Part 7

126. The study of tones and tone-relations means the study of pigment-materials and their effects, to find out what quantities of light we can produce, what qualities of color, what intensities of color, what neutralizations. That is the problem of tones and tone-relations. We cannot know much about tones and tone-relations until we have had experience in the use of pigment-materials. We must be able to distinguish tones, however slight the differences of value or of color or of color-intensity, and we must be able to produce tones according to our discriminations: this with exact precision. In order to think in tone-relations we must have definite ideas of tone and of tone-relations, in the form of visual images. In order to express our ideas we must be able to paint. We must have practice in painting and a great deal of it. I propose to describe this practice in tones and tone-relations: what it ought to be, what forms it should take.

PIGMENT-MATERIALS

127. Of pigments I use these: Blue Black, Madder Lake (Deep), Rose Madder, Indian Red, Venetian Red, Vermilion, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Orange, Yellow Ochre, Pale Cadmium, Aureolin, Cremnitz White, “Emeraude” Green (Green Oxide of Chromium, transparent), Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine Blue. These are the pigments which I suggest for oil-painting. In water-color painting I should substitute Charcoal Gray for Blue Black. “Emeraude Green” is often called Viridian in the form in which it is used in water-color. For Cremnitz White I should substitute, in water-color painting, Chinese White. These are the pigment-materials which I use myself and recommend to others. There are, of course, many other pigments which may be used, but these will, I think, be found sufficient for all purposes. Provided with these pigments, with a palette upon which to put them, with brushes and other materials necessary for painting, we are prepared to take up the study of tones and tone-relations.

THE SCALE OF VALUES

128. It is evident that we have in black paint the least quantity of light which we can produce. Black is the lowest of all values. It is equally evident that in white paint we have the greatest possible quantity of light. White is the highest of all values. Mixing Black and White in different proportions we can produce an indefinite number of intermediates. We do not want, however, to be indefinite in our terms; on the contrary we want to be as definite as possible. Let us, therefore, establish, between Black and White, a Middle Value (M); between Black and Middle Value an intermediate Dark (D); between Middle Value and White an intermediate Light (Lt), and between these five values the intermediates, Low Dark (LD), High Dark (HD), Low Light (LLt), and High Light (HLt). Further intermediates (eight) may be established, but to these we need not give any particular names. If we have occasion to refer to any one of them we can say that it lies between certain quantities or values of light for which we have names. We can speak, for example, of the intermediate between Middle and High Dark, and it may be described in writing by the formula M-HD. With this terminology we shall be able to describe the principal quantities or values of light both in speech and in writing.

In order to study the principal quantities or values of light and the possibilities of contrast which they afford it is wise to avoid all differences of color and color-intensity. To do that we produce our Scale of Values in terms of perfect neutrality, in which no color can be distinguished. When we use the names of different values it is understood that they are values of Neutrality. The term M, for example, stands for Neutral Middle, D for Neutral Dark, Lt for Neutral Light.

CONTRASTS OF THE SCALE OF VALUES

129. Having produced a scale of nine neutral values, including White and Black, the question arises as to the number of contrasts which it affords, and it is easy to see that the number is thirty-six.

The vertical lines in the following diagram indicate the possible contrasts of value in the Scale of Values. Counting the lines, we see that the number of contrasts is thirty-six. Producing these contrasts, we shall see what each one amounts to.

[Illustration: Diagram 1]

DEFINITION OF VALUE-RELATIONS

130. The best method of describing and distinguishing these value-contrasts will be to use the value-names in a form of fractions. For example, Lt/D would mean a contrast of Dark on Light, D/Lt would mean a contrast of Light on Dark, Wt/Blk would mean a contrast of Black on White. That is to say, White is subdivided or crossed by Black. When we wish to describe several contrasts in combination, we set the value of the ground-tone above the line, always, the value of the tone or tones put upon it below, thus:—

Lt ----------- Wt Blk

This formula means, spots of White and Black on a ground of Light.

Lt -------------- Wt Blk --- M

This formula means spots of White and Black on a ground-tone of Light, with a spot of Middle on the White, the Middle being altogether separated from the Light by the White.

There is no definite thinking except in definite terms, and without some such terminology as I have devised and described, it will be impossible to enter upon an experimental practice in value-relations with the hope of definite results. With definite terms, however, we can take up the practice in value-relations with a good chance of learning, in the course of time, all that there is to be learned.

SCALES OF COLORS IN DIFFERENT VALUES

131. We must now proceed to the consideration of the qualities of light beyond the Scale of Neutral Values, in the region of colors and color-intensities,—a region of tones which we have not yet explored.

