The Theory and Practice of Perspective

by G. A. Storey

Fig. 288.

Note that the door itself is quite luminous, and lighted up by the reflection of the sun from the tiled floor, so that the bars in the upper part throw distinct shadows, besides the mystery of colour thus introduced. The little window to the left, though not admitting much direct sunlight, is evidence of the brilliant glare outside; for the reflected light is very conspicuous on the

top and on the shutters on each side; indeed they cast distinct shadows up and down, while some clear daylight from the blue sky is reflected on the window-sill. As to the sink, the table, the wash-tubs, &c., although they seem in strong light and shade they really receive little or no direct light from a single point; but from the strong reflected light re-reflected into them from the wall of the doorway. There are many other things in such effects as this which the artist will observe, and which can only be studied from real light and shade. Such is the character of reflected light, varying according to the angle and intensity of the luminary and a hundred other things. When we come to study light in the open air we get into another region, and have to deal with it accordingly, and yet we shall find that our sciagraphy will be a help to us even in this bewilderment; for it will explain in a manner the innumerable shapes of sun-shadows that we observe out of doors among hills and dales, showing up their forms and structure; its play in the woods and gardens, and its value among buildings, showing all their juttings and abuttings, recesses, doorways, and all the other architectural details. Nor must we forget light's most glorious display of all on the sea and in the clouds and in the sunrises and the sunsets down to the still and lovely moonlight.

These sun-shadows are useful in showing us the principle of light and shade, and so also are the shadows cast by artificial light; but they are only the beginning of that beautiful study, that exquisite art of tone or chiaro-oscuro, which is infinite in its variety, is full of the deepest mystery, and is the true poetry of art. For this the student must go to Nature herself, must study her in all her moods from early dawn to sunset, in the twilight and when night sets in. No mathematical rules can help him, but only the thoughtful contemplation, the silent watching, and the mental notes that he can make and commit to memory, combining them with the sentiments to which they in turn give rise. The plein air, or broad daylight effects, are but one item of the great range of this ever-changing and deepening mystery—from the hard reality to the soft blending of evening when form almost disappears, even to the merging of the whole landscape, nay, the whole world, into a dream—which is felt

rather than seen, but possesses a charm that almost defies the pencil of the painter, and can only be expressed by the deep and sweet notes of the poet and the musician. For love and reverence are necessary to appreciate and to present it.

There is also much to learn about artificial light. For here, again, the study is endless: from the glare of a hundred lights—electric and otherwise—to the single lamp or candle. Indeed a whole volume could be filled with illustrations of its effects. To those who aim at producing intense brilliancy, refusing to acknowledge any limitations to their capacity, a hundred or a thousand lights commend themselves; and even though wild splashes of paint may sometimes be the result, still the effort is praiseworthy. But those who prefer the mysterious lighting of a Rembrandt will find, if they sit contemplating in a room lit with one lamp only, that an endless depth of mystery surrounds them, full of dark recesses peopled by fancy and sweet thought, whilst the most beautiful gradations soften the forms without distorting them; and at the same time he can detect the laws of this science of light and shade a thousand times repeated and endless in its variety.

Note.—[Fig. 288] must be looked upon as a rough sketch which only gives the general effect of the original drawing; to render all the delicate tints, tones and reflections described in the text would require a highly-finished reproduction in half-tone or in colour.

As many of the figures in this book had to be re-drawn, not a light task, I must here thank Miss Margaret L. Williams, one of our Academy students, for kindly coming to my assistance and volunteering her careful co-operation.