DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2086#0122
106 LANDSCAPE PAINTING.
Indian yellow, No. 14; sepia and raw sienna, No. 15. With Payne's gray instead
of sepia, these greens are cooler and more decided.
The stems and branches of trees, although, from being for the most part in
shadow, they do not present such marked variety of colour as the foliage, have yet
some peculiarities requiring mention; generally speaking, they are deeper in tone
than the foliage, with the exception of the birch, beech, aspen, and ash ; even the three
last would often appear of a dark gray were it not for the contrast afforded by the
surrounding foliage; the principal thing is to avoid blackness or too deep and
decided a colour, such as pure Vandyke brown, umber, &c. Vandyke brown and
umber, however, mixed with a little indigo or French blue, are very useful. Brown
madder, again, by itself, may be too rich in tone ; but with a little yellow ochre or
Payne's gray, indigo, or French blue, it is excellent; the same may be said of burnt
sienna; Indian yellow added gives the deep mossy green tint for branches and
stems in shadow. Almost all the grays used in the middle distance, such as
Payne's gray, are also employed, varied by light red, rose madder, purple madder,
or yellow ochre. Sepia, varied with the same pigments for the light, or with
blues and a little lake for cooler coloured branches, is equally useful; and, to con*
elude with the same advice as was given in foliage, avoid blackness or a dirty
appearance, and endeavour to gain power and depth by touching one pure tint or
colour over another rather than by putting the full strength on at once.
In Plate XIII., the lower portions of a group of beech trees have been given in
order to show the kind of subject the pupil will find it best to commence with, as by
avoiding many of the difficulties occurring in the delineation of more numerous and
intricate masses of foliage, and seizing the opportunity of striking contrast, for
which the trunk of the beech tree is remarkable, he will soon find that he can make
pleasing pictures. In such subjects it frequently happens that the difference of
colour among the stems will afford sufficient contrast; but if this is aided by a for-
tunate occurrence of light and shadow, the student will be relieved from one of the
difficulties in arranging the chiaroscuro of his subject. In this example he will
observe that care has been taken to preserve the general breadth of light on the
trunks of the trees, by keeping the cast shadows transparent; fortunately, also, the
dark-coloured moss, which might have destroyed that breadth, is on the shadowed
side.
Plate XIX., a Salmon-trap on the Conway, North Wales, is another of those
simple subjects, consisting principally of objects placed immediately in the fore-
ground, with just that small portion of distance which is necessary to afford variety
to the tints. Such subjects as this and the beech stems, Plate XIII., are well suited
for the pupil's first attempts in colouring from nature, the objects being sufficiently
Indian yellow, No. 14; sepia and raw sienna, No. 15. With Payne's gray instead
of sepia, these greens are cooler and more decided.
The stems and branches of trees, although, from being for the most part in
shadow, they do not present such marked variety of colour as the foliage, have yet
some peculiarities requiring mention; generally speaking, they are deeper in tone
than the foliage, with the exception of the birch, beech, aspen, and ash ; even the three
last would often appear of a dark gray were it not for the contrast afforded by the
surrounding foliage; the principal thing is to avoid blackness or too deep and
decided a colour, such as pure Vandyke brown, umber, &c. Vandyke brown and
umber, however, mixed with a little indigo or French blue, are very useful. Brown
madder, again, by itself, may be too rich in tone ; but with a little yellow ochre or
Payne's gray, indigo, or French blue, it is excellent; the same may be said of burnt
sienna; Indian yellow added gives the deep mossy green tint for branches and
stems in shadow. Almost all the grays used in the middle distance, such as
Payne's gray, are also employed, varied by light red, rose madder, purple madder,
or yellow ochre. Sepia, varied with the same pigments for the light, or with
blues and a little lake for cooler coloured branches, is equally useful; and, to con*
elude with the same advice as was given in foliage, avoid blackness or a dirty
appearance, and endeavour to gain power and depth by touching one pure tint or
colour over another rather than by putting the full strength on at once.
In Plate XIII., the lower portions of a group of beech trees have been given in
order to show the kind of subject the pupil will find it best to commence with, as by
avoiding many of the difficulties occurring in the delineation of more numerous and
intricate masses of foliage, and seizing the opportunity of striking contrast, for
which the trunk of the beech tree is remarkable, he will soon find that he can make
pleasing pictures. In such subjects it frequently happens that the difference of
colour among the stems will afford sufficient contrast; but if this is aided by a for-
tunate occurrence of light and shadow, the student will be relieved from one of the
difficulties in arranging the chiaroscuro of his subject. In this example he will
observe that care has been taken to preserve the general breadth of light on the
trunks of the trees, by keeping the cast shadows transparent; fortunately, also, the
dark-coloured moss, which might have destroyed that breadth, is on the shadowed
side.
Plate XIX., a Salmon-trap on the Conway, North Wales, is another of those
simple subjects, consisting principally of objects placed immediately in the fore-
ground, with just that small portion of distance which is necessary to afford variety
to the tints. Such subjects as this and the beech stems, Plate XIII., are well suited
for the pupil's first attempts in colouring from nature, the objects being sufficiently