Shade (color)

“ As color always seems darker when it is wet, it is difficult to tell exactly when you have as deep a color as you desire, but holding the material up to the light gives a fairly good idea of the way the color will look when dry. To get a deep shade of a special color it is always better to work up to the color desired by steps, that is, to dye a light tone of the color desired, examine this and if it is the desired shade continue until the desired depth of color is reached. ”

“ Again, the mere contrast of dark or dull tints enhances the color and luminosity of those that are bright, and the observer receives the impression that he is gazing at a mass of gay and beautiful coloring, scarcely noticing the presence of the much larger quantity of tints that are darkened by being in deep shade. ”

“ However small a point of black may be, it ought to catch the eye, otherwise your work is too heavy in the shadow. All the ordinary shadows should be of some color,—never black, nor approaching black, they should be evidently and always of a luminous nature, and the black should look strange among them; never occurring except in a black object, or in small points indicative of intense shade in the very center of masses of shadow. Shadows of absolutely negative gray, however, may be beautifully used with white, or with gold ”

“ Broken Colors.—Gray colors, often improperly called broken tints. For simplicity, a tint of a color is described as the pure color mixed with white and a shade as the color mixed with black, and the corresponding broken color is the same color mixed with both white and black or with neutral gray. A tint of a color thrown into a shadow or a shade of a color in bright sunlight gives a broken color. For various reasons a very large proportion of the colors in nature are broken. ”

“ As an artist's color, it replaces almost all the other red pigments which we have inherited from the past. The same chemists have an equally powerful yellow and blue under careful observation, and it is highly probable that in another year or two these, also, will be given to the world. Now it is evident that if painters can secure these three primary colors in two values, a light and a dark shade, they will, with the addition of white and black, have a perfect palette ”

“ Since then shade and color have manifested themselves in an ever-increasing list of characters and words, until they are now perceived in most of the letters and in all parts of speech in all the languages with which I have any acquaintance.
"All suggest to the mind an appearance of shade: some being very light; others dark, and others medium. Color is less often distinguished, but when seen it is even clearer than is the degree of shade. ”

“ People who are less refined admire deeper tones; yet want absolute harmony, while coarse individuals are satisfied with bright gaudy colors. Color is a sensation produced on the retina of the eye, by the action of one or more of the elements of light. Exact proportion by parts are not given in the following in order to let you be the judge of the exact shade. Follow the simple rule of using a little more of the dark colors of each color combination if a deeper shade is wanted and vice versa for a lighter one. ”

“ If it were practicable to use opaque colors in the school they could be employed to show that the effect of a tint is produced in pigments by mixing white with the standard color and a shade by mixing black with it, but while the mixture of white may produce the best imitations of some tints in nature, the same result does not hold good in the use of black to form shades, and black pigments are rarely used for this purpose, because they impart various untruthful hues, according to the colors with which they are mixed. ”

“ Of course cloth already colored cannot be dyed a lighter shade of the same color and the original shade must be very light to enable one to change the color, say from red to blue, etc. The original color always modifies that of the dye somewhat and it is best to experiment first with a small portion of the dye and cloth. Rather dark shades are apt to be most successful. ”

“ To return a moment to the problem of color: illusion is frequently lost through a failure to adjust the shade of the high-light and shadow to the tone of the foundation grease paint, or natural complexion. The commonest offence is the use of an unmixed, unblended slate for shadows, and white, and high-lights, whether the underlying color be florid, sallow, pink, or pale flesh. ”

“ Importance of light and shade in expressing the character of bodies and unimportance of color. convincing proof of the unimportance of color lies in the accurate observation of the way in which any material object impresses itself on the mind. If we look at nature carefully, we shall find that her colors are in a state of perpetual confusion and indistinctness, while her forms, as told by light and shade, are invariably clear, distinct, and speaking. ”

“ The tone you desire must predominate in making all your neutrals. If you want a greenish neutral, the yellow lake must predominate, if you wish a bluish neutral, the blue must predominate, and if reddish neutral, the crimson lake must predominate. Having selected your shade, be sure to have it about the right strength before beginning, as it is difficult to avoid a patched appearance on the mountains with varnish color, especially on the second and third coating, unless you are quick in your work. ”

“ We then shall have representations of all the spectrum colors, but there are still the colors between violet and red, known in nature and art as purples, which must be produced by uniting the red and violet disks, thus completing a circuit of colors containing all the pure colors in nature.
In nature all colors are modified by light and shade, strong light producing tints and shadows more or less deep forming shades. ”

“ Letters done in pigment are frequently given a "free shade" which consists in permitting a small space of the surface color to separate the letter and the shade. The "close shade" describes the shade that is allowed to join the letter. A shade looks ungainly and ill proportioned if made wider than the bars of the letter, excepting, of course, the treatment of the bottom shades, which are often made a little heavier than the perpendicular ones. This heavier bottom shading is based upon the assumption that the sun casts a heavier shade to the bottom in proportion to the angle of light. ”

“ Caution must be exercised in using colors in their full intensity, as scarlet, emerald green, electric blue, etc. A child or a savage revels in violent and garish colors, while refined people instinctively choose the subdued tones. Large amounts of violently contrasting color are never beautiful.
It is well to remember that reds and yellows are affected more by artificial light than the violet and blue shades. Often, red or yellow will seem to change its shade under an electric or gas light. ”

