Latent Colour Not Immediately Apparent Apart From The Beauty Which A
: ON COLOURS AND PIGMENTS INDIVIDUALLY.wealth of colour imparts, those pigments imbued with it are, as a rule,
the most permanent. And not unnaturally so, for the more colour there is
present, the longer it takes to be affected, either by exposure or
impure air. Colour within colour, therefore, not only lends charm to a
pigment, but contributes to its safety.
There is often a vicious predilection of some artists in favour of a
particular colou
totally free, and which arises from organic defect, or mental
association. Such predilection is greatly to be guarded against by the
colourist, who is every way surrounded by dangers. On the one hand,
there is fear lest he fall into whiteness or chalkiness; on the other,
into blackness or gloom: in front he may run into fire and foxiness, or
he may slide backward into cold and leaden dulness: all of which are
extremes he must avoid. There are also other important prejudices to
which the eye is liable in regard to colours individually, that demand
his particular attention. These are occasioned by the various specific
powers of single colours acting on the eye according to their masses and
the activity of light, or the length of time they are viewed. By
consequence, vision becomes over-stimulated, unequally exhausted, and
endued, even before it is fatigued, with a spectrum which not only
clouds the colour itself, but gives a false brilliancy by contrast to
surrounding hues, so as totally or partially to throw the eye off its
balance, and mislead the judgment. This derangement of the organ may be
caused by a powerful tint on the palette, a mass of drapery, the colour
of a wall, the light of a room, or other accidental circumstance; and
the remedy is to refresh the eye with a new object--of nature, if
possible--or to give it rest. The powers of colours in these respects,
as well as of pigments individually, together with their reciprocal
action and influence chemically, will be adverted to under their
distinct heads.
The attention of the artist to the individual powers of pigments,
although it may be of less concern than the attention to general effect
in colouring, is by no means less necessary in practice. For he who
would excel in colouring must study it from several points of view, in
respect to the whole and the parts of a picture, as regards mind and
body, and concerning itself alone. To this end, is needed a knowledge of
his pigments individually.
If nature has arrayed herself in all the colours of the rainbow, she has
not been niggardly in offering man the materials wherewith to copy them.
The mineral, animal, vegetable kingdom--each helps him to realize,
however faintly, her many manifold beauties: to give some idea, however
slight, of that glorious flood of colour, which light lets loose upon
the world. Metal, ore, earth, stone; root, plant, flower, fruit; beast,
fish, insect--in turn aid the arduous task. The painter's box is a very
museum of curiosities, from every part of the universe. For it, the
mines yield their treasures, as well as the depths of the sea: to it
come Arab camel, and English ox, cuttle-fish and crawling coccus: in it
the Indian indigo lies next the madder of France, and the gaudy
vermilion of China brightens the mummy of Egypt. Varied, indeed, are the
sources whence we derive our pigments; and if they still leave much to
desire, improvement is clearly manifest. Slowly but surely, year by
year, we are advancing. With the growth of science, the exhaustless
stores of creation, will there at last be attained--step by step, though
it be--that summit of the artist's hopes, a perfect palette?
TTITLE ON THE NEUTRAL, WHITE.
The term "colour" is equivocal when applied to the neutrals, yet the
artist is bound to consider them as colours; for a thing cannot but be
that of which it is composed, and neutrals are composed of, or
comprehend, all colours.
