THE CONTRAST OF COLORS. 



1? 



will appear still paler. A slip of paper painted with a somewhat pale 

 red, when placed on a vermilion ground, appears still paler, and may 

 actually be made to look white. If a still paler slip be used, it may 

 even become tinged greenish-blue, its color being in this case actually 

 reversed by the effect of contrast. When the colors differ in luminosity, 

 analogous effects are observed : a dull-red slip was placed on a vermil- 

 ion ground; the effect was as though a quantity of gray had been 

 added to the slip ; it looked more dingy and somewhat blackish. An- 

 other slip, still darker and containing less red, when placed on the same 

 ground looked as if it were tinged with olive-green ; a still darker slip, 

 with still less red color, when treated in the same way looked black, with 

 a tinge of blue. When, however, this last slip was placed on a white 

 ground, or compared with true black, it was seen that its color was far 

 from black. The general result of contrasting colors which differ much 

 in strength then is, that the feebler one appears either more whitish or 

 grayish, or assumes the complementary tint ; the stronger one, on the 

 other hand, appears still more intense. 



If the strong and weak colors are complementary to each other, then 

 each of them gains in intensity and appears purer, this gain seeming to 

 be greater in the case of the pale tint. From this it follows that while 

 the juxtaposition of strong with feeble colors usually injures or greatly 

 alters the latter, colors that are complementary furnish an exception, 

 the reason of which is evident at the first glance. 



When the pale or dark colors are not complementary to their more 

 intense or brilliant riv^als, they undergo the same changes indicated in 

 the table on page 7, the changes in the case of the dull or pale colors 

 being considerably greater. In proportion as the colors are distant 

 from each other in the chromatic circle, do they gain in saturation and 

 beauty ; while, as they approach, their character is altered and they are 

 apt to look very pale, or, in the case of the dark colors, blackish or 

 dirty. This is particularly so when the brilliant color is large in sur- 

 face and surrounds the darker one ; with the reversed conditions the 

 effect is not so much felt. Thus, a somewhat dull red near vermilion 

 no longer looks red but brown; a dull orange tint under the same con- 

 ditions looks like a yellowish-brown. 



It might be supposed, from what has preceded, that colors would 

 enrich each other only when separated by a large interval in the chro- 

 matic circle, and from a purely physiological point of view this is indeed 

 true; still there are other influences of a more spiritual character at 

 work which modify, and sometimes even reverse, this lower law. Thus 

 the presence of a pale color in a painting near that which is richer often 

 passes unperceived, simply making the impression of a higher degree 

 of illumination. We recognize the representation of a flood of light, 

 and delight in it without finding fault with the pale tints, if only they 

 are laid with decision and knowledge ; again, pale color we delight in 

 as representing the distance of a landscape ; the pale greenish-gray, 



