DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19955#0053
stippling.
51
colour; and the light background may be sky, that the
blue in it may, by its gentle contrast, give value to, and not
overpower, the flesh. A swarthy man or woman should
have a dark dress and a dark background. Eeds are best
for dark people; blues for fair ones : put pink roses near a
dark skin, and you will destroy it; but put dark blue, or
even green, and you will give it value. Such is the way in
which all these matters should be looked at.
As regards what may be called the antagonism of colours,
it is a good plan to keep the warmest ones near the centre
of your picture, and the blues and colder colours outside ;
while the best relief of any single object is admitted to be
that where the background is rather darker than the lights,
and lighter than the shadows. These principles, however,
are best seen by the study, not the copying, of engravings
from pictures by great masters.
By " tone" in painting, harmony is to be understood—
harmony as well in colour as in light and shade, the absence
of violent contrast in both. Difficult as this may be to
beginners, it is a principle that must never be lost sight of,
and, by degrees, the eye will become educated to perceive
it, to require it, and to be offended by its absence.
Having thus, by washing, got in your design, your
colour, your light and shadow to their full force as nearly
as you can, you may now begin to finish the head, im-
proving its colour and its light and shade, and giving also
the expression as nearly as you can. Study the picture
well; do nothing at random; go over it again and again,,
until you feel certain that you can, at that time at least, do,
e 2.
51
colour; and the light background may be sky, that the
blue in it may, by its gentle contrast, give value to, and not
overpower, the flesh. A swarthy man or woman should
have a dark dress and a dark background. Eeds are best
for dark people; blues for fair ones : put pink roses near a
dark skin, and you will destroy it; but put dark blue, or
even green, and you will give it value. Such is the way in
which all these matters should be looked at.
As regards what may be called the antagonism of colours,
it is a good plan to keep the warmest ones near the centre
of your picture, and the blues and colder colours outside ;
while the best relief of any single object is admitted to be
that where the background is rather darker than the lights,
and lighter than the shadows. These principles, however,
are best seen by the study, not the copying, of engravings
from pictures by great masters.
By " tone" in painting, harmony is to be understood—
harmony as well in colour as in light and shade, the absence
of violent contrast in both. Difficult as this may be to
beginners, it is a principle that must never be lost sight of,
and, by degrees, the eye will become educated to perceive
it, to require it, and to be offended by its absence.
Having thus, by washing, got in your design, your
colour, your light and shadow to their full force as nearly
as you can, you may now begin to finish the head, im-
proving its colour and its light and shade, and giving also
the expression as nearly as you can. Study the picture
well; do nothing at random; go over it again and again,,
until you feel certain that you can, at that time at least, do,
e 2.