“ It is said that a girl with hazel eyes and chestnut hair can wear any color becomingly. Yet one must realize that some colors would naturally be much more emphatic or subduing than others; therefore, more becoming or less complimentary. The best rule is to keep to one family of color shades, as brown, blue, gray, or black. You will find this scheme more becoming and more economical. Of course, if you wish, you may choose to use one or two shades lighter of the same color shade, as dark brown and tan, or perhaps the pleasing combination of midnight blue and gray. Gray or tan is good with black ”

“ To maintain an even shade of color, it is necessary to slightly stir up the color each time the brush is dipped into the color saucer or palette, especially when the coloring is composed of mixed colors, because the coloring matter is apt to separate from the water and sink to the bottom. ”

“ In an elaborate chart of colors highly recommended for primary color instruction a dozen years ago no correct understanding of the classification of colors is shown, the tints and shades being indicated by a very decided change of hue rather than a [Pg 38] consistent modification of tone. For example, in the red scale the standard or normal red is vermilion, i.e., an orange red; shade No. 1 is simply a red less orange in hue than the standard, and shade No. 2 a shade of the standard red advocated in this system; while tint No. 1 is a broken yellow orange and tint No. ”

“ In the pure frosty air the stars seem splintered and multiplied indefinitely, and the brighter ones shine with a splendor of light and color unknown to the denizen of the smoky city, whose eyes are dulled and blinded by the glare of street-lights. There one may detect the delicate shade of green that lurks in the imperial blaze of Sirius, the beautiful rose-red light of Aldebaran, the rich orange hue of Betelgeuse, the blue-white radiance of Rigel, and the pearly luster of Capella. ”

“ There is no difference in the quality of these colours, except as affected by texture. You will constantly hear lights and shades spoken of as if these were different in their nature, and to be painted in different ways. But every light is a shadow compared to higher lights, till we reach the brightness of the sun; and every shadow is a light compared to lower shadows, till we reach the darkness of night.
Every colour used in painting, except pure white and black, is therefore a light and shade at the same time. ”

“ These six bright colours, when used in conjunction with black and white, with each other, or with their complementaries, will strengthen, intensify and enrich each other without altering their true value—when such vivid effects and sharp contrasts offend the taste of the worker, when they appear too crude, too conspicuous and too obtrusive—which they are apt to do—they may be harmonised quite simply, either by modifying the complementaries or by using a tint or a shade, that is, a lighter or a darker tone of the same colour. ”

“ We must expect, then, in painting, to find that neutral gray will be more altered by pale tints of red, orange, or yellow, which are slightly lighter than itself, and that the gray will be less altered by these colors when differing considerably from it in luminosity; analogous conclusions with regard to green, blue, violet, and purple, can also be drawn. Saturated or intense colors in a painting have less effect on white or gray than colors that are pale; this was shown in the preliminary experiment when gray was placed on a ground of strong color. ”

“ Hence the judicious artist purveys for his palette at least two pigments of each colour, one eminent for delicate beauty, the other for richness and depth.
Truth of hue is a relative quality in all colours, except the extreme primaries, in the relations of which, blue, being of nearest affinity to black or shade, has properly but one other relation, in which it inclines to red and becomes purple-blue: it is, therefore, faulty or false, when, tending to yellow, it becomes of a green hue. ”

“ It is a common habit with artists to introduce very warm effects into all sunlight by the use of orange or yellow in the warm colors. This extreme tendency has been intentionally avoided in the preparation of these papers, however desirable or allowable it may be considered in heightening effects. So also in the shades as in the tints, the aim has been to keep all the tones of one color in the same scale, even though artists [Pg 118] often run the various tones of the same piece of color into two or three analogous scales. ”

“ Impure black is brown, but black in its purity is a cold colour, and communicates a coolness to all light colours; thus it blues white, greens yellow, [388] purples red, and cools blue. Hence the artist errs with ill effect who regards black as of nearest affinity to hot and brown colours, and will do well to keep in mind—"The glow of sunshine and the cool of shade."
It is a fault of even some of our best colourists, as evinced by their pictures, to be too fond of black upon their palettes, and thence to infuse it needlessly into their tints and colours. ”

“ The choice of colors, for these patterns, is a matter of essential importance as the transition from shade to shade, if sudden and abrupt, will entirely destroy the beauty of the design. A natural succession of tints, softly blending into each other, can, alone produce the desired effect. In working flowers, five or six shades will be required: in a rose, or other large flower, six shades are almost indispensible ”

“ But while we incline attention toward the relation of colour to shade, both light and shade being strictly co-essential to colour, a vicious extreme must be avoided. For although, as transparent, colour inclines to shade, and, as opaque, it partakes of light; yet the general tendency of colour is to transparency and shade, all colour being a departure from light. Hence it becomes a maxim, which he who aspires to good colouring must never lose sight of, that the colour of shadow is always transparent, and only that of extreme light objects opaque. ”

“ If the lights be of a healthy hue, the shades may be warm, inclining to brown, mixed of various 32colors, broken with light red, carmine, yellow, blue or grey. Some artists represent nature as violet or green, in shade ”

“ Yellow is much lighter by gaslight, and rose pink loses its brightness. The colors being all mixed with water to a pulpy state are now put into the compartments on the palette, putting no more on the palette than is required for immediate use. In scene painting many of the different shades are only obtained by mixing one color with the other while on the palette. ”