DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19951#0051
TREATMENT OF PARTICULAR EFFECTS. 41
has at his command a variety of means capable of pro-
ducing them.
The transparency of a water-colour wash, by allowing
the white paper to be seen through it, and so expressing
without labour a great transparency of atmosphere, may
be adduced as one of the principal advantages of the ma-
terial of our art. To obtain, however, the effect of light,
as in a sky, the student should endeavour to gain the full
amount of colour that may be required, in as few washes
or tints as possible. In painting, for instance, a twilight
sky, the first single wash will possess more brilliancy and
purity of tone than if the same tint were again passed
over it for the purpose of strengthening the colour. On
the other hand, a sky which has been obtained by repeated
washes, will have the effect of softness, as well as a quality
of subdued light, in a greater degree than the former.
Some artists, particularly celebrated for the air tones of
their mountain subjects, repeat the tints many times;
occasionally washing them down when dry with water,
and in that manner so blending and harmonizing them
with the sky and with each other, as to communicate to
their work the most charming and natural effects of dis-
tance. That this requires considerable skill and practice
will hardly be doubted; and the student must expect to
spoil many drawings before he succeeds in producing one
with which he can feel satisfied. A little instruction, in
the outset, as to the process, and the properties of some
colours may save some trouble and disappointment; par-
ticularly as some colours are much better adapted for
washing than others. Cobalt is tolerably firm upon
paper, and consequently answers better for this purpose
than French Blue or Ultramarine. A gray composed of
Cobalt, Crimson Lake, and Gamboge, will be found
excellent; as will those grays of which Light Bed forms a
part. Indigo bears well the process of washing; Prus-
sian Blue is apt to stain the paper, and will separate from
any other colour which may have been mixed with it;
has at his command a variety of means capable of pro-
ducing them.
The transparency of a water-colour wash, by allowing
the white paper to be seen through it, and so expressing
without labour a great transparency of atmosphere, may
be adduced as one of the principal advantages of the ma-
terial of our art. To obtain, however, the effect of light,
as in a sky, the student should endeavour to gain the full
amount of colour that may be required, in as few washes
or tints as possible. In painting, for instance, a twilight
sky, the first single wash will possess more brilliancy and
purity of tone than if the same tint were again passed
over it for the purpose of strengthening the colour. On
the other hand, a sky which has been obtained by repeated
washes, will have the effect of softness, as well as a quality
of subdued light, in a greater degree than the former.
Some artists, particularly celebrated for the air tones of
their mountain subjects, repeat the tints many times;
occasionally washing them down when dry with water,
and in that manner so blending and harmonizing them
with the sky and with each other, as to communicate to
their work the most charming and natural effects of dis-
tance. That this requires considerable skill and practice
will hardly be doubted; and the student must expect to
spoil many drawings before he succeeds in producing one
with which he can feel satisfied. A little instruction, in
the outset, as to the process, and the properties of some
colours may save some trouble and disappointment; par-
ticularly as some colours are much better adapted for
washing than others. Cobalt is tolerably firm upon
paper, and consequently answers better for this purpose
than French Blue or Ultramarine. A gray composed of
Cobalt, Crimson Lake, and Gamboge, will be found
excellent; as will those grays of which Light Bed forms a
part. Indigo bears well the process of washing; Prus-
sian Blue is apt to stain the paper, and will separate from
any other colour which may have been mixed with it;