32 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
DESIGN AND ITS APPLICATION TO PORCELAIN 
Henrietta Barclay Paist 
PROBLEM XIV. COLOR HARMONY, APPLICATION (Continued) 
"Beauty of Color lies in Tempered Relations. Music rarely touches the 
extreme range of sound, and harmonious color rarely uses the extremes of 
color light or color strength. Regular scales in the middle register are first 
given to train the car, and so should the eye be first familiarized with medium 
degrees of color." — Munsell. 
LESSON XIII, if assimilated, has given us a basis for our 
color work — a definite understandable system for the 
selection of our color schemes. The most important point and 
the one hardest of comprehension is the fact that color has 
three dimensions or qualities. It is not easy to differentiate 
between the value of a color and its chroma, although we of 
course, recognize the softening process. But we are apt to 
confuse this process with a change in value, which may, or may 
not, take place. A color may be reduced in intensity without 
changing its value — its relation to Black and White. Taking 
an illustration from nature, a leaf may turn from Green to Red 
in the Autumn without changing its value, later it may also 
change from a clear Red to a dull or neutralized shade without 
having changed its value, although in the process it may also 
have lost in value. In the demonstration, then, of color har- 
mony and color balance, the neutralized colors play an impor- 
tant part, being used almost entirely for backgrounds and large 
areas, the pure colors being reserved for accent. Careful study 
of standard combinations will soon train the eye to "feel" har- 
mony or discord without reasoning out the theory. For prac- 
tice in the application of our theories, we will take our units of 
design as shown in value, using these values as a guide for our 
color values. Illustrate as before the two kinds of harmony, 
show also the warm and the cool color schemes. Work for 
rhythm and balance and the harmony that results from these. 
In our next problem we will take for our application the exer- 
cises of Problem IX. 
EXERCISE 
Select from Problems V and VI, six units of design for the 
application of our color theories. Show in two analogous and 
in two contrasting harmony: in one a warm and in one a cool 
color scheme. Show under each unit a color analysis (see 
illustration), indicating the Hue, Value and degree of Chroma 
of each color used. Use for this purpose the Japanese paper 
if procurable, preparing as for the work in neutral values. Any 
water color paper may be used for these experiments but the 
Japanese paper is especially practical where the work is sent 
in for criticism. Use the same brush for washes as in the neutral 
value work, the smaller brush being reserved for outlines, which 
by the way are to be considered as a part of the value work and 
must be tempered to the other values used. A sharp outline 
may spoil an otherwise harmonious color scheme. 
PROBLEM XV. COLOR HARMONY, APPLICATION (Continued). 
"It is not claimed that discipline in the use of subtle colors will make 
another Corot or Velasquez, but it will make for comprehension of their skill." 
— Munsell. 
"Art is not a science, but when science puts its knowledge into practice, 
it becomes Art, hence Art may have a scientific basis and is at its best, crea- 
tion." — Waller Crane. 
CONTINUING the practical application of our color theo- 
ries we will revert to design of Problem IX, border, tile 
and plate, which already have been suggested in values. Re- 
member that a background should never be a pure color — a 
color in its full intensity. Choose either a tint or a shade of a 
color and then decide as to whether you will have an analogous 
or contrasting harmony; whether you will show a cool or a warm 
color scheme. Watch as before for your color balance, dis- 
tributing your colors according to their attractive force, the 
greyed colors in larger and the pure colors in smaller areas. 
Proceed slowly and cautiously with color. Note in illustra- 
tions the gradual evolution from the monochrome through 
analogous harmony — to the more daring combinations of con- 
trasting colors. Refer continually to your charts and diagrams 
until you have them perfectly as a mental picture. If your 
understanding is not complete, the criticisms will set you right 
and gradually the whole subject of color will become clear and 
we will be able to work with a definite understanding of a sys- 
tem of color, instead of depending for our judgment on a mere 
"feeling" or "taste." Color is a large subject but like any 
other it is made simple by a system, by a method of approaching 
it. Once grasped, the system makes of it a definite subject, 
and you will enjoy the mental discipline of the work of selecting 
definite color scheme, based on a scientific knowledge of color 
values and color harmony. 
EXERCISE 
Put designs of Problem IX (Border, Tile and Plate) into 
color, being guided with reference to the color scheme by the 
use of the articles and by the type of the design. Watch as 
before for the balance of the colors and for the general harmony, 
choosing the color schemes methodically from the charts as per 
suggestions in this and previous arguments. Submit two sets 
for criticism, showing in one a cool, and in one a warm color 
scheme, show as before a color analysis of each design, indicat- 
ing the three qualities — Hue, Value and degree of neutralization. 
