Color study : a manual for teachers and students

Preface

These notes are intended for teachers and others who may wish a brief statement of some of the most important theories of color. They do not present new matter or new theories. Their aim is, first, to show that color perception is aesthetically and educationally more important than color theories, and that correct theories can come only from a generally increased power to perceive color sensations ; second, to give to public-school teachers suggestions which may assist them to create in their pupils a love for color and a power to see the delicate and beautiful effects which Nature presents.

The public-school teacher should not attempt to present color theories to primary or grammar-school pupils, but she will not be able to present the subject in a simple and interesting manner if she does not possess general information beyond the facts she may state to her pupils. The first part of this book briefly explains some' of the most important facts relating to color, which will assist teachers to awaken in their pupils the idea that Nature's colors are always changing.

It is not claimed that the work here suggested for the public schools is the best possible course, but only that it forms a good basis for experiments, which will lead to more satisfactory results in color work.

Those who wish more than the brief outline of the two leading color theories given here, should consult Rood's Modern Chromatics, The Theory of Color, by von Bezold, and George Field's works on color. Those who desire more information

IV PREFACE.

on the contrast and arrangement of colors will find Chevreul's and von Bezold's works interesting and valuable.

Although study of these theories will show how absurd it is to expect to produce by theory alone a work of art, yet it will give general principles which will be of value in assisting one to perceive color effects. To create beautiful color or art in any direction requires genius, and genius is repressed or killed by the rigid and imperfect rules of any school.

Anson K. Cross.

PART II. Color in the Public Schools 37

Materials 37

Suggestions to Teachers . 39

Recognition of Color ....... 39

Choice of Colors ........ 39

The Solar Spectrum and Color Scale . . . . 39

Color Relations . .41

Individual Color and Color Names .... 41

Tints and Shades ........ 42

Arrangements of Colored Paper ..... 43

Paper Folding and Cutting 44

Tracing Paper 48

Pigments 48

Designs in Self-Tones 50

VI

CONTENTS,

Synopsis of Color Work Outline of Lessons :

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

Fourth Year

Fifth Year

Sixth Year

Seventh Year

Eighth Year Definitions .

PAGE

PART L

Chapter I. Color Standards

In order that the following pages may be understood, the definitions given at the back of the book should be carefully studied for the meanings of the different color terms used. Of these local and apparent are especially important.

By local color is meant the color which any object appears when it is so near the eyes that its color is not changed by the atmosphere, and it is seen under pure white light, and does not reflect colored light from objects situated near it.

By apparent color is meant any appearance of color which is not the local color. The appearance of any color is changed by the atmosphere, by a colored illuminating light, by reflected lights, by contrast, by light and shade, and by other causes, all of which may act singly or combined.

Color is of all qualities the most difficult to see. We do not mean local color, that is, the absolute color of an object, for this is without doubt about as easy to realize as the actual forms of objects. As in outline drawing, the difficulty is to see the apparent form of the object, which is rarely the real form ; so in color, the difficulty is to see the apparent color, which, as seen in Nature, may be said never to be the real or local color.

Some eyes distort the image of form so that the full moon, for instance, appears an ellipse instead of a circle. With color there is much more distortion. It is well known that many people are color-blind. There are different forms of color-blindness : some, for instance, may see the green and the red rays only; others, the green and the violet ; some may see two colors perfectly, and a third imperfectly ; and others may see all imperfectly. There is every probability that color-blindness may be to a slight extent very general. Total color blindness, as generally understood, causes all colors to appear as different tones of neutral grays.

Such a defect, or the failure to see to a large extent any color or colors, may be readily discovered, although experiments have shown that many persons thus affected have grown to maturity, and engaged in occupations requiring color perception, without having become aware of their deficiency. If this can happen when the defect is marked, how little chance there is that the person who is only slightly affected by this trouble will ever realize that he does not see as much color as another person ! That most people are more or less color-blind is proven by the fact that until very lately even the artists, whose entire study is that of color and color as it appears, not as it is, have been blind to the color in Nature. If not blind so far as actual perception of the color is concerned, then they certainly have absolutely refused to paint the colors which they have seen.

