\ 



ly: 



^l^iliixljliiii CIdIdJ:!!? 



It has been suggested to me that 



perhaps it would be helpful if I 



gave some details regarding the 



colours I find most useful in 



painting various flowers. If it is 



possible to give you any hints from 



my own experience that may be 



useful to }^ou I shall be most delighted to be of service, 



but at the same time I do not wish you to receive them 



solely on my recommendation. If it were possible to work 



from a stereotyped formula to obtain the lovely variations of 



tone and colour Nature shows us under different conditions, 



the charm and delight of sketching would be gone. 



It is well-nigh impossible, when we sit before a group of flowers 



ready to take their portraits, to tell off-hand what colouring we shall 



use : we must, to a certain extent, experiment on each new study we 



make ; for weather, surroundings, light and shade, and atmospheric 



conditions make so vast a difference that the variations of both tone and 



tint are very great. Even if we are working in a room, an overcast sky 



will have a great effect on the lighting of our group. The colours are 



more subdued, and perhaps seen in more decided masses of light and 



shade than when a bright insistent light shows up the details more 



strongly. On a sunny day you will notice wonderful warmth in the 



shadow, and brilliant reflections that were lost when the light was greyer. 



Then the surroundings of the room itself are also of importance ; for 



instance, a room with light yellow paper on the walls must of necessity 



give you warmer, more luminous shadows than a room where darker 



tones predominate. 



But even this is not everything. Perhaps the most important factor The liiac, various 

 of all in seeing colour is our own temperament, for it is well known that ^hitc, 

 no two artists see exactly alike. We have onlv to look around any of our Now sanguine, and 



^ ' 1 r 1 ^"^^ beauteous 



picture galleries to notice this, and if we could watch several of our best- head now set 



With purple spikes 

 pyramidal ; as if, 



Studious of orna- 

 ment, yet un- 

 resolved 



Which hue she 

 most approves, 

 she chose them 



87 