It is evident that no color can exist either in the value of Black or in the value of White, but in every other value we have the possibility of all colors. That is to say, we may have Red (R) or Orange (O) or Yellow (Y) or Green (G) or Blue (B) or Violet (V) or any of the colors lying intermediate between them,—Red Orange (RO), Orange Yellow (OY), Yellow Green (YG), Green Blue (GB), Blue Violet (BV), or Violet Red (VR): all these, in any value of the Scale of Values, except in the value of Black and in the value of White. The possibilities of value and color, in tones, are exhibited in the following diagram:—

DIAGRAM OF VALUES AND COLORS

Wt Wt

HLt R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR HLt

Lt R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR Lt

LLt R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR LLt

M R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR M

HD R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR HD

D R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR D

LD R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV V VR LD

Blk Blk

Diagram 2

DEFINITION OF THE COLOR-TERMS

132. It is important that the words which we use for the different colors should be well understood, that in using them we use them with the same meanings. By Red I mean the only positive color which shows no element either of Yellow or of Blue. It is the color which we often describe by the word crimson, and we produce it by the mixture of Rose Madder and Vermilion. By Yellow I mean the only positive color which shows no element either of Red or Blue. It is the color of the primrose which may be produced by the pigment Aureolin. By Blue I mean the only positive color which shows no element either of Yellow or of Red. Blue is seen in a clear sky after rain and in the pigment Cobalt. By Orange I mean a positive color showing equal elements of Red and of Yellow. By Green I mean a positive color showing equal elements of Yellow and of Blue. By Violet I mean a positive color showing equal elements of Blue and Red. The character of the intermediates is clearly indicated by their several names. In each one we see the adjacents in equal measures. This definition of the colors is only approximate. It does not pretend to be scientific, but it may help to bring us to a common understanding. To carry these definitions farther, I should have to produce examples. This I can do in my class-room, producing each color according to my idea, exactly. I might reach the same result approximately by color-printing, but the result would not, probably, be permanent. The samples produced by hand, for use in the class-room, can be reproduced from time to time when they no longer answer to the ideas which they are intended to express. In this treatise I shall use a terminology instead of colored illustrations which would not be satisfactory, or, if satisfactory, not so permanently.

COLOR-INTENSITIES IN DIFFERENT VALUES

133. If we proceed to carry out the idea of Diagram 2, producing all the twelve colors in all of the seven values intermediate between the extremes of Black and White, making the colors, in every case, as strong, as intense, as is possible with the pigment-materials we have chosen to use, we shall discover that the twelve colors reach their greatest intensities in different values; that is to say, in different quantities of light. Red reaches its greatest intensity in the value High Dark, Orange in Low Light, Yellow in High Light, Green in Low Light, Blue in High Dark, Violet in Low Dark, approximately; and the intermediate colors reach their greatest intensities in the intermediate values, approximately. In order to indicate this fact in our diagram, we will mark the positions of greatest intensity by putting the color signs in larger type.

DIAGRAM OF VALUES, COLORS, AND COLOR-INTENSITIES

Wt Wt

HLt R RO O OY =Y= YG G GB B BV V VR HL

Lt R RO O =OY= Y =YG= G GB B BV V VR Lt

LLt R RO =O= OY Y YG =G= GB B BV V VR LLt

M R =RO= O OY Y YG G =GB= B BV V VR M

HD =R= RO O OY Y YG G GB =B= BV V VR HD

D R RO O OY Y YG G GB B =BV= V =VR= D

LD R RO O OY Y YG G GB B BV =V= VR LD

Blk Blk

Diagram 3

TONES OF THE SPECTRUM AND OF PIGMENTS

134. It is probable that we have in the Spectrum an indication of the natural value-relations of the different colors when in their highest intensities. Owing to the limitations of pigment-material, however, it is impossible to reproduce the intensities of the Spectrum satisfactorily. An approximation is all that we can achieve in painting.

THE SPECTRUM SEQUENCE AND THE CIRCUIT OF THE COLORS

135. Having produced the scale of twelve colors in the values of their greatest intensities, and as intense as possible, we get an approximation to the Spectrum with this difference, that the color Violet-Red (Purple) which we get in pigments and mixtures of pigments does not occur in the Spectrum and, so far as we know, does not belong in the Spectrum. We have in the Spectrum a sequence which begins with Red and ends with Violet. It is a sequence, not a circuit. In pigment-mixtures, however, we have a circuit, clearly enough, and Violet-Red is a connecting link between Violet and Red.

