Page:Cyclopedia of Painting-Armstrong, George D (1908).djvu/398

390 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,