EIGHTH GROUP.

THE two brown plates already given in this Work, were composed, as was noticed in describing them, without any attention to *colour*. But in this one, although the subject is only a branch of the Wild Rose disposed in a wreath, there is every variety of tint necessary for producing a good effect in a coloured composition: and this would be the case, whether the wreath was composed of white or pink roses; for in the flowers, leaves, buds, and stalks, with the addition of a little purplish grass, there is every tint requisite, except a little blue, to produce a pleasing effect, either upon a dark or a light ground.

The deficient tint, *blue*, is wanted to contrast the small degree of orange, that so beautifully touches upon the yellow anthers when the flower is in its perfection; and this might be supplied various ways; for instance, by introducing a small blue fly on the light side, and twisting or tying the parts of the wreath together with a narrow dark blue riband in the shade.

The grass, which is often found of a purple hue, affords a contrast to the yellow, and the red or pink is contrasted by the green leaves, both of which colours, in their respective shades, possess harmonizing tints within themselves, from the palest to the darkest shade of green: so that altogether the composition, if properly managed, is capable of exhibiting as rich an effect of colour as can be desired.

To express these colours in brown, or by any one colour only, it is necessary to have different tints, some warmer than others.

In the central part of the wreath, where the light strikes with most force, and where the colour would of course appear most brilliant, a warm yellowish brown is employed. Towards the extremity on the light side, a colder tint is thrown in, and at the termination on the dark side, a much colder one is used. Thus, in both cases, the yellowish brown employed in the centre is mixed with some of the ground tint, which has subdued its original brilliancy in proportion to the degree of obscu- rity or distance it is meant to appear at from the eye; whilst the colour in the centre is kept pure, or subdued only in those parts that are in shade, which is done with the ground tint also, but in a less degree. The effect of the above-mentioned ma- nagement is, that the two ends of the wreath retire from the eye into the ground, while the centre comes forward in proportion to the brilliancy of the tints employed in it. Was this wreath to be flung upon a light ground, the extremities or retiring

parts must be so weakened in force, as to associate with or go back in like manner into the ground on which they are thrown, either by tinting them thinly with colour, or by lightening the tints with white; by this means the opposition between the ground (which we will suppose to be a very pale olive, nearly white) and the colours at each end of the wreath would not be so strong, nor their appearance be so striking to the eye.

The centre, however, which should be as brilliant as possible, would be more strongly opposed by the pale tinted ground behind, for a white one is never advisable, particularly if there happens to be any portion of white in the flowers employed in the Group.

In both these cases it is to be observed, that it is owing to the gradual gradation of the succession of tints, from the most brilliant to the most obscure, by which that magical effect of projection from the ground, on which the subjects of pictures are placed, is produced, and which in many celebrated pictures has seemed to give animation and reality to the subject depicted. The management of the subject upon a very pale, and also upon a very dark ground, has been pointed out; but the most pleasing effect will be produced, by placing it upon a tint between the two extremes, in which case the ground should not be of one even tint, but varied with different masses of Light and Shade, each corresponding with those in the Groups. In the centre, the eye should be conducted from the principal light to an associating light in the ground behind, of the *same hue*, but of a lower tone; and the darker parts of each should be lost in darker masses in the ground of the same hue also, and of less strength. By which means that general breadth of light and shadow, which is so essential to a good picture, would be produced; but in a small design of this kind, there is scarcely room to exhibit that effect to advantage.

*Rosa arvensis.*

— White Dog Rose.

*Icosandria polygynia.*

This rose, the lively flowers of which are the most beautiful ornaments of the hedges in many parts of England and particularly near Manchester, blows very late, and sometimes continues in blossom till September and October; and although, like many of our field flowers, it is much neglected, yet in the form and the colour of its buds, just before blowing, it is not surpassed in elegance and beauty, by any other production of the vegetable kingdom. T.

25

NINTH GROUP.

A BIRD's nest has been at all times a favourite subject, and is among the many beau-
tiful objects that the season of spring affords to the pencil; the one here depicted,
was taken, as it is represented, in a branch of hawthorn, and is the workmanship of
the Hedge Sparrow, whose eggs are of a beautiful pale blue-green colour. The well
known circumstance of the sparrow's nest affording a deposit for the egg of the
cuckow, who is too idle to make one for herself, was verified in this nest, which
contained a cuckow's egg; but it was unfortunately broken in disengaging the nest
from the hedge.

