Stranica 132 [132]
74 LIGHT AND WATER
These instances show how much depends upon the
angle of vision, and the importance of taking it into
account in painting reflexions. If we look at the
image of the reflected trees, we shall see that those
parts of the foliage which appear in the immediate
foreground are modified by the colour of the water
itself (whether it be the pure blue of the Swiss lakes,
or the muddy bottom and slimy water of a duck-pond),
that this local colour shows less in the foliage re¬
flected a little farther off and disappears altogether
in the distant reflexions. This gradation is so subtle
that it may easily pass unobserved, but, if we want
to be true to nature in our colouring, we must not
omit to give it expression. The difference of colour
the reflected ray. Now, standing on the side towards which the
basin is tipped up, lower the eye almost to the level of the water,
and again let down the button as before (Fig. 27). The effect in
Fig. 26. | Fig. 27.
this case will be very different; the reflexion of the button before
it enters the water will be nearly as distinct as the object itself,
while the button after entering the water almost entirely disappears.
Thus it is evident that on looking very obliquely on to the surface,