

light, though subject to local influences, and as such the shadows can 

 never be so dark and strong as on the shadow side : meaningless little 

 bits of dark cutting it up will look hard and out of place. 



Complementary 

 Colours. 



I dare say you know that every colour has its complementary one, and 

 unless you are colour-blind, it is easy to find out what it is for yourself. 

 Put a dab of bright colour (red, for instance) on a piece of white paper, 

 look at it intently for a few seconds in a strong light, and then at once 

 on a blank space on the paper. What do you see? Instead of a red 

 spot you see a green one, and by this simple test you can learn what is 

 scientifically the right colour to use if you wish to 

 intensif}' another by contrast. As an example, you 

 may have been painting a field, and you think the 

 grass looks rather dull in hue ; put a few scarlet 

 poppies in the foreground, and the effect is almost 

 magical. Red, as the complementary colour to 

 green, has enhanced and intensified the strength 

 of the latter. 



Speaking in a broad sense, the three primary 

 colours, yellow, red, and blue, may be said to 

 represent light, colour, and shade. There is always 

 a great deal of yellow in sunshine and sunny 

 effects. Look at a leaf with the sun glinting 

 through, and note how much more yellow it 

 contains than it would on a grey day 1 Red is 

 expressive of warmth ; while blue without doubt 

 gives an idea of distance and quietness, because 

 mist in the air being blue, it subdues and qualifies 

 the colour of objects that are far away. 



Sometimes when a study is nearing completion, 

 we notice there is something inharmonious in the 

 colour. Perhaps it looks cold, the shadows are 

 too grey and want warmth in the reflections. Very 



often we have painted at different times under different conditions of light, 

 consequently the work does not come together pleasingly as a whole. 

 Sometimes a little warmer colour worked judiciously into shadows and 

 background will be of great service ; sometimes the latter may require 

 a grey tint worked in to quiet and subdue it. 



It is necessarj', when painting groups of flowers in colour, to arrange 

 the colours of the relative objects in the composition, so that, by 

 harmony and contrast, they are helpful to each other. 



Suppose, for instance, you painted some apple - blossom, always 

 rather a cold pink, in a blue jar against a grey background, the effect 

 would be cold in the extreme. But if the background had been 



Oh, the sweet dried lavender! 



Oh, the more than scent in it ! 

 The butterShes and the bees astir, 



The pipe o5 linnets pent in it! 



91 