THE COMPLEMENTARIES

136. Considering the circuit of the colors which we are able to produce with our pigment-materials, the question arises, What contrasts of color are the strongest? what interval in the Scale of Colors gives us the strongest possible color-contrast? Producing the twelve colors in the values of their greatest intensities, and as intense as possible, and setting the tones in a circuit and in their natural and inevitable order, you will observe that the greatest color-contrast is the contrast between colors at the interval of the seventh: for example, the contrasts of Red and Green, or Orange and Blue, or Yellow and Violet. The colors at the interval of the sixth are less strong in contrast. The contrast diminishes gradually as we pass from the interval of the seventh to the interval of the second. The contrast of colors at the interval of the seventh, the greatest possible contrast, is called the contrast of the complementaries. In estimating intervals we count the colors between which the intervals occur.

A GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF TONES

137. Taking each color in the value of its greatest intensity (as shown in the Spectrum), and as intense as possible, the color may be neutralized in the direction of Black (neutral darkness) or White (neutral light) or in the direction of any value of neutrality intermediate between Black and White, including the value of the color in its greatest intensity. If we think of five degrees of neutralization, including the extremes of Intensity and Neutrality, we shall get as definite a terminology for color-intensities and color-neutralizations as we have for colors and for values. The choice of five degrees is arbitrary. It is a question how far the classification shall go, what it shall include. We are dealing with infinity, and our limitations are necessarily arbitrary.

In Diagram 3 we have a general classification of tones as to value, color, color-intensity, and color-neutralization. Of values we have nine. Of colors we have twelve. Of degrees of intensity and of neutralization we have five.

COLOR-INTENSITIES AND COLOR-NEUTRALIZATIONS

138. It is important to distinguish between degrees of intensity and degrees of neutralization. The degrees of color-intensity and of color-neutralization, in any value, are described by fractions. The formula D-R¾ means, value Dark, color Red, intensity three quarters. The formula D-R, ¾N means, value Dark, color Red, three quarters neutralized. The formula M-O½ means, value Middle, color Orange, intensity one half. The formula M-O, ½N means, value Middle, color Orange, half neutralized. M-O, ½N is a tone somewhat less intense in color than M-O½, as may be seen on the diagram. The degree of neutralization has reference, in all cases, to the maximum intensity for the given value. What that is, theoretically, may be seen by referring to the triangle of the color, in which the possibilities of intensity, in different values, are clearly indicated.

THE DEFINITION OF PARTICULAR TONES

139. To define any tone, in this classification, we must name its value, its color, and the degree of color-intensity or neutralization.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF TONES NECESSARILY THEORETICAL

140. The general classification of tones in which is shown all the possibilities of value, color, color-intensity, and color-neutralization, in reflecting pigments, is necessarily theoretical, or rather ideal, because the degrees of intensity obtainable in any value depend upon the pigment-materials we have to use, or choose to use. No very great intensity of Yellow, even in the value of High Light, can be obtained if we choose to use a mixture of Yellow Ochre with Ultramarine Blue and White to produce it. It is only when we use the most brilliant pigments—the Madders, Vermilion, the Cadmiums, Aureolin, and Cobalt Blue—that we can approximate toward the highest intensities, as indicated in our diagram and exhibited in the Spectrum.

THE DEFINITION OF PARTICULAR TONE-RELATIONS

141. The number of tone-contrasts—contrasts of value, of color, and of color-intensity or neutralization—is, evidently, beyond calculation.

The method of describing any particular contrast or contrasts is easy to understand. We have only to define the tones and to indicate how they cross one another.

RO, ½N --------- VR

This formula means that a spot of Violet-Red (Dark, full intensity) is put on a ground-tone of Middle Red-Orange, half neutralized.

RO½ ---------- VR Wt -- YG

This formula means that spots of Low Dark Violet-Red (full intensity) and White are put on a ground-tone of Middle Red-Orange, half intensity, and that on the spot of Low Dark Violet-Red (full intensity), as a ground-tone, is put a spot of Light Yellow-Green (full intensity). It is not necessary to name the value when the color occurs in the value of its greatest intensity, and it is not necessary to describe the intensity, in any value, when the greatest intensity possible to that value is meant. In the first case the value is understood, in the second case the intensity—the greatest for the value—is understood.

SEQUENCES OF VALUES AND COLORS

142. When, in view of all possible tones, as indicated in the general classification of tones, according to value, color, and color-intensity, or color-neutralization (Diagram of the Triangles), we try to think what tones we shall use, what contrasts of tone we shall produce, we are sure to be very much “at sea,” because of the great number and variety of possibilities. Even when we disregard differences of intensity and consider simply the possibilities of value and of color, as shown in the general classification of tones according to value and color (Diagram of Values and Colors, p. 137), we have still too many possibilities to consider, and our choice of tones is determined by accident or habit rather than by clear vision or deliberate preference. We shall find it worth while to limit our range in each experiment to some particular sequence of values and colors, or to some particular combination of sequences. Instead of trying to think in the range of all values, all colors, we ought to limit our thinking, in each case, to the range of a few values and a few colors,—a few definite tones with which we can become perfectly familiar and of which we can have definite visual images. It is only when we can imagine tones vividly that we can think satisfactorily in tone-relations. We shall achieve this power of thinking in tones and tone-relations best through self-imposed limitations.

