should be necessary to study color if one has a good eye for it, to which another question may serve as answer. Suppose a person intending to make art his life work has a good eye for form, will he, therefore, begin to paint pictures before learning to draw, or without going through a thorough drill in perspective? Later, having some subject in his mind which he wishes to put on canvas, he does not stop to review all the rules he studied of form and perspective; the knowledge and facility he gained in that study will enable him unconsciously to crystallize his thought into better shape on his canvas. Does the possessor of a naturally fine voice think he can dispense with the time and trouble of cultivating it? The same reasoning may well be applied to color and its study.
E. N. V.
INTRODUCTION
FOR some years I have known of the study and research the author of this book has devoted to problems in Color, and its uses in the arts of Design and Decoration, and it is gratifying to me that the result of much of this work is to be given to the public for the use of those who are interested in the subject.
A great deal will be found in these pages that will be of practical service, particularly to those who have not been able to read the works of Chevreul, Von Bezold, Rood, Church, and others. Indeed, even in these, careful study would be necessary to select passages describing combinations that could be applied to special work.
Much attention is here given to contrasts of modified or subdued colors, such colors as would be required constantly in decorative designs covering large spaces, against which points of more positive color would be placed. One of the greatest difficulties in arranging a color design is in determining the qualities and quantities of color in an effective and agreeable way, and very few works give the useful hints on this subject contained in this book. Under the heading of “Historic Color” are some very interesting and original diagrams, presented in a way easily to be understood and made use of in actual practice.
The study of color from the scientific side has very little attraction for the layman, and it is even difficult for a painter to get out of such study much that will help him in his work; but the presentation of some of the salient points of the scientific side, by one who has also borne in mind the artistic side, cannot fail to make this book attractive and useful to a great number who wish to know something of the laws that underlie agreeable arrangements of color.
R. SWAIN GIFFORD.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | |
| PREFACE | |
| INTRODUCTION | |
| LIST OF PLATES | |
| I. | COLOR–BLINDNESS |
| II. | COLOR THEORIES |
| III. | COLOR QUALITIES |
| IV. | CONTRASTS AND COMPLEMENTS |
| V. | COLOR–HARMONIES |
| VI. | HISTORIC COLOR |
| VII. | NATURE COLOR |
| VIII. | SPECIAL SUGGESTIONS |
APPENDIX B – BOOKS FOR REFERENCE
LIST OF PLATES
| I. | Wools as sorted by a Color-Blind Man. |
| II. | Solar Spectra. |
| III. | Table of Spectral Colors. |
| IV. | The Spectral Colors (a) In their order of Luminosity;(b) Pure, and Grayed. |
| V. | Advancing and Retiring Colors. |
| VI. | Advancing and Retiring Colors. |
| VII. | Tints. |
| VIII. | Shades. |
| IX. | Violet with its Extremes. |
| X. | Blue with its Extremes. |
| XI. | Green with its Extremes. |
| XII. | Yellow with its Extremes. |
| XIII. | Orange with its Extremes. |
| XIV. | Red with its Extremes. |
| XV. | Shades by Contrast. |
| XVI. | Spectral Colors on Black, White, and Gray. |
| XVII. | White on Spectral Colors. |
| XVIII. | Black on Spectral Colors. |
| XIX. | Gray on Spectral Colors. |
| XX. | Spectral Red with its Complement. |
| XXI. | Spectral Red Disk for Experiment in Complements. |
| XXII. | Spectral Red and its Complement, Blue-Green, in their relative Proportions. |
| XXIII. | Spectral Orange and its Complement. Green-Blue, in their relative Proportions. |
| XXIV. | Spectral Yellow and its Complement, Spectral Blue, or Spectral Blue and its Complement, Spectral Yellow, in their relative Proportions. |
| XXV. | Spectral Green and its Complement, Purple, in their relative Proportions. |
| XXVI. | Spectral Violet and its Complement, Yellow-Green, in their relative Proportions. |
| XXVII. | Milton-Bradley Color Machine. |
| XXVIII. | Table of Complements arranged in Pairs. |
| XXIX. | Table of Complements arranged in a Circle. |
| XXX. | Contrast Diagram. |
| XXXI. | Color analysis from a Prize Dinner-table. |
| XXXII. | Color analysis from Teacup and Saucer. |
| XXXIII. | Harmony of one Color; Harmony of Contrast; Complex Harmony. |
| XXXIV. | Color analysis of a Book Advertisement. |
| XXXV. | Harmony helped by Outline. |
| XXXVI. | Good Dyads, or Pairs. |
| XXXVII. | Good Triads. |
| XXXVIII. | Harmony by Gradation. |
| XXXIX. | Harmony by Change of Quality. |
| XL. | Harmony by Change of Quantity. |
| XLI. | Harmony by Change of Both Quality and Quantity. |
| XLII. | Harmony by the Addition of another Color. |
| XLIII. | Harmony by the Addition of Black. |
| XLIV. | Harmony from a Dominant Hue. |
| XLV. | Harmony by Interchange. |
| XLVI. | Harmony by Counterchange. |
| XLVII. | The True Character of some of the so-called “Whites.” |
| XLVIII. | Some Changes by Gradation. |
| XLIX. | Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. |
| L. | Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. |
| LI. | Color analysis from Assyrian Tiles. |
| LII. | Color analysis from a Mummy
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