DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2086#0093
LANDSCAPE PAINTING.
atmosphere, lie will find a constant succession of varying effects, an inexhaustible
fund of subjects for his contemplation.
The terms space and air being, in art, synonymous with sky, we must begin by
inquiring what are, to the artist, the most important qualities of the atmosphere
which surrounds the earth. On looking up to the zenith when the air is free from
aqueous vapour, we are conscious of a perfectly transparent ether, through which the
eye appears to penetrate unbounded space. This space, viewed from the summits of
mountains or other situations where there ai'e no mists, appears distinctly of dark
blue; yet so immeasurably does this colour differ from any pigment with which we
attempt its imitation, that the latter can scarcely be deemed the same colour. This
arises from the fact that the former is not aflat tangible surface, but, on the contrary,
a quivering transparent medium, the character of which it should be our aim to
represent as perfectly distinct from that of any object on the earth.
To accomplish this in any degree it will be necessary to dismiss from our minds
all idea of the sky being a blue vault, requiring merely a pigment of like colour to
represent it. Air, of itself, is invisible, and its usual appearance is derived from the
vapours diffused through it,—a fact which may be proved by looking upwards from
some lofty position through a pure atmosphere, when we shall perceive the space
above us to be far darker in hue than when seen from the usual level of the earth.
In our endeavours to imitate space, we are greatly assisted by the circumstance of the
clouds and mists which float over the landscape having a tendency to blend earth
and sky in harmonious union ; in the same manner that water is united in appear-
ance to the earth or rocks over which it flows, the water forming a medium of
different degrees of transparency, through which the variously modified colours,
shades, and tints pass in their passage to the eye. Both air and water alter the
colour of objects seen through them; and as they are associated in the atmosphere,
they are especially capable of showing an infinite variety of the brilliant colours
produced by light. Clouds must be considered as inseparably related to what is
called the sky in which they float. In it they are formed, and whilst in it dissolve
away; consequently, they must not be separated by painting the one as a solid
mass of blue, to represent the distant sky, and the other as solid masses of gray and
white, much nearer to the earth than the blue ; but the whole must partake largely
of the quality of air and space. Such a result may be produced by at one time
allowing light to penetrate into and through the substance of the clouds ; at
another, by representing them of such opacity as to catch and reflect large quantities
of light. Now, as vapour viewed from various positions varies in its powers of dis-
playing light and colour, we have in clouds many opportunities of either increasing
or diminishing the light of the picture, while at the same time wo vary the colour.
atmosphere, lie will find a constant succession of varying effects, an inexhaustible
fund of subjects for his contemplation.
The terms space and air being, in art, synonymous with sky, we must begin by
inquiring what are, to the artist, the most important qualities of the atmosphere
which surrounds the earth. On looking up to the zenith when the air is free from
aqueous vapour, we are conscious of a perfectly transparent ether, through which the
eye appears to penetrate unbounded space. This space, viewed from the summits of
mountains or other situations where there ai'e no mists, appears distinctly of dark
blue; yet so immeasurably does this colour differ from any pigment with which we
attempt its imitation, that the latter can scarcely be deemed the same colour. This
arises from the fact that the former is not aflat tangible surface, but, on the contrary,
a quivering transparent medium, the character of which it should be our aim to
represent as perfectly distinct from that of any object on the earth.
To accomplish this in any degree it will be necessary to dismiss from our minds
all idea of the sky being a blue vault, requiring merely a pigment of like colour to
represent it. Air, of itself, is invisible, and its usual appearance is derived from the
vapours diffused through it,—a fact which may be proved by looking upwards from
some lofty position through a pure atmosphere, when we shall perceive the space
above us to be far darker in hue than when seen from the usual level of the earth.
In our endeavours to imitate space, we are greatly assisted by the circumstance of the
clouds and mists which float over the landscape having a tendency to blend earth
and sky in harmonious union ; in the same manner that water is united in appear-
ance to the earth or rocks over which it flows, the water forming a medium of
different degrees of transparency, through which the variously modified colours,
shades, and tints pass in their passage to the eye. Both air and water alter the
colour of objects seen through them; and as they are associated in the atmosphere,
they are especially capable of showing an infinite variety of the brilliant colours
produced by light. Clouds must be considered as inseparably related to what is
called the sky in which they float. In it they are formed, and whilst in it dissolve
away; consequently, they must not be separated by painting the one as a solid
mass of blue, to represent the distant sky, and the other as solid masses of gray and
white, much nearer to the earth than the blue ; but the whole must partake largely
of the quality of air and space. Such a result may be produced by at one time
allowing light to penetrate into and through the substance of the clouds ; at
another, by representing them of such opacity as to catch and reflect large quantities
of light. Now, as vapour viewed from various positions varies in its powers of dis-
playing light and colour, we have in clouds many opportunities of either increasing
or diminishing the light of the picture, while at the same time wo vary the colour.