This little design may be considered, as in some measure exemplifying the green
blot, but no very brilliant effect of colour can be produced by the subject; for unless
it be in the young shoot of the hawthorn projecting before the nest, there is no pure
green to be seen; all the rest being of a much darker hue. But although the compo-
sition cannot be a brilliant one, it may have a very warm rich effect. The shoot
which projects forward before the nest is, as has been before observed, the only part
where a pure tint of green is to be found, and this of course brings it nearest to the
eye; and it has besides all the harmonizing tints within itself, that is, all the shades
of green, from the lightest to the deepest, that will appear so in a full light. The
outside of the nest is a mixture of yellowish and whitish brown, with some moss of
an olive cast in different parts, and where it retires into the shade, there are upon it
some smart touches of dark brown. The eggs are of a beautiful pale blue-green, and
are contrasted and sent forward by a reddish purple tint, which is flung into the in-
side of the nest behind them, and is softened into a dark brown: both of these tints
give relief to them, and produce the cup-like form in the shape of the nest. The
surrounding parts of the hawthorn take their natural dark colour, more or less ob-
scured, according as the light strikes upon them; and the little trailing reddish purple
vetch, which frequently adorns the hedges, conveys a gradation of red from the prin-
cipal contrasting mass of it, which is thrown on the ground underneath the dark side
of the nest, as a contrast to the green. A nice observance of this arrangement of the
colours, will give not only a natural appearance to the subject, but the most pleasing
and forcible effect; and without a judicious management of colour, in such a subject
as this is, it will have little or no beauty, but present only a heap of colour without
meaning.

TENTH GROUP.

THIS Group was designed soon after I had met with Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty; and to an endeavour to compose it, according to the idea he has expressed of the beauty of the triangle and waved line, is to be attributed whatever is pleasing in the disposition of the Flowers of which it is composed. The Flowers themselves are of so elegant a form, and so beautiful in colour, that they are most valuable subjects for the pencil, especially as the different varieties of them afford almost every diversity of colour, from the most delicate white to the richest dark tint that can be required in a full assemblage of colours. Owing to this circumstance, no other flower was requisite to form a pleasing Group, had there not been a necessity for contrast in form as well as in colour; and for that reason, the dark ranunculus and the other accompaniments are brought in to produce that effect, every one of these being of a different shape to the Ixias. The branch of the Sysimbrium mellifolium is thrown in to give body to the Group, and also to supply a larger portion of green than could well be given by the leaves of the Ixias; for as they are all of the same linear attenuated form, to have introduced a leaf to every Ixia would have had a very bad effect; it was therefore requisite to supply a proper portion of green by some other means; not that I had any correct idea of the proper portion at the time this Group was drawn, for the distribution of each colour was decided solely by fancy.

This Group, however, may be regarded as an example of the advantage of being guided, in some measure, by rule or principle; for the elegance of its general form is owing, as before observed, to the idea Mr. Hogarth had given me of beauty in respect to form. If these Flowers were to be flung upon a ground not quite white, but of a very pale olive cast, they would have a much more pleasing appearance, as the pink and white Ixias would then have more force, and the brilliancy of the yellow would be rather subdued, which is now made more conspicuous than is necessary by the white ground. The olive ground would likewise agree with all the other Flowers, provided it was pale, that is, just a degree lower than white; for where a Group is as delicate as this is in form, and without any considerable force of colour, great care must be taken not to lessen the force it has, which any tint darker than what I have named would be sure to do, unless it were a totally dark one; on which it would probably not have so good an effect.

ELEVENTH GROUP.

THE little animals represented in this Plate have been frequently promoted to the station of favourite pets, on account of their beauty, and the facility of taming them by confinement. These were drawn from a pair that, for some time, inhabited a small cage, in an apartment where they had become so tame as to feed from the hand; but they did not long enjoy their exaltation, for although they were kept with the greatest care and nicety, yet they were so offensive, that even the drawing them was by no means an agreeable task; it was also a very difficult, indeed almost an impossible one, owing to their incessant motion, till, by the expedient of delaying their food for a time, and supplying them with it only when I wished to draw, their attention was engaged, and they remained in the attitude in which they are represented.