More
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Haerlem Blue Berlin Blue Mineral Blue Is A Lighter And
somewhat brighter Prussian blue, with less depth and less permanence. It is a species of lake, having a considerable proportion of aluminous base, to which its paler tint is due. As the stability of Prussian blue rests in a great measure on the marvel... Harmonizing Contrast Of Citrine Is A Deep Purple Which May Be Seen
beautifully opposed to it in nature, when the green of summer declines. As autumn advances, citrine tends towards its orange hues, including the colours termed aurora, chamoise, and others before enumerated under the head of yellow. It is the most adv... Have To Be Learnt For Each Pigment Has Its Own Peculiar Habitudes
chemical, physical, artistic; but if they be good and durable, no amount of time and study spent upon them is thrown away. To think less of the quality of one's materials than of the effects which can be produced with them is mistaken policy; and to b... Highest Order Merits Regard Orient Yellow Distinguished For Its
lustrous golden hue, resembling a bright Indian yellow. Dazzling in ... Hues Required To Obtain A Pure Green Which Consists Of Blue And
yellow only, a blue should be chosen tinged with yellow rather than with red, and a yellow tinged with blue. If either a blue or a yellow were taken, tinged with red, this latter colour would go to produce some grey in the compound, which would tarnis... In All The Variety Of Its Hues Composed Of Yellow And Red A True Or
perfect orange is such a compound of red and yellow as will neutralize a perfect blue in equal quantity either of surface or intensity; and the proportions of such compound are five of perfect red to three of perfect ... In Furnishing Or Setting The Palette Philosophically And Upon
principle, it is necessary to supply it with pure blue, red, and yellow; to oppose to these an orange, of a hue that will neutralise the blue--green, of a hue that will neutralise the red--and purple, of a hue that will neutralise the yellow; and so o... In Respect To Pigments Individually It May Be Observed That--other
things being equal--those pigments are the most beautiful which possess the most colour, whether they be light or dark, opaque or transparent, bright or subdued. There are some which exhibit all their colour at a glance: there are others that the more... Include The Several Varieties Known As--vermilion Deep Vermilion
... Incorrectly Called Cullen's Earth Is A Native Bituminous Earth
containing less bitumen than Cassel earth, and therefore drying more quickly. Darker than that variety, it is less transparent, and covers better. In its general qualities it resembles Vandyke brown, except that in combination with white, it affords a... Intellectual Which Aspires To The Ideal In Beauty Grandeur And
sublimity, and corresponds with the Greek, Roman, and Florentine ... Intermedia Are Opposed To Contrasts Or Extremes; And Upon The Right
management of contrasts and gradations depend the harmony and melody, the tone, effect, and general expression of a picture. Thus, painting is an affair of judicious contrasting so far as regards colour, if even it be not such altogether. ... Introduced With Caution When Hue Is Of Greater Importance Than Shade
Even when employed as a shadow, without much judgment in its use, black is apt to appear as local colour rather than as privation of light; and black pigments obtained by charring have a tendency to rise and predominate over other hues, subduing the m... Is A Native Earth; Sometimes Brown Ochre Burnt And Called Brown Red
It is less pure in hue and clear in its tints than light red, and is best reserved for dark and vigorous shades and touches. For draperies of a dusky red it is well suited, or even for the shadows of bright-red drapery. In dead colouring it is very va... Is A Pigment Long Employed In India Under The Name Purree But Has Not
many years been introduced generally into painting in Europe. It is imported in the form of balls of a fetid odour, and is produced from the urine of the camel. It appears to be a urio-phosphate of lime, and is of a beautiful pure yellow colour and li... Is Important And Consists In The Blending And Gradating By Mixture
... Is In Reality We Grant That In Certain Objects Blue Is A Sign Of
distance, but that is not because blue, as a mere colour, is retiring; but because the mist in the air is blue, and therefore any warm colour which has not strength of light enough to pierce the mist is lost or subdued in its blue. Blue in itself, how... Is Merely A Faded Blue The Blacks Are Both Of Vegetable And Mineral
origin, having been obtained from a variety of substances in a variety of ways. But, as shown by Layard in his discoveries at Nineveh, a knowledge of colouring was not confined to the Egyptians; it was likewise possessed by the Assyrians. The paint... Is That Of Warmth And Coolness Upon Which Depend The Toning And
... Is The Commercial Name Of Green Lakes Prepared From Sulphate Of
copper. These vary in hue and shade, have all the properties of the common non-arsenical copper-greens, and, not being subject to change of colour by oxygen and light, stand the weather well, and are excellent for the use of the house-painter, &c. Hav... Is Thence Sometimes Called Bladder Green When Good It Is Of A Dark
