# Cyclopedia of Painting/Water Color Painting

WATER COLOR PAINTING.
It is difficult to give a list of the colors which are most serviceable for water color painting, but from a comparison of those employed by others, it would appear that the following twenty-four may be safely recommended as being most useful:
Black Blue, Brown Madder, Brown Pink, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Cadmium, Cobalt, Emerald Green, French Blue, Gamboge, Indian Red, Indian Yellow, Indigo, Crimson Lake, Lemon Yellow, Light Red, Payne's Gray, Prussian Blue, Raw Sienna, Rose Madder, Sepia, Vandyke Brown, Vermilion, Yellow Ochre.
These colors should be arranged in the box systematically. It will be found very convenient to place the yellow pigments at one end, the reds and browns in the center, and the blues at the other end.
In laying on the colors it must be borne in mind that if two tints be mixed the effect will be different from that produced by first laying on one and then the other above it, and if a transparent color be placed over an opaque one, the result will be different from that produced if both be blended. Thus cobalt and light red give a cool gray, but cobalt washed over light red produces a gray of an entirely different character.
It is not customary to put in the shadows with neutral tints before employing the local colors, as it has been found that the method which best represents the effects of shade is to deaden the local color by the admixture of gray or blue tones.
Colors which are complementary produce harmonious effects when opposed to each other.
| Red is | complementary to Green, |
| Blue | complementary" to" Orange, |
| Yellow | complementary" to" Purple. |
White placed by the side of any color heightens its intensity, while black similarly used reduces its power, gray renders it more powerful.
Never touch a color till it is thoroughly dry; whether this is the case may be ascertained by seeing if the paper glistens; should it do so, it is unfit to work upon.
Have plenty of color in the brush, and do not be afraid to carry it boldly up to the outline.
A little powdered cuttlefish bone may be advantageously used in skies or distances to produce a slightly hazy effect. It should be rubbed in with the finger, and speedily removes any irregularity of color.
The sun should never be allowed to shine on the paper when a sketch is being made, as the eye becomes dazzled and incapable of correctly judging the colors. The color also is too rapidly dried, giving a dirty effect. This is especially the case with large washes.
Depth of tone should be produced by repeated washes of color. If the artist attempts to produce it by a single wash, it will produce an effect of paintiness, hardness, and want of transparency.
While the sketch is in progress it should be frequently viewed from a distance. Many artists throw the drawing on the ground, or even view it upside down, so as to judge of the effect as a whole, with reference to the arrangement of light and shade, and without regard to the subjects portrayed.
Primary colors must be very sparingly introduced, and broken colors, composed of various pigments, duly combined, produce very agreeable results, though it must be remembered at the same time that the purest and freshest effects result from the combination of a small number of pigments.
​Local Color is the color of objects when viewed in ordinary daylight, and comparatively near to the eye. Local color is, of course, modified by increase or diminution in the brightness of the light on the increased or diminished distance from the spectator. Cast shadows are darker than the objects which throw them. Foreground objects appear to exhibit the brightest lights, the most powerful shaded sides, and also cast the strongest shadows, while the atmosphere between the sketcher and the objects in the distance and middle distance tends to reduce the value of those which are furthest from the eye.
Breadth is a most desirable quality to be aimed at, so that the lights and shades may be massed, and not cut up into small detached pieces.
The color of a drawing should not be carried in its full intensity up to the very edge, otherwise the subject will appear to be cut out, with consequent loss of atmospheric effect, and for the same reason the principal objects should not be placed too near the margin, and lines such as roads should be arranged so as to lead the eye into the picture. The area of washes should diminish as the work proceeds. The general coloring must not be darkest in the immediate foreground, but nearer to the middle distance, where also the highest lights should be placed.
Meaning and decision should always be given to all strong and dark touches.
The entire horizon must never be allowed to cut hard against the sky, and endeavors ought to be made to produce some appearance of mystery in every drawing.
Light and color should always be carried through the picture, that is, the sky should not be entirely cold whilst the landscape is warm, nor vice versa. The sky color must always be carried into the landscape.
Aerial perspective is the modification of light, shade, and color which is caused by the atmosphere, or more especially by vapor in the form of mist or haze, interposing between ​the spectator and the object represented. The local color of objects is modified by the intervention of atmosphere and vapor in proportion to the distance of the objects from the eye.
Atmospheric effects influence colors in light as well as in shade, modifying their distinctness, and producing that mystery which is one of the principal charms of a drawing.
Aerial perspective is greatly assisted by employing retiring colors, such as blue and gray, for the sky and distance of a landscape, colors like madders and broken reds for the middle distance, and by reserving yellow, red, and orange for the background. It is also assisted by carrying over the horizon and distance the colors of the sky and clouds in the earlier washes.
If, during the progress of the drawing, any portions of color appear to stand out too distinctly or prominently, they may be taken out with the paint rag, so that they might not obtrude or detach themselves too much from objects in the same plane.
