13 
Colours may be divided into three classes, light, warm, and cold ; those 
that incline to red and yellow, are termed warm, those that incline to blue 
or black, cold; from the first two resembling in colour the sun and fire, 
the latter night and darkness. And as the primitive colour of light is 
white, all colours approaching to that, of course, are termed light. Now, 
if two men, the one dressed in white, or a warm colour, yellow or red; the 
other, in a cold one, blue or black ; stand at a distance, you will perceive 
the man in white, &c. &c. much plainer than the man in blue, &c. inso¬ 
much, that though both are equally distant, he that is in white, &c. will 
even appear nearer to you : a plain proof that light colours come forward to 
the eye, and cold ones retire from it. 
It follows, therefore, if you wish to give roundness, or projection to any 
part of an object, you would, from the foregoing observation, place a light, 
and warm colour on that part you want to come forward, and a cold one on 
that you wish to go back, and retire from the eye. There are other essential 
points to consider in forming a composition of colours; one is, that as 
there requires a certain degree of shade to set off the light, so there should 
be a certain degree of cold colour to balance the warm tints, the one 
answering to the other, so as to unite the two extremes gradually, and im¬ 
perceptibly with one another; but still in such a manner as to have the 
general tone a warm one : for nothing is more unpleasing than harsh cold 
shades, nor any thing more inconsistent with a strong light. It is as if you 
had placed the shades of evening with the light of noon, and there is an 
entire difference between them; the shades of morning being warm, mellow, 
and agreeable, whereas those of evening are cold, and disagreeable: and the 
impropriety of introducing shades of that tint, with a warm light, must be 
obvious; and yet, it may be easily done by those who do not consider the 
cause of these shades, which, in the one case, is owing to the retiring light; 
in the other, only to the interception of some object between them, and 
the sun, which strongly enlightening the object, it casts a strong shade, 
whose extremities are always tinctured with the colour of the object that 
casts the shadow, and which being blended with the colour of that it falls 
upon, produces that soft, mellow shade before spoken of. The first step 
