3°. By being placed in contact with Green, it appears purer and brighter. 4°. By being placed in contact with Black, it appears duller. 5°. By being placed in contact with White, it appears lighter and brighter. 6°. By being placed in contact with Grey, it appears brighter. Thus the same Red may appear many different reds according to the circumstances under which it is viewed. It may also be modified in its intensity, or tone. Thus, if a dark colour be placed beside a different, but lighter colour, the dark colour appears deeper, and the light colour appears lighter. This is the result of contrast of tone. A colour is also greatly modified by gloss, as is shown by the plumage of birds, the wings of butterflies, and by certain flowers. The colours of objects are also greatly modified by the form of the object, which may produce varieties of light and shade, and thus exhibit many tones of the same colour. Both the tone and the hue of a coloured object are modified by the quality of the light by which it is illumined, whether it be direct sunlight, diffused daylight, or diffused reflected light. MODIFICATIONS PRODUCED IN A COLOUR BY BEING PLACED IN CONTACT WITH ANOTHER COLOUR. If we look at two stripes of the same colour, but of different tones, or at two stripes of different colours taken at the same tone, and placed side by side, if the stripes be not too wide, the eye perceives certain modifications, affecting both the quality and the intensity of the colours, and they will appear very differently from what they do when viewed separately. First, the tone of each stripe will appear changed, the light tone will appear lighter, and the deep tone deeper, commencing at the line of contact, where it will be greatest, and gradually diminishing as it recedes from it: this is contrast of tone. Secondly, the colour of the different stripes will appear changed, each appearing as differently as possible from the other: this is contrast of colour. The contiguous colours are modified in hue, as if the complementary of the neighbouring colour was added to each. These modifications, taken together, constitute simultaneous contrast of colour: which may be expressed in the following terms: Whenever the eye sees at the same time two contiguous colours, they will appear as dissimilar as possible, both in their hue and in their tone. : Thus, if the stripes be blue and yellow, the complementary of blue, which is orange, is added to the yellow, making it appear redder, and more brilliant; while violet, the complementary of yellow, is added to the blue, making the latter appear indigo; the colour added to each being red, the primary absent from the view of the contiguous stripes. If the stripes be secondary colours, as Orange and Green, the complementary of Orange, blue, is added to the green, making it appear bluer, and red, the complementary of Green, is added to the Orange, making it appear redder; or, what is the same thing, Yellow, the absent complementary colour, is subtracted from each contiguous colour; thusThe complementary of Orange is Blue. The complementary of Green is Red. The absent complementary is Yellow. This Yellow subtracted from Orange makes it appear red, and Yellow subtracted from Green makes it appear blue, for Orange is composed of red and yellow, and Green is composed of blue and yellow. When we look for a few moments at a given colour, the eye spontaneously calls up the complementary to that colour, which, being added to the colour first looked at, makes it appear duller, or tarnished. The effect is the same as if a quantity of grey was added to the colour looked at, because the complementary colour added to the original colour produces black. This calling up of the secondary colour by the eye constitutes the phenomenon of successive contrast. And the addition of this colour so called up to the original colour constitutes mixed contrast. It will be seen that the result of viewing a single colour is different from that produced by viewing two different colours, because the influence of the juxtaposed colour is absent; there is no complementary colour to add to the colour looked at. The height of tone exercises much influence upon the modification; for if, after looking at orange, we look at deep blue, this latter will appear green rather than violet, a result the reverse of that presented by light blue. Whenever there is a great difference between two contiguous colours, the difference is rendered more apparent by bringing the same colour successively in contact with different colours belonging to the same group. Example.-If we place Orange beside scarlet-red, normal-red, or crimson-red, the red becomes bluer, or purple, and the orange becomes yellower by losing its red. If we place normal-red in contact with orange-red, the first will appear purple, and the second yellower; but if we put the normal-red in contact with purple-red, the latter will appear bluer, and the other yellower. Thus, simple or primary colours, when in contact, pass insensibly into secondary or compound colours; for the same Red becomes purple or orange, according as it is placed in contact with orange-red or with purple-red; the same Yellow appears orange or green, according as it is placed in contact with orangeyellow or with greenish-yellow; so also Blue appears green or violet, according as it is placed in contact with greenish-blue or with violet-blue. When we examine any two patterns of the same colour, such as blue or red, if they are not identical when compared together, we must consider that the difference is exaggerated by contrast. Thus, if one is greenish-blue, it will make the other appear less green