Originality, that capacity which enables us to assimilate ideas, is very rare. At times, for centuries almost, it has seemed to be entirely dormant ; at other times more common, it has led to the awakening of ideas which have produced the great epochs of the world's history.

For centuries artists have been satisfied to paint as their masters painted. Art was reduced to a system, and an individual perception of the color that Nature presents was not reached until the latter part of the nineteenth century.

If artists saw color with the eyes of their masters, the public saw color with the eyes of the artists ; and thus it has happened that, up to within a very few years, the idea that Nature's color-effects are very different from the local colors, and are not dull and heavy, has not arisen to cause the public to question the standard, so long accepted, — that good painting must be in quiet and subdued colors.

The fact that a mirror reflects light and color rarely occurred to the painters before Turner ; or if it did occur to them, they did not see that every object in Nature is to a greater or less extent a mirror. Most objects resemble mirrors to a very large extent ; for every surface reflects light, and every smooth surface reflects a large amount

COLOR STANDARDS. 3

of the light it receives. On a rainy day it is almost, if not quite, impossible to discover the local color even in objects that are near.

It is almost beyond belief that for hundreds of years painters should have persisted in representing every shadow by a muddy brown or dirt color, when their eyes have said to the incredulous brain, "The shadow is bluish." It is hard to realize that painters should not have seen that a horizontal mirror upon the sand at the seashore, in the shadow of some object, must reflect the blue of the sky ; and that, seeing this, they should not have discovered that the white sand is composed of grains of rock, whose faces are smooth and polished mirrors, which together form a mirror capable of reflecting a large part of the blue reflected by the glass mirror.

Realizing the fact that it has taken so long for artists to discover that color as well as form is changed by the act of perception, the public should not think it strange if the colors now seen by painters are invisible to those whose color perception is due to false education and standards.

In order to show the difficulties investing any attempts to reduce color to a science, we refer to the present awakening in the direction of color, which has led to much that is absurd and ugly, especially from the hands of artists who have been forced to change their style much against their wills and entirely without an understanding of the real principles involved.

Even as regards the absolute or local colors of objects, a scientific classification is impossible. Nature gives us no fixed and unchanging colors ; she gives us no complete scale of colors. The spectrum, which is the nearest to this, is incomplete in colors and hues ; not only this, but its colors change with the hour of the day and the state of the atmosphere. In pigments we do not find a single pure color.

If we attempt to create a standard, who shall be the judges ? We do not know to what extent we are all color-blind, and we certainly shall not find that amateurs, scientists, or artists, will agree even within the limits of their own professions. If we should put the matter to a test and compel, or in any way obtain, the opinions of all the artists, for instance, the majority to decide, who can say that the majority might not be composed of those who have, in greater or less degree, color-blindness in its most common form ? This vote would certainly decide nothing, for the minority would see and paint color by their own eyes or by traditions, as they might happen to work. The matter would be decided no better by the public. Artists and the public have been equally blind in the past, and although, in the matter of real or absolute color as distinguished from apparent color, it is without doubt possible to decide upon and name certain colors as the standards, it is a question if educationally the result will pay for the worry and trouble involved.

In this connection the investigations of Chevreul are of interest. His experiments were made to discover the best harmonies of color, and the best applications of color in industrial art. He depended upon his own color-sense and upon that of trained assistants, and for twenty-five years made the most elaborate and careful experiments to discover the action of colors upon one another.

The theories presented by Chevreul are based upon the pigment theory of color, and we find that even the patient study and trained observation of Chevreul and his assistants were insufficient to relieve the judgment from the dictates of this theory. He failed to see that the mixture of blue and yellow, obtained by viewing at a distance narrow stripes or threads of these colors, gives gray, and not green, and that when colors are mixed in this way, the result is different from the mixture of pigments. That Chevreul, who made this study his business for twenty-five years, failed to discover this, shows how strongly theories affect even the most patient and honest perception.

In the practical use and application of colors, industrially and otherwise, a standard of names will be of great assistance ; but educationally and aesthetically the name of the color is of no moment. The beauty of a landscape is in no wise affected, whether the name of the blue sky is blue or yellow. The perception of color is the important thing. The names of colors are of so little consequence that many artists have no idea of. the popular nomenclature, and when it comes to the practical mixing of the colors to give an effect, an artist of experience will rarely be able to name his combinations.

