'These nine colours are all that are distinguished by integral names.
'Thus it will be seen, that Yellow, Red, and Blue produce—first, Orange, Green, and Purple; and these produce Olive, Brown, and Slate, making nine.
'Yellow, Red, and Blue, make Black.
'And this is the compendium and whole of the system of the degradation of colours into Black, or perfect darkness.
'Warm Effect is produced by
'White, Yellow, Orange, Red, Purple, Indigo, Black.
'Cold Effect is produced by
'Black, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pale Yellow, White.'
The Three Primitive Colours, by the endless varieties of their solvents, regulate, more or less, the whole economy of a picture; and the abundant stores of nature are faithfully imitated by their agency. Thus, the Primitives being red, blue, and yellow, the colours produced by their combination are purple, orange, and green; these, in their turn, may be extended to every tint that exists. The junction of the Three Primitives absorb all, and form neutral tint, which, by the addition of quantity, produces black.
All the contrasts are rendered from the same.
And here it may not be out of place to remark how men will devote themselves to many idle pursuits that return them nothing, while a little study of the noble theory of colour would enable them, without pushing the matter far, to bring to their firesides reminiscences of their travels, or, otherwise, spots endeared by circumstances, together with a thousand other agreeable associations. They would learn in time to look at nature through the medium of art, and find a delightful interest in it they never anticipated; while every hour so spent would more and more exercise and mature the judgment.
A knowledge of the natural chalks, or colours of black, white, and red, is indispensably necessary. So, a perfect acquaintance with the Three Primitives, blue, red, and yellow, is of equal consequence; that blue and yellow are brought together by red; and that all mixtures are the scientific result of the union of these three, no two of which will produce the third. The result of the mixture of any two gives the contrast to the absent one:—as red and blue, producing purple, is the opposite to yellow; blue and yellow make green, the contrast to red; red and yellow, producing orange, contrasts blue; the three, blended together, gives us black: neutral tint is the result of the same mixture. A perfect knowledge of mixing tints, from this scale, will produce all the compounds necessary to art, and their admixtures may be varied ad infinitum.