TONES OF THE SPECTRUM
AND OF PIGMENTS
134. It is probable that we have in the Spectrum an indication of the natural value-relations of the different colors when in their highest intensities. Owing to the limitations of pigment-material, however, it is impossible to reproduce the intensities of the Spectrum satisfactorily. An approximation is all that we can achieve in painting.
THE SPECTRUM SEQUENCE AND
THE CIRCUIT OF THE COLORS
135. Having produced the scale of twelve colors in the values of their greatest intensities, and as intense as possible, we get an approximation to the Spectrum with this difference, that the color Violet-Red (Purple) which we get in pigments and mixtures of pigments does not occur in the Spectrum and, so far as we know, does not belong in the Spectrum. We have in the Spectrum a sequence which begins with Red and ends with Violet. It is a sequence, not a circuit. In pigment-mixtures, however, we have a circuit, clearly enough, and Violet-Red is a connecting link between Violet and Red.
THE COMPLEMENTARIES
136. Considering the circuit of the colors which we are able to produce with our pigment-materials, the question arises, What contrasts of color are the strongest? what interval in the Scale of Colors gives us the strongest possible color-contrast? Producing the twelve colors in the values of their greatest intensities, and as intense as possible, and setting the tones in a circuit and in their natural and inevitable order, you will observe that the greatest color-contrast is the contrast between colors at the interval of the seventh: for example, the contrasts of Red and Green, or Orange and Blue, or Yellow and Violet. The colors at the interval of the sixth are less strong in contrast. The contrast diminishes gradually as we pass from the interval of the seventh to the interval of the second. The contrast of colors at the interval of the seventh, the greatest possible contrast, is called the contrast of the complementaries. In estimating intervals we count the colors between which the intervals occur.
A GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
OF TONES
137. Taking each color in the value of its greatest intensity ([as shown in the Spectrum]), and as intense as possible, the color may be neutralized in the direction of Black (neutral darkness) or White (neutral light) or in the direction of any value of neutrality intermediate between Black and White, including the value of the color in its greatest intensity. If we think of five degrees of neutralization, including the extremes of Intensity and Neutrality, we shall get as definite a terminology for color-intensities and color-neutralizations as we have for colors and for values. The choice of five degrees is arbitrary. It is a question how far the classification shall go, what it shall include. We are dealing with infinity, and our limitations are necessarily arbitrary.
In [Diagram 3] we have a general classification of tones as to value, color, color-intensity, and color-neutralization. Of values we have nine. Of colors we have twelve. Of degrees of intensity and of neutralization we have five.