CHAPTER V.
HARMONY OF COLORS.
After erecting the framework the decorator proceeds to cover it, in order to complete his background. But before doing this the harmony of color must be considered, as the real success of his window will depend upon the good taste and arrangement of the colors employed.
No man need be frightened at facing this frequent bugbear to the novice:—color harmony. Any one will readily understand it after reading this chapter.
“What is color?” you ask.
Nothing but common daylight deprived of some of its wonderful properties.
When this is understood the subject is robbed of its terrors, for we know we are facing a natural effect, and nature is simplicity itself.
When light strikes any object, such as a blade of grass or leaf, the rays of white light are separated or decomposed; part are absorbed by the grass or leaf and the others reflected to the eye, causing the sensation of color; in this case green, the grass or leaf having reflected the blue and yellow rays and absorbed the red. To understand this thoroughly a little scientific experiment will demonstrate clearly. Go into a dark room, shutters, doors, etc., closed tight. Now make a very small hole through a shutter to the outer daylight, when a fine pencil of light will penetrate the darkness. Into this ray of light place a prism of glass, when the ray, after passing through the prism, will be diverged and separated, showing the solar spectrum in all its beauty.
The colors thus shown are the elementary colors of white light, commonly called the “primary” colors. The red, blue, and yellow are the most dominant in the spectrum, and in consequence always understood when we speak of “primary” colors; the intermediate rays shade into the various colors of the spectrum and are called “complimentary colors.” They show all the tints of the rainbow, which is in fact a gigantic solar spectrum.
The blade of grass has appropriated the red rays of the spectrum (or light) and leaves us only the blue and yellow, which, being reflected and blended, give us the sensation of green instead of white.
Every color affects the eye (or optic nerve) with a different vibration, which enables the optic nerve to inform the brain of the color. In this way we get the sensation of color. Black is the absence of all color; that is to say, it absorbs all the rays and returns none. White is the reflection of all the rays, none being absorbed.
The “primary colors,” red, blue, and yellow, have their “secondary colors,” which is the combination of any two primaries; as a mixture of blue and red make purple, the complementary (or contrast) of yellow, blue and yellow make green, which makes red the complementary or contrast. Yellow and red make orange, the complementary of blue. The secondary colors are therefore purple, green and orange.
The tertiary colors are those obtained by a mixture of all the primary colors (one proportion of which produces black), making what are called “broken tones.”
The “secondary colors,” produced as above, make the perfect contrast or complementary colors of the primary set, and the “tertiary colors,” or “broken tones,” produced as above, enable us to carry out harmony effects.
No harmony of color is perfect unless it contains all three primaries in some proportion or other. Thus, green (blue and yellow) and red are correct, having the three primaries in the composition. For simplicity I will not go into shades, which are simply lighter tints of the primary colors; but I may add that in harmony of color the color value or intensity of the shades must be carefully noted, to be effective; that is, a brilliant orange (red and yellow) will not be complementary to light blue, but would be correct with blue of same intensity. All the innumerable shades or tones are produced from the three primary colors, by reducing the strength of tint; that is, making it lighter, and the tones are produced by admixture of black, etc., or, rather, the admixture of the three primary colors, in different proportions, lowering the tone, and making lighter. Thus all the shades are made, each having its proper complementary color or contrast.
All colors, when brought into close proximity, affect each other by reflection or absorption, and the nearer they are in tone the more they will suffer. The difference in tone should be considerable, or a neutral line of black, white or gray placed between them; otherwise you have reds in proximity to blue appearing yellow, the complementary of red and blue. Red in proximity to green (its complementary) is purer and brighter. Red in proximity to black becomes duller. Red in proximity to white appears lighter (pink). Red in proximity to gray becomes brighter; so that the same red will appear of different shades according to its arrangement with regard to other colors adjacent. The same law governs the arrangement of all colors. If red and white are placed in contact, the white becomes tinged with the complementary of red (green), and the red appears deeper and brighter. White placed beside a color strengthens its tone. Black dulls it. Black surfaces appear faintly tinted with the complementary of the adjacent color, because of its low reflective power.
Black and white are commonly said to be complementary to each other, and to harmonize with all the other colors.
THE WINDOW.
Our first consideration is the background. White is too harsh for general work, but is good when the window is so dark that it makes much glare and reflection. In this case it will heighten the light, render the display more distinct, and assist in avoiding reflections. Black (flat or gloss) painting of the interior, or a black cloth background, is objectionable because it makes the window a veritable “camera obscura” and reflects everything. It also renders the colors of the goods dull or broken. Something between white and black will therefore be found better, such as a warm French gray (if painted, flat of course), not light enough to appear nearly white, but as nearly “neutral” as possible. A background like this will brighten up most colors to some extent, and will not interfere with any adjacent color. It also assists in avoiding reflections and glare.
In the arrangement of your window there are two points to keep in mind, the “near view,” which takes in only one window, or part of it, and the “further view,” which will embrace the entire trim, making all the windows as one. In the front part of the window take care of the harmony, or contrast, and only use such colors as are not a light shade of compound color, such as lavender, etc., which are easily faded. For the second row arrange it so that when viewed over or between it and the first row, you get a proper contrast, harmony or broken tone, that will act as a “neutral” and avoid “killing” the three colors at once. The arrangement by contrast is usually the best and easiest.