Although the abode of these little animals is the same as that of the common house mouse, of which they are only a variety, yet I have here placed them under the hollow of a piece of old wood, with moss and ivy growing about it, for the sake of a more picturesque effect. In disposing this little Group, the Mice of course form the principal part of it; and the light is flung on them, so as to bring one of them from under the wood, while the other is placed more underneath it, so as to produce a gradation of the light, and with the view of bringing the surrounding parts of the wood forward and next into notice. In the other prominent parts, the moss has its natural fresh yellowish hue given it, going off first into a bluer green, and then into a gray and brown tint, where it retires from the eye on the light side of the Group.

On the dark side, the colder tint of the dark green ivy and the darker brown of the wood, serve to give depth to the composition; whilst the broken red, brown, yellow, and purple tints thrown into the ground and surrounding parts, produce altogether a good contrast to the white, yellow, and green in the lighter parts of the picture.

The little branch of cat-kins* is introduced, in order to distribute more generally the yellow tint of the moss and bit of corn, and to give something of lightness to the whole, which would otherwise have had too heavy an appearance. The whole design is nevertheless kept as simple as it could be, lest the attention should be too

* A catkin, or amentum, is a mode of flowering consisting of a single pendant stem beset with scales, which cover the flowers or parts of them.

31

TWELFTH GROUP.

THIS Plate, which represents the Wild Poppy growing in the hedge of a corn field, is meant to illustrate the composition of scarlet in the Essay on Colours before alluded to, as far as a slight sketch of such a subject can do so, it being one that affords a much more ample scope for the pencil, than the limits of this work embraces; for to introduce all the beautiful accompaniments, such as grasses, weeds, and insects, which might be admitted as characteristic of the season (summer), when the Poppy is in perfection, is not essential to the purpose of this Work; but although such very high finishing be necessarily avoided, the greatest care and attention to the colouring has been observed. The illustration of a particular system of colours being the point in view.

The tints therefore requisite to harmonize with and contrast the scarlet in the Poppies, are flung into the ground and surrounding parts, with only so much grass and weeds, slightly expressed, as serve to convey a general idea of the subject, and at a distance to produce a pleasing effect of form and colour: and the design is left in such a state, as will enable a painter, disposed to improve upon the idea, the power of introducing a number of lesser beauties, only observing that they must accord with the tone and colour of the *part* on which they are placed, by which means the present general effect will remain the same, whatever additional objects may be introduced.

Among the varieties of the Corn Poppy, there are different shades of scarlet, from the palest to the deepest hue,* and this leaves the painter at liberty to take that shade of them which may best suit his purpose. In this Group, as scarlet although a powerful colour, yet is not possessed of so much brilliancy as is requisite for a very striking effect in a picture, the palest shade in the nigthest light is therefore made use of, as well as the darkest in the shadow, in order to give as much brilliancy and force of effect as possible to the composition. The flowers and leaves not affording all the tints necessary to harmonize with, and contrast each other, the deficient ones are flung into the surrounding parts, and may be wrought, as before observed, into any particular form or object that the taste and judgment of the painter may direct. The

* I wish not to be understood, as meaning that different shades of colour are to be found in the same plant of the Poppy, for that is not the case; but among the different varieties, some display one tint and some another, each variety having a peculiar tint of its own, by which it may be distinguished from the others.

35

FOURTEENTH GROUP.

THE KINGFISHER.

WHEN it is considered that the principal colours employed in this Group are blue, green, and orange, or rather buff; those who have read my Essay on Colours will be sensible how difficult it is to form an agreeable composition, in point of colouring, under such circumstances. When I say the principal colours, I mean those that occupy the lightest and most prominent parts of the birds, which are the principal or chief objects in the picture, and as I have endeavoured to do the subject all the justice in my power, I must beg leave to submit it to remark along with those which I consider as painted with stricter adherence to those rules of colouring that have guided my pencil in them, than in the others. But although I have confidence in my theory, yet the practical specimens are presented with the utmost diffidence; being fully aware there may be many defects in the composition visible to a critical eye, although unperceived at present by my own. Leaving the theoretical part, however, I shall now notice the colours which were used in painting the birds. The blue in the head and neck feathers is of the most brilliant hue, and may be imitated, very nearly, by a mixture of Antwerp blue and white; as it becomes of a darker tint, Prussian blue may be used, and even indigo in the dark part of the wings and other places. All these blues are as durable as any of those that are not absolutely permanent, like ultramarine. The green is formed by the addition of gamboge, and also of Indian yellow, where a less brilliant tint is required. The buff or orange on the breast of the bird may be very nearly expressed by a mixture of orange lead, white, and gamboge; but orange lead is so liable to fail, that almost any expedient is better than trusting to it, unless it be strongly bound up with gum from the air or damp; and gum Arabic is by no means a preservative, nor any gum that I know of at present to be met with in the shops. I may here notice, that some trials are making to produce a vehicle that may render the duration of the different colours more certain; and if it succeeds, an account of it will certainly be presented to the Public first in this Work.

