Oldal 82 [82]
OCR
46 LIGHT AND WATER in painting without close observation of the actual scene. Nature seems at first sight somewhat partial in her decision as to which object shall cause a streak, and which, though conspicuous enough on the hill side, shall have no visible counterpart in the water. We shall find on looking more intently that objects low down close to the waters edge are not reflected at all, and the same may be said of those above a certain height, whilst between these limits a prominent piece of colour is represented by a well-marked streak starting from the very edge of the water. But sometimes a bright patch on the rocks occurs just above or below an equally dark patch, so that the one kills the other, and no trace of either appears in the water. On the other hand, two or more scarcely noticeable spots or patches, which happen to lie in the same vertical, combine unexpectedly to yield a definite streak.” Any upright crack or stain on the rocks is of course exaggerated in the reflexion whilst the horizontal ones are lost. Should a breeze spring up, ruffling the surface at first gently, the reflexion of the rocks gradually dissolves away, until the origin of the broader and less distinct streaks that now remain may be traced to the outline of the cliffs against the sky." Wherever the cliff is highest the water beneath ‘ With the very gentlest tremble of the water the phenomenon is reproduced on a small scale, every stone at the water’s edge then giving a streak. " ‘Thus it sometimes happens that in the reflexion of a featureless hillside we get a series of very evident streaks, the origin of which is by no means so evident. " The reflexion of a headland standing out to sea often terminates
