14 
towards a knowledge of composition in painting, is to understand perfectly 
the strength,and management of each colour separately, which are their 
proper contrasting, and which their harmonising tints; without this you 
cannot dispose of them with judgment in a full group; for colours are to 
the eye what the notes in music are to the ear, and will either produce 
harmony or discord, according as they are managed. I shall endeavour to 
explain what has, and will be said on the subject, by examples of different 
groups of flowers, &c. ; but before I speak of particular groups, I must men¬ 
tion the harmonising tints, without which it is impossible to form a group. 
By harmonising tints, I mean those which should occupy the space between 
the two extremes of light and shade, and of warm and cold, in short, those 
that come the nearest to one another; as, for instance, yellow is the har¬ 
monising tint to white*, as being nearest in lightness of tint; orange to 
yellow, scarlet to orange, red to scarlet, blue to green, indigo to blue, violet 
to blue, and black to indigo: and when a learner is become an adept in the 
management of these colours in simple groups, their arrangement in a full 
one will be no difficulty. I shall beg leave to style this part of the work 
simple composition, and will now speak of each group separately. 
* There is no doubt but that a weak degree of any other colour will harmonise with white, but 
yellow is here spoken of in its primitive state. 