or more indigo, or even more violet than it really is; and by a reciprocal influence, the other will appear greener than when viewed alone. It is the same with the reds; if one is more orange than the other, the latter will appear more purple, and the former more orange, than it really is. As soon as we know the complementary of one colour in contact with another, it is easy to determine what kind of modification the second will receive from the first, as this modification is the result of the mixture of the complementary with the contiguous colour. The process is easy when the contiguous colours are both primaries, and it is not more difficult when they are both secondaries; for we have only to consider that the complementary called up being much less intense than the colour to which it is added, we obtain the result by subtracting from the latter secondary a portion of that primary which, with the complementary, forms white light; thus Orange, added as a complementary to Green, neutralises a portion of the green, and consequently makes it appear yellower; and the Green, added to a portion of Red in the Orange, neutralises it, and makes the orange appear yellower. RESULT OF PLACING COLOURS IN CONTIGUITY. FIRST GROUP.-TWO COMPOUND COLOURS, HAVING THE SAME SIMPLE COLOUR IN EACH. By their reciprocal influence they lose more or less of the colour common to both, and will, therefore, differ from each other in proportion to this loss. Example: Orange with Green. These two colours have yellow as an element in their composition, and they lose it by being placed in contiguity: the Orange appears redder, the Green bluer. A similar effect takes place with associations of-1, Orange and Indigo, Orange and Violet; 2, Green and Violet, the first of which lose Red by contiguity, and the second lose Blue. SECOND GROUP.-A COMPOUND COLOUR WITH A SIMPLE COLOUR WHICH FORMS A PART OF THE COMPOUND. 1. Orange with Red. The Orange loses its red, and appears yellower; and the Red becomes more blue, differing as much as possible from Orange. 2. Orange with Yellow. The Orange loses its yellow, and appears redder; the Yellow appears bluer, differing as much as possible from Orange. THIRD GROUP.-TWO SIMPLE COLOURS. 1. Red with Yellow. Red, in losing yellow, appears bluer, and the Yellow, by losing red, appears bluer; or, in other words, the Red inclines to purple, and the Yellow to green. 2. Yellow with Blue. Yellow, in losing blue, will appear redder, and Blue, in losing yellow, will appear more violet; or, in other words, the Yellow inclines to red, and the Blue to violet. 3. Red with Blue. Red, in losing blue, will appear yellower, and Blue, in losing red, will appear yellowed; or, in other words, the Red inclines to orange, and the Blue to green. In these examples the colours are modified in the same way they would be by the addition of the absent primary, Yellow. FOURTH GROUP.-TWO COMPOUNDS COMPOSED OF THE SAME SIMPLE COLOURS. Indigo and Violet. As Indigo only differs from Violet in containing a larger proportion of blue in comparison with the red, it follows that the difference will be materially increased by the Indigo losing its red and inclining to greenish-blue, whilst the Violet, acquiring more red, will become redder. FIFTH GROUP.-A COMPOUND COLOUR, AND A SIMPLE COLOUR WHICH IS NOT FOUND IN THE COMPOUND. 1. Orange and Blue. 2. Green and Red. 3. Violet and Greenish-yellow. In opposing complementary colours, each enhances the value of the other, in conformity with the phenomena of successive and mixed contrasts. INFLUENCE OF GLOSS AND OF FORM UPON THE EFFECT OF CONTRAST OF TWO COLOURS. The form of an object, and its gloss or polish, have a considerable influence upon the effect of associated or contiguous colours. Form exerts its influence by the effects of light and shade it produces, which may conceal the ill effect of two associated colours, which are not glossy. Thus, flowers often exhibit associations which on plane surfaces would appear very disagreeable, if not glossy; as, for instance, in the sweet pea, in which red and violet are associated. Blue and violet, which have not an agreeable effect on flat an unpolished surfaces, have a very good effect in the plumage of certai birds, and in the wings of butterflies. For the injurious effect of the complementaries of these two colours upon each other is lost through the influence of the metallic lustre of the feathers and scales. BINARY ASSOCIATIONS OF COLOURS. 1. ASSOCIATION OF COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS. This is the only association in which the colours mutually improve, strengthen, and purify each other, without going out of their respective scales. This condition is so advantageous to the associated colours, that the association is also satisfactory when the colours are not exactly complementary. It is the same when they are tarnished with Grey. Therefore this association is the best that can be adopted to produce harmony of contrast in painting, in tapestry, stained glass windows, between paper hangings and their borders, in furniture and clothing, and in flower-gardens. 2. ASSOCIATION OF NON-COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS. The result of this association differs from the preceding in this respect the complementary of one of the colours differing from the other colour to which it is added, causes a modification of hue in the two colours, besides a modification of tone, if they are not taken at the same intensity. Non-complementary colours evidently produce three different effects when placed in contact. 1o. They mutually improve each other. 2o. One is improved while the other is injured. |