Nature in all directions works by law, and these laws are being discovered all the time. It would be absurd to state that there is no

COLOR STANDARDS. 5

science of color, and that the laws of harmony, contrast, etc., cannot be written. Without doubt, in process of time, evolution will make man a more perfect master of matter than he now is, and cognizant of much that is now mystery. Theories of all subjects have changed and are constantly changing. New facts of discovery often prove accepted theories untenable as soon as they have come to be generally accepted. In this matter of color, it seems unwise to spend energy upon the search for theory before ability to see color is acquired. Theories are generally the outgrowth of facts observed ; and in color, as in other lines of investigation, it will not be unlikely that, after the color sense has been so educated that true color perception is the usual instead of the unusual thing, the capacity to see color will enable a choice to be made of the best standards and of a satisfactory theory of color.

At present teachers are spending time in the search for standards and for working theories of color. If instead of trying to do what is of the least practical value, the attempt should be made to give pupils the ability to see the actual colors, and then, beyond these, the apparent colors, or the changes effected in the actual color by transmitted and reflected lights, we believe that the color sense would be so developed that the average man would become able to enjoy the poetry of Nature, — to which he is now blind because he has never discovered that he does not see the local color facts which he knows about objects.

It is urged that, as new truths are daily being discovered by men who have not hitherto been regarded as learned, it is not impossible that we may yet see Newtons and Edisons in art, who shall be able to make the public appreciate the great mysteries of the beautiful. This is a popular idea regarding not only art but other subjects ; but those who argue thus seem to forget that color .perception, as well as all that is valuable to the higher nature of man, must come from within, and cannot be bought or even accepted as a gift. Nature's laws cannot be circumvented, and these laws prescribe that all which is of value is the result of gradual growth. An Edison in science discovers a principle whose action is shown by the machine which produces results that can be appreciated by all ; the results are visible as force or matter which all can see, even without knowledge of the scientific principles governing these results. An Edison in art produces work which is fully appreciated only by those who are nearly, if not quite, his equals in ability to feel if not to execute. The public has always derided the efforts of artistic genius, which is not strange, since in the nature of things it is impossible for all men to be created, or to become, equal in capacity.

It is said that the laws of music have been formulated after continued effort, and that in art similar results may be obtained. It is admitted that the theories of music were not discovered for ages after the music was produced, the study of which evolved the theories : yet at the present time, with almost no light on the subject of color, many are expending their energy in the search for theory. ' With color the matter is far more difficult than with music, for good music — the best music — is heard by a large part of the public from childhood, while in painting, the popular art is the bad art. If the best music was for so long in advance of understood laws, how imperfectly the color theories now formulated must accord with the best art !

Chemistry is cited to show that what has been regarded as mysterious may be reduced to a science. But chemistry deals with atoms and the material elements ; art deals with the soul, the spiritual, and must not be confused with the canvas and the paint upon it. It is as much more difficult to analyze as the soul is more subtile than the body.

Instead then of disputing as to whether the spectrum shall give the accepted standards of color, or whether the standards shall be selected or designed by the artist, teachers will do well to use the spectrum or any examples of color simply for study of the colors which they furnish. There is little difficulty in naming the colors in a broad way so that they shall be generally recognized and accepted as red, blue, yellow, violet, green, etc. At present there is no possibility of doing more than this, or of exactly defining the combinations which are complementary, harmonious, etc.

In "The Student's Text-Book of Color" Mr. Ogden M. Rood says : " In the first place we have no pigments ' h which we can at all properly represent the colors of tb i, even when their

luminosity is quite moderate ; our best .11 reflect more or

less white light mixed with their colorec : with their aid we

COLOR STANDARDS. J

undertook to construct a color chart, we should not only be obliged to descend in the cone a good distance towards its black apex, but besides this, our chart would be smaller than the section of the cone at that point, owing to the presence of the foreign white light reflected by the pigments. It would be next to impossible to prepare pigments of different colors suitable even for the production of a single chart of the series, for it would be necessary that they should be right in the matter of hue, luminosity, and greater or less freedom from white light." Again, speaking of the color chart of Chevreul, he says, " The ideas upon which this chart is based are not only in the main arbitrary, but also vague, and the execution of the sample examined by the author left much to be desired. We cannot regard this color chart as a true step toward a philosophical classification of colors, but rather as a more elaborate repetition of the work of Mayer, Lambert, and Runge. In point of fact, our knowledge of color and our means of experimenting on it are not at present sufficiently advanced to enable us even to propose a plan for a truly philosophical classification, and between the proposal and its execution there would be many weary steps."

