A systematic study of line and tone is very profitable, as we have seen; I believe that color may be approached in like manner, and I shall attempt now to relate the treatment of the color‐element (chapter I) to that of the other two, and to give some results of personal experience.
Those who have but little time for work in color, can spend it best in copying, under guidance, examples of acknowledged excellence, like Japanese prints, Oriental rugs, and reproductions of masterpieces. Contact with these, even looking at them (if the pupil is taught what to look for), will strengthen the powers of color perception. In schools where the art periods are short and few, this may be the only method possible. (See p. 13 and chap. XVI.) For those who intend to use color in creative work a certain amount of theory is indispensable, as it simplifies the subject and opens up a few definite lines of research. The word “theory” has become a kind of academic bugbear, yet Leonardo da Vinci said that the painter who works without a theory is like the sailor who goes to sea without a compass. Well‐ordered thought is as necessary in art as in any other field. Theory is a help to clear thinking and gives direction and purpose to practice. Color, however complicated, may be reduced to three simple elements:
HUE,—as yellow, blue‐green, NOTAN (or Value),—as dark red, light red, INTENSITY (or Bright‐to‐gray‐ness)—as intense blue, dull blue.
Color harmony depends upon adjustments in this three‐fold nature. If a color‐scheme is discordant, the fault may be discovered in,—wrong selection of hues or weak values, or ill‐matched intensities, or all three. This simple classification reduces the perplexities that beset the student, by showing him where to look for the cause of failure. The words “Value” and “Chroma” are used in this connection by Albert H. Munsell, to whose book “A Color Notation” the reader is referred for a very convincing exposition of color theory.
Mr. Munsell has invented a photometer to measure values of light and color, and has prepared scales, spheres, charts and pigments for school use. My own experiments in making circles of hues and scales of notan and intensities, were based upon the old theory—Red, Blue and Yellow as primaries, Green, Orange and Violet as secondaries, etc. At that time (1890) the progression from bright to gray was not recognized as a distinct element of color, but in art‐educational works difference of intensity was confused with dark‐and‐light; spectra for school use contained hues in violent contrast as to brilliancy and value.