Oldal 23 [23]
OCR
INTRODUCTION 3 tirely spoilt through carelessness in drawing reflexions, and some of the more common errors are pointed out in the first two chapters. These are easily corrected, but when we come to the question of colour the problem is more complicated. There are so many factors to take into account, and these factors are so variously combined in different cases, that it is diffcult, and often impossible, to lay down definite directions. [his is particularly the case in rough or rippled water, the colours of which are considered in Chapter IV, but even here an acquaintance with the elementary principles will be of use. It will enable the student when at work to test the correctness of his own drawings, and in his common observations will constantly quicken his perception of subtle differences of colour and tone which might easily have escaped him. To give an illustration. [here are probably few people who either think that all colour seen in water belongs to the water or suppose it to be entirely due to reflexion, for no one who has attempted to paint the sea, or taken the trouble to consider the matter, can have failed to realize that, though the water shows colour of its own, it is largely affected by the colour of the sky. But many amateurs possess only an imperfect knowledge of the question, with the result that in marine paintings we frequently notice a lack of adequate harmony in colour between sea and sky, and perhaps as often an exaggerated expression of it. It is hoped that such persons will be enabled to appreciate more accurately the extent and the limits of this harmony by a consideration of the conditions on which they depend.
