Part 11 (1/2)
+These paths trace sequences from any point in the color solid.+
(163) In the construction of the color solid we saw that its scales were made of equal steps in hue, value, and chroma, and tested by balance on the centre of neutral gray. Any step will serve as a point of departure to trace regular sequences of the three types. The vertical type is a sequence of value only. It is somewhat tame, lacking the change of hue and chroma, but giving a monotonous harmony of regular values. The horizontal type traces a sequence of neighboring hues, less tame than the vertical type, but monotonous in value and chroma. The inward type connects opposite hues by a sequence of chroma balanced on middle gray, and is more stimulating to the eyes.
(164) These paths have so far been treated as made up of equal steps in each direction, with the accompanying idea of equal quant.i.ties of color at each step. But by using _unequal quant.i.ties of color_, the balance may be preserved by compensations to the intervals that separate the colors (see paragraphs 109, 110).
+Unequal color quant.i.ties compensated by relations of hue, value, and chroma.+
(165) Small bits of powerful color can be used to balance large fields of weak chroma. For instance, a spot of strong reddish purple is balanced and enhanced by a field of gray-green. So an amethyst pin at the neck of the girl's dress will appear to advantage with the gown, and also with the Leghorn straw. But a large field of strong color, such as a cloth jacket of reddish purple, would be fatal to the measured harmony we seek.
(166) This use of a small point of strong chroma, if repeated at intervals, sets up a notion of rhythm; but, in order to be rhythmic, there must be recurrent emphasis, ”a succession of similar units, combining unlike elements.” This quality must not be confused with the unaccented succession, seen in a measured scale of hue, value, or chroma.
+Paper masks to isolate color intervals.+
(167) A sheet of paper large enough to hide the color sphere may be perforated with three or more openings in a straight line, and applied against the surface, so as to isolate the steps of any sequence which we wish to study. Thus the sequence given in paragraph 160--Y 8/7, G 6/5, BG 4/3--may be changed to bring it on the surface of the sphere, when it reads Y 8/3, G 6/5, BG 5/5. A mask with round holes, s.p.a.ced so as to uncover these three spots, relieves the eye from the distraction of other colors. Keeping the centre spot on green, the mask may be moved so as to study the effect of changing hue or value of the other two steps in the sequence.
(168) The sequence is lightened by sliding the whole mask upward, and darkened by dropping it lower. Then the result of using the same intervals in another field is easily studied by moving the mask to another part of the solid.
(169) Change of interval immediately modifies the character of a color sequence. This is readily shown by having an under-mask, with a long, continuous slit, and an over-mask whose perforations are arranged in several rows, each row giving different s.p.a.ces between the perforations.
In the case of the girl's clothing, the same sequence produces quite a different effect, if two perforations of the over-mask are brought nearer to select a lighter yellow-green dress, while the ends of the sequence remain unchanged. To move the middle perforation near the other end, selects a darker bluish green dress, on which the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g will be less contrasted, while the hat appears brighter than before, because of greater contrast.
(170) The variations of color sequence which can thus be studied out by simple masks are almost endless; yet upon a measured system the character of each effect is easily described, and, if need be, preserved by a written record.
+Invention of color groups.+
(171) Experiments with variable masks for the selection of color intervals, such as have been described, soon stimulate the imagination, so that it conceives sequences through any part of the color solid. The color image becomes a permanent mental adjunct. Five middle colors, tempered with white and black, permit us to devise the greatest variety of sequences, some light, others dark, some combining small difference of chroma with large difference of hue, others uniting large intervals of chroma with small intervals of hue, and so on through a well-nigh inexhaustible series.
(172) As this constructive imagination gains power, the solid and its charts may be laid aside. _We can now think color consecutively._ Each color suggests its place in the system, and may be taken as a point of departure for the invention of groups to carry out a desired relation.
(173) This selective mental process is helped by the score described in the last chapter; and the quant.i.ty of each color chosen for the group is easily indicated by a variable circle, drawn round the various points on the diagram. Thus, in the case of the child's clothes, a large circle around G 6/5 gives the area of that color as compared with smaller circles around Y 8/7 and BG 4/3, representing the area of the straw and the tr.i.m.m.i.n.g.
(174) When the plotting of color groups has become instinctive from long practice, it opens a wide field of color study. Take as ill.u.s.tration the wings of b.u.t.terflies or the many varieties of pansies. These fascinating color schemes can be written with indications of area that record their differences by a simple diagram. In the same way, rugs, tapestries, mosaics,--whatever attracts by its beauty and harmony of color,--can be recorded and studied in measured terms; and the mental process of estimating hues, values, chromas, and areas by established scales must lead the color sense to finer and finer perceptions.
The same process serves as well to record the most annoying and inharmonious color groups. When sufficient of these records have been obtained, they furnish definite material for a contrast of the color combinations which please, with those that cause disgust. Such a contrast should discover some broad law of color harmony. It will then be in measured terms which can be clearly given; not a vague personal statement, conveying different meanings to each one who hears it.
+Constant exercise needed to train the color sense.+
(175) Appreciation of beautiful color grows by exercise and discrimination, just as naturally as fine perception of music or literature. Each is an outlet for the expression of taste,--a language which may be used clumsily or with skill.
(176) As color perception becomes finer, it discards the more crude and violent contrasts. A child revels in strong chromas, but the mark of a colorist is ability to employ low chroma without impoveris.h.i.+ng the color effect. As a boy's shrieks and groans can be tempered to musical utterance, so his debauches in violent red, green, and purple must be replaced by tempered hues.
(177) Raphael, t.i.tian, Velasquez, Corot, Chavannes, and Whistler are masters in the use of gray. Personal bias may lead one colorist a little more toward warm colors, and another slightly toward the cool field, in each case attaining a sense of harmonious balance by tempered degrees of value and chroma.[33]
[Footnote 33: ”Nature's most lively hues are bathed in lilac grays. Spread all about us, yet visible only to the fine perception of the colorist, is this gray quality by which he appeals. Not he whose pictures abound in '_couleurs voyantes_,'