FIFTEENTH GROUP.

This brown design is formed of a leaf of the Common Fern, and a little Blue Campanula, common in most hedges and fields about London, as well as in most other places, I believe, in the kingdom.

In some of the first brown plates, no attention was paid to colour; they were merely confined to display the contour and character of the subjects; but in this design both are attended to. The pale blue, or rather pale lilac, in some of the Campanulas, with the opportunity of giving a darker tint in others, form a gradation of that colour; and the variety of tint from yellow to green, olive, dark brown, and even red, in the fern leaf, affords altogether the harmonizing and contrasting tints to both colours, in as full a degree as there is occasion for in so simple a composition: and affords sufficient room to work up altogether into a very pleasing little composition, were it executed in colours. But one caution is requisite, which is, as the blue, or blue-lilac, is one of the most delicate tints, the contrast, an orange-yellow, should be equally so in the lightest parts, and a little subdued, otherwise the contrast would be stronger than the principal; and the Campanulas would sink in appearance to the eye, beneath the yellow or orange tint, as the stronger colour, instead of appearing more prominent.

To paint this Group in brown, a similar caution is requisite, for that employed in the Fern should have a colder cast than that used for the more prominent of the Bell Flowers: but as there remains nothing more to be said in regard to the colouring of this composition, I shall proceed to speak of the colours to be employed in painting it from Nature.

There is no blue or lilac colour exactly of the tint in this Flower; but a very small degree of Antwerp blue, mixed with a purple, sold by Mr. Inwood, No. 300, in the Strand, and a white, called chemical white, sold by Mr. Hume, druggist, Long Acre, London, will form, in different proportions, all the tints wanted. These colours are all of them as permanent as any water colours can be, except a few that will be named hereafter, as they come in course under observation. As to the procuring those employed in the Fern, there is no difficulty; every colour-box will afford them, and there is little risk of their permanence. But the delicate brilliant colours are too many of them fugitive.

There is another purple made by Mr. Townshend of Bath, that is both beautiful and durable; but the one I have named is, in this instance, more useful.

39

SIXTEENTH GROUP.

WHATEVER of merit or beauty this Group possesses, is derived, in a great measure, from the dark ground on which the Flowers and Grasses are thrown: at least that gives it a great deal more effect, by shewing the elegant forms of the different parts to the greatest advantage; the delicacy and beauty of which, like modest unassuming worth, require something to push them forward, and bring them into notice. On a lighter ground, where bolder and more showy plants would attract the eye, the delicate hairy parts of the Grasses in particular, as well as their general character would not be sufficiently striking; and therefore a dark ground is the most judicious for such minute objects. On a dark ground, also, by a proper distribution of light and colour on each part, prominence and fullness may be given to the slightest Group, as in this instance, by a few touches of the pencil.

In my Essay on Light and Shadow, to which I have had frequent occasion to refer, I have endeavoured to show how very simple and easy it is to give in appearance the roundness of a bell, or the hollowness of a cup to the slightest Group, even although the subjects of which it is composed are scattered at a distance from each other: for by a due attention to the perspective, the distance and the colour of each object, they are brought to form, in a manner, one whole, as completely as if they were more closely connected together. It is hardly necessary to observe, that unless white have a place in the Group, it would not have sufficient force. In the dark-grounded Bindweed piece, Plate Third, I have pointed out the very great advantage, as well as the necessity of having a portion of red, which is the contrast to green, introduced to give the proper spirit to a piece where green is the principal colour; for without it, there would be a monotony and flatness of colouring very unpleasing to the eye. The reddish tints, therefore, upon some parts of the Grasses, and the choice of a butterfly, where most of that colour predominates, are brought in for the above purpose; and as the wings of this insect incline to an orange hue, the ribband is made blue, both to serve as a contrast to its wings, and also to some small portion of orange in the anthers of the white flowers. Some touches of yellow, also, in the light parts of the Grasses, require purple tints to be in the shade. These little circumstances are to be attended to in distributing colour throughout even so small a

41

SEVENTEENTH GROUP.