To appreciate fully the above, it will be necessary to read Mr. Rood's book, which is a clear and interesting presentation of the light theory of color ; some idea, however, of the difficulties involved in the selection of standards of color will be gained when it is stated that the spectrum contains at least 1,000 distinguishable tones which may be made 100,000 by slight variations in the power of the light producing them, up to a brightness five times as great as at first. A diminution in the luminosity of the light will produce corresponding variations in the tones, and if these tones of colors be changed by varying admixtures of white light, the number of distinguishable tones will be carried into the millions.

In addition to the almost infinite range of colors is the difficulty that colors which, under a given illumination, have a certain relation to each other (as for instance equal degrees of luminosity), under another illumination have entirely different relations ; but this matter of the change of colors will be considered by itself, as we think it has been sufficiently shown that perception of color and not color science should be the first aim of the teacher.

Art and science have such entirely different foundations that comparisons of methods are harmful to both. Art has, however, a scientific side ; thus the facts of form and the perspective appearance of form belong to the domain of science. They are absolute and very different from color appearances. Study of local color is as necessary and valuable as study of actual form, and may foster artistic color genius, as much as study of the facts of form assists in their perspective representation. What we object to is the idea that the study of rules will produce art when its germ is not already in the soul ; to the study of color facts only instead of the study of color appearances, and the attempt to teach rules and theories before any power to see color has been cultivated.

Chapter II. Color Appearances

The local color of an object is rarely the color which the eye sees. This point is so important that special consideration is given to it.

The amount of white light which is reflected directly from any surface depends entirely upon the nature of the surface. When the surface is smooth or polished, as that of water and many mineral substances, a large part of the light is reflected directly. The polished surface of a perfect silver mirror reflects 92% of the light which falls upon it. The light which is reflected from the surface of a mirror is simply changed in direction, and a perfect image or picture of the object which reflects the light is produced, the surface of the mirror not being visible. If the surface of the mirror is warped or slightly defaced, the light is reflected irregularly, and the image of the object is correspondingly warped. If a reflecting surface is not perfectly polished, it becomes visible, and the image of the object reflected is dimmed and broken, for the rays which strike the roughened parts of the surface are not reflected so fully as the others ; besides this, the reflected rays are reflected in different directions and not so that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. The rougher any surface is, the less light it reflects and the more irregularly it reflects it.

The rays of light which strike the surface of any object are divided, part of the rays being reflected directly from the surface. Every object, no matter what its actual color, thus reflects a certain amount of white light. A perfectly black object reflects part of the light which falls upon it ; therefore there is a light side and a shadow side to even the darkest object.

The rays which are not reflected directly from the surface of the object enter the object to a distance which depends upon the nature of the object, and are then affected by the color of the object so that when they are turned back and reflected in all directions from the

IO COLOR STUDY.

surface of the object, they are colored. Every object not white or black reflects these two kinds of light : a colored light which is reflected in all directions, and white light which is reflected from the surface of the object more or less regularly, according to the nature of the surface.

The rays are reflected regularly from polished surfaces, and irregularly from those not polished ; hence a very slight change in position will entirely change the appearance of the polished object; but as the rays are reflected from the rough surface in all directions, its appearance will be much less varied by changes in the position of the observer.

Every object reflects not only white light or sunlight, but also the colored light which is sent out from any object situated near it. This colored light will be acted upon by the object just as is white light : part will enter the surface, and part will be reflected directly and unchanged in color from the surface. This colored reflected light will mingle with the other rays sent out by the object, and color them to an extent which depends upon their strength and upon the polish of the surface reflecting them.

