The hair, drapery, back-ground, and, in short, every part of the picture, ought to be brought forward at the same time as the face, in order to show the proper depth and strength of colour and keeping in every part. The local colour of the hair is laid in with broad flat tints, marking out only the larger masses and divisions with their shadows. The colours for the hair may be composed of burnt umber, lake, and indigo, in such pro portions as may best imitate the tints of the model ; for light hair Roman ochre may be used instead of burnt umber.
Some artists, in laying on the back grounds, float them, as it is called, with a full mass of the proper colour, perfectly transparent, leaving it in a horizontal position to dry before it be touched upon, and after re touching it with repeated hatching and stippling till it be brought up to the effect required ; in this way it is extremely difficult to produce a smooth even tint. It is therefore much more convenient to add to the colours a little constant white, in order to give them a degree of opacity, by which the ivory will be more easily co vered, the tint will he much smoother, and it will rr quire much less labour in hatching it afterwards.
In all draperies, except thin white ones, it is neces sary to add a considerable portion of opaque colour, in order to give the requisite solidity of effect. In lighter coloured draperies, constant 9,hite may be mixed with the colours, but in stuffs where great strength of colour is required, those pigments which are in themselves opaque, may be used, such as the ochres, vermillion, Indian red, umber, which all give body and consistency to any other colours. In dark grey, purple, and black, a little constant white will be most suitable. In repre senting thin white draperies, such as muslins, and the like, the opaque white must only be used in heightening the lights; the shadows may be done with transparent colours as delicately as possible, in order to assimilate the style of handling as much as possible to the quality of surface of the object.
The draperies and back-grounds should be laid on in full masses, with a large hair pencil, crossing and working the colour in every direction; and if it be suffi ciently opaque, it will cover the surface of the ivory without much retouching. The lights are to be corn
posed of the proper colour, thickened with constant white.
The general effect of the whole work being made out according to the rules now given, it will be neces sary to carry on the several details through all their stages in the same manner.
In bringing the face to its proper strength of shadow and colour, the warm tints ought in general to predo minate ; it will require however various cool tints to be introduced, in order to give brilliancy to the lights, and clearness to the shadows ; these tints must be re gulated by the taste of the artist, but in genet al it may be recommended to use purple and olive tints, the for mer composed of carmine and indigo, or ultramarine, the latter of indigo and burnt terra di Sienna. The colouring of the flesh will acquire additional clearness, by the introduction of reflected lights of a warm or orange colour, finely blended into the cool tints, and the full strength of tone and harmony required, will be given by touches of carmine, ochre, and raw terra di Sienna, in proper places.
When any part of the carnations have too much of any particular tint, so as to injure the harmony of the effect, it will he most easily corrected by the introduc tion of tints of a directly opposite colour; thus, if too blue, orange, its opposite or contrasting colour, must be introduced ; if too red, it must be corrected by means of green, and vice versa, and so on of the rest. In the article ACCIDENTAL COLOURS, in the lirst volume of this work, some account of these contrasts of colour will be found, which, though chiefly intended to eluci date a very singular optical phenomenon, affords very important illustration of the laws of the harmony of colour in painting.
The doctrine of the contrast of colour is of the ut most practical utility to the painter, by affording him the means of increasing or subduing the brilliancy of his tints in the most easy and agreeable manner ; for the appearance of an given colour in a picture will not be in the ratio of its actual intensity, but will be modified by the colours with which it may be contrast ed. Thus white will derive much clearness and bril liancy by being contrasted with black, blue, or grey ; yellow with orange, and so on of the other colours and their contrasts.