143. We ought to begin our study of Tones and Tone-Relations with the Scale of Neutral Values (see p. 135). We ought to work with the nine tones of this scale or sequence until we know them well, until we can visualize them clearly, and until we can produce them accurately; until we can readily produce any single tone of the scale and any of the thirty-six possible contrasts which the scale affords.

Besides the Scale of Neutral Values there are three types of Value and Color Sequence which we may use.

144. First. We have the sequences which may be described as those of the Vertical; sequences which may be indicated by vertical lines drawn across the Diagram of Values and Colors. In each of these sequences, twelve in number, we have one color in all the values of the Scale of Values, except Black and White. These sequences of the Vertical, as I shall call them, are of very little use in Pure Design. They give us value-contrasts and contrasts of color-intensity (intensities of one color), but no color-contrasts, no differences of color. The tones in these sequences are monotonous in color.

145. Second. We have the sequences which may be described as those of the Horizontal; sequences which may be indicated by horizontal lines drawn across the Diagram of Values and Colors. In these sequences we have differences of color and color-intensity, but all in one value. These sequences give us color-contrasts (different colors in different degrees of intensity), but no value-contrasts. The tones in these sequences are monotonous in value. The sequences of one horizontal are of very little use.

146. Third. We have the sequences which may be described as those of the Diagonal; sequences which may be indicated by lines drawn diagonally across the Diagram of Values and Colors. In drawing these sequences the reader must not forget that the Scale of Colors is a circuit, so when he reaches the end of the diagram he returns and continues from the other end. The diagram might, for convenience in drawing these sequences, be extended to several repetitions of the Scale of Colors. In the sequences of the Diagonal we have contrasts both of value and of color. The color in these sequences changes from value to value through the Scale of Values. Each sequence gives us certain colors in certain values, and in no case have we two colors in the same value. To these sequences of the Diagonal we must give our particular attention. They are the sequences which we shall use constantly, in Representation as well as in the practice of Pure Design.

147. The sequences of the Diagonal fall into two divisions. First, there are the sequences which we draw through the Diagram of Values and Colors from Black up-to-the-right to White. I shall call these the Sequences of the Right Mode (Sign ⍁). Second, there are the sequences which we draw from Black up-to-the-left to White. I shall call these the Sequences of the Left Mode (Sign ⍂).

Taking the lowest color in the sequence as the keynote, we have for the Right Mode, in the Scale of Twelve Colors, twelve distinct sequences of which this which follows is an example.

Seq. LD-BV, ⍁ 2ds

Wt HLt - OY Lt - O LLt - RO M - R HD - VR D - V LD - BV Blk

In this sequence the colors are taken at the interval of the second. That is what is meant by the abbreviation 2ds.

Taking the lowest color of the sequence as its keynote, as before, we have for the Left Mode twelve distinct sequences, of which that which follows is an example.

Seq. LD-OY, ⍂ 2ds

Wt HLt - BV Lt - V LLt - VR M - R HD - RO D - O LD - OY Blk

In this sequence, as in the one previously given, the colors are taken at the interval of the second.

148. The colors in these diagonal sequences may be taken not only at intervals of the second, but at intervals of the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh. Taking the colors at these different intervals we have, for each interval, twenty-four distinct sequences; twelve for the Right Mode, twelve for the Left Mode; in all one hundred and forty-four different sequences.

149. Among the sequences of the Diagonal those in which the colors are taken at the interval of the fifth are particularly interesting. The colors taken at the interval of the fifth fall into four triads,—the first, R-Y-B, the second, RO-YG-BV, the third, O-G-V, the fourth, OY-GB-VR. Taking the colors in any of these triads in the two modes, the Right and the Left, we get six sequences of different colors in different values for each triad. Of these Triad-Sequences I will give one as an example.

Seq. LD-R, ⍂ 5ths

Wt HLt - R Lt - Y LLt - B M - R HD - Y D - B LD - R Blk

The Triad-Scales, whether in the Right Mode or in the Left Mode, are of great interest both in Pure Design and in Representation. In Representation, however, the number of tones between the limits of Black and White would, as a rule, be increased, as in the extended diagram given farther on.

150. Instead of taking the colors at a certain interval in one mode or the other, it is possible to take the colors in a certain relation of intervals repeated; this in either mode. The relation of a third to a fifth, for instance, being repeated, in one mode or the other, gives us some very interesting sequences. The one which follows is an example.

LD-V, ⍁ 5th-3d