As every object reflects some of the light which falls upon it from every other object, it follows that we can see the local color of an object only when it is situated so that it does not receive the colored rays sent out by other objects. Theoretically this is impossible, but practically, when an object is near the eye and far from other objects, and when the surface is not very smooth, the colored rays which it will reflect will \>e so few that they will not perceptibly influence the appearance ; hence we may speak of the local color of an object, and practically often see it in objects that are near.

The influence of these reflected and colored lights has rarely been rightly estimated by art students. The reflected colors in Nature are often stronger than the local colors, even when the object is near. Thus a polished cherry chair of a strong red color reflects so much of the light of the sky as to appear blue in places, and any color may in the same manner be entirely lost in the stronger color reflected from some other object or light.

It is not necessary that the object or color reflected be near the object. If the light sent from it is strong, and the reflecting surface

COLOR APPEARANCES. II

is polished, the local color of the object will not be seen. The most frequent powerful change of color by reflection alone, occurs in those parts of the object which reflect light most directly to the eyes, and more particularly in those upon objects which are smooth enough to glisten.

In Nature, leaves, grasses, etc., reflect so much light to the eye that the local color is rarely seen. It has been previously shown that the shadows cast upon yellow sand appear blue. Part of this effect is due to the yellow of the sand, which adds its complementary blue to the shadow ; but this is only part of the cause, for, the direct rays of the sun being cut off, the sand can reflect only the indirect rays, and these must come largely from the blue of the sky. The bright green leaf often reflects so many of these rays from the sky as to appear a decided blue, and this blue will be seen on every surface which is at such an angle as to reflect to the eye the rays which come from the blue parts of the sky.

Surfaces which are less glossy than leaves reflect less of the colored light ; but all surfaces reflect enough to largely modify the light due to the local color.

The surface of water reflects as much light as a mirror when the angle at which the light strikes the surface is very small. This, in connection with the fact that the light from directly overhead is a much more intense color than that from near the horizon, accounts for the fact that the surface of water near an observer is so much darker than that in the distance. The art student who has not discovered that the colors he sees in Nature are transient and not local colors, has great difficulty in seeing the color of water when it does not reflect a clear blue sky ; and until his eyes are trained to see color, he is obliged to look at the objects or colors which reflect in the water before he can recognize the colors of the reflections.

Perfectly clear water reflects the colors near it unchanged, except for a slight loss in brilliancy ; muddy water changes the color of the reflections ; therefore in Nature the colors which water may ap have are infinite, and their study is the best training in color pen

The color of the lightest part of any smooth object is i tion of the color of the source of the light. Thus a red p chair, whether outdoors or indoors, situated so as to reflect t light of the sky into the eyes, will appear blue in parts. It will appear gray when it reflects an overcast sky, yellow or orange when it reflects into the eyes the rays from the setting sun, or the sky about the sun ; and silver or whitish when it reflects directly into the eyes the rays of the sun at midday.

The color of the lights — the lightest parts — of any object is thus changing with the color of the strongest illuminating light, and may entirely hide the local color of the object. The parts of any object which reflect light less directly to the eyes will be less affected by the change in the color of the light.

When an object is not polished, its color is of course much less changed by the color of the illuminating light ; but all objects owe their color directly to this light, and any change in its color is at once apparent in the change of the color of the objects seen. A yellow day and the sunset effects are the most prominent and easily appreciated illustrations.

Reference to these common effects of Nature, which are strong enough to be seen by all who are not wholly color-blind, will assist to an understanding of how, under normal light, sunshine, or gray day, all objects act upon each other, and reflect some of the colored light which they receive from each other. The simplest experiment to prove this fact will be the placing of a flat sheet of plain colored paper and an unframed piece of mirror of the same size together, at an angle of about 90 degrees, so that the mirror and the paper may be seen at the same time. At a distance of a few feet it will be found impossible to say which is the paper and which the mirror. If instead of the mirror a sheet of plain white paper be placed against the colored sheet, it will appear tinged with the color of the colored paper, the color being strongest near the line of meeting. The sheet of white paper should be considerably higher than the colored, in order that the white paper may be seen above the part which is tinted by reflection. If different colored sheets are held against the white, and if the light is strong and strikes full upon the colored papers, there will be little difficulty in seeing the effect which the colors produce upon the white paper.