Foregrounds. Here all color should be more or less broken. Trees of which the foliage may be brilliant green have twigs and stems of leaves which are of a warm reddish brown, the local colors are thus modified and subdued where otherwise they might appear crude. Rocks may appear gray, but lichens, with their yellow or rosy tint, warm some portions of the stone, and thus prevent the appearance of coldness. Buildings with their different materials, some of which may be toned by age and exposure, exhibit broken tints of the greatest variety and beauty.
The great difficulty with an amateur is to fill up the foreground intelligently without undue display of detail. It is most desirable therefore that herbage, heath or foreground plants should be massed as far as may be practicable, and that, in the treatment of stones, rocks or broken ground, excessive light and shade should be avoided, ​so as not to attract the eye too strongly and prevent it from penetrating further into the scene.
Trees. In representing these the local color should be first laid on, a little warmer in the light and deeper and cooler on the shadow side, separating definitely the lights from the shadows, and in them showing detail. When the foliage is massive, deep shadows must be added. The forms of the highest lights must be carefully rendered, and they must not be frittered away by any attempt to represent the innumerable leaves which go to make up the entire foliage.
The trunks of trees may be usually treated with warm color, purple lake or madder, combined if necessary with light red and cobalt. Both trunks and branches should be traced up and marked wherever visible. The warmth of their colors contrasts well with the coolness of the foliage, but care must be exercised that they do not come too forward, or they will destroy the appearance of roundness.
In representing trees great assistance is afforded by the modern plan of taking out. Where high lights are required, water is applied by the brush in the required form, this is removed with blotting-paper, and the color is then sharply wiped out with a handkerchief or wash-leather.
In coloring trees it must be remembered that they rarely appear as a true green. The upper part of the leaves reflect the blue or gray of sky, and the warm tints of earth are reflected on their under sides. Although the local color of trees in the foreground may be fully visible, it is much modified in the middle distance by their remoteness from the spectator, so that the tone becomes more gray than green, and the leafage is quite indistinct. In the extreme distance neither trunk nor branches are visible, and the mass is broken by the shadows occasioned by the varying positions of the trees.
It is most desirable for any one who is anxious to represent rocks with accuracy to be acquainted with the different strata and formations and with their colors when they ​are first fractured and after they are weathered. Rocks, by their hardness of form, naturally affect the character of the landscape. Too great an exhibition of detail gives the impression of smallness.
However delicate the tints of rocks may be, they should always be painted with more powerful pigments than those employed for the sky and cloud, otherwise they may appear weak and feeble. Variety may be given to the local color by taking up on the point of the brush when charged with the compound tints portions of pure pigment such as madder, lake, blue or gray.
Water is most difficult to represent, and the suggestions given for different tones and tints may be varied indefinitely. The colors which appear in both running and still water are largely the result of the reflections of sky, cloud, and surrounding objects, but they are also produced by the light or shade reflected from its surface, and by the color of the objects over which it flows. Smooth water should always be treated broadly and be painted as far as possible at the same time, and with the same tints, as the objects which are to be reflected in it. The reflections, if too powerful or too brilliant, may be modified by subsequent glazing.
The surface of smooth water is best represented by working the tints in a horizontal direction, but reflections in water are generally perpendicular. If the water is turbid the shadows will be visible on the surface, but in perfectly pure water they can hardly be recognized.
The first tone should be decidedly gray, as reflecting sky and clouds, and on this may be worked raw sienna and brown madder, while nearer the eye French blue, Prussian blue, or indigo may be employed. For very dark parts brown pink, purple madder, and Vandyke brown are useful. On the sea the blue should increase in depth towards the horizon, possibly, however, with a light streak just where the sky meets the water.
​Waves breaking close to the shore will be warm in color, owing to the sand and seaweed underneath.
In the representation of mountains the greatest attention should be paid to accuracy of outline and to the irregularities of form, color, and shade in the general contour. The outlines present themselves at such different angles, and some will be in shade while others will be in brilliant light or half-light.
To produce the effect of ruggedness on distant mountain sides, a brush with dry color may be dragged over the surface.
Mountains may be put in with light red, and this should then be washed over with cobalt. The shadows should be worked with a deeper tint of cobalt.
Mists or Clouds in the landscape greatly assist the artist in producing aerial effects.
In painting clouds bring up the form sharply and decisively with the side of the brush. This operation is of essential importance.
Plenty of color should always be kept in the brush, and care taken to preserve the purity of the tints. When the drawing is commenced cadmium or rose madder may be washed very lightly over the entire paper, omitting very white clouds or snow. Clouds differ very much in form according to the character of the landscape, whether flat, hilly, wooded, or mountainous.
To indicate the direction of the wind, keep the edges of the clouds ragged on one side.
Sharpness of form in painting skies is needed to prevent the appearance of woolliness, and when the use of a brush with water is not sufficient to produce granulation and atmosphere, the paper may be rubbed very carefully with a piece of the finest glass-paper, this removes a little of the surface. Color afterwards applied will flow freely, and the clouds will not appear to have hard edges. The highest lights may be taken out with a sharp knife.
​The foregoing directions are of the most practical character, and in the general hints for coloring various objects widely different schemes of color are suggested, but the artist's mind selects, refines, exalts the beautiful features of Nature, moulding the plastic substance to its will, and imbuing it with something of its own spirituality.