THIS Group, which exhibits a considerable mass of colour, is altogether different
in its appearance and formation from the foregoing, being composed of Flowers that,
from their size and shape, naturally prevent that lightness which characterises the
other, from being produced; and the ingenuity of the pencil is therefore employed to
bring out quite an opposite effect.

The lightness and delicacy of the materials which form the other Group, rendered
it requisite to give as much nicety, fullness, and breadth of appearance to them in
the colouring as possible, in order to prevent that sort of scattered effect which they
might otherwise have presented; and that would have destroyed all the merit of the
Group, and prevented it from affording any pleasure to the eye. In this Group (or
indeed any heavy mass), the object is to prevent the appearance of heaviness, and to
give a sufficient air of lightness to the whole; which is to be done after the general
mass is formed, by introducing lighter parts, such as grasses or smaller flowers. In
the present design, for this purpose, the yellow hawk-weed, the blue anagallis, and
the grasses are thrown over the larger flowers, and all contribute to give lightness
as well as harmony to the piece.

As a composition, in regard to colour, it may be classed under the head of crim-
son; which includes many shades or gradations of other hues, and pinks amongst the
rest, of which green is the contrasting tint, the deepest shade of which should fall
into the shadow. Lilac, as one of the harmonizing tints, is introduced, and its con-
trast yellow also: some touches of light orange call for blue, which, with its grada-
tions, have of course a place in the Group; and white being introduced to enliven
the whole, makes some very dark touches in the shadowy parts very requisite. Those
who would wish to know more particularly the principles which have guided the
pencil in the distribution of these colours, will find a fuller direction, as to the pro-
portions of each to be introduced, in the Essay on Colours; and which may enable
them to colour this Group in even a better manner; as it was not when painted so
much the work of judgment as fancy. They will, also, find how hard it is to adhere
to a principle that judgment approves of, and yet not depart from nature: for to sacri-
fice the latter in the smallest degree to any fanciful principle, is a thing not to be
attempted. A greater danger, however, is more likely to result from a student's
finding the rules difficult to be observed; and in disgust copying nature without rule
or judgment. It is a material point to be satisfied that the principle is good, and

EIGHTEENTH GROUP.

THE Wreath, which is the subject of this Plate, affords but little scope for a painter's observations; its construction, as a composition, being very simple, and composed of one Flower only, although that is a very beautiful one. The whole effect of the little Wreath or Group depends entirely upon the opposition produced by the highest light and brilliancy of colour being confined to the centre of the Wreath, and the contrasting and darkest tints supporting them closely behind; while from that part of the Group the strength of colour and shade is weakened towards the extremity on the dark side, and the strength and brilliancy of colour on the other. The greater part of the attention is thus confined to the principal mass, as in a Group of any other form, and yet such a portion is bestowed on the inferior parts, as enables them to attract the eye in their turn, and make it dwell upon them with pleasure as subordinate objects, like humble dependants, each respectfully filling its allotted station without incommoding or intruding upon their superiors, but usefully affording their assistance to the general effect of the whole; satisfied (to carry on the allusion) that the noblest use of their respective powers and abilities, is to employ them to the utmost in the station which they are designed by nature to fill: for in this little Wreath they are necessary, although inferior members; and it would want much of its beauty without them. To go on a little farther with this allusion, if an unlucky leaf, like a coxcomb, or a conceited belle, assume self-importance, and put itself impertinently forward, seeking for admiration before its superiors, the Painter should, with as little mercy as the world at large, check its presumption, and oblige it to seek the shade, or at least keep within its proper sphere. Without this kind of management, a little Wreath of this nature might be only an ordinary composition, a mere heap of confusion without any beauty of colouring, or effect of Light and Shade. So necessary is the knowledge of those principles of the art which have been laid down* in this Work, and which, when put into practice upon the most simple subjects, give them superior value, and distinguish the hand of a judicious Painter from the mere dabbler in the art. There has already been so much said in the foregoing pages on the arrangement of the colours necessary in a Group like this, that there cannot, without repetition, be any thing more added on the subject; but I must refer the Student to those pages for such information as may be wanted: as, although the wreath be given

* At least some principle; for the Author by no means presumes upon their approval.