colour and glossy fracture, extremely transparent, and a fine natural yellowish green. This gummy juice, inspissated and formed into a cake, is occasionally employed in flower painting. It is, however, a very imperfect pigment, disposed to attract the... It Is Common To Call The Solution In Turpentine Asphaltum And The
... It Is The Archeus Or Prime Colour Of The Tertiary Citrine;
characterises in like manner the endless number of semi-neutral colours ... It Is True That A Mixture Of Black And White Is Of A Cool Hue Because
black is not a primary colour, but a compound of the three primary colours in which blue predominates, a predominance which is rendered more sensible when black is diluted with white. As to the colour of the sky, in which light and shade are combined,... Jaune De Mars Jaune De Fer Iron Yellow &c Is An Artificially
prepared iron ochre, of the nature of sienna earth. In its general qualities it resembles the ochres, with the same eligibilities and exceptions, but is more transparent, as well as purer, clearer, richer, and brighter. Like them it is quite permanent... Juice Of A Plant Named Houng Hoa To Give It Brightness Of Tone
According to an analysis by M. Proust, the better kinds contain about two per cent. of camphor. By some, the pigment known as Sepia has been supposed to enter into their composition. ... Known As Liquid Prout's Brown Has Been Extensively Employed This
contains less fixative than the indelible ink, and is the vehicle with which nearly all Samuel Prout's drawings were executed. TTITLE LEITCH'S BROWN is a permanent pigment peculiar to water painting. A most beautiful olive brown, soft and rich, i... Known As Yellow Ochre Brown Ochre Roman Ochre Transparent Gold
... Known Likewise As Kremnitz Crems Or Krems White Is A Carbonate
of lead which derives its names from Kremnitz in Hungary, or Crems or ... Known Likewise As Raw Sienna Earth Terra Di Sienna &c Is A
ferruginous native pigment, firm in substance, of a glossy fracture, and very absorbent. It is of rather an impure yellow colour, and much used in landscape, being very serviceable both in distance and foreground. Unless proper skill is exercised in i... Krems In Austria It Is Also Called Vienna White Being Brought From
Vienna in cakes of a cubical form. Cremnitz white is the brightest white that is used in oil: it possesses rather less body than flake white, because the particles are finer. When newly prepared, it gives out a strong smell of vinegar. TTITLE FLAKE... Lake &c And Are Obtained From The Coccus Cacti An Insect Found On
a species of cactus, from the juice of which it extracts its nourishment. This coccus is a native of Mexico, where two kinds are recognised, under names which signify wild cochineal and fine cochineal. The latter may be considered a cultivated product... Lake A Term Derived From The Lac Or Lacca Of India Is The Name Of
a number of transparent red and other coloured pigments of great beauty, prepared for the most part by precipitating coloured tinctures of dyeing drugs upon aluminous bases. Consequently, the lakes form a numerous class, both with respect to the varie... Lake Florentine Lake Hamburgh Lake Roman Lake Venetian
... Lake Mineral Green Patent Green Mountain Green Marine
... Lately Called Factitious Ultramarine Is A Specially Fine Preparation
of M. Guimet, presenting the nearest approach to the natural product of any artificial ultramarine, both in transparency, purity of hue, and chemical characteristics. Equalling in depth and power the ordinary French ultramarine, it possesses greater c... Latent Colour Not Immediately Apparent Apart From The Beauty Which A
wealth of colour imparts, those pigments imbued with it are, as a rule, the most permanent. And not unnaturally so, for the more colour there is present, the longer it takes to be affected, either by exposure or impure air. Colour within colour, there... Lazuline Lazulite Blue And Lazurstein This Most Costly Most
permanent, and most celebrated of all pigments, is obtained by isolating ... Lazurium As We Are Told Is Made It Has Been Common To Confound
... Leaning To Blue The Names Of Violet Lilac Mauve &c Blue Is
a colour which it serves to mellow, or follows well into shade. The contrast or harmonizing colour of purple is yellow on the side of light and the primaries; while purple itself is the harmonizing contrast of ... Leithner's Blue Hungary Blue Dutch Ultramarine Zaffre Or
... Less Known As English Red Prussian Red And Scarlet Ochre True
Venetian red, that is, the red of the Venetians, was probably brought from India, and similar to our modern Indian red. The Venetian red of the present day, however, is an artificial product, containing no earthy base, and therefore improperly classed... Light Colours; Thus It Blues White Greens Yellow Purples Red
... Light Compounded With The Primary Red It Constitutes The Secondary
... Light Does Upon Opacity Or Reflecting Power Opacity Is Therefore
the antagonist of transparency, and qualifies pigments to cover in dead-colouring, or solid painting, as well as to combine with transparent colours in forming tints; and hence it is that semi-transparent pigments are suited in a mean degree both for ... Likewise Called Lac Lake This Is Obtained From The Lac Or Lacca Of
India, a resinous secretion which seems to depend upon the puncture of a ... Likewise Known As Spruce Ochre And Ocre De Rue Or More Correctly
... Liquid Asphaltum &c Is A Sort Of Mineral Pitch Or Tar Which Rising
liquid to the surface of the Lacus Asphaltites or Asphaltic Lake (the Dead Sea) concretes there by the natural action of the atmosphere and sun, and, floating in masses to the shores, is gathered by the Arabs. The French give it an additional name fro... Liquid Indian Ink Is A Solution For Architects Surveyors &c