The “further view” should not have any startling color effect at one end, and nothing to balance it at the other, but should have a similar effect of harmony or color. When the center is of lower or broken tones, usually esteemed neutral, or if there be three color effects, make them one of harmony and two of contrast, or vice versa. Relieve them with neutral colors, and add a touch of ribbon, flowers, etc., of the complementary neutral, to arrest the eye a moment.
To decide the color of a fabric, study what colors it is composed of. Then it becomes easy to find the complementary. For instance, a fabric of dull green (broken tone) with an allover pattern of black, covering 25 per cent of the surface will amount to very dull green; but if the black covers 75 per cent of the surface, it will be a greenish black, although the green will appear more prominent than it really is, the black being non-luminous, or a poor reflector.
In light shades care must be taken to define the color, as pink, yellow or rose cast, light blue, green or purple cast. Inattention to this will mar the color effect, as the complementary selected will most likely be incorrect.
It is well always to remember that there are but three primary or elementary colors (red, yellow and blue-green), and that there cannot be harmony of color arrangement if either one is wanting. Also that the distinction of harmony depends on the predominance of one, and the subordination of the other two.
A COLOR CHART.
In order to be sure that your color combinations are harmonious, the accompanying diagram of a “color scheme” will be a safe guide. Color combinations are governed by set laws, and, as is the case with all other natural laws, it is both foolish and disastrous to ignore them. The center of the chart is white, for white harmonizes with any color. The most distinct combinations are found by consulting the extremities of each straight line, whether dotted or plain. But every dotted line will harmonize with every other dotted line as well, and these are the combinations of strong colors. The triangle connects the three basic colors, blue, red and yellow, which are distinct contrasts. The other plain lines show the tints which harmonize together, but not with strong colors. If ever in doubt as to a suitable combination, consult the chart. By following the directions of its lines you cannot fail to be right.
MATCHING CHART.
The following color chart is used by some trimmers for matching colors. As already explained, the modern window calls for a variety of colorings, and it is in the matching of these colors, such as the compound shades, drabs, buffs, sages, with their different hues, that considerable work and patience is called for. With such colors as these a number of points are to be considered before a definite conclusion can be obtained. Some of the shades, for example, are very sensitive to the various qualities of daylight. A dark, cloudy day, a sunny, bright day, a hazy day, etc., all have their effect upon the colorings in the window design. There are other conditions which come in to interfere with the proposed color adjustment of the window trimmer.
Colors may appear so and so to the eye when placed in the design with certain other colors. A blue setting, for instance, may match each other if the combination includes several shades of blue. When the design is placed in its place in the window, alongside of a yellow, for example, the yellow offsets certain of the blue shades, producing tints of a yellowish green of some of the blues, while blueish greens are developed in others. This, of course, disorders the proposed color plan and the result is discouraging unless it is known how to overcome or avoid such troubles. Furthermore, certain colors which match by daylight are made quite the reverse as soon as the electric light or the gas light is turned on in the window. All this is perplexing to the window artist, but there are remedies. Use charts 1, 2 and 3. In the first are the standard color chart line, A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H. These represent the color lines of the solar spectrum. Along the side of the chart are figures 1, 2 and 3. The first indicates the absorption spectrum of yellow color. By following the chart lines it will be seen that this yellow absorbs violet and blue, while it transmits red, green and yellow. In 2 we can see that the blue which this division represents absorbs orange red, yellow green and yellow, and transmits blue, violet and part of the green. Division 3 represents green, which results as a combination of the two former divisions.
In Fig. 2 is a chart for representing the absorption of ruby glass and a single green shade. In this it can be seen that division 1 involves transmission of the red in A to the orange red in C, and the remaining colors are absorbed. In 2 is an absorption of all the colors except green, yellow green, blue and blue violet. In 3 is the result of combining the colors, in which case this setting permits no rays to pass, resulting in full black or darkness. In chart 3 is another plan for color setting in which 1 indicates the absorption spectrum of yellow, 2 in which violet shows the absorption in yellow and yellow green, 3 the compound of green rays with the absorption of the remainder of the spectrum.
AN EYE FOR COLORS.
A window trimmer who has an eye for color is usually able to group colors quite satisfactorily without the assistance of charts and regulations, but there are very few who possess the qualification, although perhaps many think they do. The reason that many suppose this is because the color plan of their window is pleasing to their own eyes, though it may be distasteful to others. Hence the necessity of applying to color charts, etc., to avoid discords to the eye of the practiced colorist. If you seek to produce white light from any of the color rays, add thereto the complementary ray. If yellow be absorbed the resultant color will be violet. If blue and yellow rays are absorbed the reflected ray will be red. If red is absorbed then we get green. If yellow and red be absorbed the result will be a blue. In window trimming two colors of striped goods placed in juxtaposition will always heighten each other’s color effect. Suppose that two stripes of a certain color fabric are arranged parallel with two stripes of another color it will be seen that the color of the four stripes differ if we look at them from a certain distance. This is because the coloring of the two inside stripes serve as terms of comparison to judge the modifications of these two interior stripes in their juxtaposition. For example, it will be found that red will be modified, inclining to violet, and orange is modified inclining to yellow, when the stripes are made up of red and orange. If we use a combination of blue and violet in a window design we will find that the blue will be modified to a greenish blue, and the violet to a reddish color. It is a good idea to cut out some four-inch wide strips of fabric and experiment, before going ahead with your color scheme.