF LIGHTS AND SHADOWS.
Whatever party of Colourists may find favour in the eyes of the reader, it will be necessary for him to be aware of certain effects observed in Nature, of which he will make such use as is admissible under the principle he may adopt.
Colours reside in the light parts of objects, if not brightest on the lightest parts, closely adjacent to them.
Shadows reduce, blacken, or render negative the colours of objects. The edges, extremities, or boundaries ofallshadows aregrey.
From the effect of contrast, shadows appearcomparativelyof the opposite colour to that of the light. The Bianchi take advantage of this circumstance, and sometimes force or increase the colour of the shadow, to bring out that of the light without really tinging it sodeeplyas is the case in Nature; whereby greater brilliancy is retained.
The colours of the lights and shadows depend upon that of the illuminating power, whether sunshine, moonlight, or grey daylight. These will be separately pointed out.
SUNSHINE
SUNSHINE
CHAPTER III.
SECTION III.
SUNSHINE.
The degree to which the colours of objects will be affected by that of the source of light, will very much depend upon the strength of the illuminating power.
The light of the noonday sun is so vivid that it diffuses its colour over all the illumined parts of the objects under its influence. These assume a rich golden hue, through which the local colours of the objects are slightly distinguishable, but rather as modifications of the warm tone diffused by the rays of the sun, than as integral varieties of tint.
As already has been noticed, the obvious effect of a yellowish light upon a blue object would be to induce a greenish tint; but in the case of sunshine, this is counteracted by the brilliancy of the light, and in representation, it is necessary for the same purpose, to infuse sufficient red into the light of blue objects under the influence of sunshine, or a disagreeable heavy effect will be produced.
Green, yellow, and orange objects become particularly brilliant in sunshine.
The shadows of the foreground are, in Nature, particularly negative or colourless; but as they recede, become gradually more blue. Sir Joshua Reynolds has made the shadows on the arm of his Sleeping Girl nearly black. He is one of the Neri. The Bianchi would have made them partake more of the colour opposite to that of light, purply brown, broken with red reflections. The shadows on green objects in the foreground would be rendered by dark crimson. Sir Thomas Lawrence frequently used pure lake in the shadows of his grass or shrubs. Plate.
CHAPTER III.
SECTION IV.
SUNSET.
At Sunset there is even less variety of colour observable in the illumined parts of objects than when the sun is higher in the sky. This arises from the influence of the atmosphere previously alluded to. A greater quantity of the medium is loaded with light, and the local colours of the objects seen through it are consequently affected to a greater degree thereby. The colour of the light is also affected by the medium through which it passes, and it becomes much richer, and more nearly approaching to orange.
The light in the sky, or illuminating power, is made yellow; but the lights on objects are rendered of a fleshy colour, which is made to appear warmer by the opposition of positive purple shadows, while those objects which do not receive any of the sun's light are kept very cool grey (the effect of reflected light from the blue sky), which by contrast throws the whole of the illuminated part of the picture into warmth. Frontispiece.
MOONLIGHT
MOONLIGHT
CHAPTER III.
SECTION V.
MOONLIGHT.
The light of the moon being white or silvery grey, the shadows are made comparatively warm browns. The appearance of moonlight is given by the colours on the illuminated objects in the picture, which are made to appear cooler than they really are, by the contrast with the warm shadows. By this means, much more colour may be introduced into the light than is usually observed in Nature, and without impairing the effect of moonlight; and the Bianchi contend that by such means greater brilliancy is obtained. The blues in the sky near the moon are kept very pure for the same purpose. Plate.
GREY DAYLIGHT
GREY DAYLIGHT
CHAPTER III.
SECTION VI.
GREY DAYLIGHT.
Grey daylight also affords brownish shadows, but from the greater quantity and diffusion of comparatively colourless light, the local colours of objects become more visible, while the shadows are more varied by reflection and refraction. Reflections take their colours from those of the objects by which they are occasioned. The lights on objects are treated as in the case of moonlight; they are madepositivelywarmer than they appear in nature, and are renderedcomparativelycool by the warmth of the shadows.—Plate.
The degrees to which these licences may be carried, must depend upon the style of colouring adopted. The Amateur has had them placed before him, and whichever he may choose, he will be certain to meet with success in the eyes of one party; he cannot hope to please all.
J. M. BURTON, IPSWICH STEAM PRESS.