TTITLE IVORY BLACK is ivory charred to blackness by strong heat in closed vessels. Differing chiefly through want of care or skill in preparing, when well made it is the richest and most transparent of all the blacks, a fine neutral colour perfec... Liquid Sepia Seppia Or Animal Aethiops Is Named After The Sepia
or cuttle-fish, also called the ink-fish, from its affording a dark liquid, which was used as an ink and pigment by the ancients. All the species of cuttle-fish are provided with a dark-coloured fluid, sometimes quite black, which they emit to obscure... Litharge Is Merely Fused Massicot Old Writers Speak Of Litharge Of
silver and litharge of gold, oxides of lead, pale and reddish yellow respectively. Commercial litharge, especially that which is foreign, contains sometimes a considerable proportion of oxide of copper and iron. The principal impurity, however, is gen... London And Nottingham White Flemish White Pattison's White
... Lose Sight Of That The Colour Of Shadow Is Always Transparent And
... Madder Or Madder Lake Speaking Of Pink Roses Mrs Duffield Remarks
that "the local colour is best imitated with pink madder," and the Messrs. Rowbotham observe "this heather may be best represented by cobalt and madder lake." In trade catalogues several names are often given, as in this instance, to one and the same ... Many Colours Are Apt To Change From The Action Of White Lead And Other
lead pigments, &c., principally those which are altered by light and air. Many, too, cannot safely come into contact with iron, or ferruginous pigments; especially the yellows of arsenic, the lakes of cochineal, and the blues and greens of copper. ... May Be Said Of Chinese Lake
TTITLE HAMBURGH LAKE Is a lake of great power and depth of colour, purplish or inclining to crimson, which dries with extreme difficulty, but differs in no other essential respect from preceding cochineal lakes--an observation which ... Mineralogique Of Paris Are Two Splendid Specimens Of The Stone In
which is seen the transition from the azure to the white. According to the quantity and quality of blue present, the lapis varies from an almost uniform tint of the deepest indigo-blue to grayish-white, dotted and streaked at intervals with pale blue.... Minium Or Saturnine Red Is An Ancient Pigment By Some Old Writers
confounded with cinnabar, and termed Sinoper or Synoper. It is an oxide of uncertain composition, prepared by subjecting massicot to the heat of a furnace with an expanded surface and free accession of air. Of a scarlet colour and fine hue, it is warm... Mixing Colours With Colours He Produces Compound Colours Or Hues
... Mixture With Drying-oil Bitumen: The Latter Is Likewise Known As
... More Directly Of The Secondaries Purple And Green In Each Of Which
blue is a constituent: hence blue occurs twice in the latter mode of forming olive, while red and blue enter therein singly and subordinately. Blue is, therefore, in every instance the archeus or predominating colour of olive; its perfect or middle hu... Mountains Of Kernhausen Whence It Is Sometimes Called Hungary Green
It is prepared from malachite, a beautiful copper ore employed by jewellers, and is a hydrated dicarbonate of copper, combined with a white earth, and often striated with veins of mountain blue, to which it bears the same relation that green verditer ... Mummy Brown Or Egyptian Brown Is A Bituminous Product Mixed With
animal remains, brought from the catacombs of Egypt, where liquid bitumen was employed three thousand years ago in embalming. By a slow chemical change, it has combined during so many ages with substances which give it, as a rule, a more solid and las... Native Cinnabar Or Vermilion The Yellows Are Said To Have Been In
many cases, vegetable colours; but it is likely earths and ochres were ... Native Ultramarine Natural Ultramarine Real Ultramarine True
... Neutral Colours Are Three Only White Black And Grey According
to the laws of Optics, the two first comprise all other colours synthetically, and afford them all by analysis. These are sometimes called "extreme" colours, grey being their intermediate. ... Note Here The Difference Between Gray As Spelt With An A And Grey As
... Numerous Colours Are Likewise Injured By Lime And Fire And Cannot
therefore be employed in fresco, or enamel painting. Of substances which may act deleteriously on colours, there remain the ... Ochre Oxford Ochre Stone Ochre Di Palito &c Are Native
earths, consisting chiefly of silica and alumina in combination with iron, which latter forms the principal colouring matter. They are among the most ancient of pigments, and their permanency is proved by the state of the old pictures. In a box of col... Of Late Years In The German Coelin Known Here As Cerulian Blue And
Coeruleum. What is chiefly wanted, however, is a colour combining the wonderful depth, richness, and transparency of Prussian blue with the strict stability of ultramarine. A permanent Prussian blue would be the most valued gift the palette could rece... Of Lead &c
The heaviest and whitest of these are the best, and in point of colour and body, are superior to all other whites. When pure and properly applied in oil and varnish, they are comparatively safe and durable, drying well without addition; but excess o... Of Shades Between The Extremes Of Light And Dark As Each Compound
...