PAINTING. 



colour, and the quick drying of the pigments 

 which is favourable to rapid execution. The 

 clearness with which some tints are brought out, 

 induces the artist to employ pigments derived 

 from the animal and vegetable world for their 

 richness and brilliancy, to keep up the tone of 

 colour : these, however, are liable to be bleached 

 by the light. The paper, also, is liable to become 

 dingy, giving to the general effect a decayed 

 appearance. Care should therefore be taken 

 to use only those pigments which are known 

 to be permanent, and to preserve the paper as 

 much as possible from the effects of smoke and 

 damp. 



This method of painting is peculiarly adapted, 

 from its convenience and rapidity of drying, for 

 the purpose of sketching from nature : the finest 

 effects of light and shade are so transient, that 

 the greatest dexterity is required to secure them. 

 The materials required consist of a board and 

 paper, or a solid sketch-book, a set of moist 

 colours, water-bottle and pans, and brushes. The 

 board may be made either of deal or mahogany, 

 and of any size according to convenience, taking 

 care that it is one that will waste as little as 

 possible of the paper, which is made of a certain 

 size. To stretch the paper properly, it should be 

 gently sponged with plenty of water, and per- 

 mitted to expand and soften. In this state, laid 

 flat, wrong side up, on a clean towel, the board 

 should be placed on it, and the edges pasted or 

 glued on its back. A very convenient kind of 

 board is made with a frame and shifting panel, 

 which may be had in the shops. The paper is 

 simply laid on the frame, the panel laid above it 

 and pressed into its place, and secured by a cross- 

 bar behind. Unless, however, this is carefully 

 managed, the paper will be found to swell and 

 become bagged when moistened by the brush, 

 causing considerable annoyance. Paper is pre- 

 pared of various kinds rough and smooth, white 

 and tinted : for ordinary use, it should be stout, 

 hard, and moderately rough. The best brushes 

 are the sable, red and brown. Flat brushes of 

 various sizes are used for large washes, and round 

 ones for the smaller ; in general, they should be 

 used as large as can be managed with conveni- 

 ence, employing small ones only in finishing up 

 the minute detail. 



The following list of pigments, which may be 

 considered permanent, will be found generally 

 useful in landscapes : Yellow Ochre, Gamboge, 

 Indian Yellow, Raw Sienna, Raw Umber, Madder 

 Lake, Madder Brown, Light Red, Burnt Sienna, 

 Burnt Umber, Vandyke Brown, Cobalt Blue, 

 Indigo, Sepia, Lampblack, Chinese White. 



Before trying to colour with these, the student 

 should endeavour to become acquainted with their 

 properties by experimenting on a piece of paper. 

 Some pigments are transparent, some semi- 

 transparent, and some opaque. For example, 

 gamboge is transparent ; Indian yellow, semi- 

 transparent ; and vermilion and chrome yellow, 

 opaque. These different qualities render them 

 useful for different purposes, to which the prop- 

 erties of each are suited. Rich transparent pig- 

 ment such as gamboge and Vandyke brown are 

 frequently of great use in foregrounds, but are 

 dangerous anywhere else, as they are apt to 

 destroy the aerial perspective from their strength ; 

 while they may be made to assist it, if judiciously 



used in their proper place. On the contrary, 

 drier and more opaque pigments assist the effect 

 of distance yellow ochre, light red, cobalt, and 

 French blue, for example. 



But little progress can be expected unless the 

 theory of colour, independent of paint, be under- 

 stood. We would therefore draw attention to 

 the following remarks. There are three primary 

 colours namely, red, yellow, and blue and out 

 of these all the various compound tints are 

 formed. If we possessed these three in their 

 purity as pigments, we would require nothing 

 else ; but this is not the case. By mixing the 

 primaries one with another, the secondaries 

 orange, green, and purple are produced. Red 

 and yellow produce orange ; yellow and blue, 

 green ; and red and blue, purple. By mixing all 

 these together, black, or rather the absence of 

 colour, is the result : thus, red added to green, or 

 yellow to purple, or blue to orange, destroys them, 

 and makes black. But if a small quantity only 

 of any third primary is introduced into a com- 

 bination of the remaining two, it simply lowers it, 

 making it more gray : thus, red added in small 

 quantity to green, breaks it, as it is called ; that 

 is, destroys its greenness in proportion to the 

 amount introduced. And if a small quantity of 

 green be added to red, the like effect will be pro- 

 duced ; and so with the others. Contrast of 

 colour may be effected by simply opposing one 

 tint with another differing in any respect as red 

 with blue or yellow, with gray or green, with black 

 or white ; but the strongest effect will be obtained 

 by green, as this is composed of the remaining 

 primaries, blue and yellow, which, when com- 

 bined, are so antagonistic as to destroy red if 

 mixed with it, and so with the other primaries. 

 The secondary colours, while they differ from 

 each other, are not complete contrasts, because 

 any two put side by side will contain a colour 

 possessed equally by the other. For example, 

 orange and green each contain yellow ; purple 

 and orange, red ; and green and purple, blue ; 

 hence the best contrasts to each are the opposing 

 primaries as blue to orange, and yellow to 

 purple. Light and dark tints are sometimes con- 

 sidered sources of contrast ; for example, the 

 dark browns of a foreground as contrasting with 

 the light bluish tints of a distance ; but this is 

 not so much a difference of colour as of light and 

 darkness, which should be considered by itself in 

 arranging the light and shade. Brightness and 

 dulness of tint should be studied in contrasts as 

 a source of variety as red with a greenish gray, 

 or orange with a bluish gray. However, in con- 

 sidering colour, it should be first thought of 

 merely as either primary or secondary ; colour- 

 tints should be examined as red, yellow, or blue, 

 orange, green, or purple ; then as weak or strong, 

 as light or dark. 



Besides the secondary colours, some make an 

 addition of tertiaries ; but these are not distinct 

 colours, being merely the mixture of secondaries, 

 as green with orange, which is equivalent to two 

 parts of yellow with one of blue and one of red. 

 Thus, we have the three primaries neutralising 

 each other, making black ; but the yellow pre- 

 dominating in quantity by one part, preserves 

 itself. There is, consequently, a low-toned yellow, 

 which is called citrine. In the same way, the 

 other mixtures are called russet, which is a 



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